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1892 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



Mat 9, 1007. 



ally suffice to give them a start, if the 

 cultivating is looked after properly. 

 Then, by the time the soil dries out to 

 amount to anything, the roots are driv- 

 ing down toward the moister soil below. 

 At this time of the year rains are usu- 

 ally frequent enough to eliminate any 

 danger of the plants burning out, but 

 later in the month such a tlung might 

 happen and tlien is when it is desirable 

 to have the artificial supply handy. Do 

 not drag -several hundred feet of hose 

 all over the patch, if you water that 

 way, but run a 1-inch pipe across the 

 field and place hose bibs along so that 

 you can reach every plant with a length 

 of fifty feet of hose. This is quickly 

 done and will save you much time and 

 many plants. By leaving out about 

 every twentieth row you will have a 

 path to work in without trampling any 

 of the plants. The inch pipe will nqt 

 reduce the pressure of the water as much 

 as the hose would, either. 



Where watering is to be kept up all 

 through the summer, it pays to put in a 

 system especially adapted for that pur- 

 pose, but it would be a waste of time 

 and money to put it in your carnation 

 field. The few times you would really 

 need to water would not pay for the 

 trouble, etc. However, if you plant any 

 carnations for summer blooming, by all 

 means plant them within reach of the 

 water. There is a vast difference be- 

 tween growing a carnation in the field 

 for benching and for blooming in the 

 field. In the latter case you want to 

 push them along as rapidly as possible 

 and plenty of water will help wonder- 

 fully. 



Condition of SoiL 



There is one warning I wish to give 

 you, and that is to stay off the field 

 while the soil is too wet. 



If the soil turns up wet, and will not 

 crumble, you would better leave it a 

 few days longer, until it will crumble 

 readily. If it is turned up wet and the 

 warm sun beats on it, and perhaps a 

 drying wind springs up, the soil will 

 become lumpy and no amount of culti- 

 vating will ever put it into first-class 

 condition during the whole season. Good 

 plants will of course be out of the ques- 

 tion. Flowing in the fall has a very 

 beneficial effect in this respect, by keep- 

 ing the soil loose and mellow, so it can 

 dry out quickly in the spring. Soils 

 differ in texture and require different 

 lengths of time to dry out properly, and 

 the heavier the soil is the more beneficial 

 is the fall plowing. 



You will also find it wise to begin the 

 cultivating the first day of the planting. 

 ]n the evening, before quitting time, 

 have a man go o^■er the day's planting 

 with the cultivator, to loosen the soil 

 between the rows. The fresh soil is 

 packed down quickly from tramping 

 across the field in planting, etc., and the 

 cultivating the same day will do more 

 good than three cultivatings after the 

 sun has beaten down on it a week. 



Growing Indoors. 



If you expect to grow your Mrs. Law- 

 son, or others, inside all summer, be sure 

 they do not become potbound and 

 stunted. If they have not already been 

 shifted into the pots from which you 

 expect to bench them, then seize upon 

 the first opportunity to shift them. They 

 must be kept growing, else failure will 

 be sure to result. There are many ways 

 of handling them successfully. Some 



Ampelopsis Veitchii. 



growers pot into 4-inch pots and plunge 

 outside as early as possible; others keep 

 them inside all the time; both plant on 

 the bench in June. One of the finest 

 houses of Lawson I ever saw was planted 

 from small pots in February. Almost 

 any method is good if you will keep the 

 one aim in sight, and that is, to keep 

 them on the move, but not to get them 

 too soft. A. F. J. Baue. 



THE AMPELOPSIS. 



The ampelopsisi is a quite large and 

 most useful genus of hardy climbers. 

 One species enters largely into the plants- 

 man 's trade. We all handle, and some 

 of us largely, that unrivalled climber, 

 A. tricuspidata, so universally known as 

 A. Veitchii. It has many aliases among 

 our patrons, being called Japanese ivy, 

 Boston ivy, etc. For the covering of un- 

 sightly walls, stone or brick barns, and 

 on the most costly mansions if the owner 

 chooses, it has no equal, needing no sup- 

 port of any kind. 



Though making but a moderate growth 

 the first two years it is, when well estab- 

 lished, a most vigorous grower and it 

 climbs to the roofs of buildings. Will- 

 iam Scott says there is a fallacy about 

 its growing only on the south and east 

 aspects; that in one city he has heard 

 it stated that it did best on the north 

 side. It will grow on every side of a 

 house, north or south, but should be 

 given a bushel of good .soil for a start, 

 and in exposed places some litter over the 

 roots the first year. Millions have been 

 planted in the residence portions of 

 cities, and millions more are yet to be 

 planted as cities spread out. It is not a 

 suitable climber for a frame house, for 

 the house must be painted and that set- 

 tles the vine unless you are content to 

 cut it down and begin again from the 

 ground. 



Projiagation is by cuttings or seed. 



The cuttings can be put into flats and 

 should be made in September with two 

 or three eyes of the current year's 

 growth. A light loam is a good compost 

 for the cuttings and a shaded bench in 

 the greenhouse is the place. Or, the cut- 

 tings can be put at once into the ground 

 in a coldframe. They should be wintered, 

 whether propagated inside or out, in a 

 coldframe and planted out the following 

 spring. Those who have raised them 

 from seed for a number of years think it 

 the cheapest method. Sow the seed in 

 March thickly in flats, covering a quarter 

 inch. In May or June pot them off into 

 2-ineh pots and when there are benches 

 to spare shift into 4-inch and grow them 

 on all summer inside, giving them an 

 18-inch stake. In September set them 

 outside and let them get the fall frosts 

 slowly. This is mentioned because they 

 have been kept indoors till October, and 

 then, when put out, get a severe frost 

 that would kill them to the ground. A 

 deep frame with the pots plunged is 

 the best place to winter them, removing 

 the glass covering in April so that they 

 are in no way forced. 



These plants a year old will be most 

 satisfactory to sell to your customers, 

 and being from pots there is no risk of 

 losing one. Some readers may say you 

 can buy plants cheaper than you can 

 raise them. By the above method you 

 will find Ampelopsis Veitchii a more 

 profitable plant than many others you 

 grow. It seems to thrive in any soil 

 when once established. When growing 

 it young we use a heavy loam. 



Geeenville, S. C. — J. Newton Holland 

 has ordered the material for a new 

 greenhouse, 21x75, for roses. 



Faiebuey, III. — Kring Bros, have had 

 an excellent season, their carnations hav- 

 ing bloomed heavily all winter. They 

 ship from 10,000 to 20,000 a week. 



