February 13, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



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THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



Dedicated to C. H. Totty. 



Flower of the garden Inland of eartb. 



Will you whisper your secret to me? 

 Tell me the goddess that gave you birth, 



Where you gathered the graces I see, 

 Where garnered your treasure of lustrous gold. 



How distilled your deep crimson dye. 

 For the wealth of the world your buds enfold 



And the sunset glow of the sky. 



UKFUAIN: 



Warm are my lips. Chrysanthemum, 

 Bright shine my eyes whene'er you come. 

 Firm on my heart thy throne, my queen; 

 Pride of my life, thou art supreme. 



The Artist that paints the evening skies 



Used his colors your blossoms to grace; 

 Their shining splendor enchants my eyes 



While I worship the beauty 1 trace. 

 The wild north wind has breathed on thee. 



For thy petals are flakes of snow. 

 Oh, pure are the flowers that shine on me; 



Can men wonder I love them soV 



REFRAIN: 



Warm are my lips, Chrysanthemum, 

 Bright shine my eyes whene'er you come. 

 Firm on my heart thy throne, my queen; 

 Pride of my life, thou art supreme. 



Thy radiant hues embrace all the light 



Of the rainbow archway above; 

 The angels must gather enthralled by the sight 



Of the Queen of the Eden of Love. 

 With passionate fondness I gather thee up. 



Fill my arms with the best thou dost give; 

 I am satisfied now, thou fillest my cup 



To the brim, and for thee will I live. 



REFRAIN: 



And on my eyes and lips shall come 

 Thy witching light. Chrysanthemum. 

 Filled is my heart with thee, my queen. 

 Till life shall end, thou art supreme. 



— Magee Pratt. 



PROPAGATION FOR EXHBITION. 



It is none too soon to begin propa- 

 gating for the coming season. While 

 there is ample time yet for many kinds 

 that are good, free growers, unless one 

 wants to increase the stock considerably, 

 still there are some dwarf, slow growing 

 kintls that must have early propagation, 

 if the finest flowers are needed. Among 

 them we would include the following: 

 Beatrice /May, Pres. Loubet, Mary Ann 

 Pockett, Merza, Lady Hopetoun, Nellie 

 Pockett, Cheltoni and May Seddon. All 

 exhibitors know that these varieties do 

 not show their true character unless they 

 have a long season of growth. The dif- 

 ference in the flower of a Nellie Pockett, 

 for instance, that has been well grown 

 and flowered from an August bud, and 

 the shallow, flat flowers as seen in the 

 wholesale market, is so great that I 

 have heard men deny that they were 

 both flowers of the same variety. 



I have had good flowers of Beatrice 

 May from plants rooted in May or early 

 .June, but the stem would be so short — 

 twelve inches — that the flowers could 

 not be staged advantageously. 



Loubet last year was, generally speak- 

 ing, very poor, and I am convinced that 

 it' was due to late propagation and the 

 plants not having time to ripen their 

 wood properly. If Loubet can. be grown 

 big one year it can be grown big an- 

 other year, if conditions are reasonably 

 similar. 



I have noticed, also, that varieties 

 that are delicate in constitution, SHch 

 as the old Guy Hamilton or Mrs. D. V. 

 West, if they are rooted early and 

 kept pinched close, make a much stronger 

 growth when they are finally permitted 

 to come away, the reason being that the 



plant has been busy forming roots and 

 gathering strength. 



In trimming the cuttings, do not be 

 afraid to cut off the most of the leaves 

 and trim the remainder closely, because 

 they are not needed on the cutting and 

 only retard its rooting by wilting and 

 lying over the sand, and one cannot put 

 nearly so many cuttings in a given space 

 if they are not well trimmed, to allow 

 the air to circulate between the rows. 



Years ago we used to hear a great 

 fuss being made about rooting chrysan- 

 themums without bottom heat, but I 

 venture to say that growers in all the 

 northern latitudes now use some bottom 

 heat ; not an excess, of course, but enough 

 to keep the cuttings dry at night and 

 the sand at an average of 60 degrees. 

 So treated, there is practically no loss, 

 and by using the warm end of the bench 

 for slow rooting kinds, like Montigny, 

 the whole batch can be taken out to- 

 gether. 



Just as soon as the cutting begins to 

 push out roots, or wher; the roots are an 

 inch long, is the time to pot it up. Stock 

 is often greatly injured by being left 



too long in the sand and making long 

 roots and a spindly top. Such stock is 

 practically ruined at the starting of its 

 career and never makes the dwarf, short- 

 jointed plant that is the joy of the ex- 

 port's heart. C. H. Tottt. 



IN CANADA. 



In an article on horticultural condi- 

 tions in Canada, mostly devoted to an 

 account of the fruit interests, W. T. 

 Macoun, of the Central Experimental 

 Farm at Ottawa, concludes as follows: 



' * The development of floriculture in 

 Canada has been rapid. Notwithstand- 

 ing the severer winters than those to 

 the south of us, the plant and cut flower 

 trade has developed wonderfully, the in- 

 crease in the value of trade being 400 

 per cent during the last ten years. It 

 has been estimated that the amount of 

 capital invested in greenhouse equip- 

 ment, stock, etc., is $5,000,000* with an 

 annual value of trade transacted of $2,- 

 000,000. This is but a beginning, as 

 Canadians love flowers. 



"At the beginning of the twentieth 

 century Canada has about 6,000,000 pop- 

 ulation, or, approximately, as great as 

 the United States had at the beginning 

 of the nineteenth century. It has been 

 said that the nineteenth century was for 

 the United States what the twentieth 

 century is for Canada. We believe that 

 this is true in regard to horticulture, as 

 in other matters." 



GRAFTING AND BENCHING. 



We should like to know what results 

 have been attained by some of the lead- 

 ing rose growers who have grown both 

 grafted and own-root stock for forcing, 

 and also whether solid stages or benches 

 would bring the best results. We should 

 also Jike to know whether benches raised 

 only six inches above the floor of the 

 greenhouse, just so there would be a 

 circulation of air under the benches, 

 woqld have any advantage over solid 

 beds. Will two-year-old stock produce 

 good results on benches that are only 

 six inches in depth, without changing 

 soil or plants? G. & S. 



The principal object to be attained in 

 using grafted stock is to secure better 

 root action in those varieties which are 

 naturally weak on their own roots or 

 which, through a long period of forcing, 

 have become deteriorated in vitality. 



In the Manetti, a rose of Italian ori- 

 gin, are combined the qualities of vigor 

 and robustness, with fine fibrous roots, 

 which continue in activity during the 

 entire season, a most essential requisite 

 for the everblooming varieties. Another 

 very material qualification possessed by 

 this stock is its immunity from the rav- 

 ages of eel worms. From inquiries made 

 during the past few years I have not 

 heard of one authentic case of eel worms 

 infesting plants grafted on this stock. 

 Where this pest is prevalent it would cer- 

 tainly appear from latest evidence to be 

 the safest course to graft all suitable 

 varieties, such as Bride, Bridesmaid, 

 Kichmond and Beauty, on this stock. 



By securing increased root action dur- 

 ing the period from propagating time 

 until October, we are able to produce 

 a much larger and stronger plant, which 

 will certainly give a bigger cut of blooms. 

 If this root action can be sustained dur- 

 ing the winter months, the plants will be 

 able to assimilate a larger quantity of 

 food and, logically, they should still be 

 able to give a larger cut. 



Where the soil is of a poor quality, 

 requiring an extra amount of feeding 

 matter added, grafting is a distinct ad- 



