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8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



November 28, 1907. ^ 



cutting selection, attention to insects and 

 careful growing being only natural, 

 whether there is disease or not. Spray- 

 ing with fungicides or germicides, or 

 fumigating, will do no good. If the cut- 

 tings are taken indiscriminately, regard- 

 less of the amount of disease they con- 

 tain, it will become worse each sea^n 

 until it destroys the whole stock ; whereas, 

 if the cuttings are selected carefully, and 

 only such taken as show no spots what- 

 ever, and this is followed up each season, 

 the disease can be worked out of the 

 stock entirely. As I have said before, 

 the value of a variety must determine 

 whether it is worth the trouble. New 

 and improved varieties come along so 

 rapidly that unless a variety is unusually 

 good it would pay better to discard it 

 entirely if badly infected. 



It is sometimes stated that the pres- 

 ence of this disease signifies that a vari- 

 ety is getting old and less vigorous. I 

 do not agree with this theory. The only 

 thing it proves is that there has been 



carelessness on the part of the grower in 

 keeping down insects and in the selection 

 of cuttings. There is, however, consider- 

 able difference in varieties. Those which 

 have a hard surface and firm growth in 

 general will not succumb so easily as 

 those of a softer nature. That is why 

 some varieties never show this disease at 

 all, while others will show it when you get 

 them from the originator. 



One thing which the presence of these 

 spots does prove, however, most conclu- 

 sively is, that unless great care is exer- 

 cised the variety will not last long. 



A. F. J. B. 



APPLYING NITRATE OF SODA. 



Will you kindly state what quantity of 

 nitrate of soda should be put on carna- 

 tions on a bed 5x7, or how much between 

 two rows across the bed? H. E. Y. 



I would advise you to use nitrate of 

 soda in liquid form in preference to 



sprinkling it on the soil. There is more 

 chance of getting it distributed evenly, 

 which is very important in the use of 

 chemicals. Dissolve one pound in fifty 

 gallons of water, and water enough to 

 saturate the soil. Do not have the soil 

 quite so dry before applying any kind of 

 food as you would have it when watering 

 with clear water. You will not apply as 

 much of the liquid feed as you would of 

 clear water, but after the application the 

 soil should be in about the same state 

 as it would be after a watering. Apply 

 not oftener than once in two weeks dur- 

 ing the dark days. Too much nitrate of 

 soda will make your blooms flabby; in 

 fact, excessive feeding of any kind will 

 bring on similar troubles. A better plan 

 would be to apply the nitrate of soda 

 once each month and alternate in the 

 middle of each month with lime, wood- 

 ashes, bone, dried blood or sheep manure, 

 A variety of food will bring better re- 

 sults and less dan'ger of harm. 



A. F. J. B. 



BEST MUMS FOR NEW ORLEANS. 



Would you kindly tell me what are 

 the best varieties of chrysanthemums 

 to grow and bloom in New Orleans for 

 November 1, in white, pink, lavender, 

 yellow and red? What fertilizer should 

 be used and when should feeding be 

 started? I should prefer an answer 

 from one of experience, who has experi- 

 mented near this section. X. G. 



In answer to your inquiry about the 

 best varieties of chrysanthemums to 

 grow and bloom in New Orleans for 

 November I, I will state that for white 

 Mrs. Robinson is far ahead of all others. 

 There is no trouble to have it in time, 

 and when well grown the flower is per- 

 fect. Next to it are the two white 

 Holtz seedlings, which originated down 

 here. They also are very reliable. The 

 flowers do not open as white as Robin- 

 son, but they are a sure crop and can 

 be depended on better than any other. 

 The tall kind of these two is extensive- 

 ly raised without disbudding and has 

 taken the place of Silver Thimble, 

 which is also a single chrysanthemum, 

 very useful for bunches. 



The Yellow Cannell and Yellow 

 Eaton are two good kinds. J. B. Crane 

 and Childs can be grown for November 

 1, but few of this color are then sold, 

 for at that time the white ones are at 

 least ninety per cent more in demand 

 than any other color. 



As a lavender, none has been found 

 so far to be perfect. Dr. Enguehard 

 may be the best, but it is sometimes a 

 little late. Planting in March and dis- 

 budding in August, with good atten- 

 tion, will bring that sort advanced 

 enough to be disposed of November 1. 



When growing, if planted in good 



soil at the start, chrysanthemums do 

 not need much fertilizing except a little 

 mulching of cow manure once or twice 

 during the season. It is only after the 

 bud has been taken that they like to 

 be fertilized with liquid manure, 

 nitrate of soda or any of the commercial 

 fertilizers. As soon as the buds crack 

 open you must discontinue this. Thrips 

 and mealy bugs are very injurious. A 

 constant application of tobacco in any 

 form, from the very beginning, will 

 do better than waiting till the plants 

 are covered with these pests. 



Perfect chrysanthemums can be 

 grown in New Orleans with a good pro- 

 tection of glazed sashes from the time 

 the buds are showing color. Cotton is 

 also used to cover them, but the flow- 

 ers will never be as well finished as 

 when protected bj' glass. M. M. L. 



PROHTABLE CULTURE. 



How should Estelle chrysantheinum \)v 

 grown to make it most profitable f How- 

 far apart should it be planted and how 

 many flowers should be grown to a plant ? 



M. 



It depends somewhat on the market 

 that one grows for. With us, who grow 

 for New York, by getting extra fine 

 flowers we can realize $4 to $5 a dozen 

 where the medium and small grades are 

 being sacrificed for a song. Such high- 

 grade flowers are grown by planting out 

 nice stock in May, 6x8, and taking one 

 flower to a plant. Some markets will pay 

 25 cents each and no more and a fair 

 grade can be produced by giving another 

 inch or so of space and taking two flow- 

 ers to a plant. Other growers claim they 

 can make just as much by running as 

 many shoots as the plant will carry and 



selling in bunches. Personally I doubt 

 it, but as I have not handled the bunch 

 stock I do not know. 



Boiled down, the thing is, as I said at 

 the beginning, a matter of your market. 



C. H. T. 



LATE VARIETIES. 



Will you please give me a list of chrys- 

 anthemums that will bloom after Dr. 

 Enguehard has come in? I want to 

 know the color and about when they will 

 bloom. L. G. B. 



Enguehard is still in shape to cut, so 

 that L, G. B. needs late varieties only. 

 A selection would be: White — J. Nonin 

 and W. H. Chadwick. Yellow — Nagoya 

 and Gold Chadwick. Pink — Miriam Han- 

 key and M. J. Rosette. 



These are all good commercial varie- 

 ties and can be held for Thanksgiving 

 easily enough, and, if properly grown 

 for late flowers, can be kept even later. 

 Some growers get Bonnaffon good yet, 

 hut with most of us it has passed to the 

 great beyond, as also Maud Dean, which 

 was for years the standard late pink. 



C. H. T. 



IVORY. 



In spite of the fact that of new chrys- 

 anthemums of mammoth size the name 

 is legion, old Ivory year after year 

 brings in the coin to growers who cater 

 to the wholesale market demand in the 

 big cities. Many are the men who have 

 found little Ivory to bring bigger money 

 than any other sort. One of these is 

 G. W. Renard, of Avondale, Pa,, who 

 consigns to the Philadelphia market, 

 where the stock is handled by Eugene 

 Bernheimer. Although Ivory was intro- 

 duced in 1892, Mr. Renard thinks there 



