8 



* The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Max 14, 1908. 



layer of sod, alternating with the re- 

 quired proportion of manure, until the 

 pile is as largo as required. In about 

 three weeks the pile should be ready 

 to chop up. 



Treatment of the G)mpost Pile. 



Where there is an absence of the mod- 

 ern chopping machine, a sharp spade 

 can be used to cut the sod to the re- 

 quired size. For roses, it is better not 

 to chop it up too fine; the sod and 

 manure should be cut into pieces of 

 about two inches in diameter. After 

 a few days this pile should be turned 

 over, so that the sod and manure may 

 become thoroughly incorporated. If 

 time allows, it will be all the better 

 of a second turning. 



In preparing the soil it is well to 

 remember that it should never be han- 

 dled when in a wet condition, nor dur- 

 ing rainy weather. The effect of sun- 

 shine during this operation is to sweeten 

 the soil and put it into the best pos- 

 sible condition for benching. If bone 

 is to be used, it is better to add it 

 when the soil is on the bench. Bibes. 



BABY RAMBLER ROSES. 



When should cuttings of Baby Ram- 

 bler roses be taken to have them in 

 bloom in 4-inch pots by Decoration day? 

 When should stock plants be taken in, 

 in the fall, to get cuttings in timef 



M. £. K.. 



Take in your stock plants not later 

 than December 1, after they have had 

 a good . freezing and lost their foliage. 

 Start cool at first, gradually raising the 

 temperature to 50 to 54 degrees at night. 

 Use half ripened wood for propagating 

 purposes. If you can get a good batch 

 of cuttings during February, they should 

 give you nice little plants for Memorial 

 day. Pot off into 2^4 -inch pots when 

 rooted, shifting into 4-inch later. A bot- 



tom heat of 70 degrees and a top heat 

 of 10 to 12 degrees cooler has given 

 us good results for propagating. 



C. W. 



AMERICAN ROSE SOOETY. 



June Show at Bronx' Park. 



A conference was held in New York 

 city last week relative to the Jrine show 

 of outdoor and other roses. This meet- 

 ing decided the date to be in the middle 

 or last week in June. President Simp- 

 son and others of the American Bose 

 Society and the committee of the New 

 York Horticultural Society attended this 

 meeting. There has been a strong in- 

 clination at all gatherings hitherto to 

 emphasize the desirability of the June 

 exhibitions and this year it is now 

 proposed to carry it into effect. The 

 American Bose Society invites the 

 attention of all its members to this 

 affair, requesting especially growers of 

 outdoor roses of any and all va- 

 rieties to be on hand, and furthermore 

 would be more than pleased to receive 

 the support of any friends in the way 

 of prizes for this show. 



A word to growers: Bemember that 

 this is a popular show, thrown open to 

 thousands of people who at this season 

 of the year gather for miles from the 

 most populous suburban district in all 

 America — and this means cultivating 

 business. So we want the rosarians of 

 New Jersey, all of New York, Connecti- 

 cut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and 

 Maryland, with as many from Ohio and 

 further west as practical, to send on 

 what they can. 



We want the rich man's estates, with 

 their wealth of beauty and their edu- 

 cated gardeners, to lend a hand and con- 

 tribute of the gloiy of the products of 

 "the leafy month of June" to the com- 

 ing rose show next month. 



Benjamin Hammond, Sec'y. 



■'y^»>'y;^Vr»>^tfe»>»*^>-*fe»*'W^-%*^'Wi:»>^*^>fe^%b»»'*fc^ 



SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



dl 



Peonies. 



Peonies are now making rapid growth 

 after the recent copious rains. The 

 officinalis section now has buds well ad- 

 vanced and will be open before Memo- 

 rial day, when they are very useful. To 

 assist the peonies at this time, give them 

 a top-dressing of nitrate of soda or 

 sheep manure, hoeing it in. This feed- 

 ing will greatly improve the quality of 

 the blooms. If applying liquid manure, 

 the best time is after a soaking rain. 

 Peonies are gross feeders and appreciate 

 stimulants given them before they flower. 



Summer Liliums. 



The bulbs of Lilium speciosum and 

 auratum potted last fall, if they have 

 been given a cool house, will now be 

 making rapid growth and will soon show 

 their, buds. Do not attempt to force 

 them. They resent a close, stuffy atmos- 

 phere and prefer airy conditions at all 

 stages of their growth. As the pots will 



now be well filled with active roots, a 

 supply of manure water, rather weak at 

 first, once a week, will be found helpful. 

 Do not allow green aphis to secure any 

 foothold in the ends of the shoots, or 

 they will speedily do great damage. If 

 you smoke once a week, they will not 

 cause you much trouble. Lilium longi- 

 florum for Memorial day should have the 

 earliest buds turning white by May 20 

 to be in good season. It is too soon to 

 pot up cold storage bulbs of L. specio- 

 sum or auratum for early winter bloom- 

 ing. July is sufficiently early. 



Hardy Herbaceous Plants. 



Almost every florist grows some va- 

 rieties of hardy perennials for cutting; 

 in fact, without them during the sum- 

 mer months, the country commercial 

 grower, who has a fairly constant call 

 for funeral and other work, would often 

 be in hard straits. Any dividing, re- 

 planting and setting out of seedlings 



raised under glass should now be com- 

 pleted. Once growth fairly starts, it 

 is rapid. After each considerable rain- 

 fall, run the cultivator through the rows 

 find keep the surface soil well stirred 

 up to conserve the moisture. Soon the 

 German iris will be in treason. Very use- 

 ful they will bo found, not only at Me- 

 morial day, but during June. They are 

 soon followed by the Spanish and Eng- 

 lish sections, both of which are splendid 

 for cutting. Being perfectly hardy, they 

 are worthy of more extended culture. 



Pinch back some of the shoots on the 

 herbaceous phloxes. This will retard 

 their flowering and throw them into 

 bloom when they will prove valuable. 

 Fall and winter rooted phlox cuttings 

 should have been planted in the field be- 

 fore now. They are specially fine dur- 

 ing September. If you did not give the 

 herbaceous plants a dressing of barn- 

 yard manure in the fall, it will still pay 

 to sprinkle some chemical fertilizer be- 

 tween the rows, taking care to keep it 

 away from the plants themselves. 



Hard-wooded Plants. 



Any plants of Azalea Indica left over 

 can be planted outdoors now. A light 

 freezing will not injure them, provided 

 they have been grown cool. See that all 

 seeds are picked from them and do not 

 plant in land containing fresh manure. 

 See that the plants are firmed thorough- 

 ly and let them be in full sunshine and 

 where they can be conveniently reached 

 with the hose. Boronias, acacias, ericas, 

 eriostemons and camellias can all go out- 

 doors and will each grow well if treated 

 like the azaleas. Genistas should be 

 clipped and potted over before being 

 stood outdoors. It is better to wait until 

 the end of the month before placing them 

 in the open. 



Poinsettias. 



While it is yet too early to start up 

 your poinsettias if you want short- 

 stemmed plants for pans, if you intejid 

 to grow a bench of them for cutting it 

 is time to shake out the old stock plants 

 which have been resting for several 

 months and place them in heat. Shake 

 away all soil from the roots, prune back 

 the tops and place in as small sized pots 

 as you can squeeze them into. Give one 

 soaking of water, then use it more spar- 

 ingly at the root, but syringe overhead 

 freely. A temperature of 55 to 60 de- 

 grees at night will soon start the plants 

 growing. Cuttings rubbed off with a 

 heel three to four inches long are our 

 favorites. Insert in sharp sand in a 

 good bottom heat. Never allow the sun 

 to shine upon them until rooted. Keep 

 them moist at the root. Do not, how- 

 ever, let the foliage on the cuttings re- 

 main wet over night, as this has a tend- 

 ency to start decay. 



Geraniums. 



Customers are already starting to buy 

 geraniums for piazza and window boxes. 

 As usual, all want plants carrying a 

 truss of flowers, even if the said plants 

 are smaller and weaker than those not 

 yet in bloom. We presume it will be 

 ever so. Strive to have as many of your 

 plants in flower before Memorial day as 

 possible, as it will greatly help sales. 

 Avoid overfeeding with manure water. 

 This promotes a soft growth, which is not 

 floriferous. Either a frame or cold honse 

 should now be given up to these useful 

 plants. They will require a lot of water. 

 If in frames, a good plan is to plunge 

 the pots half their depth. This keeps 



