

The Weekly Florists' Review* 



September 26, 1907. 



nitrogen prevented. In some cases the 

 deposits are, or were originally, a hun- 

 dred feet or more thick. Its introduction 

 into England was in 1840, and it cre- 

 ated a sensation in gardening circles. It 

 was then, indeed, a manure to conjure 

 with, containing, as it generally did, 

 from fifteen to twenty per cent of am- 

 monia, or nearly as high a percentage as 

 nitrate of soda. But there was a limit 

 to the supply of material of this high 

 quality, and the result has been that the 

 imports, which were about 200,000 tons 

 in 1850, are now, in some years, less than 

 20,000 tons, according to the Gardeners ' 



Magazine, "London. Still, there are al- 

 most numberless grades of guano on the 

 market at the present time, not only 

 from Peru, whence it was first intro- 

 duced, but from several parts of the 

 South American coast, from islands in 

 the Pacific, from Southwest Africa, etc. 

 Some of the guanos imported today are 

 of quite recent origin, some even being 

 collected annually after the birds' breed- 

 ing season. Guano is the basis of most 

 of the manufactured fertilizers of the 

 present day, various chemical fertilizers 

 being added to it in the manufacturing 

 process. 







SEASONABLE 



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SUGGESTIONS 



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If your callas are still outdoors, it is 

 time to get them under glass. Frost so 

 far has not visited us, but cannot be 

 much longer delayed. Callas should 

 have all possible sunlight and a night 

 temperature of 55 degrees to achieve 

 best results. They will, however, do 

 well 5 degrees cooler or higher, and 

 in midwinter the higher figure will as- 

 sist in flower production. The pots 

 should now be getting fairly well filled 

 with roots and an increasing water 

 supply will be required. It is yet a 

 little early to commence feeding. When 

 using stimulants be sure they are mod- 

 erately weak for a time. Callas will 

 stand an abundance of liquid food later 

 in the season, when the pots are matted 

 with roots. Spray the plants overhead 

 on bright days and fumigate to keep 

 down insect pests. 



Lilium Longiflorum. 



Lilium longiflorum is arriving in 

 quantity now and should be potted as 

 soon as possible after the bulbs come 

 to hand. The general plan, and the 

 best one, is to use 6-inch pots, placing 

 one bulb in each. Some growers start 

 the bulbs in 4-inch pots and later shift 

 to the larger size. This plan involves 

 considerable additional work and wo 

 have failed to find any special advan- 

 tage in it. Another plan is to just 

 cover the bulb in the 6-inch pots and 

 leave a space of two inches for top- 

 dressing after the flower stem is a few 

 inches high. This also has its disad- 

 vantages, for the new soil may appear 

 8ufl[iciently moist, while the lower por- 

 tion is too dry. The best way is to 

 cover the bulbs two inches deep and 

 allow a fair margin for water, and to 

 water rather sparingly until the pots 

 are well filled with roots. Better to 

 give too little water than to have the 

 soil in any degree soggy. Under the 

 latter condition the roots will surely 

 rot, whereas little harm is done if the 

 soil becomes fairly dry. A great many 

 of the failures in lily growing are due 

 to overwatering in the early stages of 

 growth, and diseased stock is frequently 

 not the fault 6f the bulb dealer at all, 

 but of the grower. 



After potting, place the lilies under 

 a bench in a cool house, shed or cellar 



and cover the pots with excelsior or 

 moss to keep them from drying out too 

 rapidly. Do not water until the soil be- 

 comes quite dry. A few plants maj" 

 need moisture, while the main batch 

 will not require any. Easter comes 

 much later in 1908 and there is yet 

 ample time to pot up longiflorums for 

 that occasion. The average retailer, 

 however, can always utilize a few 

 stalks for his home trade and it is well 

 to bear in mind that each year more 

 lilies are too late rather than too early 

 for Easter. 



Lilium SFedofum. 



Where retarded bulbs of that useful 

 lily, Lilium speciosum, were potted in 

 July for winter blooming, the flower 

 stems will now be several inches high 

 and the pots becoming well filled with 

 roots. For Christmas trade this lily is 

 particularly valuable and an effort 

 should be made to get in as large a 

 percentage as possible at that time. 

 Do not give the bulbs a warm house. 

 They do not take kindly to hard forc- 

 ing, a minimum of 55 degrees being suf- 

 ficiently high. A frame or cold house 

 will answer for a few weeks yet. Give 

 them full sunshine and do not allow 

 green aphis to secure a foothold on the 

 shoots. A little tobacco dust will keep 

 them in check. 



Poiotettias. 



Poinsettias in the benches are now 

 making rapid growth and if some sup- 

 port has not yet been given them they 

 are liable to become bent and broken, 

 being quite brittle. Do not afford .i 

 high night temperature yet; 50 to .55 

 degrees at night will answer. This can 

 be increased a few degrees as the bracts 

 begin to show, to assist in their proper 

 development. 



Pots and pans will need careful wa- 

 tering. An oversupply will quickly re- 

 sult in yellowing foliage and there is 

 little beauty in a leafless stem with a 

 scarlet bract at the top. The last pans 

 should be made up without delay. Even 

 these will produce nice little bracts 

 if properly cared for. A little liquid 

 manure may be afforded any which 

 have well filled the pots or pans with 

 roots. Once a week is often enough and 

 only mild doses are needed. Soot water 

 will help to green up the foliage on any 

 which mav have become a little starved. 



Myototis. 



If you put in a batch of mypsptis cut- 

 tings as suggested some weeks ago, they 

 will be nice little plants by this time. 

 Probably you can find space a]ong the 

 front of one of your benches for a few. 

 This is not much of p, market flower, 

 but works in nicely in designs, while 

 some of your customers may fancy a 

 bunch of forget-me-nots in preference to 

 carnations and violets. Myosotis is 

 speedily ruined by aphis. Watch tho 

 under sides of the leaves for any signs 

 of it. Drop some tobacco dust among 

 the plants as a preventive and fumigate 

 if it gets a foothold. 



Chinese Primroses. 



If you want some Chinese, primroses 

 in bloom for Christmas, they should 

 now be removed from the frames, in 

 which they have been growing for some 

 months, to a cool and airy house. A 

 little shade will be, needed to break 

 direct sunlight from falling on the 

 plants. The temperature should not 

 exceed 50 degrees at night and a dry 

 atmosphere is preferable to a moist 

 one. The plants should be in their 

 blooming pots by this time and the 

 earliest batch will have the pots nicely 

 filled with roots. Water must be care- 

 fully given. Use the watering-pot 

 rather than the hose. It may take 

 more time, but you will find it pays. 

 Space the plants so that their leaves 

 do not crowd each other and do not 

 spray overhead after this date. It is 

 yet too early to commence feeding. 



Rubber Plants. 



Eubbers have done well outdoors this 

 year, but it is risky to leave them ex- 

 posed much longer, even in lath frame 

 protections. The chilly nights will 

 soon affect the plants, hardy- as they 

 are. At this season we are tempted to 

 leave many plants outdoors longer than 

 we really ought to do on account of 

 the pressure on available bench-room. 

 If you have frames with requisite head- 

 room, you can hold your rubbers in 

 them until the earlier chrysanthemums 

 are out of the way. A cool house is all 

 they need, unless your stock is under- 

 sized and you want to give it some 

 heat to make it of a more salable size. 



Ventilation. 



September, as usual, has furnished 

 us with a wide range of temperature, 

 varying from the 90 degrees to freez- 

 ing. Considerable judgment is needed 

 to give ' ventilation properly. Little 

 fire heat will yet be used by the ma- 

 jority, except for roses and some of the 

 palms or ornamental foliage plants. 

 Frequently cold nights will succeed 

 hot days. The general impulse is to 

 close the ventilators to keep up the 

 temperature. Unless a trifle of fire 

 heat is at command, this is the very 

 worst policy. Better keep on a fair 

 amount of air and avoid a cold clam- 

 miness, such as is always found in a 

 tightly closed house without fire heat. 

 Temperatures are yet too variable to 

 permit of keeping exact night tempera- 

 tures. They must vary according to 

 the weather. Never mind if your ther- 

 mometer runs a few degrees low in the 

 mornings if you have a fair amount of 

 ventilation on. On hot days close the 

 side ventilators and open them in the 

 evening. Top ventilation only will be 

 needed in a short time. If a damp, 

 cloudy spell of weather arrives it will 



