itU 



The Weekly Florists'" Review* 



Mat 2, 1007. 



stem they are turning black and dying 

 off. Kindly let me know what is the 

 cause of this. I never had it happen be- 

 fore. They are all good, strong plants 

 and I keep them at 55 degrees to 60 de- 

 grees by night and at 65 degrees by 

 day. F. B. 



The temperature named should suit 

 geraniums well. The rot on the stem, 

 commonly termed "damping off," is 



generally caused by too much moisture 

 at the roots. We would advise keeping 

 the plants dry for a few days, to harden 

 the stems, and this should tend to stop 

 the disease. Do not shade them at all, 

 but give full exposure to the sun. Spray 

 overhead once or twice a day to keep the 

 plants from shriveling, but allow the soil 

 in the pots to get quite dry. We think 

 a few days of this treatment will remedy 

 the trouble. C. W. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES- WEST. 



Prepariag for Planting. 



Chrysanthemum growers should at this 

 time have their space on the benches all 

 figured out. That is, they should have 

 reduced to writing, exactly the number 

 of plants they will require for their 

 space. It should be figured out bench 

 by bench and then the grower should go 

 over his stock and make certain that he 

 has provided the necessary number of 

 plants, and some surplus to provide for 

 the rejection of plants which are not in 

 good shape at the time for benching. 



A great many times it has happened 

 that a grower would find, when he came 

 to planting his houses, that he was short 

 of the required number of good plants 

 for filling his benches. He then would 

 change his mind and either use the space 

 for some catch crop or let it go with less 

 than the number of plants he had in- 

 tended to grow in the house. In either 

 case the result is a ^aste of space, and 

 space is money to the greenhouse owner. 



A grower may be short of stock for a 

 variety of reasons. He may have been 

 so busy that he neglected the important 

 detail of propagating, thinking he had 

 plenty of time, or he may have neglected 

 his old stock, allowing them to grow so 

 long that he really got the second batch 

 of cuttings in place of the first. Now, 

 to make up for this set-back in many 

 cases is easy. If the first batch of cut- 

 tings was rooted, potted and planted out 

 at the proper time, in a bench of good, 

 rich soil, they will produce a fine lot of 

 cuttings from now till the end of June. 

 Of course, the early and dwarf varieties, 

 if propagated at this late date, will be 

 short but will give blooms of fair size. 

 The mid-season and late varieties will 

 produce good average blooms and 

 straight stems, as these old plants grow 

 ahead and do not make the crown bud 

 until its natural time. If they are kept 

 cool they can be had late, after the bulk 

 of the chrysanthemum crops have been 

 marketed, when they usually bring excel- 

 lent prices. 



Care must now be taken to see that the 

 young stock is not allowed to become 

 too tall and spindling. If the stock is 

 now in 2-inch pots, and must remain 

 there until planting time, it is likely to 

 become too tall; planting time may be 

 the latter part of May, so that it would 

 be better to give the plants a little more 

 space one way. This will not only pre- 

 vent their drawing up, but will keep the 

 bottom foliage from becoming yellow 

 and help to keep the stock free from 



disease. Light and air are essential to 

 chrysanthemums at all times. 



I prefer to use 2 1/^ -inch pots for the 

 young stock. These can be placed close 

 together and will stand for watering, 

 spraying and syringing. In planting I 

 set nearly all varieties 8x10 inches or 

 9x9 inches, growing one flower to the 

 plant and counting on getting first-class 

 blooms. For an ordinarily good grade 

 of commercial blooms I plant 8x10 and 

 8x12 inches, according to the variety, 

 and grow two blooms to each plant. 

 Some of the small-leaved varieties may 

 be planted 8x8 and two stems carried up. 



Now, without delay, figure out ex- 

 actly what you will do in planting your 

 houses of chrysanthemums and see that 

 you have the stock. If not on hand pro- 

 cure it, either by propagation or pur- 

 chase. The growers of young stock of 

 chrysanthemums for the wholesale trade 



report a large demand for the best varie 

 ties and it may not be possible to pj/ 

 cure what you want a few weeks late/ 

 Joseph P. Brooks. " 



FOLIAGE TURNING RED. 



You will find enclosed with this ictter 

 a few geranium leaves and, as you will 

 notice, they much resemble autumn 1- uvea 

 from the forest trees. The plants have 

 been quite thrifty and of good, hodthv 

 color until the last week, when the.- be- 

 gan to turn red and finally to dr ,- up 

 Some of the plants in 4-inch pots ,ave 

 assumed a clubby growth, producing reat 

 quantity of leaves, some large and c- lers 

 smaller and much curled or crim Jed. 

 Please tell me the cause and a rf edy 

 for same. J. B. ., 



Either the plants have become ;,ot- 

 bound and are in rather poor soi 1 or 

 they have been allowed to dry out, too 

 much, perhaps a combination of the wo. 

 The trouble is not at all uncommon, but 

 is not serious and can be correctei! by 

 feeding the plants. We would re- om- 

 mend watering with a weak solution of 

 nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia 

 in the water at intervals 6f five to six 

 days until the foliage assumes a healtiiier 

 hue. Give light doses, or you may do 

 harm. Do not crowd your plants, but 

 give them space in which to grow. "Wuter 

 carefully and we think you will soon get 

 rid of red foliage. C. \V. 



Albany, N. Y. — Amos F. Balfoort lias 

 built up a nice trade at 252 Second 

 street and finds it necessary to open a 

 store to prepare for further expansion. 

 Accordingly he will be located at North- 

 ern boulevard and Clinton avenue after 

 May 15. 



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A KNICKERBOCKER DECORATION. 



The illustration opposite is from 

 a photograph of a dinner table decora- 

 tion given by James B. Regan, pro- 

 prietor of the Hotel Knickerbocker, New 

 York, previous to his sailing for Europe. 

 Attached to the ceiling of the room was 

 a huge umbrella frame nine feet across. 

 The ribs were all covered with smilax, 

 275 strings being used for same. Under- 

 neath the umbrella were used over 5,000 

 Narcissus Golden Spur. The outside 

 edge of the umbrella was trimmed with 

 long strips of Asparagus plumosus, and 

 the supporting ribs covered with Rich- 

 mond roses, 400 being used, and about 

 fifty incandescent lights, the same color 

 as the narcissi. In the center of the 

 table was a miniature lake, about twelve 

 feet long and four wide, banked on each 

 side with thick clumps of moss and hun- 

 dreds of fronds of Adiantum Farley- 

 ense. In this lake were several dozen 

 fancy, fan-tail gold-fish and swans, one 

 of the latter being plainly seen in the 

 photograph. At this dinner the cele- 

 brated gold service of the Knickerbocker 

 was used, and this feature of the din- 



ner was the admiration of all who saw 

 it. The entire decoration was designed 

 and carried out under the management 

 of David D. Howells, manager of the 

 floral department in the hotel. 



The illustration does not do credit to 

 the decoration, for the reason that Ihe 

 photograph was a poor one. The pho- 

 tographer evidently was more or less of 

 an amateur, for, while he got a little 

 something of what was on the table, n" 

 he succeeded in getting of the "\xva- 

 brella," which was the principal feature 

 of the decoration, was the lights. 



FLORISTS LOSE SUIT. 



It was decided by a Superior Coi;t 

 jury, April 22, that Anton Schmidt a: 1 

 Henry Cook, owners of a brickyard < •' 

 Beecher street near Pleasant Bun, I • 

 .dianapoUs, Ind., had not been respo ■ 

 sible for ruining flowers at the gree- 

 houses of Fielding A. Conway and Ha:- 

 vey Handy, which were across the street • 

 The florists charged that the smoke ai: ' 

 gases from the brick kiln, which thf.' 

 said should have been provided with ^^ 

 smoke consuming arrangement, ruinc; 



