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8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



JuNiB 6, 190T. 



should be planted in June; then by 

 the time to replant a year hence, you 

 should have cut four crops. Smilax 

 is mostly used in quantity. If you need 

 fifty strings you have time enough to 

 procure it of a specialist, but unless 

 you have some on your own place, if 

 you are a retailer, it is a continual an- 

 noyance sending to the wholesale house 

 for a few strings. We daily notice the 

 inconvenience of not having smilax on 

 the place, and I am not sur« that it is 

 less profitable than many other plants 



that occupy our thought and space and 

 upon which we put our labor. 



The smilax, like the asparagus, is a 

 heavy feeder, and should have a heavy 

 loam with a third or fourth of fresh 

 manure. Once the writer was compelled 

 to use a light, gritty sand for our smilax 

 bed, and it was a most pronounced fail- 

 ure. He also planted a lot of asparagus 

 in a bed of good soil at least a foot 

 deep, separated from the earth by 

 planks, and that also was a failure, so 

 avoid these mistakes. 



USE OF LIME. 



Please give me a prescription for 

 sweetening my soil. Would air-slaked 

 lime do it, and, if so, in what quantity? 

 I planted my young carnations in the 

 old garden where I had my soil from 

 the greenhouse and would like to know 

 if lime should be scattered on it, or 

 would Bordeaux mixture be of any bene- 

 fit! In what proportions should I use 

 sheep manure for my carnations? 



F. N. B. 



This is a very indefinite query, but 

 if the young carnation plants are grow- 

 ing properly in the field I would not 

 apply anything in the shape of lime, or 

 anything of that nature. If the soil 

 lay outside, spread out over winter, so 

 the elements could work on it, it will 

 likely be in fair shape as regards sweet- 

 ness, and during an average summer it 

 is not likely to sour in the open. While 

 lime will seldom do any harm, if applied 

 in moderate quantities, yet it is not 

 advisable to be continually doctoring 

 your soil. One is apt to overdo it. We 

 do not consider it advisable to spread 

 old soil from the greenhouses on the 

 field where young carnations are to be 

 planted the following season. While this 

 soil is usually tolerably rich, it is apt 

 to contain fungous diseases and should 

 be exposed to the weather at least two 

 years before planting carnations on it. 

 If sown down in red clover, it will be 

 greatly benefited. First apply a good 

 coat of air-slaked lime, then sow your 

 clover and the second summer turn it 

 under. By that time it will be in fair 

 mechanical condition. 



If you think your soil needs sweeten- 

 ing, then use air-slaked lime. Put on 

 enough to whiten the surface of the soil 

 and stir it in with your cultivator. Bor- 

 deaux mixture will do no good unless 

 some fungous disease is present. 



To advise you about the use of sheep 

 manure one must know what shape it is 

 in. If it comes from the stock yards 

 and has considerable litter mixed with 

 it, like stable manure, then I would use 

 it in about two-thirds the proportion 

 you would use stable manure. Sheep 

 manure is strong, but if it is well in- 

 corporated with the soil and allowed to 

 rot with it, it will not work any harm, 

 even when used quite heavily. If it is 

 in a pulverized state I would prefer to 

 use it as a top-dressing later on. You 



will get more good out of it. In this 

 latter state I would not use it stronger 

 than about one part manure to fifteen 

 parts soil and allow it to rot thoroughly. 

 Better mix stable manure or cow manure 

 with your compost pile, and use the 

 sheep manure as a top dressing in the 

 house later on. As a top-dressing, mix 

 it with soil in equal portions and spread 

 on the bench about a half -inch thick. 

 There is less danger of harming the 

 plants when mixed with soil than when 

 it is used alone. A. F. J. Baur. 



NEW CASTLE CARNATIONS. 



Weiland & Olinger, at New Castle, 

 Ind., have had excellent success during 

 the present season, but at no time have 

 they been more fortunate than at Memo- 

 rial day, as the accompanying illustra- 



tion will show. It is reproduced from 

 a photograph made in one of their car- 

 nation houses May 27 and gives an idea 

 of the crop of carnations they had for 

 that period of unexampled dMnand. Mr. 

 Weiland says it was the largest crop of 

 carnations it ever has been his fortune 

 to see. There were many plants which 

 had as many as ten or eleven blooms 

 which could be cut for Memorial day. 

 From the bench in the center 2,500 were 

 taken at one picking. The variety is 

 Boston Market. Their whole cut for the 

 four days preceding Decoration day was 

 25,000 blooms. 



FLORIFEROUS BRITANNIA. 



A. Smith, of Enfield Higljway, N., 

 Middlesex, England, in speaking of the 

 fact that he is asking £3, or about $15, 

 per thousand for rooted cuttings of Car- 

 nation Britaimia, says: "My price is 

 very little more than American prices 

 for new varieties and is not considered 

 too high by any who have seen Britan- 

 nia, as it is about three times as pro- 

 lific in blooming as is any other car- 

 nation. It really is a wonder and I 

 have sold nearly all my stock for this 

 season. ' ' 



Bound Brook, N. J. — The progress in 

 the construction of Thomas Young's 

 new houses is seriously delayed by con- 

 trary weather and delays in freight 

 traflSc, but it is hoped they will be ready 

 in good season for planting. 



Sharon, Pa. — It has been reported 

 that M. I. O'Brien has sold out to Wal- 

 ter Mott and Frank Burfitt. Mr.'O'Brien 

 states that the deal has not been closed 

 and that he is still doing business at the 

 old stand, and expects to continue in- 

 definitely. 



AMERICAN BEAUTIES. 



I am frequently asked as to the best 

 method of carrying American Beauties 

 over a second season. The beginner and 

 the inexperienced cling to the idea that 

 it is a waste of material and labor to 

 throw out the old plants when they are 

 showing such vigorous growth and to 

 substitute young stock in their place. 



I wish it to be understood that I do 

 not advocate carrying Beauties over a 

 second season, as the results from such 

 a method, according to my observation 

 and experience, have been anything but 

 encouraging. I will, however, give a 

 rd8um6 of the most successful way of 

 doing the work and as it is practiced 



by those who have been most successful 

 with two-year-old stock. 



The benches should be partly dried off 

 for a couple of weeks previous to lifting 

 the plants. These, when lifted, should 

 be heeled in on some high ground and 

 pruned into shape. In about two or 

 three weeks they will be ready to trans- 

 plant. 



The soil and benches should be pre- 

 pared in the same way as recommended 

 for young stock, only it is better to add 

 another inch of depth to the benches by 

 nailing an inch strip to the top of the 

 sideboard. 



The ball should be reduced in size as 

 little as possible, as an injury to the 

 roots will cause a check, planting just 

 deep enough to cover the ball. The 

 bench should then get a thorough soak- 

 ing to settle the soil well around the 

 roots, allowing the soil to become mod- 

 erately dry afterwards, till root action 



