654 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Fkbkuaey 7, 1907. 



RECORD KEEPING. 



In every well-regulated establishment 

 there ought to be a rigid system of rec- 

 ord keeping. It is not only necessary to 

 know exactly just how many blooms 

 each variety will produce, but also the 

 number of the grades of blooms. The 

 superficial space occupied by each plant 

 should also be taken notice of, so that 

 we may have some data for propagation 

 and future planting plans. 



To know exactly just where we stand 

 at the end of each week, month or sea- 

 son must necessarily be of great benefit 

 to every grower, and the benefit derived 

 can only be appreciated by those who 

 have taken the trouble to gather and 

 compile such statistics. 



To keep a faithful record of the prod- 

 uct of each variety, a card with spaces 

 for each day of the week should be 

 placed in each house and each and every 

 bloom cut from the house should be 

 marked on it under the heading of each 

 variety; totaled at the end gf each week 

 and entered in the journal, so that com- 

 parisons can be made with future crops. 



Cards similar to this should also be in 

 the sorting room, and should show the 

 exact number of blooms of each grade 

 and how they were disposed of. Note 

 should also be made of those varieties 

 which are most in demand, and, as near 

 as possible, the proportion of colors 

 called for. 



With such records we can at the end of 

 the season, by a little figuring, arrive 

 at a definite conclusion as to which of 

 the varieties it is most profitable to 

 plant. By rigidly following this method 

 the waste will be reduced to a minimum. 



These remarks apply with even more 

 force to carnation crops, chiefly because 

 of the number of varieties in cultivation 

 and the ever increasing number of new 

 varieties which every ambitious grower 

 is anxious to test for himself. 



Apart from the successful culture of 

 these new introductions, it is absolutely 

 necessary to have a record, so that we 

 may find out the adaptability of each 

 variety to our soil and climate and their 

 pecuniary value in our home market. 

 This is one of the best ways to make the 

 place pay. 



In order to have our record-keeping 

 system complete, it ought to embrace the 

 keeping of temperatures at which each 

 variety does best; the amount and qual- 

 ity of food required by each variety, 

 with remarks concerning the amount of 

 sunshine, moisture, etc., all of which 

 must be of great utility for future ref- 

 erence. 



From the time the cutting is put into 

 the cutting bench until it has completed 

 its season's work there should be 

 nothing in its cultivation, behavior un- 

 der different conditions of temperature, 

 feeding, etc., that should go unrecorded. 



This requires a deal of time, but it is 

 time well spent and will amply repay us 

 by leaving no doubt in our minds as to 

 the merits or demerits of the different 

 varieties, methods of culture and paying 

 qualities of the varieties under our care. 



BiBES. 



FUMES OF ACID. 



We would like to know why our roses 

 have stopped blooming. They are two- 

 year-old plants and were cut back in 

 July; but as they grow in summer, we 

 naturally had difficulty in resting them. 

 In September they were benefited by an 

 application of nitrate of soda. They 

 were growing nicely until the third 

 week in November, when some muriatic 

 acid was carelessly distributed through- 

 out the houses. After three or four 

 days the foliage had been burnt entirely 

 off of two-thirds of the plants. Until 

 then we were cutting some fine roses in 

 quantity. Just before the acid was 

 spilt an application of blood and soot 

 was given the roses and the soil be- 

 came infested with small worms. Owing 

 to the cloudy weather we have had, we 

 were compelled to keep the temperature 

 in daytime down to 60 to 62 degrees and 



posure to the fumes of the muriatic acid 

 which caused the plants to shed their 

 foliage, is at the root of the trouble 

 It also looks to me as if those plants 

 could not be requiring the amount of 

 chemical feeding they were subjected to 

 previous to the exposure to the acid. 

 In their present debilitated condition 

 the best treatment would be to keep 

 the soil rather dry, temperature low 

 even as low as 54 or 55 degrees, uud 

 do no more feeding until the plants re- 

 gain their health. 



The small worms in the soil arc of 

 no moment and have nothing to iIq 

 with the weakness of the stock. It ig 

 simply suffering from a dose of poison. 



Rises, 



THE WENONAH GARDENS. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph of the Wenonah Carnation 

 Gardens, Wenonah, N. J. The houses are 

 iron-frame with cement walls, of Lord 

 & Burnham construction, and were built 

 in 1905 and 1906. The two large houses 

 are 32x250 and the small house is 20x 

 100. Each house has four 5-foot benches, 

 all planted to carnations, of which the 

 following varieties are grown: Enchant- 

 ress, Fair Maid, The Queen, Queen 

 Louise, Mrs. Joost, Wm. Scott, Gene- 

 vieve Lord, Lady Bountiful, May Nay- 

 lor, John E. Haines, Eed Sport, Maceo 

 and Melba. 



There are seedlings in the second and 

 third year, some of which are promising. 

 Seedling No, 6, of which there are over 

 1,000 rooted cuttings, is very free, about 

 the color of Fiancee, but does not split. 

 Seedling No. 1 is a strong grower, has 

 stems twenty-four inches long and is the 

 color of Nelson Fisher. Mr. Leisy says, 

 "I have yet to see the first split calyx." 

 Seedling No. 3 is on the style of Peter 

 Fisher's Evangeline. This is also a free 

 bloomer, with a strong calyx. There 

 are other seedlings of interest, but the 

 one Mr. Leisy thinks the most of is an 

 improved Enchantress. He claims it has 

 a better color, is as free a bloomer, is 

 more double and has good keeping quali- 

 ties; best of all, it i? fragrant and does 



Wenonah Carnation Gardens, Wenonah, N. J. 



at night from 56 to 58 degrees. We 

 syringe on all bright days. Do you 

 think it was the acid, blood, or dark 

 weather that has caused the check of 

 bloom? S. & R. 



There can be little doubt that the ex- 



not split. Some of these will be seen 

 next season. 



The establishment is in charge of 

 Charles Leisy, superintendent and grow- 

 er, and Joseph E, Truncer as business 

 manager, Stephen Greene, of Philadel- 

 phia, is the proprietor. 



