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August 27, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



Wire Supports. 



The question of supports is one which 

 presents itself to every grower each 

 year and, since reading the Review's 

 recent article showing illustrations of 

 several patterns, I am pfompted to give 

 our experience in the use of patent wire 

 supports, 



Bealizing that something better than 

 the old network of wire aud twine was 

 needed, we purchased for trial 500 

 Model, then manufactured by Theron 

 Parker. The results were so satisfactory 

 that the following season every plant 

 on the place wore one of the supports. 



Our only mistake in the trial order 

 was in not purchasing the three-ring 

 pattern, but those 500 of the two-ring 

 style paid for themselves that year in 

 the increased number of salable blooms 

 secured from plants thus supported. 



A Good Investment. 



My actual experience with other makes 

 has been confined to samples sent me 

 for trial, but at other places I have 

 seen nearly all those now offered on the 

 market and have yet to hear any com- 

 plaint except as to the matter of first 

 cost. 



This is quite an item, but aside from 

 the saving in time required to put in 

 place and their practical indestructi- 

 bility, the added number of desirable 

 blooms gained per plant places the mat- 

 ter in the light of an investment rather 

 than an expense. 



It may appear unreasonable to some 

 that a batch of plants should give a 

 larger number of salable blooms under 

 this system than under the one of wire 

 and twine, but when it is considered 

 that under the latter there is no adjust- 

 ability to individual plants, it will be 

 seen wherein lies one of the advantages 

 of the patent wire support. 



Adjustable to Suit the Plant. 



Growers who are compelled to plant 

 two or more varieties on the same bench 

 will appreciate the adjustable feature 

 of the wire support, and those wishing 

 to throw out part of a bench toward 

 spring may do so without the slightest 

 disarrangement of the remainder. 



These supports should be applied be- 

 fore the plants have attained a size 

 which would necessitate bunching or 

 crowding; on the other hand, it is ad- 

 visable to wait until the soil has been 

 weeded and cultivated a few times. 



Stated briefly, the success of wire sup- 

 ports consists in accommodating the 



contrivance to suit the plant, instead of 

 allowing the plant to get beyond benefit 

 from any support before applying. 



GfeO. S. OSBORN, 



MULCH FOR CARNATIONS. 



Our carnations have been benched since 

 July 10, from stock grown inside, and 

 they are doing nicely. I would like to 

 know if a mulch of some kind would 

 be beneficial now, or would it be better 

 to wait and put on bone in a few weeks? 

 The soil was sod plowed last fall, with 

 a light coating of manure. R. H. G, 



After you have gotten rid of the 

 weeds and your plants get to going 

 nicely, a thin mulch of light material 

 will do them good. This mulch should 

 not be for the purpose of adding plant 

 food, of which there is an abundance 

 for the present, but to prevent quick and 

 severe drying out of the soil. At this 

 time of the year it is about impossible, 

 without the aid of a mulch, to keep the 

 beds evenly moist all over. Severe dry- 

 ing out in spots will cause the plants 

 to harden, and a very uneven growth will 

 result. 



The bone can be added any time you 

 see it is wanted. The mulch will be a 

 splendid material to stir it into, to be 

 washed into the soil gradually. In fact, 

 this light mulch need not interfere in the 

 least with your feeding or mulching 

 with richer material later. 



A. F, J. B, 



SPACING CARNATION PLANTS.' 



Visiting a neighboring town a few 

 days ago, I dropped in to see how the 

 greenhouse man was getting along, and 

 found carnation planting about over. I 

 saw what was to me a new wrinkle. The 

 benches were five feet wide; in such a 

 bench I would put six plants in a row, 

 nine inches apart. I found, however, 

 that in place of six plants nine inches 

 apart in the row, there were five groups 

 of plants, the outside groups having two 

 plants and the three inside groups three 

 each, making thirteen plants. The 

 plants in the groups were about two and 

 one-half inches apart. Will such a plan 

 answer, or is that the up-to-date method? 



Y. 



Under ordinary, favorable conditions 

 the method you describe would certainly 

 not be considered up-to-date by any ex- 

 pert grower. When the plants are of 

 average size there is no other way of 

 planting so good as to set the plants 

 singly in rows across the bench, spaced 

 I according to variety, etc. Six or seven 



plants across a 5-foot bench and the 

 rows from ten to twelve inches apart are 

 the most generally practiced distances. 

 This allows each plant a vacant air- 

 space clear around it, which is a splen- 

 did thing in itself, 



I am inclined to think, however, that 

 if you had made inquiry you would 

 have found conditions which necessi- 

 tated or justified the method used to 

 some extent. For instance, if we are 

 planting a variety of which we want to 

 bench all the plants we have, we will 

 usually find among the batch all sizes 

 of plants from large to small. This is 

 caused by part of them being from early 

 cuttings and others from cuttings struck 

 as late as they could be rooted. Instead 

 of planting the large plants together, by 

 themselves, and the small ones together, 

 and giving the small ones less space, we 

 plant them all together, putting the 

 small ones in the edge rows, setting two 

 or three of the plants in a space and 

 setting them two or three inches apart. 

 If there are three, they are set in a tri- 

 angle. Some growers will take several 

 small plants and place them close to- 

 gether, holding them as one plant while 

 planting them in. This is, perhaps, the 

 more commonly practiced of the two 

 methods, but is not -as good as the other, 

 because stem-rot or any such trouble is 

 sure to attack all the plants if one of 

 the group should happen to be affected. 

 The plants can only develop on one side, 

 whereas, with the other method, they 

 can grow on all sides just as though 

 there were only one plant. 



If all the plants were exceptionally 

 small, so that the usual amount of space 

 would be too much for each plant, I 

 would rather plant closer together and 

 set the plants singly. Better results 

 will be obtained than where they are 

 grouped as you describe. This is where 

 the wire and string method of support- 

 ing has the advantage over the patent 

 wire supports. You can plant as many 

 rows on a bench as you wish, and the 

 rows can be made any desired distance 

 apart. As long as the whole bench has 

 the same number of plants in each row 

 across it, it will cause no trouble. You 

 need only add or leave out a wire for 

 each row added or left out, and a string 

 on each side of each row of plants is re- 

 quired whether the rows are eight inches 

 or twelve inches apart. Your wire rings 

 are made one size, and if they are large 

 enough for the largest plants they are 

 too large for the smallest ones. Ad- 

 justable rings are certainly to be pre- 

 ferred. Perhaps that is why your frien«l 

 planted as he did. Ask him. 



A. F, J, B. 



