July 2, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



. >v^ 



SEASONABLE CULTURE. 



Feeding the Plants. 



My attention having been called last 

 week to two cases where feeding had al- 

 ready been resorted to, and with disas- 

 trous results, leads me to pen these 

 lines. 



The chrysanthemum is spoken of as 

 a gross feeder; that is, a plant that will 

 use an almost unlimited amount of plant 

 food and be benefited thereby. This is 

 true at certain seasons, but it is a poor 

 policy to work on all the time. When 

 the plants are set out in the beds, there 

 should be food enough to keep them go- 

 ing in good shape for ten to twelve 

 weeks. Thus, plants set out, say, about 

 the middle of May should not need any 

 stimulant before the middle of July. 



It is a cardinal principle in plant- 

 growing of any kind that the plant 

 must be well rooted in either pot or 

 bench before it is in a condition to as- 

 similate plant food supplied in the 

 form of a liquid, yet growers who 

 should know better will give plants liq- 

 uid shortly after potting, with the re- 

 sult that the soil sours, the roots will 

 not work in it and the last stage of that 

 plant is far worse than the first. 



A light mulch of well-rotted manure 

 will do no barm to the plants at any 

 time, providing it is well rotted and not 

 half green, but avoid the use of soda or 

 any other chemical till you know that 

 the plant is ready for it. ^ 



We will take up the feeding at the 

 proper time, but to those who propose 

 to feed their plants so early in the 

 game as this my advice is, ' ' Don 't I " 



Buds. 



Much early planted stock is produc- 

 ing buds and it is, of course, useless to 

 take these buds, as they are too early to 

 develop. Nature takes care of the sit- 

 uation by sending out several shoots 

 round the bud, which will continue the 

 growth of the plant. It will be neces- 

 sary to reduce these shoots to such a 

 number of stems, one or more, as 

 is proposed to be carried on to com- 

 pletion, but it is not a wise plan to do 

 it before the shoots are several inches 

 long, as it is not possible to determine 

 that the shoot is not blind until it has 

 made several leaves. I always remove 

 the shoot immediately below the bud, 

 because often it makes a few leaves and 

 then produces another bud instead of 

 growing right along. Some kinds give 

 little trouble when they produce buds, 

 while others have to be coaxed consider- 

 ably to keep them in the straight and 

 narrow way. 



Pompons and Singles. 



Though almost everyone is now fa- 

 miliar with the pompons, few people 

 know much about the culture of the 



single varieties, judging by the num- 

 ber of inquiries being made right 

 along. 



Singles that are being grown contin- 

 uously in pots, or that are planted in 

 the garden with the idea of being lifted 

 and potted, should be kept pinched in 

 closely till ihe second or third week in 

 July; then, if they have been pinched 

 properly, they make beautiful, compact 

 bushes, a perfect mass of flowers. 



As to whether plants do better in pots 

 than planted out in the garden, I prefer 

 to grow them in pots if I can keep the 

 pots indoors. If they have to go out- 

 side, I would rather plant directly into 

 the ground and lift early in September, 

 because most seasons the heavy thun- 

 derstorms get the plants waterlogged 

 and leaf spot sets in and disfigures the 

 plant. Singles taken from the sand now 

 and potted along as needed into 6-inch 

 pots make beautiful and profitable stock 

 with a minimum of labor, no pinching 

 or tying being necessary. 



Both singles and pompons planted in 

 the bench any time for the next two 

 weeks will also well repay the time and 

 trouble. While they do not make so 

 long a stem as earlier stock, they are 

 plenty long enough to use for cutting as 

 sprays, and as the amount of labor ex- 



pended on them outside of watering is 

 almost nil, they can be sold cheap and 

 still realize a good profit, as no disbud- 

 ding is necessary. 



Charles H. Totty. 



IVORY TO TWO STEMS. 



Will Ivory mums planted in benches 

 out of 2-inch pots during June, and 

 pinched back about July 8, produce two 

 good blooms per plant in good soil and 

 well-ventilated houses? J. M. J. 



Plants so tteated will produce fair 

 flowers, but not by any means top-notch- 

 ers. The tendency too often is to ex- 

 pect too much from the chrysanthemum 

 in a given time. If the plants were 

 fairly large when set out in June, many 

 o/ them should make a natural break 

 early in July and two shoots could 

 then be taken up, if necessary, and 

 pinching would not be required. 



If the plants had been tipped while 

 still in the pots they would now have 

 the shoots growing nicely and time 

 would have been saved. Ivory is 'a 

 dwarf grower and, if pinched late, the 

 stem is short; otherwise, as stated above, 

 the flowers will be fair if plants are 

 helped along with some feed. 



C. H. Totty. 



SEASONABLE CULTURE. 



During the growing season, and until 

 the young roots begin to approach the 

 surface, cultivating should be closely at- 

 tended to. Where the soil is light and 

 friable this can be performed with the 

 hand, but with soil of a stiff, clayey na- 

 ture a small hand hoe is necessary. In 

 using any kind of an instrument due care 

 must be exercised so as not to go too 

 near the neck of the plant, or deep 

 enough to in any way injure the roots, 

 one inch being deep enough if cultivat- 



ing is practiced aa it should be, once a 

 week. 



During hot weather, when young stock 

 has to be watei'ed frequently and largo 

 quantities used, the soil will require fre- 

 quent stirring to break up the surface 

 and keep it in good condition. In clayey 

 soils, which are deficient in fiber, the 

 crust will form after every watering and 

 it should be broken up as soon as possi- 

 ble. 



When the feeding roots approach the 

 surface it is time to stop cultivating and 

 apply a light mulch. 



A little study and care in the prepara- 

 tion of the mulching materials will save 

 a great deal of hard and unnecessary 

 labor at the time we want to use it. By 

 having it in proper condition, we may 



