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March 14, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



1247 



H. Thadeot of Atlanta^ Ga^ in his Newly Patented Truss-roofed Greenhouse. 



MR. THADEN AND HIS HOUSE. 



The accompanying illustrations show 

 H. Thaden, dean of the craft in the 

 south, in one of his greenhouses at At- 

 lanta, explaining the merits of his new 

 truss construction to a visitor. In for- 

 warding the pictures Mr. Thaden says: 



"We mail you today photographs of 

 a greenhouse embracing our recently pat- 

 ented equalizing truss. Perhaps you 

 would like to make use of it in the 

 Review, as it embraces something radi- 

 cally new and different from all old 

 methods at construction, eliminating not 

 only the post supports for the purlins, 

 but also any and all cross bracing, thus 

 clearing the greenhouse of all obstruc- 

 tion from floor to ridge. As you are 

 aware, we were awarded a certificate on 

 our modest exhibit last summer at Day- 

 ton, and our invention was highly recom- 

 mended by the judges. We thought you 

 would no doubt like to show it up to 

 better advantage than has heretofore 

 been done, as we are one of your old 

 patrons, ' ' 



PANSIES. 



The pansy is one of the oldest garden 

 flowers and most popular. Every florist 

 can sell quantities, put up in baskets at 

 25 cents or 50 cents a basket, so the 

 customer can readily carry them and 

 plant at his convenience. In one of its 

 widely circulated press notices the Na- 

 tional Council of Horticulture says it is 

 best for the home garden-maker to have 

 in the spring pansy plants which his flo- 

 rist has carried through the winter in a 

 coldframe. The plants should be set out 

 as soon as the ground is in condition for 

 working. The only cultivation necessary 

 is to keep the ground reasonably well 

 stirred to prevent baking, and keep it 

 free from weeds. The blooms should be 

 kept picked closely, so the blooming sea- 

 son may be lengthened. 



In favorable localities, where the soil 

 is moist and not too warm, the seeds 

 may be sown early in the spring and if 

 thinned and the flowers picked closely 



will give a succession of bloom almost 

 until winter. 



In rather warm and dry localities, sow 

 seeds in August or September and trans- 

 plant the seedlings to pots, or better, to 

 a coldframe with good soil, where they 

 may remain until cold weather, when they 

 should be protected by glass and boards. 

 They are best kept in the frames until 

 spring, when the boards may be removed 

 and the plants allowed to make early 

 growth in the frames. 



STOCKS AND CANNAS. 



I have a fine strain of Cut-and-come- 

 again stock and would like to raise my 

 own seed. Please tell me when and how 

 to fertilize the blossoms. I have both 

 double and single. Which will be the 

 seed-bearing parent? How are cannas 

 hybridized? G. O. K. 



Presuming that there are no other 

 colors or varieties of stock in the same 

 house, there is no reason why you cannot 

 secure some good home-saved seed. The 

 single flowering plants are the ones 

 which produce the seed. Bees and tap- 

 ping the plants should sufficiently scatter 

 tho pollen at this season. The plants 

 must be left in the pots or benches until 

 the seed shows signs of ripening, when 

 they can be pulled out, the roots and 

 part of the stems removed and the re- 

 maining portion of the plants hung up 

 in a dry, airy shed or room until the 

 pods are all ripened. The pods show 

 by their size and shape those which will 

 give a high percentage of double flowers 

 and all inferior ones should be discarded. 

 Culture in pots of stocks intended for 

 seed is desirable, for they can be moved 

 around, whereas in benches the space, 

 however valuable it may be, cannot be 

 utilized for other crops until they are 

 pulled up. 



A French method given by M. Chate 

 is to place the plants in a position out- 

 doors well exposed to the morning sun. 

 When flowering, a number of shoots are 

 nipped off, leaving ten or twelve pods on 

 the secondary branches. All other 



branches made are carefully removed. All 

 the sap goes to the few pods left and 

 they average eighty per cent double flow- 

 ers. The upper portions of the pod were 

 separated, as they averaged eighty per 

 cent single flowers against an equal pro- 

 portion of doubles for the lower half. 



In Erfurt, Germany, where an im- 

 mense business is done in stock and aster 

 seeds, many of the choicer strains are 

 obtained from plants in pots grown in 

 sunny houses. The plants are watered 

 only enough to keep them from dying. 

 Thus treated the plants are weakened, 

 pods shortened, seeds better ripened and 

 they yield sixty to seventy per cent of 

 doubles. 



Cannas for purposes of hybridization 

 ought to be grown in pots. Place them 

 in a sunny location in a temperature of 

 55 degrees to 60 degrees at night. Use 

 a small camel 's-hair brush to remove the 

 pollen from the flower of one variety and 

 touch the pistils of the future seed- 

 bearing plant with it. Bemove all flow- 

 ers not fertilized, allow the plant to pro- 

 duce no more blooms and enclose the 

 fertilized flowers with fine muslin to keep 

 out bees and other insects to make sure 

 that no outside agencies are at work on 

 the flowers. It is best to enclose them 

 from insects before they open. If fer- 

 tilized during winter, sown as soon as 

 ripe in a brisk bottom heat and grown 

 right along, seedlings will flower the 

 same year. Use celluloid labels to re- 

 cord the cross. They will not decay, like 

 wood or paper ones. C. W. 



Albion, Mich. — A. H. Dew will erect 

 two new houses this spring. One will 

 be a truss house 37x100, the other a 

 carnation house 27x100. A retail store 

 will be opened in a new building on 

 Perry street. Mr. Dew has been at it 

 twelve years. 



Waverly, Mass. — Vernon T. Sher- 

 wood, formerly with Thomas Rochford 

 & Son, the famous English growera, is 

 now with W. W. Edgar & Co., in charge 

 of the new houses here. 



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