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The Weekly Florists* Review^ 



August 8, 1907. 



the varieties you grow. If you grow 

 mostly Enchantress and its two sports 

 you must get more than if you grow such 

 varieties as Queen, Candace, Fair Maid, 

 etc. It is all well enough to say that 

 you ought to get a certain amount out 

 of each hundred blooms or out of each 

 square foot of bench space, but when it 

 comes to doing it, there is usually a dif- 

 ferent story to tell, and a host of excuses 

 to oflfer. 



If you contemplate growing carnations 

 for the wholesale market, then the best 

 advice I can give you is to inquire in the 

 market where you expect to dispose of 

 them. It would be useless for me to tell 

 you what we get for our blooms unless 

 you expected to sell them in our market. 

 Your market may return more or it may 

 return less. Grow your carnatiops as well 

 as you can, and by keeping your eyes 

 open see that you get as much for your 

 blooms as your neighbors or competitors, 

 and then you can tell at the end of the 

 season whether carnations are a profitable 

 crop to grow for your market. I will 

 say, however, that if the demand and the 

 supply are normal and prices are normal 

 as compared with other markets, carna- 

 tions will be as profitable as any other 

 crop. This does not answer your ques- 

 tion, but it is the best I can do for you, 

 as I would not make assertions which 



would stand only one chance in a hundred 

 of proving correct in your case. 



- A. F. J. B. 



SOIL FOR CARNATIONS. 



Owing to unusual high water I am 

 unable to obtain my soil for carnations 

 where I had expected, and I do not know 

 where else I can get suitable soil. I 

 thought perhaps you might suggest a 

 way out. I had thought of leaving the 

 old soil in the benches, sowing it to 

 clover or sorpething of that kind, letting 

 it grow for a few weeks, then turning 

 it over and working in rotted cow man- 

 ure, lime, bone, meal, etc., and setting 

 my carnations about -September 1. What 

 do you think of this plan? Have you 

 some better suggestion? Would steril- 

 izing the soil be of benefit? C. A. N. 



I would not advise you to leave the 

 old soil in your benches to plant carna- 

 tions on; in fact, it would be about the 

 last thing we would do. We have heard 

 growers tell about using soil more than 

 one season with good results, but from 

 personal experience I can say that old 

 soil will seldom, if ever, produce as good 

 results as new soil that is as good as 

 the old soil was when first planted. 

 Whenever someone finds out just what 

 the plants take from the soil, and how 



Nephrolepii Amerpohlii in Cut Flower Work. 



it can be put back, in the same soluble 

 condition as it was originally, then per- 

 haps we can rejuvenate old soil and use 

 it several seasons. 



Your plan of sowing clover is not 

 practical, as you have not enough time 

 to reap any benefits before planting time. 

 It would take at least three months for 

 the clover to do any good, and even then 

 it would take some time for it to rot 

 enough to suit carnations. Carnations 

 want a well rotted compost and will not 

 do well in a half -rotted sod, as roses will. 



It is too near planting time to use sod 

 for this season 's work, if it is not already 

 cut and rotted. I would advise you to 

 get some soil from a field that has been 

 under cultivation, but which is fairly 

 rich. Spread on some of that old cow 

 manure and plow it in at once, and plow 

 it every two weeks or oftener, to let the 

 air into it. Of course a good rich soil is 

 a splendid thing to have, but you can 

 feed as much as you find necessary later, 

 when the plants are established. It is of 

 more importance that the soil is in a 

 sweet, live, friable condition — a condi- 

 tion you do not usually find in old soil, 

 however much you may doctor iT 



A. F. J. B. 



CARNATIONS FOR SOLID BED. 



I have two benches and a solid bed 

 in my carnation house. The solid bed 

 is at the west side of the house — the cool 

 side. What variety should I plant on 

 it? I intend to plant Enchantress, Rose- 

 pink Enchantress, White Perfection, 

 Lady Bountiful and Lawson. The Boun- 

 tiful plants are small. J. H. D. 



I would advise you to plant Enchant- 

 ress and Rose-pink Enchantress on the 

 solid bed and in the coolest part of the 

 house. Plant Lawson in the warmest part 

 and the two white ones where the tem- 

 perature will run about 52 degrees. 



A. F. J. B. 



DISTANCE BETWEEN PLANTS. 



What is the right distance apart to 

 plant carnations in benches for the best 

 results? The soil is strong clay loam, 

 with manure and a little lime. C. & C. 



The distance apart you set your car- 

 nations on the benches will depend some- 

 what on the varieties you grow, and on 

 the size of your plants. For most varie- 

 ties and average size of plants you can 

 allow a space 10x12. For varieties like 

 Victory you need not allow more than 

 8x10, but you would not dare plant 

 Robert Craig as closely as that. 



A. F. J. B. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



Carnations Registered. 



W. N. Rudd, Mt. Greenwood, 111., reg- 

 isters Defiance, color bright (so-called) 

 scarlet ; size easily grown two and three- 

 quarters inches; stem long and stiff; 

 habit upright, with no superfluous grass, 

 breaking quickly and strong when 

 topped; growth strong and clean, with 

 no tendency to disease; foliage medium 

 wide, with heavy bloom and good blue 

 color; origin, a cross between Estelle 

 on a seedling having Argyle, Mrs. Mc- 

 Burnie and Maceo blood, cross made 

 1902 ; an early, free and continuous 

 bloomer, believed to be a first-class com- 

 mercial scarlet. 



Mr. Rudd also registers Sincerity, col- 

 or deep Daybreak shade, hot sun deepens 

 instead of fading color; size easily three 



