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24 • 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



January 30, 1008. 



will briefly outline his expectations from 

 the introducers of new seedlings. 



Reasonable Expectations. 



First, the grower expects his money's 

 worth. By this I mean that when he 

 orders a batch of high-priced cuttings, 

 he expects and is fully entitled to high 

 grade stock, cuttings that have been 

 carefully selected and well rooted — 

 rooted not by dint of the steam pipe 

 at so many thousands per week, but by 

 the natural process of keeping the feet 

 comfortably warm and the heads cool, 

 to insure vigor and health. 



Second, he expects from the variety 

 just what it is represented to be. In 

 other words, when a variety is a cropper, 

 it should not be represented as a continu- 

 ous bloomer; when its calyx splits at 

 certain seasons or under certain condi- 

 tions, that fact should be brought to the 

 surface, regardless of losses or gains. 



Third, he expects the benefit of the 

 introducer's experience without paying 

 an additional price, often a heavy one, 

 for the experience himself. By this I 

 mean that when a seedling has been 

 thoroughly tested and its requirements 

 and peculiarities studied and recorded, 

 the introducer is morally obliged to 

 give the grower the benefit of his own 

 knowledge and experience. The grower 

 is entitled to such information and it 

 should not be withheld from him. A 

 printed slip, bearing all the cultural 

 notes about the variety introduced, 

 should accompany each and every ship- 

 ment. 



Fourth, the grower expects a "square 

 deal." By this I mean that no matter 

 what a carnation's previous record may 

 have been, no matter how many points 

 it scored or how many medals were 

 awarded it, unless it maintains its record 

 in all its essentials up to the time and 

 including the season of its dissemina- 

 tion, unless its vigor is in no wise im- 

 paired, it should not see the light of 

 day. The introducer must be absolutely 

 certain on this point; he must take 

 nothing for granted, else the grower is 

 sure to be a much disappointed man. 



The grower's expectations, it seems 

 to me, are within the bounds of rea- 

 son and need hardly be dwelt upon at 

 greater length here. Let a condition 

 of thorough understanding and most 

 scrupulous honesty on both sides prevail, 

 and we will no longer hear about "gold 

 bricks" and "suckers." 



After all, there is a deal of truth in 

 the old saw of honesty being the best 

 policy. The most successful business 

 men of today are those who pursue such 

 a policy, whether it be in the dissemina- 

 tion of seedlings or breadstuffs. The 

 child that bums its fingers fears the 

 fire; so does the grower steer clear of 

 the man who sells him a winner and gives 

 him a gold brick instead. It is to our 

 own interests, whether we be hybridizers, 

 dealers or mere agents, to discourage 

 worthless varieties, to stamp them out, 

 root, branch and all, if we wish to see 

 the most important branch of our busi- 

 ness thrive and develop without hitch 

 or hindrance. 



CULTURE OF CARNATIONS. 



[A paper by Irving Gingrich. South Bend, 

 Ind.. read before the American Carnation So- 

 ciety at the Washington convention, January 28 

 to 30. 1908.] 



The subject of this paper is really one 

 that should have been assigned to a 

 grower of long and wide experience, as 

 the writer feels that he is just beginning 

 to learn something concerning the cul- 



ture of carnations, his experience dating 

 back only eight years. During this time, 

 however, mistakes have been made that 

 he has profited by, and if he can say 

 something that will be of benefit to but 

 one out of ten of the growers here as- 

 sembled he will feel well repaid for the 

 effort. The writer will also endeavor to 

 confine himself very closely to his sub- 

 ject, as any slight digression will make 

 the paper entirely too long. 



Beginning with the propagation of the 

 carnation, we may say that in this coun- 

 try the commercial grower has but one 

 method, namely, by cuttings. The spe- 

 cialist makes use of seed propagation to 

 secure new varieties, but we will not dis- 



buds, and if these are stopped or pinched 

 back the plant is gone; the latter sends 

 up a rank growth which, on being 

 stopped several times as the growths are 

 ripe for the operation, produces a heavy 

 but rather slow growing plant, with 

 plenty of foliage and few flowers. These 

 statements must be made with some res- 

 ervation, as the writer has not had much 

 experience with different soils and these 

 exert a marked influence on the growth 

 of the plant. 



A heavy, rich soil might produce a 

 fairly good plant from a side-shoot cut- 

 ting, whereas a light, quick, sandy soil 

 might have the same effect on the other. 

 Our soil being a medium chocolate loam, 



Irving Gin^ch. 



cuss this method, as the average grower 

 cannot devote the time and attention ab- 

 solutely necessary to success in this spe- 

 cial field. 



Taking the Cuttings. 



There exists a marked difference of 

 opinion as to where and how to take a 

 cutting and this subject received consid- 

 erable attention at our Toronto meeting. 

 There are, however, many present at this 

 meeting who were not fortunate enough 

 to be present at Toronto. At that meet- 

 ing a discussion was raised as to what 

 constitutes a top cutting, some being of 

 the opinion that it was one taken rather 

 high up on a flowering stem and others 

 maintaining that it was the top taken 

 out of one of the bottom shoots, which 

 would ultimately have become a flower- 

 ing stem itself. The writer's own ex- 

 perience, supported by actual experiment, 

 is that neither is an ideal cutting. The 

 former soon sends forth a bud which, if 

 removed, will send up four or five weaker 



with considerable silt in its composition 

 and not very rich, we much prefer a side 

 cutting on a flowering shoot, taken at 

 one joint above and one joint below the 

 usual point of cutting the flower. Cut- 

 ting off the flower, therefore, requires 

 some discretion, as some varieties de- 

 velop the cutting before the bud matures 

 and some varieties do not develop the 

 cutting until after the flower has been 

 removed. 



Time to Take the Cuttings. 



With us January and February are 

 the best months in which to take cut- 

 tings, though there are others who prefer 

 March struck cuttings, on account of the 

 rapid growth made in their particular 

 soil, ^me slow growing varieties, such 

 as Prosperity, need to be taken in De- 

 cember to make profitable plants. 



It matters but little whether the cut- 

 ting is taken with a heel or not. If 

 taken with a heel, it is grasped firmly be- 

 tween the thumb and forefinger and sev- 



