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The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Januaey 16, 1908, 



rapidly. If j-ou want large flowers, rub 

 off all side buds. If you want them 

 extra laige, grow only two or three to 

 a plant and use a stake to each, as you 

 would to mums. If good ordinary 

 blooms are required, do no disbudding. 

 In color the best call is for white; after 

 that for pink and blue. The best forcing 

 varieties are Queen of the Earlies and 

 Comet. ■ The latter produces fine quality 

 blooms under glass. C. W. 



A CHRISTMAS CROP. 



The accompanying illustration affords 

 a somewhat novel demonstration of how 

 great was the Christmas crop at the es- 

 tablishment of Weiland & Olinger, New 

 Castle, Ind. It is from a photograph 

 taken December 22 and shows the cut of 

 that day. After the stock had been hard- 

 ened up in water, and before packing for 

 shipping, the entire day's cut was taken 

 into the open air for photographing for 



a souvenir postal card. It shows that 

 the firm had a remarkably large crop of 

 tea roses, but not so large a crop of 

 Beauties. The people gathered back of 

 the flowers are employees, with the ex- 

 ception of Mr. Weiland himself, who 

 stands fifth from the left side of the 

 picture. Several of the growers have 

 been on the place ever since it was built, 

 and one of them began work before the 

 houses were started. 



CARNATION NOTES.- WEST. 



Propagatinc:. 



After the cuttings have been set in 

 the sand the real task of propagating 

 begins. It does not require any great 

 amount of skill to take off good cut- 

 tings, nor to prepare them for the sand, 

 but it does require both skill and good 

 judgment to handle the propagating 

 house so that a good strike is secured. 

 Up to this point in the process it is 

 not difficult to define clearly what should 

 be done and how it should be done. But 

 from this point onward it is more diffi- 

 cult. 



The successful propagator does not 

 go by rules very much, nor can he 

 just always give you a definite reason 

 for every action he may take. Like the 

 thorough grower, who can feel as soon 

 as he steps inside the door whether the 

 temperature is correct, without looking 

 at the thermometer, the experienced 

 propagator can tell by the appearance 

 of his cutting?! whether they are right. 

 And of course he can tell what steps 

 must be taken under certain conditions, 

 in order to avoid trouble before it puts 

 in its appearance. I can give you a few 

 rules which you will finil it necessary 

 to follow, but the small details you 

 must fill in for yourself and, I might 

 add, it is the small details which really 

 count in getting a full strike. 



The First Watering. 



The first watering should be so 

 thorough that the sand becomes as full 

 of water as it will hold, with proper 

 drainage imderneath. During the first 

 few days the cuttings are like cut flow- 

 ers; they can draw only water to keep 

 them fresh and there should be no lack 

 of it in the sand, so that the end which 

 is cut does not dry instead of forming 

 a callous. After the callous is formed, 

 suffering does not take place so quickly. 

 Spraying overhead must also be resorted 

 to, until the cuttings have begun to 

 draw water. Later the overhead spray- 

 ing should be dispensed with as much as 

 possible. 



The whole secret of successful propa- 

 gating lijgs in keeping your cuttings in 

 a fresh condition without keeping them 

 too damp overhead. It is this proper 



amount of spraying, etc., that taxes your 

 skill to the utmost at times. As long 

 as the days are cloudy and cold and the 

 atmosphere is fairly damp, you will have 

 no trouble in getting the cuttings to 

 stand up and naturallf take root. So 

 there is your cue. When these condi- 

 tions do not prevail naturally, then you 

 must provide them artificially. By shad- 

 ing and spraying you can usually man- 

 age it until the sun gets quite strong 

 toward spring. 



Avoid Extremes. 



To go to extremes in these matters, 

 however, is almost as bad as to neglect 

 them. Especially is this true with the 

 spraying. If you keep the cuttings 

 too damp you bring on damping off, 

 or rust, or leaf spot, etc. A safe rule 

 when you spray is to calculate that the 

 cuttings will be dry overhead by even- 

 ing and only spray when it is necessary. 

 We have found that very often, when 

 a batch is inclined to wilt, if we omit 

 the daily spraying and lay newspapers 

 over them from about 9 a. m. to 3 p. m., 

 also using the curtain to keep the sun 

 and drafts off, we can hold them up. The 

 paper helps to keep in enough damp- 

 ness arising from the sand to keep the 

 cuttings fresh without any water stand- 

 ing on the foliage. I am a great be- 

 liever in the shading or covering method 



when it is employed in the proper way. 



You will also find that when a high 

 wind is blowing on a mild day and per- 

 haps the ventilators must be opened 

 some, the curtain will be insufficient to 

 keep the cuttings fresh. Evaporation 

 is too rapid and even spraying will not 

 suffice. But by covering the cuttings 

 with paper to hold in the moisture, and 

 dropping the curtain to keep the sun 

 off the papers, your cuttings will come 

 through unscathed. Take the papers 

 off as soon as atmospheric conditions will 

 warrant. Cuttings, like plants, enjoy 

 plenty of fresh air when the air is 

 properly laden with moisture. Never 

 cover the cuttings with paper and allow 

 the warm sun to beat on it, but provide 

 a curtain, as well, to keep the sun off 

 the paper. To allow the sun to beat 

 on the paper will produce a warm, humid 

 atmosphere, which is highly favorable 

 to the cutting bench fungus, leaf spot, 

 etc. 



You will find a great difference in va- 

 rieties and you must watch each variety 

 closely. Some will be inclined to wilt 

 most during the first few days, before 

 they have commenced to draw properly, 

 while others will stand up finely for 

 two weeks and then suddenly begin to 

 droop. That is when your fine work 

 is required and one is apt to go to 

 excess in spraying. A. F. J. Bauk. 



Christmas Cut of Weiland & Olinger, New Castle, Ind. 



