

The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Mat 80, 1907. 



the shower, which should be light enough 

 for the scarf to be seen through it. These 

 gauze scarfs now are offered by the lead- 

 ing supply houses in a wide range of 

 styles and qualities and are a decided 

 acquisition for many purposes, but for a 

 bride's bouquet select one not too heavy. 

 It always should be slightly longer than 

 the longest ribbon in the shower. 



Putting Together. 



The actual work of construction of a 

 bride's bouquet, to a skilled designer, 

 is a purely mechanical operation, but 

 to a beginner it is a serious matter. 

 Short-stemmed flowers cannot be used 

 without artificial mounting. Even long- 

 stemmed valley needs wiring for extra 



length. Detach the foliage, move it 

 down and wire several spikes on half 

 a match-stick, or it can be done on wire. 

 The green not only serves as a back- 

 ground for the white bells but also 

 spreads the spikes apart, adds grace and 

 makes a larger bunch without using an 

 immense number of flowers. It also 

 reduces the size of the stem of the bou- 

 quet, the advantage of which is not dif- 

 ficult to see. Fasten the bunches to- 

 gether with a tight clasp of wire. Then 

 attach your shower. Cover the wired 

 stems with green and wrap the whole 

 stem of the bouquet with white ribbon 

 or silk to protect the hands, after turn- 

 ing in all stray ends of wire or prickly 

 foliage. 



PLANTING. 



With the bench filled in good shape 

 and the distances ])roperly marked off, 

 the work of planting is comparatively 

 easy. The ball should be as little dis- 

 turbed as possible, simply rubbing off 

 the sharp edges around the top. Some 

 growers do not even remove the drainage 

 from the bottom of the ball. Any ball 

 showing dryness should be dipped in a 

 pail of water before being planted, as 

 it is difficult to thoroughly moisten the 

 ball after being planted. 



The ball should be planted just deep 

 ' enough to cover it, leaving a slight de- 

 pression around it to facilitate watering. 

 The soil should be pressed moderately 

 firm and, as the crops are to remain a 

 year at least in the benches, it will cer- 

 tainly pay to exercise a little care and 

 judgment in planting. 



Water eacli plant slowly around the 

 ball, taking care not to saturate the rest 

 of the soil. Continue this individual 

 watering for at least a week, or until 

 the moisture will meet between the lines. 

 Keep the syringe going, and especially 

 during hot weather. This serves the 

 double purpose of keeping off spiders 

 and keeping the atmosphere cool and 

 moist. Keep the walks moist and give 

 plenty of fresh air and, if these condi- 

 tions are attended to and the plants are 

 of good constitution, they must grow. 



RiBES. 



USE FRESH NICOTINE. 



When an insecticide fails to do what 

 we expect of it, we generally blame the 

 maker, or his stuff, and invariably over- 

 look the possibility of ourselves having 

 contributed to the failure. Some years 

 ago, when nicotine solutions began to 

 find favor in gardens, says a writer in 



the Gardeners' Magazine, I heard a 

 gardener roundly abusing a bottle of a 

 well-known brand, which he said was no 

 better than water. And he spoke the 

 truth. He had had the bottle in store 

 for over twelve months, and although it 

 was tightly corked and sealed, the con- 

 tents was almost odorless and tasteless. 

 To make assAirance doubly sure, we 

 soaked an aphis in the pure solution, and 

 it started to walk off unharmed. And 

 yet that same brand of nicotine was and 

 is splendid when fresh. Should not the 

 manufacturer warn growers against keep- 

 ing it too long? 



THE KLAGGE PLANT. 



Robert Kiagge 's plant at Mount Clem- 

 ens, Mich., contains about 75,000 to 

 8.5,000 square feet of glass devoted to 

 the growing of a general line of stock 



for the wholesale market. Last year he 

 went into the growing of bulbous stock 

 on a large scale, meeting with good suc- 

 cess. One of the accompanying illustra- 

 tions is from a photograph made in his 

 shed March 27, and shows the bulbous 

 stock for Easter ready for sending out 

 to customers. 



It will be remembered that at one time 

 Mr. Kiagge was known in the trade as 

 the Mount Clemens violet king. He ab- 

 dicated several years ago, for there was 

 an insurrection among the plants and 

 they ruled him instead of longer accept- 

 ing with responsive spirit his most care- 

 ful ministrations. Since then roses and 

 carnations have been the leading items. 

 The larger of the accompanying illustra- 

 tions shows a house of Kaiserin roses 

 grown for spring and summer blooming. 

 It will be noted that the plants are on 

 solid beds built with brick side walls, 

 after the fashion popular with Mount 

 Clemens growers. The picture speaks for 

 itself in the matter of the health and 

 vigor of the stock and the abundance 

 of the crop. Mr. Kiagge 's stock al- 

 ways is good and sells well. 



Additional glass is being built from 

 year to year. At present the heating 

 system for the whole plant is being over- 

 hauled, and two new boilers are being 

 installed, making it one of the most up- 

 to-date places in that part of the coun- 

 try. H. S. 



PETUNIAS FOR STOCK. 



How should stock plants of petunias 

 be treated in order to get cuttings for 

 another year? F. B. F. 



Petunias in pots will be inclined to 

 flower now. Pick off all flowers, shorten 

 back the shoots and they will break away 

 strongly. If these persist in throwing 

 flowers, continue the picking off of flow- 

 ers and pinching the shoots until the end 

 of August, after which time it would he 

 well to start propagating. 



Unless it is desired to work up stock 

 of double varieties, or some especially 

 fine single, it is much easier to propagate 

 from seed. Separate colors may be 

 bought and few rogues will be found in 

 a packet. C. W. 



Bulbous Stock Ready for Shipment at Robert Klagge's. 



