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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Mabch 26, 1908. 



before the disturbance took place. By 

 leaving those longer shoots on and top- 

 ping them when growth has been re- 

 sumed, you again get your succession 

 of breaks as you had taem before. 



You will find much less tendency to 

 crop among plants which are housed early 

 than you do among late housed stock, 

 if too much topping is not done after 

 housing. That is why I advise allowing 

 the plants to bloom after they are re- 

 established, even if you have no sale for 

 the blooms. We had a splendid illustra- 

 tion of this on our place last year, 1906- 

 1907. We planted a batch of some 300 

 plants of a seedling variety about Aug- 

 ust 1. Later, about September 15, we 

 planted another batch of the same va- 

 riety, of equal number of plants. The 

 last batch carried many flower shoots 

 and buds, which were removed when 

 brought in. The first batch came into 

 bloom early in September and bloomed 

 continuously through the season, while the 

 late planted batch was always either in 

 heavy crop or away oflf crop. This season 

 we planted the same variety about the 

 middle of August and it has been in 

 steady crop all winter. 



Of course the cut is never so heavy 

 as it would be at times if the plants had 

 been made to bloom in crops. You will 

 find, however, that the blooms will run 

 of higher average quality than where the 

 plants bloom in crops. We notice this es- 

 pecially in Enchantress and its sports. 

 We have had Enchantress come in crops 

 and have had them carry as heavy crop 

 as anyone could wish to see, making a 

 grand sight when in full bloom. We 

 found that the first half or two-thirds of 

 the crop would average good, but the 

 last third would contain more weak stems 

 than strong ones and the blooms would 

 compare likewise. You will not find this 

 condition when the plants carry only a 

 fair quantity of buds along with a suc- 

 cession of shoots to bring a steady cut. 

 Of course, this will not overcome those 

 gluts which are brought on by spells 

 of warm, bright weather during the win- 

 ter, when cold weather should prevail, 

 nor the scarcities which result from pro- 

 longed cloudy weather or those following 

 a glut, as often happens. But even in 

 such cases the trouble will not become so 

 severe. A. F. J. B. 



POSITION OF HOUSES. 



I am building a range of even-span, 

 connected greenhouses, containing about 

 12,000 square feet of glass, to be used 

 for growing carnations and a general 

 stock for retail trade, and I should like 

 to know whether the houses should run 

 north and south or east and west. 



E.H.O. 



In view of the fact that you are lo- 

 cated in Wisconsin, in what we usually 

 term the north, I would say by all means 

 run your houses east and west. There is 

 no doubt in the minds of most growers 

 that up here the best results are obtained 

 in houses built that way. You get more 

 light when light is at a premium, during 

 the winter, and that is the most impor- 

 tant point to be considered in greenhouse 

 building. I would advise you to raise 

 your gutters high enough so that the 

 shade from them will not be so dense by 

 the time it strikes the plants, and by 

 placing your walks properly you can 

 make the shade strike the walks when 

 the sun is the lowest. The gutters should 

 be about six feet high. That allows the 

 light to get under them, even though it 

 may not be sun-rays. 



In the south, where the sun does not 

 go so low as here and where light is more 

 abundant, north and south houses can be 

 used to better advantage than here. I 

 have heard it stated that during the ex- 

 treme heat in summer they can be kept 

 cooler than the others, but I cannot say 

 from experience with such houses. 



A. F. J. B. 



COMMERCIAL ROSE GROWING. 



[A paper by W. H. Elliott, Boston, read be- 

 fore the Gardeners' and Florists' Club of Boston, 

 March 17, 1908.] 



How are they grown? Why do we 

 succeed? Why do we fail? These are 

 the first questions we would like to have 

 answered, which, however, have never 

 been fully answered, and to which I can 

 only give a very indefinite answer at best. 



The practical questions are more as fol- 

 lows: In regard to propagation, grafted 

 or own-root plants; proper care of young 

 stock; soil; fertilization; watering; tem- 

 perature and ventilation. These have all 

 been answered many times and generally 

 in much the same way. I have no better 

 answer than has been made before. We 

 all know how roses should be grown. It 

 is not the lack of knowledge that causes 

 our failure, but the lack of attention. 

 We must never let up for a minute in 

 our care and attention, from the time 

 propagation begins up to the end. It 

 means twenty-four hours a day and seven 

 days a week that they require the best 

 that we can give to them. 



A Partnership Basis. 



We must also remember that even if 

 we call ourselves rose growers, we can 

 only produce roses on a partnership basis. 

 No man can grow a rose; that must be 

 done by the other partner, who is the 

 Lord in this case, and it is well to re- 

 member this fact and give Him the credit 

 that is due Him. In a partnership of 

 this kind, tricks and secrets will not 



avail. A simple, square, fair deal all 

 around is what is necessary, and we must 

 never forget that it takes a thousand 

 things to make success, while only one 

 will make a failure. As I said before, 

 you must never let up. You must pay 

 the price if you are to get the best. 

 This whole subject was summed up years 

 ago by that great lover of roses, Eey- 

 nolds Hole, when he said, "Eternal vigi- 

 lance is the price of good roses." I 

 would like to firmly imprint on the brain 

 of every rose grower this great principle 

 — eternal vigilance. This is the principle 

 on which I have worked. I have no se- 

 crets that I consider too good to give 

 to the most humble rose grower. 



The Grower With One Idea. 



It is my opinion that the greatest 

 mistake made in growing roses is in pin- 

 ning too much faith on one particular 

 idea. It is one man 's opinion that a cer- 

 tain kind of fertilizer accounts for all 

 the success, while another man has equal 

 faith in soil sterilization. vVe all pin too 

 much faith on soil and too little on air 

 and water. Why do people grow healthy 

 in the country? Certainly not on account 

 of the good soil. Air and water have 

 much more to do with it. Fertilizers are 

 really our great stumbling blocks and 

 cause more failure than anything else. 

 As I said before, it takes a thousand 

 things to make success and we all know 

 equally well what they are. No amount 

 of knowledge can make up for a hap- 

 hazard method of handling the rose 

 plants. You must do your very best, 

 and, just so far as possible, keep up to 

 date in everything in connection with the 

 business, and be equipped as thoroughly 

 as possible with the best. Don't com- 

 plain if your burdens are heavy, because 

 it is only with those that the great prizes 

 come and our greatest successes lead us 

 to greater opportunities and more bur- 

 dens. 



♦^A^^i, 



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:«2l 



SOIL AND 

 THE FLORIST 



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ADAPTATION OF SOILS. 



[Synopsis of a paper by Gustavus B. May- 

 nadler, of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, read before the American Rose 

 Society at Chicago, March 25 to 27. 1908.] 



The whole work of the Department 

 of Agriculture is apportioned, accord- 

 ing to the character of the problem, 

 among the various bureaus of which the 

 Department is made up, one of these 

 being the Bureau of Soils. 



In a m.ajority of the cases observed 

 by the Bureau it was found that va- 

 rieties not only were better suited to 

 certain soils, but that the class of soils 

 specially adapted for their growth was 

 similar to that upon which the variety 

 was developed. 



This is because the plant is in no 

 sense a fixed, unchangeable organism, 

 restricted to a definite form. On the 

 contrary, it is highly plastic, capable 

 of being changed or modified in all of 

 its parts. We can by cultural methods 

 alone effect many changes, and it is 

 just as certain that as many more will 



occur through natural agencies. The 

 effect of climate, the character of the 

 soil, whether dry or moist, sandy or 

 clay, all exert an influence tending to 

 change or modify plant characters. 



We see, then, that in the develop- 

 ment of varieties the effect of soil is 

 manifested, and to keep it up to the 

 ideal established by the originator it is 

 necessary to provide an environment 

 quite similar to that in which it was 

 developed. Yet originators of new va- 

 rieties seldom think it necessary to men- 

 tion the class of soils upon which the 

 varieties were produced, never perhaps 

 considering the influence that it may 

 exert upon the future of the plants. And 

 I believe that many new varieties, 

 which are introduced only to be as sud- 

 denly cast aside, disappeared from cul- 

 tivation because their habit is such 

 that there are but few soils really well 

 adapted to their culture. 



Mysterious Forces in the Soil. 



In the soil we have not only the sup- 



