546 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



jANUABr 10, 1907. 



in just right for Memorial day. They 

 were free of all disease and I have 

 never once seen a more even lot of plants. 

 We don't attribute the success to any 

 special treatment so much as we do to 

 the fact that the plants were well ripened 

 before being dug and the bulbs were 

 fully matured. So anxious are we to re- 

 ceive the bulbs early that the Japanese 

 dig the bulbs in a green state and this 

 is the cause of dissatisfaction and irreg- 

 ular growth of these lilies. 



Save some of your roots of astilbe un- 

 til the first part of April and then pot 

 them. The astilbe is such a hardy plant 

 you can store it almost anywhere during 

 the winter months. But covered with 

 two or three inches of soil in a coldf rame 

 is better than leaving the roots in the 

 cases they arrived in. Besides, there is 

 the standard crop of flowers — roses, car- 

 nations and sweet peas. The latter 

 should be in prime order at the end of 

 May, You might sow some candytuft 

 about the middle of March. Sow the lat- 

 ter in drills on a bench and when two or 

 three inches high transplant to six inches 

 apart on the bed or bench. If you have 

 a bed of lily of the valley outside cover 

 it with sash before the bells open. It 

 will be a very different article from that 

 exposed to rains. For flowering plants it 

 is the season of plenty. Our zonal gera- 

 niums are in full flower, also the show 

 pelargoniums. Fuchsias and some hy- 

 drangeas are worth keeping for this day. 

 W. S. 



STOCKS. 



What course shall I pursue with stocks 



in order to have them bloom for Easter? 

 My plants are now coming up. F. B. F. 



If the strain of stocks is the ten 

 weeks' variety I know of no better plan 

 than to grow them along and shift when 

 necessary on a light bench in a tempera- 

 ture of 50 degrees. If it is the Mid- 

 lothian or any of the branching vari- 

 eties, it will be difficult to get them 

 into flower by Easter. You must be con- 

 tent to have them flower in April and 

 May, when they will, I hope, pay you as 

 cut flowers. W. S. 



CARNATION SOQETY EXHIBITS. 



Some misunderstanding seems to ex- 

 ist regarding carnation exhibits coming 

 to Toronto for the convention and exhi- 

 bition of the American Carnation Soci- 

 ety. Kindly give prominence to the fol- 

 lowing: 



Those sending exhibits only require 

 the tags and stickers furnished by Sec- 

 retary Herr to insure their goods being 

 delivered at the exhibition hall at To- 

 ronto without delay. Arrangements 

 have been made with the Canadian cus- 

 toms officials to pass all goods bearing 

 said tags and stickers. No other papers 

 or valuation invoices are required by the 

 customs officer. Shippers should write 

 at once to Secretary Albert M. Herr, 

 Lancaster, Pa., for tags and .stickers 

 for as many boxes as they will send. 

 No other precaution is necessary except 

 to ship in time and wrap safely. We 

 often have winter in Toronto. 



T). J. Sinclair. 



GRAFTING. 



Grafting of stock for indoor work is, 

 year by year, becoming common and this 

 is a sure sign that in the majority of 

 cases the results have been satisfactory. 



To be certain that grafted stock will 

 be more remunerative than own root 

 stock, in your own particular class of soil, 

 it is well to make an experiment with 

 both kinds, giving each a fair trial side 

 by side before going to the expense of 

 using grafted stock exclusively; as in 

 many of the heavy soils own root stock 

 seems to be quite as satisfactory, if not 

 more so, than grafted stock. 



We must also take into consideration 

 the varieties we intend to grow, as some 

 of our varieties, such as Beauty, Meteor, 

 Chatenay and, possibly, Bichmond, suc- 

 ceed best on their own roots. 



In order to make a success of this 

 method of grafting, the operator must 



provide himself with a suitable case in 

 which to place the newly grafted stock 

 immediately after the operation is com- 

 pleted and where they will have to re- 

 main until the stock and scion are 

 united. 



This case should be made practically 

 air tight, covered with glass sashes, and 

 should be piped, so that a minimum of 

 80 degrees can be maintained under any 

 conditions of weather. By having the 

 case air tight it gives the operator full 

 control as regards temperature and 

 moisture of the inside of the case, with- 

 out which little success can be attained. 



If the Manetti stocks have been prop- 

 erly cared for since they were potted in 

 November they will now be in good con- 

 dition for the grafting table. Stocks 

 which have made good root action and 

 have just begun to swell the buds are 

 more satisfactory than those which have 

 been allowed to break the buds and show 

 an inch or two of growth. If there are 

 any of those among tlie stocks the buds 

 should be rubbed off and the plants set 

 back into a cool temperature for a few 

 days. 



The selection of the scion should be 



made with even greater care than is usu- 

 ally exercised in the selection of wood 

 for cuttings, having in view the relative 

 size of the stock and the condition of 

 growth. The scion should be, if possible, 

 of well ripened wood, of a size nearly 

 approaching the size of the stock, for 

 reasons which will be apparent further 

 on. 



Those who contemplate grafting their 

 own stock will find these and following 

 remarks more useful and clear if they 

 would take the trouble to visit some es- 

 tablishment where this method of prop- 

 agation is being practiced. They can 

 then apply the advice offered here with 

 better results after a good object lesson. 



Kibes. 



NEW ROSES IN EUROPE. 



Undoubtedly the rose of the year is 

 the beautiful variety. Queen of Spain, 

 says the London Garden. S. Bide & 

 Sons, of Farnham, are to be congratu- 

 lated upon this, their first introduction 

 among roses, and as they have begun so 

 well it is to be hoped they will continue 

 to add to the collection roses of equal 

 merit. Many who saw the variety when 

 first staged at the National Rose Show 

 thought it deserved a gold medal, and 

 so it did, Mr, Bide, junior, informed 

 the writer that Queen of Spain was 

 raised from Antoine Eivoire crossed 

 with another variety, but what that was 

 he could not say. The color is pale 

 flesh with a darker center, the tint being 

 much intensified upon plants one year 

 old. It possesses the valuable quality 

 of erect stems, so that the handsome 

 flowers are borne well above the foliage, 

 a trait it inherits from its maternal 

 parent. It has especially good, lasting 

 flowers, a fact fully demonstrated by 

 the freshness of the blooms at the end 

 of the two days' show at Holland House. 

 No one can deny that fully three- 

 fourths of the novelties introduced at 

 the present day are of a very flimsy 

 character, although charming in color, 

 and, as garden roses, they are excellent, 

 but there is room for many more of the 

 type of Queen of Spain. 



Perhaps the second rose of the year 

 is William Shean. It received the gold 

 medal of the National Rose Society last 

 July. I was assured that it was one of 

 the best introductions of A. Dickson 

 & Sons, of Newtownards. It is described 

 as a large flower whose color is of vary- 

 ing shades of pink, from reddish pink 

 in the center to palest pink in the outer 

 petals. When opening the form is good. 

 The fully expanded bloom is almost in- 

 termediate in form between La France 

 and Caroline Testout. It is one of the 

 big roses, the petals being immense, and 

 it must prove a highly valuable sort. 

 For vases and other decorative work 

 such roses have a distinct value when 

 they can be cut with extra long stems, 

 and judging from the plant exhibited 

 this seems possible with William Shean. 



The third novelty of the year is of 

 continental origin, and is known as Mme, 

 Constant Soupert, It is an exquisite 

 flower, somewhat pointed, with grand 

 petals and beautiful form. The color is 

 rich golden yellow, with a margin of 

 bright rosy red to its petals. It is 

 reputedly a cross between Souvenir de 

 Pierre Netting and Duchesse Maria Sal- 

 viati, Soupert & Notting, of Luxem- 

 bourg, are the raisers, 



Dora is a seedling from Antoine Ei- 

 voire. It has been splendidly exhibited, 

 especially in pots, and I believe it has a 



