Mat IC 1907. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



1975 



:^iiiipson, Uncle Sam, Good Gracious, in 

 ihree colors, pink, white and yellow; 

 Philadelphia, and Midwinter, a late va- 

 'iety from John Lewis Child's catalogue. 

 My greenhouse this fall will be kept at 

 :\ temperature of 54 degrees, and planted 

 to carnations. Please explain clearly 

 how to grow the mums I have named. 



F. C. P. 



Answering F. C. P., I would say that 

 if he proposes to grow only a small 

 number of plants, why not fill the benches 

 with carnations and grow the mums in 

 jiots? They can then be flowered along 

 the paths or in any corner and the re- 

 turns from the house could be increased 

 l)y just that much. He could, of course, 

 ]ilant them out in the garden and lift 

 Ihem early in September. Handled in 

 this manner, they are not so liable to be 

 neglected in the hot summer — if we are 



to get any this year — and will produce 

 a good enough grade of flowers for fu- 

 neral work. 



The culture in such 9, case consists 

 merely of pinching back the main shoots 

 until about the first week in July and 

 then letting the plants produce buds 

 when they are ready in September. 

 Water the plants and syringe them vigor- 

 ously once in a while, putting in a stake 

 or two to prevent the plants from get- 

 ting broken. To grow them in pots 

 means more work watering; otherwise it 

 is not much different. To explain in de- 

 tail how to grow mums would take up 

 lots of time and space, but if F. C. P. 

 will watch the notes appearing from 

 week to week in this column and will 

 use his own common sense in applying 

 them to his own individual case, he will 

 not find any very great difficulties in 

 his path. C. H. T. 



FOR TWO HOUSES. 



I have two carnation houses, each 25x 

 50 feet. I intend growing Winsor, Fian- 

 cee, Robert Craig, Mrs. Patten, Eoose- 

 velt, Enchantress, Eose-pink Enchantress, 

 White Perfection, Lieutenant Peary and 

 Dorothy Whitney. Will you kindly in- 

 form me which varieties I should grow 

 in each house, and the temperature of 

 the houses? Also I intend to plant right 

 in the benches, as my stock is in 3-ineh 

 Jiots. When would you advise planting, 

 and will you please inform what soil you 

 consider best for carnations? A. N. B. 



In dividing the varieties for planting 

 ill the two houses you will have to take 

 into consideration the quantity you wish 

 to plant of each, as well as the temper- 

 ature required by each variety. If you 

 were to gr<i|w the same quantity of each 

 variety I could divide them half and half 

 for you, but lest you may want to fill 

 uiie house with three or four sorts and 

 put the balance in the other house I will 

 make three classes. One will be far the 

 warmer house, another will be for the 

 cooler house and the third you can plant 

 in either house with good average re- 

 fiults. Plant Enchantress, Rose-pink En- 

 chantress and White Perfection in one 

 house and run it at 50 to 52 degrees at 

 night. Plant Fiancee, Lieutenant Peary 

 and Robert Craig in the warmer house 

 and run it at 52 to 54 degrees. Put 

 Fiancee at the warmest end of this house. 

 The other varieties will do splendidly in 

 about 52 degrees. 



Plant Enchantress and Rose-pink En- 

 chantress on the north side of the house, 

 if possible. The color will hold better 

 if the sunlight is subdued slightly toward 

 sjiring. The white varieties should be on 

 the south side, where they will get the 

 full sun, to prevent the blooms from 

 coming mottled with pink. These two 

 varieties,, however, are usually free from 

 this fault. This rule holds good with 

 nearly all the white varieties and the 

 various shades of pink. We have had no 



experience as yet with Winsor, and so do 

 not know whether it bleaches easily or 

 not, but I would advise planting it where 

 it can be shaded readily without shading 

 anything else, unless desired. 



If your houses are empty I would ad- 

 vise planting as soon as it can be done. 

 The young plants will be all the better 

 established and will be better able to en- 

 dure the heat during the summer than 

 when they are planted right in the midst 

 of the summer heat. If planting at once 

 is impractical, then keep them growing 

 until it can be done. Shift into 4-inch 

 pots, if necessary, to keep them going. 



Carnations are being grown success- 

 fully in a wide range of soil, and it 

 would be a mistake for anyone to say 

 this is the right soil, and no other can 

 be used with as good success. The main 

 point is to study your soil and supply 

 whatever may be lacking to make a good 

 soil for the plants. It will prove quite 

 advantageous to the beginner to have a 



light soil that will drain readily, as the 

 danger of overwatering is more difficult 

 to avoid during the winter than the 

 other extreme. A good rule to go by, 

 for the beginner, is the quality of the sod 

 that is growing on the soil. A soil that 

 will produce a good, heavy sod will usu- 

 ally contain the principal elements re- 

 quired by carnations and other green- 

 house plants. Whatever may be lacking 

 for any particular crop can be adde<l 

 to it. A. F. J. Baur. 



CARNATION AFTERGLOW. 



Richard Witterstaetter, Cincinnati, the 

 originator of Carnation Afterglow, 

 states that he has made arrangements 

 for its dissemination in the trade, the 

 coming season. It will be put out joint- 

 ly with William Nicholson, Framingham, 

 Mass.; E. G. Hill Co., Richmond, Ind., 

 and Dailledouze Bros., Flatbush, N. Y. 

 The color is rosy cerise and everyone who 

 is familiar with the variety thinks it 

 is destined to be grown as universally 

 as has been the Lawson. It has done 

 excellently in the several sections in 

 which it has been tried this season and 

 at all the exhibitions it has scored splen- 

 didly. At the annual carnation show of 

 the Chicago Florists' Club there was a 

 series of five-minute talks and nearly 

 every speaker had a good word to say 

 for Afterglow. 



DATE OF FIRST CROP. 



Please tell a beginner what length of 

 time will be required to bring rooted 

 carnation cuttings into bloom, if planted 

 out now, and taken into the greenhouse 

 about August 1. E. C. B. 



Plants that are set out in the field now 

 should make nice stock by August 1, and 

 if housed at that date should be yielding 

 a fair cut from early in October on. This 

 will, of course, depend on many condi- 

 tions, which may bring the crop quicker 

 or throw it later. Varieties differ 

 greatly, too. For instance, Mrs. Lawson 

 would not give you long enough stems to 

 be of , much use in vase work before No- 

 vember or later, while Enchantress and 

 others will give you good stems at once. 



A. F. J. B. 



SEASONABLE TREATMENT. 



At this season mildew is one of the 

 worst enemies of the rose grower. As 

 the houses have to be left open a great 

 deal and the sudden fluctuations of tem- 



perature create the conditions suitablt' 

 for the germination of the spores which 

 are ever present, and as the weather is 

 too warm to require firing, it is no easy 

 job to get rid of this fungus. 



Careful ventilation and a dusting of 

 the flowers of sulphur twice a week will 

 help to keep it in check. For a bad case 

 of it, shutting down the ventilators and 

 running the temperature up to 95 de- 

 grees, with a good dusting of «ulphur. 



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