6 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



August 6, 1908. 



they, run considerably longer. On the 

 Nora Unwin picking had just been com- 

 pleted when the picture was taken. 



Last year the aster crop was practically 

 ruined by the drought, and this season 

 has been dry, but the stock is thus far in 

 good shape and promising well. 



PEONY LADY ALEXANDRA DUFF. 



T. C. Thurlow & Co., West Newbury, 

 Mass., list Peony Lady Alexandra Duff 

 in this season's catalogue. They copy 

 the description from the Manual of Kel- 

 way & Son for 1908, as follows : ' * Lovely 

 French white; one of the grandest peo- 

 nies existing; tall and robust, and very 



highly perfumed; scarce. First-class cer- 

 tificate, E. B. S., £5 each." In explana- 

 tion they say, * * Several years ago we 

 bought two plants of Lady Alexandra 

 Duff of Messrs. Kelway and think we 

 got the true variety. It is tall and vig- 

 orous and on good land the flowers are 

 very large and fine. Some of the experts 

 around Boston think ours is identical 

 with James Kelway, but it does not agree 

 with the description of that variety in 

 the Messrs. Kelways ' last Manual. What- 

 ever it is, we believe it to be a valuable 

 kind and shall propagate it as fast as 

 possible. We have never sold any, but 

 will offer a few this year at $5 each. ' ' 



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STATE STUDIES 



JFOR FLORISTS 



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FOREIGN EXPERIMENTAL WORK. 



Results of Investigations at Urbana. 



The study of European experiments in 

 the forcing of plants, as reported in 

 previous issues of the Eeview, have re- 

 vealed a number of interesting features. 

 A new method of forcing tuberous be- 

 gonias has been published by Eagion- 

 eri. In January the tubers are placed in 

 well drained pans and covered with a 

 mixture of leaf-mold and sand. They 

 are kept quite warm. When the sprouts 

 appear the tubers are potted up. 



Most winter flowering varieties are 

 stated to be hybrids from the summer 

 flowering B. Socotrana, which bears many 

 bulbils in thick, scale-like leaves near 

 the base of the stem. These have the 

 property of requiring only a short rest- 

 . ing period. 



A second flowering of Begonia Gloire 

 de Lorraine may be obtained after the 

 first flowering in December or January 

 by resting the plants for two weeks, 

 cutting off old flowers and buds and 

 planting in a greenhouse. 



Eucharis may ^e induced to flower 

 twice a year by plunging the pots in a 

 warm bed in a greenhouse. After the 

 plants have flowered, remove the pots 

 from the warm bed, lower the tempera- 

 ture of the house a little and partly 

 withhold water. After six weeks or 

 more, again plunge the pot a second time 

 in a warm bed. 



Forcing tulips: Select bulbs from the 

 first shipment from Holland, pot them up 

 in September and put in a coldframe. 

 Allow three weeks from bringing into 

 the greenhouse for flowering. 



Fordns; Peonies Outdoors. 



Several French gardeners have reported 

 methods of forcing peonies outdoors in 

 borders. Schneider recommends planting 

 in a warm, protected location, and at ap- 

 proach of winter building a coldframe 

 over the plants. In January, remove 

 the soil around the plants and replace 

 with fresh horse manure. The plants 

 will bloom in April. As the sun gets 

 bright whitewash the glass. The flow- 

 ers are larger and fresher and the plants 

 remain longer in b''»^m than do those 



grown in the open. By forcing only 

 every other year the same roots can be 

 used for twelve or fifteen years. 



For forcing peonies in the greenhouse 

 the same writer suggests, on the basia 

 of systematic experiment, growing the 

 plants in pots outdoors one season and 

 bringing them into the cool house early 

 in January. Do not let the temperature 

 rise above 8 or 10 degrees C, and give 

 abundant ventilation. Flowers cut when 

 the bud is about half open can be kept 

 for a long time in a cool place and 

 bear transportation to considerable dis- 

 tances.' After the plants are through 

 flowering harden them off in a coldframe 

 and plant out in pots for one season. 

 The same plants can be forced several 

 times. 



To overcome the common difficulty in 

 getting vandas and some other orchids 

 to bloom, Page recommends that they be 

 put outside in full sunlight and allowed 

 to dry up through the summer. Bring 

 them in in the fall and they will flower 

 heavily. 



Retarding and Timing by Cold Storage. 



Vercier has made considerable investi- 

 gations on the retarding of growing 

 plants by means of cool storage, with 

 a view to timing. Growing plants are 



taken from the field and put in cool 

 storage at 2 degrees C and then brought 

 out and flowered normally at a predeter- 

 mined time. The air in storage must be 

 neither too wet nor too dry. About 

 eighty-five to ninety per cent relative 

 moisture is best. 



By this treatment orange buds were 

 kept for thirty days and then opened 

 without loss of perfume. Azaleas were 

 delayed fifty days, Bengal roses thirty 

 days and lilies sixteen days. 



Holding Cut Flowers in Cold Storage. 



Fourton and Dueomet, professors in 

 a French agricultural college, have made 

 extensive experiments with thirteen kinds 

 of flowers with reference to preserving 

 cut flowers in cold storage. Forty-six 

 kinds of weak solutions were used. Many 

 of the substances tested, of course, proved 

 unavailable, among them being some 

 which are recommended by retail flo- 

 rists. Different substances and different 

 strengths are required for different flow- 

 ers. 



Experiments with size of bouquet in 

 the vessel showed that, in general, small 

 bouquets keep the better; but with some 

 kinds of flowers large bouquets are bet- 

 ter because they make the water more 

 antiseptic. Minerals are used in various 

 concentrations up to one one-hundredth 

 of one per cent, and organic substances 

 in concentrations of one to ten per cent. 



The wilting of flowers in water ordi- 

 narily is due to decay of the stem and 

 clogging of the water vessels. The near- 

 er the surface of the liquid is to the 

 flower the longer the flower keeps. 



Chinese peonies give the most marked 

 results under this treatment. They were 

 held in marketable condition for 138 

 days. Marguerites kept in water fifteen 

 days and in salt solutions twenty-four 

 days. 



These rather cursory notes will give 

 the American reader a little idea as to 

 what is being done in an experimental 

 way in the interest of floriculture in other 

 countries. V. A. Clabk. 



ASTERS. 



During the months of July and Au- 

 gust last year Boss E. Zander, of Sou- 

 dersburg. Pa,, cut 227,000 asters from 

 the field shown in the illustration op- 

 posite and, although the weather has 

 been a little dry for best results, he 

 hopes to do equally well this season. 

 The flowers, of course, find their market 

 in Philadelphia. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Lorraine Begonias. 



With the shortening days and some- 

 what cooler nights the little Lorraine be- 

 gonias begin to grow much faster. Lose 

 no time in potting off late rooted cut- 

 tings. These will make useful little 

 plants in 3 ^A -inch or 4-inch pots. Give 

 earlier propagated plants shifts before 

 they can become potbound, and spread 



them out from time to time. For the 

 final shift 6-inch pots or pans are suffi- 

 ciently large, unless quite large plants 

 are wished for, in which case 8-inch may 

 be used. These begonias do not root 

 deeply and we find they succeed better 

 in pans than pots. If the latter recep- 

 tacles are used, put in plenty of drain- 

 age. Do not use a heavy soil in potting. 

 Flaky leaf-mold, sand, powdered char- 



