1'- ■-'•...' "V" J ' ' 



10 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Januakt 9, 1908. 



the paat year — at times taxing our abil- 

 ity to take care of the same. Although 

 this is the dull season in our principal 

 line of business, orders continue to drop 

 in at frequent intervals, thus showing 

 an optimistic feeling on the part of our 

 customers. It is rather early, and at the 

 same time too close to the holidays to 

 say much as {o the future. Our trade 

 begins to figure in earnest and to order 

 ■when the spring weather begins to swell 

 the buds, etc. We anticipate a good 

 trade for the year 1908, judging from 

 the amount of inquiries, etc. Our collec- 

 tions have been very good and we have 

 not seen any material difference in the 

 last three or four months over that of 

 previous years covering the same time." 



LOCATION OF GREENHOUSES. 



Would you kindly submit the follow- 

 ing query to be answered by someone of 

 experience, whose judgment can be re- 

 lied upon! We contemplate enlarging 

 our plant, situated on town lots where the 

 front street runs northwest to southeast. 

 We already have one house parallel with 

 the street and two houses adjoining this 



one at right angles. We propose widen- 

 ing an 18-foot house, running northeast 

 and southwest, to twenty-three feet, and 

 continuing it seventy-five feet beyond its 

 present length. This can be done with 

 comparatively little expense in the chang- 

 ing of our heating apparatus and would 

 be uniform with all streets and other 

 buildings. 



It has been suggested that we build a 

 house of like dimensions (upon the same 

 town lots) running straight north and 

 south, and install an independent heating 

 plant. The question is, would the devel- 

 opment of plants in the house running 

 north and south be enough better to war- 

 rant the necessary expense and general 

 appearance of disorder! May we suggest 

 that the above be answered, not by 

 builders of greenhouses or makers of 

 boilers, but by someone experienced in 

 plant growing? K. C, 



I fail to see any particular advantage 

 in running the proposed house north and 

 south. This is not the aspect chosen by 

 the majority of practical plantsmen, east 

 and west being almost invariably se- 

 lected. The location of a house a little 



to the east of the south is perhaps the 

 best possible one, for in such a case the 

 morning sun strikes it more directly. 

 Weather reports prove that we have more 

 sunshine in the morning than in the aft- 

 ernoon, taking the year through. 



I would certainly carry out your own 

 proposed plan. Such a house would, in 

 my opinion, be fully as good as the other 

 one recommended, for general plant cul- 

 ture. The considerable additional outlay 

 for the north and south house, and the 

 fact that the aspect is not at all an ideal 

 one, combine to condemn it, to say noth- 

 ing of the element of disorder. C. W. 



BUGS IN GLADIOLUS BULBS. 



What remedy is there for mealy bugs 

 in gladiolus bulbs? W. H. 



We never have been troubled with 

 mealy bugs among gladiolus bulbs. We 

 have, however, been troubled with black 

 aphis and these we have successfully 

 fought and driven out by burning sul- 

 phur. I should judge the same remedy 

 would be equally effective with the mealy 

 bugs. Arthur Cowee. 



, CARNATION NOTES.— WEST. 



Propasfating. 



During the next two months we will 

 have the best weather for propagating 

 and, in fact, there are several reasons 

 why this is the best time to do this 

 most important work. Atmospheric con- 

 ditions are such that you can readily 

 control heat, light and moisture, and if 

 these are kept under control, there should 

 be no trouble in striking practically a 

 hundred per cent of the cuttings. From 

 now on, too, the days begin to lengthen 

 and the plants take on more vigor, and 

 there can be no doubt as to a cutting 

 being better if taken from a plant which 

 is gaining in vigor than if taken from 

 one which is losing in vigor. 



If you propagate only for your own 

 use, you can choose your own time for 

 putting in the cuttings of such varie- 

 ties as you have plenty of stock of, and 

 you must be governed somewhat by your 

 own local conditions and your methods 

 of culture in order to get the very best 

 results. In fact, this holds good in all 

 things. If your local conditions differ 

 somewhat from your neighbors', you 

 must modify your course to suit those 

 conditions. Indeed, you cannot follow 

 any man's advice or recommendations 

 to the letter, unless he is on the ground 

 and thoroughly familiar with the case 

 in hand. 



There is no doubt that for the carna- 

 tion specialist, who endeavors to grow 

 his stock to the very highest perfection, 

 early cuttings taken from the sand dur- 

 ing February and even January are the 

 best. But for the grower of a general 

 line of stock, who will not take time to 

 repot his young carnations in March 

 when he is rushed with other work, cut- 

 tings taken from the sand early in 

 March will prove most satisfactory. Such 

 cuttings can be potted into 2%-inch pots 

 and left until planted in the field in 

 May. These will, of course, not make 

 good-sized plants ^or July planting in 

 the house, but this class of gprowers 

 usually do not house carnations until 

 August. The one thing to be borne in 

 mind is that a young carnation, after 

 it is once rooted, should be continually 

 kept on a steady move. Large, soft 

 growth is to be avoided strictly. Sturdy, 

 well matured young plants transplant 

 best and you will always find that the 

 plant which suffers the least in trans- 

 planting will make the greatest gains 

 later. 



Selecting the Cuttinsfs. 



I have often preached cutting selec- 

 tion, etc., and I will say again that if 

 the selection of cuttings were done more 

 critically many varieties would stay in 

 commerce longer than they do. No doubt 

 the rooted cutting men are largely at 

 fault here, but as long as the trade in- 



sists on buying carnation cuttings as 

 cheap as they are frequently offered, 

 nothing very choice need be expected. 

 If choice stock is wanted, a fair price 

 must be paid for it. You will usually 

 find the two go together. 



When selecting your own cuttings, 

 there is all the more reason why you 

 should select them well. There is no 

 doubt but that the young shoots which 

 spring from the lower part of the flower 

 stem are the best. On some varieties 

 they will be below where you cut the 

 stem in gathering the blooms, while other 

 varieties will make one to three good 

 cuttings above that point. Avoid all 

 cuttings which have much of a stem 

 between the lowest leaves and the flower 

 stem. They never make good, strong 

 plants. These growths may appear be- 

 fore or after the bloom is cut and may 

 be taken off any time they are in proper 

 condition. 



Avoid all diseased plants. If a plant 

 shows disease, every shoot is likely to 

 be tainted, even though it may not show 

 any traces. If your stock is diseased, dis- 

 card it, and procure healthy stock from 

 someone whose stock is clean. 



Select your cuttings of a uniform 

 average size, avoiding abnormally large 

 cuttings as well as the small, weak ones. 

 A uniform lot of plants will be the 

 result. If you cannot get as many cut- 

 tings that are right, in one batch, then 

 take a second or third batch later. Do 



