■ "."•", ■ 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



July 30, 1908. 



center; Champs Elysees, purple crim- 

 son; Eclaireur, carmine, salmon center; 

 Bridesmaid, white, rose center. 



Chrysanthemums, 



The last of the chrysanthemums should 

 be benched without delay. Even these 

 late rooted plants will give useful flow- 

 ers. The work of staking and tying 

 will now take up considerable time. It 

 cannot be neglected, for if the shoots 

 begin to fall around it will make the 

 iwork doubly difficult. Keep the surface 

 soil slightly scratched over and remove 

 weeds and decaying foliage. Do not be 

 afraid to spray your plants overhead 



during hot weather. Also keep the floors 

 well damped down after a day of in- 

 tense heat. We like to syringe so that 

 the foliage will remain damp after night- 

 fall, but not after the middle of August, 

 as it induces leaf fungus. Black fly 

 will be the chief pest to fight for some 

 time. Spraying with a nicotine extract 

 or kerosene emulsion is to be preferred 

 during warm weather. As the tempera- 

 ture becomes lower, fumigation is safer. 

 Keep a sharp lookout for those hairy 

 worms on the foliage. It is rather early 

 for the main crop of these, but some are 

 already on hand and they speedily dis- 

 figure the foliage. 



,:.'•■_ -:..' ^:V':' Violet*. ■:• -y ... ■- 



Recent rains have proved beneficial to 

 violets and runners are now being freely 

 produced. These should be removed from 

 time to time. Where doubles are not 

 grown in the beds, benches or frames in 

 which they are to flower, they should be 

 planted in without delay. The longer 

 they are left out the more danger is 

 there of the dreaded spot ruining them. 

 Early planting of these always gives us 

 the best results, but with the singles, Oc- 

 tober is early enough to do any hous- 

 ing. The compost for these latter should 

 be gotten ready now, if this has not 

 been already done. 



STEM-ROT. 



The Res:ular Yearly Visitor. 



In two or three weeks from now we 

 will hear again about stem-rot of the 

 newly-planted indoor carnations. There 

 are but few of us who are not bothered 

 more or less with this annoying trouble, 

 and even the utmost care in watering, 

 ventilating, removing all infected plants 

 as well as the soil surrounding them, and 

 using lime freely, will quite often be of 

 but little use. It almost seems that the 

 plants will keep on dying off for a cer- 

 tain length of time, in spite of all one 

 does. There may be some who claim to 

 have a cure, but I am sure the majority 

 of us know but little about it. We may 

 try a certain remedy one year and feel 

 satisfied that it helped to stop the spread 

 of the disease, only to find out the fol- 

 lowing year that it does not. 



There is no doubt but what science 

 will in the near future reveal something 

 which will ultimately overcome stem-rot. 

 The thing to do for the present is to 

 take advantage of what we know through 

 science regarding the conditions favor- 

 able for fungous diseases and thereby 

 prevent as much as possible the appear- 

 ance of the trouble. 



Largely Due to Soil. 



W^hile there is no doiibt that atmos- 

 pheric conditions have a great deal to 

 do with spreading any fungus or disease 

 germ injurious to plant life, it is also 

 certain that the soil which is used in the 

 benches is quite often the cause of stem- 

 rot. A heavily manured, mucky soil 

 forms a. hotbed for the disease. In fact, 

 almost ninety per cent of the troubles 

 with carnations are due to conditions of 

 the soil, and in many instances this is 

 brought about by overfeeding; and es- 

 pecially one of the troubles, the sleepi- 



ness of the flowers, is more than any- 

 thing else due to this fact. 



Soil which has been piled up for 

 months and heavily manured is not the 

 proper material to plant carnations in. 

 The assertion that manure makes humus, 

 which produces available chemical ele- 

 ments in the soil necessary for a heavy 

 yield, is true, but the carnations lifted 

 from the field take weeks before they 

 are reestablished sufficiently to require 

 any other nourishment than that which 

 is contained in a sweet, fibrous loam; 

 while, on the other hand, hea^y manured 

 soil in a temperature of about 90 de- 

 grees, kept wet by . daily watering, is 

 bound to get soaky and sour in a short 

 time, and at the same time make con- 

 ditions ideal for stem-rot. Not alone 

 with lifted field grown plants is this pos- 

 sible, but also with stock planted from 

 pots. It is just as wrong to have them 

 in soil of this kind. 



Some Practical Suggestions. 



To beginners, or those who have been 

 troubled with stem-rot, it might be of 

 value to follow the method described 

 below in caring for the stock. With us 

 it has proved most satisfactory. When- 

 ever possible, use soil consisting of a 

 rather sandy, fibrous loam. Sod soil 

 dug and piled up two or three months 

 before benching cannot be beat. There 

 is no doubt but what soil of this kind 

 costs more to get into shape when filling 

 the benches, but it pays to use it. The 

 lumpy parts of the soil can be used for 

 the bottom layer, and the fine on top to 

 plant into. 



Use care in planting the carnations. 

 Do not bury the hard-wooded stems up 

 to the foliage in the soil. The man who 

 lets any bad foliage remain on the plants 

 when bringing them in from the field 

 is no gardener. One thorough soaking 

 after planting, which should be done 

 with the water turned on half force, and 



by going around the plants instead of 

 trying to knock them over, will do for 

 four to six days, but the stock should 

 be kept from wilting by having a thick 

 coat of mud wash on the glass to pro- 

 tect the plants from the sun, and by 

 syringing lightly three to four times 

 daily. By syringing lightly is not meant 

 a watering. It is only to be a fine spray, 

 enough to moisten the foliage, and while 

 for the first six to eight days after plant- 

 ing a syringing late in the evening will 

 help considerably to assist the plants in 

 getting established, it is not advisable to 

 have bushy plants wet over night after 

 they have made sufficient new roots, for 

 this, in case of the appearance of stem- 

 rot, would not help matters. 



Ventilation and Shading. 



Most growers advocate the partial 

 closing of the ventilators and doors of a 

 fresh planted house. Where* however, 

 one can get along without doing this, it 

 is as well, for while a close atmosphere 

 will, or might, prevent the plants from 

 wilting, it also has a tendency, if in the 

 least overdone, to create an unnatural 

 growth on the plants, while the proper 

 way is to keep the tops of the plants 

 practically at a standstill until the new 

 roots produce a fresh growth. 



One week after planting, a little of 

 the shading on the glass can be removed 

 and every third or fourth day a little 

 more. Three weeks after planting should 

 find the plants exposed to the fullest sun- 

 light, every ventilator and door wide 

 open. A few panes of glass removed 

 along the gutters during August and the 

 first part of September is often of great 

 benefit. A circulation of fresh air is 

 wanted in every corner of the house. 

 No weeds or yellow leaves should ever 

 be allowed to be seen in the benches. 

 A light stirring up of the soil, one inch 

 or so deep, will keep the soil porous and 

 sweet. If the soil used in the benches 



