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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



OCTOBEB 17, 1907.' 



OCTOBER FROST. 



This has been another excellent season 

 for the growers of early chrysanthe- 

 mums, the first earlies realizing as good 

 prices in practically every market as 

 they ever did. The season of maximum 

 prices for the earliest varieties was not 

 quite so long as last year, for the second 

 early sorts came along quicker than they 

 did a year ago, when the way they hung 

 back was a great disappointment t© those 

 who did not have stocks of the earliest 

 kinds. 



This year, as for the two preceding 

 seasons, MoiproA^a has been the leading 

 early sort, for yellow sells better than 

 any other color. But October Frost, for 

 white, has proved a fit companion. This 

 was the first year it has been grown in 

 any quantity and by a large number 

 of growers. While there have been some 

 failures with it, due to the selfefction of 

 the wrong bud, still the average grower 

 has had excellent success with it and has 

 had it early and in shape to bring ex- 

 cellent prices. These ttva early sorts, 

 Monrovia and October Frost, have proved 

 especially valuable to the vegetable grow- 

 ers who use mums for a fall crop, as 

 they had these varieties cut before the 

 middle of October and the space avail- 

 able for other crops. Elmer D. Smith, 

 of Adrian, Mich., with whom the Octo- 

 ber Frost mum originated, says that in 

 taking the bud it is a decided advantage 

 to secure the early one, as the flowers 

 from such are much larger and more 

 double than from the later buds. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



Shading the Blooms. 



There appears to be in some quarters 

 a prejudice against shading the opening 

 blooms, but why I cannot say. Blooms 

 grown naturally, that is, not fed to any 

 extent and running several blooms to a 

 plant, need no shading, because they are 

 harder grown and the small flowers have 

 no superabundance of petals to lie on 

 each other and rot. But plants 

 that have been heavily fed have 

 large and comparatively soft petals 

 and must be protected from the sun, at 

 least in New Jersey if not in other sec- 

 tions of the country. It will be observed 

 that in spite of all one can do to keep 

 the atmosphere dry and moving, some 

 moisture will settle on the petals. When 

 the 5jin comes up strong early in the 

 morning and hits these flowers, moisture 

 laden as they are, damping of the petals 

 is inevitable. 



For a little while papers or cheesecloth 

 spread over the kinds that are just open- 

 ing will be all right, but as soon as 

 everything shows color I always spray 

 the whole roof with lime or whiting and 

 am not bothered much with petals damp- 

 ing afterwards. Growers along the coast 

 line are bothered a great deal more with 

 damping than those in the interior, be- 

 caues the sea fogs that occur night after 

 night leave the flowers dripping with 

 water. The present season, so far, hap- 

 pily has been free from heavy fog, but 



I have seen in some years a loss equal 

 to fifty per cent from the fogs alone. 

 We may, as some experts claim, have the 

 advantage of the moist atmosphere in 

 the summer, but we certainly are handi- 

 capped late in October by that selfsame 

 moist atmosphere. 



.Cutting the Blooms. 



There is s^omething to learn in cut- 

 ting chrysanthemum flo;»fers, as there is 

 in cutting any flowers io have them just 

 right. We are none onus proof against, 

 temptation when the 'first flowers are 

 coming in and the market will take the 

 flowers at a good price, .whether they are 

 finished or not, but from now on the 

 market is well supplied and flowers 



Chrysanthemum October Frost. 



should be left to finish on the plant. 

 When the center of the fiower is still 

 hard and green, let the flower stay till 

 the color is even all through. 



If the stem happens to be cut at a 

 joint, where the wood is hard, it is often 

 difficult to get the water up the stem. 

 Make a second cut before putting the 

 stems in water and also see that the jar 

 is deep enough so that the stems will be 

 held erect to take the water right up to 



the flower. A stem bent over cannot 

 take up the water and the flower will of 

 necessity wilt. Such kinds as Merza, that 

 make a very hard stem at the bottom, 

 should be cut sufficiently high so that 

 the water will have a chance to get up 

 the stem. 



If the flowers are to travel any dis- 

 tance they should have twenty-four 

 hours in water, so that, they will start 

 on their journey with the stems full of 

 water, 



Packing. 



In packing flowers some care should be 

 exercised, so that the product of the 

 labor of months shall not be rendered 

 unsalable. Some exhibitors send their 

 flowers out in high boxes with the flow- 

 ers erect and tied to wires. Such a 

 system is too cumbersome and expensive 

 for commercial uSe. Make pillows of 

 excelsior covered with paper and have a 

 pillow under the neck of each row of 

 flowers and lay the flowers down. If a 

 little tissue paper is used between ekch 

 flower it will prevent rubbing and if 

 slats are nailed across the stems to keep 

 them from threshing around, a box so 

 packed can travel in fairly good shape. ' 



If, as sometimes happens, the box falls 

 into the hands of a fiend in the guise 

 of an expressman who plays ping-pong 

 with it, and tries how many times he can 

 turn it over in a given time, no sys- 

 tem of packing can stand it. There is 

 a special corner reserved for that kind 

 of expressman in Carmody's health re-;; 

 sort. Charles H. Totty. 



SPLITTING OF DUCKHAM BUDS. 



Flease let me know what is the cause 

 of William Duckham chrysanthemums 

 splitting at the bud. Is there any way 

 to prevent itf Will the buds which are 

 now split amount to anything?" 



Morris. 



, If Morris will look up the notes on 

 feeding in the Review of October 3, 

 page 8, he will see why his Duckhams 

 split at the bud. It is due to an ex- 

 cess of sap pumped up to the flower. 

 When the bud is small it cannot take all 

 the sap, and trouble ensues. The buds 

 will finish satisfactorily and the petals 

 will drop down enough to hide the dis- 

 figuring cut in the stem. Here and 

 there a bud will be bent over and use- 

 less, but most of them will develop flow- 

 ers. The finest flowers I have seen ex- 

 hibited were some of them hanging by 

 almost a thread. Charles H. Totty. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 



Special Premiums. 



For the approaching meeting and ex- 

 hibition at New York the Lord & Burn- 

 ham Co. offers a gold medal for the best 

 new chrysanthemum never before exhib- 

 ited in this country. 



Work of the Committees. 



N£W York, Oct. 12.— No. 20, dark old 

 rose, Japanese, exhibited by C. H. Totty, 

 Madison, N. J., scored eighty-five points, 

 exhibition scale. David Fkaser, Sec'y. 



Nevada, Mo. — G. P. Kaupp & Son are 

 erecting a greenhouse which will be 

 larger than any of their present houses, 

 and which will be so arranged that a 

 two-horse wagon can be driven through 

 it in hauling soil. The new house will 

 also be equipped with an automatic 

 watering device. 



