' ^ \ ^~ *• ) r^ ''ir-'.-v, ■';^>»i _ i— ->"«;,»-; 



8 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Febbuaby 20, 1908. 



we want it very badly. I do not know 

 to what kind or brand of commercial fer- 

 tilizer Mr. Harvey refers, but I am re- 

 minded of the words of Prof. Galloway 

 at Washington last month. He advised 

 against using any of these fertilizers and 

 in favor of using animal manures, both as 

 liquids and as mulch. Experience in- 

 clines me to favor his recommendations. 



A. F. J. B. 



SOME PROLmC SCARLETS. 



We want to know what red carnation 

 will give the most blooms. A medium 

 size will suit as well as a fancy. 



B. M. G. 



We now have three scarlet carnations 

 between which it is difficult to choose. 

 In fact, it depends on one's particular 

 needs as to which one he wants. Victory 

 will cover the whole season with a fair 

 average cut of splendid quality. Beacon 

 is a tremendous midwinter bloomer, and 

 if you want your crop between December 

 1 and April 1 this is the one you want. 

 Red Chief will cover the whole season 

 with a good heavy cut of medium sized 

 blooms of splendid color. It will make- 

 more blooms in the season than either of 

 the other varieties, but they are smaller 

 in size. Better try all three and choose 

 between them. A. F. J. B. 



GRADUATING TEMPERATURE. 



There is considerable difference of 

 opinion about the proper degree of tem- 

 perature for growing carnations. Some 

 growers say to keep the day tempera- 

 ture 60 to 65 degrees on bright days, 

 reduce the temperature to 58 or 60 de- 

 grees at dark, and gradually reduce to 

 the proper night temperature for each 



written by your experts, covering the 

 matter of ventilation and temperature 

 minutely, would be a great help to your 

 many new subscribers and to any be- 

 ginners in growing carnations. 



W. F. C. 



I have heard of these various methods 

 being practiced and I have no doubt 

 but that good arguments could be set 

 forth in favor of either of the two first 

 named. But how the last mentioned 

 could be justified is more than I can 

 understand. So let us consider it first. 

 It is a well-known fact that extreme 

 changes in temperature are not desirable 

 in growing carnations, as they tend to 

 cause splitting. The idea of regulating 

 the lemperature.;is not to counteract any- 

 thing that has gone before, but it is 

 to give the plant the temperature in 

 which it will produce the strongest and 

 healthiest growth. It seems that heat 

 and light have so much bearing upon 

 each other that when one is lacking the 

 supply of the other must be regulated 

 accordingly. The plant, to do its best, 

 must have these two elements in proper 

 proportion. As we cannot regulate the 

 light, we must confine our efforts almost 

 entirely to the heat. We know that the 

 carnation develops the healthiest growth 

 in a night temperature between 50 and 

 54 degrees, according to variety. Much 

 below 50 degrees causes a standstill in 

 growth, which is not at all desirable, 

 and, in most cases, is harmful. When 

 the light becomes stronger as the day 

 grows, more heat is also wanted and 

 that is why we have a night temperature 

 and a higher day temperature. 



Just why the temperature should be 

 lower at midnight than it is at 8 p. m., 

 I cannot see, because it is not darker 



House of Enchantress at W. S. Garland's, Des Plaines, IIL 



variety by midnight — 50 to 54 degrees 

 — and keep it there until the outside 

 temperature 1)egins to rise, say, after 

 8 or 9 a. m. Other growers reduce 

 to night temperature soon after dark 

 and try to keep it there until after day- 

 light, "while others 'allow the tempera- 

 ture to go down several degrees below 

 usual night temperature after 4 o 'clock 

 in the morning. We believe an article 



at that time. And why the night tem- 

 perature should not prevail by 8 p. m., 

 or even before, I cannot see, either. I 

 do not see, either, why the night tem- 

 perature should prevail until the outside 

 temperature begins to rise in the morn- 

 ing. Suppose the outside temperature 

 does not rise? It seems to me as being 

 entirely a case of supplying heat in pro- 

 portion to the strength of the light. 



I do, however, advise changing from the 

 one temperature to the other gradually, 

 letting the change consume about three 

 hours each time. When the light be- 

 gins to fade in the late afternoon, begin 

 to let the temperature drop, so that by 

 dark you have your plants in the night 

 temperature. Do the same way in the 

 morning. When the day begins to break, 

 begin raising the temperature, and by 

 the time the daylight is full — which will 

 vary according to the weather and time 

 of year — you will hkve the day tem- 

 perature prevailing. Then, if the day 

 is bright, let the sun raise the tem- 

 perature as much higher as you want 

 it above the cloudy day temperature, 

 and open the vents to prevent too much 

 rise. It seems to me that this is the most 

 rational and sensible method, unless I 

 am entirely wrong on the light and heat 

 proposition. A. F. J. B, 



TRIMMING CUTTINGS. 



Where is the best place to cut car- 

 nation cuttings, at the joint or between 

 joints, when they are broken from the 

 stalk? W. U. 



The young shoots used for cuttings 

 should be so short-jointed that there is 

 really no stem between the joints. When 

 cutting at the base, merely make a 

 clean cut wherever it may have severed 

 from the plant and remove enough of 

 the lower leaves to make a stem suffi- 

 cient to insert in the sand. Roots 

 will form equally well wherever the cut 

 is made. Heel cuttings, however, will 

 usually root a little more quickly than 

 those taken from farther out. 



A. F. J. B. 



HOUSE OF ENCHANTRESS.: , 



Warren S. Garland, at Des Plaines, 

 111., has had especial success in the house 

 shown in the accompanying illustration, 

 from a photograph made February 1. 

 Last year this house was pictured in the 

 Review with a phenomenal crop of Law- 

 son. This season Mr. Garland planted it 

 to Enchantress and, beginning along in 

 January, he has had fully as large a crop 

 as a year ago, when Lawson was the va- 

 •riety. The quality is excellent and the 

 house is returning big money in spite of 

 the fact that in the last three weeks En- 

 chantress has sold cheaper than ever be- 

 fore at this season in the Chicago mar- 

 ket. Percy Jones is Mr. Garland's sell- 

 ing agent. 



POTTING CARNATION CUTTINGS. 



Do the large carnation growers pot the 

 rooted carnation cuttings from sand, or 

 do they plant them in soil? J. A. W. 



It cannot be said that any one method 

 of handling young carnations is prac- 

 ticed generally by all the large growers. 

 In fact, you will find that many of them 

 have ideas of their own on this sub- 

 ject and their method varies from that 

 of others accordingly. In handling the 

 young stock strict attention to detail 

 is of greater importance than method, 

 though of course a good method is very 

 desirable. A method which is practiced 

 by many large growers, and which we 

 consider about the best we have ever 

 tried, is to pot the young cuttings from 

 the sand into 2-inch or 2^4-inch pots 

 and, when well established, plant them 

 four inches apart in three inches of soil 

 on a bench. We like this planting on 

 the liench better than shifting into 3- 

 inch pots, because in the spring the pots 



