

■,tV'.^",r--, •..'•. -"4 'i •' 



Sei'tembeu 12, 1007. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



n 



eiate some feeding. Alternate doses of 

 weak cow manure and ' soot water are 

 safer than chemicals. Once a week is 

 often enough to feed. 



Plants in rather small pots, if badly 

 potbound, may still be given a shift. 

 Scratch the ball with a sharp stick and 

 drain the pots well. 



Adiantum euneatum is still more 

 grown than all other varieties combined. 

 It remains the best all-round kind for 

 the average florist to handle. Jt suc- 

 ceeds well in any house where a night 

 temperature of 5.5 degrees to 60 degrees 

 in winter is kept. Adiantum Farleyense 

 prefers a warmer house. It is inostly 

 in the hands of specialists, who give it 

 the attention and conditions which are 

 impossible to the every-day florist. Where 

 a house can be devoted to this fern, with 

 the necessary heat, it is not difficult to 

 grow. The fronds are always in request 

 for choice decorations or funeral work. 



Nephrolepis. 



No ferns sell like the nephrolepis. It 

 is not many years since the Boston fern, 

 Nephrolepis exaltata Bostoniensis, was 

 practically the only sort grown. Since 

 then we had successively Piersoni, Bar- 

 rowsii, Scottii, Elegantissima, Whitman! 

 and several others whose stars were 

 quickly set, and we are promised a flood 

 of additional sports in addition to Todea- 

 oides and Amerpohlii, which are both 

 beautiful. In spite of the accession of 

 new varieties, the old Boston fern still 

 meets with a big sale. Scottii is popular 

 with many. Elegantissima has many ad- 

 mirers and Whitmani is popular with 

 everyone who has grown it. 



Now is the time to dig up and place 

 in pots or pans a good batch of the 

 ^)lants you have had growing in the 

 benches during summer. If carefully 

 lifted, they will sustain little check and 

 will be well established before Thanks- 

 giving, by which date there will be con- 

 siderable demand for ferns of this class. 

 Give the plants a close, moist house until 

 well established, then move them to cool- 

 er and airier conditions. Be careful in 

 watering the heavily fronded varieties 

 not to Met them, as careless use of the 

 hose will soon raise havoc with this class 

 of ferns. They do not require heavy 

 shade, like adiantums. 



Sfloall Femt. 



There is always a good call for small 

 ferns, especially those suitable for fill- 

 ing fern dishes. Few florists raise their 

 own stock of these, preferring to buy 

 what they need each fall from special- 

 ists handling big quantities. The pres- 

 ent is a good time to place orders for 

 whatever may be needed in this line, in 

 order that they may be delivered while 

 the weather is warm. Give them a bench 

 in a north house for a while and keep 

 them well shaded. As the weather grows 

 cooler, place them where they can get a 

 minimum temperature of 55 degrees. 

 Look out for snails and lay traps for 

 any which may trouble the adiantums. 

 Dusting among the pots with air-slaked 

 lime is sometimes necessary. A good plan 

 is to move the pots from the bench and 

 give it a soaking with boiling water. 

 This will clean out the snail family ef- 

 fectually. 



Brief Reminders. 



Give early Lilium Harrisii wanted, for 

 CTiristmas a bench where a temperature 

 of 60 degrees is maintained. Be careful 

 not to overwater. Better keep a little on 

 the dry side. 



. Keep the soil well stirred among bien- 

 nials and perennials re<;ently trans- 

 planted. The heavy fall rains bake the 

 ground hard and jdants will not grow 

 satisfactorily under sucli conditions. 



Finish the transplanting of evergreens 

 by the middle of September. It is too 

 early yet to move deciduous trees and 

 shrubs. 



Use care in watering primulas, espe- 

 cially of the Chinese type. S<;ratch the 

 surface of the pots. Use the watering 

 jK)t instead of the hose for this section. 



Pinch gardenias and keep them well 

 s{)rayed to free them from mealy bug. 



Reduce the amount of shading on the 

 houses. Outside of palms, ferns and 

 some other foliage subjects, the majority 

 of plants will now need full sunlight. 



Take advantage of wet days to wash 

 down glass and wootlwork. All possible 

 light will be needed before long. 



Do not crowd your nephrolepis speci- 

 mens. Give them room to show their 

 symmetry. Elevate the largest plants, or 

 hang them from the roof. Be sure to 

 give them plenty of water. 



Give your early batch of Roman hya- 

 cinths and Paper Whites another soaking. 

 They dry out fast at this season, even in 

 a cellar. 



Do not allow mildew to get a foothold 

 on roses. Fire heat will now be a neces- 

 sity on damp days. 



Sponge palms and Other decorative 

 plants when time permits. 



Have you an ample supply of bulb 

 pans, flower pots and flats for fall use? 

 If not, get in a stock without delay. 



THE SEASON'S START. 



Here is a partially rainy day, for 

 which we feel duly thankful, having had 

 so little rain this summer. And as I sit 

 down to my writing it comes to me that 

 it is again September; the convention, 

 with its pleasures, inspirations, etc., is a 

 thing of the past and we are again at 

 the threshold of the growers' fall season. 

 It will be but a short time ere we find 

 ourselves hard at the old tasks that the 

 past warm weather has freed us from — 

 picking, bunching, packing, shipping, 

 cleaning, watering, airing, firing and all 

 the many details that go to the care of 

 a season 's crop. 



Particular care should be taken from 

 this time on that the plants have all the 

 light possible. If you did not grow your 

 plants in the house, but have lifted them 

 and brought them in, see to it that the 

 shading is entirely removed as soon as 

 they have taken hold. And give them all 

 the air possible, keeping them in a 

 thrifty, growing condition. Under no cir- 

 cumstances let them make a soft, quick 

 growth, but by all the light and air pos- 

 sible, and by judicious watering, main- 

 tain a stiff, stocky, hardy, healthy clump. 



As I have often remarked, the time 

 when you must begin to pick must neces- 

 sarily determine how long you will con- 

 tinue to pick off the buds now forming. 



It is well to keep them off for some time, 

 thereby strengthening your plant, unless 

 you especially desire the early blooms 

 and have the market for them. 



The growing of violets in any quantity 

 is at the best very tedious and monoto- 

 nous work, and the only way to have it 

 profitable or satisfactory is by all the 

 time keeping ahea<l of your work and, by 

 sq doing, reducing the work to a mini- 

 mum and keeping the standard up to the 

 maximum. In order to accomplish this 

 desired end, everything must be taken by 

 the forelock. Not a single aphis of any- 

 kind should be allowed to appear ; no 

 snails, sow bugs, centipeds or any other 

 variety of live stock, either new or old; 

 not a dead leaf or a runner; no soddeik 

 soil or anything tending toward an im- 

 perfectly kept house. 



Of course you attended long ago to 

 the heating apparatus and know that this 

 is in perfect order for the winter, so that 

 later, when it may be necessary to start a 

 little heat, all that you will have to do 

 will be to lay your fire and touch the 

 match to it. It is a great relief to a 

 grower of any kind of plants, at this 

 season of the year, to feel that every- 

 thing is in readiness for a hard winter's 

 firing, including a full coal bin, so that a 

 winter strike of the miners has no terrors 

 for him. R. E. Shuphelt. 



TROUBLE WITH GERANIUMS 



We send some sample branches of 

 geraniums. You will see that they are 

 full of disease and we would like to 

 know what it is; also how to clean the 

 plants. Tliese are plants growing in the 

 open air for propagating on next season. 

 S. & N. 



The shoots and leaves received were 

 badly diseased and should not on any ac- 

 count be used for propagating purposes. 

 Tlie plants are evidently starved and 

 stunted, if the shoots sent are typical 

 ones. It is difficult to tell what has 

 caused the trouble. If your stock was 

 planted out late, was badly potbound and 

 perhaps dry at the root when put in the 

 ground, it would fall an easy prey to 

 disease. Climatic influences often cause 

 blighting of the foliage, damp, muggy 

 weather without sunshine being specially 

 favorable to its spread. 



I would suggest the purchasing of 

 some clean stock. Nothing but disap- 

 pointment can follow propagating from 

 your own plants, if they are all like the 

 samples seen. Plant out your stock in 

 an open, sunny spot next season, and do 

 not depend on the left-overs from your 

 season's sales. Set out good jilauts early 

 in June and we see no reason why you 

 aliould not have clean, thrifty cuttings 

 next fall. c. W. 



METHOD OF APPLYING MANURE. 



In a recent article on "Hen Manure 

 and Its Value" you advise sowing it 

 broadcast after being screened and mixed 

 with dry soil. Now, do you plow it under 

 or sow it after the ground is planted? 



I have supposed that the best plan for 

 using it in the hill was to mix it with 

 soil and rot it thoroughly before using. 

 I have also been told that a good way to 

 do is to sow it broadcast in the fall and 

 plow under. Would be glad to have your 

 opinion. l. M. G. 



To insure proper decomposition of ma- 

 nure, both air and moisture are necessary, 

 while extreme dryness or too much water 

 will arrest it. * 



Making a compost of one-fourth 



