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MAY 2, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



1815 



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Dinner Decoration at tbe Hotel Knickerbocker, New York. 



their flowers, and asked $5,000 damages. 

 The defendants insisted that the brick 

 kiln had not been tlie cause of the dam- 

 age of which the plaintilts complained. 



PEACHES UNDER GLASS. 



Kindly advise me how to force peaches 

 under glass. I have just planted peach 

 trees, whicii came in balls in 8-inch pots 

 several months after being ordered. 



O.K. 



You should not attempt to do any 

 forcing this year. Let the plants come 

 away of their own accord, but after 

 they have started see that the tempera- 

 ture does not fall below 40 degrees. 

 Vour efforts for this season should be 

 directed towards the procuring of a 

 clean, healthy growth and the shaping of 

 your trees. They should be well pruned 

 back before they begin to move and 

 trained into whatever shape you desire 

 to have them, according as they grow. 



When the growths have attained a 

 length of about one inch, you will have 

 to select the shoots that are best suited 

 and most conveniently placed for train- 

 ing in the direction you desire for the 

 shaping of your trees, and rub out the 

 buds which you cannot use. Do not 

 make the mistake of leaving too many. 

 Always keep in mind that the shoots you 

 'ay in this season will later on be the 

 main branches of your trees. Give plenty 

 of air night and day, when weather will 

 permit, to keep your foliage strong and 

 your growths firm. Give plenty of water 

 Hnd syringe your trees thoroughly, at 

 least twice a week, to prevent the at- 

 l^acks of red spider and other insects. 

 Peach trees are not as a rule hard to 

 keep clean, as insects are not apt to 

 trouble them if the trees are kept in 

 good health, but careless treatment will 

 bring insect pests on even the hardiest 

 of plants. 



Next year you can begin forcing any 

 time after January 1, according to the 

 time you wish to have the fruit ready. 

 Beginning about January 1 the fruit 

 would be ready on the earliest varieties 

 about the middle of May; starting about 

 March 1 would give ripe fruit about 

 June 20. The trees should be pruned 

 at least a month before starting and the 

 old wood should get a good washing 

 with a solution^ of whale-oil soap, or 

 some such insecticide, to dislodge any 

 insects that may be hidden away in the 

 crevices of the bark, and the trees tied 

 into shape. The shoots should never be 

 tied across one another and should be 

 brought out as straight from the main 

 branches as possible. A space of four 

 inches should be left between the shoots, 

 which will give room for the full devel- 

 opment of the foliage without crowding. 



After starting, the trees should be 

 syringed lightly every morning and the 

 floor of the house damped down, so as to 

 keep sufficient moisture in the atmos- 

 phere to assist the bursting of the buds. 

 The temperature should not exceed 40 

 degrees at night for the first two weeks; 

 then a rise of 5 degrees may be allowed, 

 but it should in no case be allowed to 

 exceed 45 degrees until after flowering 

 is over and the fruit set. A high tem- 

 perature is certain to result in the drop- 

 ping of the buds before setting takes 

 place, resulting in no crop. This is the 

 point where the greatest number of fail- 

 ures occur in the growing of peaches 

 under glass. At first the day tempera- 

 ture should not exceed jIS degrees, with 

 air on, but after the first two weeks it 

 may be allowed to rise to 60 degrees. 

 After the fruit is set and swelling the 

 temperature should be gradually raised 

 to 60 degrees at night and 75 degrees 

 on bright days. 



Disbudding requires attention as 

 growth advances and no novice should 



be set at the job; it requires a man who 

 knows what to take off and what to 

 leave. Two things must be borne in 

 niin<l: First, to leave enough growth to 

 provide sufficient foliage for the healthy 

 development of the tree and fruit, and, 

 second, to provide sufficient wood for 

 next year 's crop, as the fruit is all 

 borne on the young growths of the pre- 

 vious year. 



Provision should be made for young 

 growths to take the place of the old 

 ones, so that these can be cut out next 

 spring. To do this, a good strong growth 

 should be taken away from as near the 

 base of the present shoot as possible. 

 By base, I mean that point where the 

 present fruiting shoot branches away 

 from the larger stem. After the fruit 

 has been thinned out. the first shoot be- 

 yond the fruit should be left to provide 

 an outlet for the sap and insure free cir- 

 culation to the fruit; but, unless this 

 shoot is needed as a fruiting shoot for 

 next year, it can be pinched after it has 

 made about three joints. The lateral 

 shoots, that will eventually start from 

 where the shoot was pinched, should be 

 stopped at the first joint, and so on, ac- 

 cording as the laterals are produced. The 

 leading or point growth should also be 

 left, and enough along the branches to 

 provide sufficient foliage to furnish the 

 tree, but these later can be pinched at 

 the second or third joint and the laterals 

 pinched as they appear. All shoots not 

 required should be rubbed out after the 

 buds are well started. There is no need 

 to let them attain a length of several 

 inches and then take them off; this 

 would only be robbing the tree. The 

 time to take them is just as soon as the 

 necessary shoots can be selected. 



Regarding the thinning of the fruit. 



part of it should be taken off just after 



I setting, but enough should be left to 



allow for what mav fail to stone. After 



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