ffWW«5X^^|R!>f»!^(|ffWljp3^^ 



">'!*'.."(• " -Tv^"^^"" VPvY^"n'^^'^' ■■'T v-^ ^yi^'^'T- 



Dbcember 10, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



29 



that, give a good coat of hot lime wash, 

 to kill and prevent fungus. 



The Sand* 



Now you are ready for the sand, which 

 should be clean and sharp. River and 

 lake sand are usually clean and are good 

 if you can get them sharp enough. Usu- 

 ally they are too fine, which prevents 

 proper drainage when flooded with water. 

 Pit sand is not always clean, but can be 

 had as coarse as wanted. We have used 

 both kinds with splendid success and find 

 that, when handled according to their 

 composition, no trouble need be experi- 

 enced. 



Spread the sand on the bench about 

 three and one-half inches thick and water 

 it thoroughly. Leave it until you wish to 

 ])ut in cuttings, when it should be packed 

 down rather firmly, packing it as it is 

 needed, ^me growers still use a brick 

 for doing this, but we find that a much 

 l)etter tool is made as follows : Find a 

 piece of 2-inch plank, 6x12, and smooth 

 on both sides. Saw a V-shaped piece out 

 of another piece and nail it onto the flat 

 piece with the point up. This makes a 

 splendid handle, which can be gripped 

 from either side and does not tire the 

 hand like gripping a brick, and a much 

 better job will result. 



After providing yourself with a com- 

 mon table knife for cutting the furrows 

 in the sand where the cuttings are to be 

 inserted, you are ready for the cuttings, 

 and your troubles are just conunencing. 

 They will be serious or light, according to 

 your watchfulness and good judgment in 

 caring for the cuttings. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



MERRITT»S SUCCESS. 



H. Merritt, at Irondequoit, N. Y., has 

 had exceptional results with his car- 

 nations thus lar this season. The ac- 

 companying illustration shows a house, 

 30x155, from which he picked an aver- 

 age of 1,000 flowers a day for the whole 

 month of October, whicn splendid result 

 could not have been obtained had the 

 weather not been specially favorable. 

 The cut still is heavy. Enchantress oc- 

 cupies the bench in the foreground in 

 the picture, with Beacon in the bench 

 at the left, and. Queen on the two side 

 benches. The picture was made in the 

 afternoon, and in the early morning of 

 that day 1,200 blooms had been picked. 



Mr. Merritt disposes of the bulk of 

 his stock to H. E. Wilson, Rochester, who 

 has taken uis cut for twelve years in 

 succession. 



Last season Mr. Merritt found a sport 

 of Queen, a shade which resembles Win- 

 8or, and of which he intends to work up 

 stock, thinking he has a first-class thing. 



During the past summer Mr. Merritt 

 built for himself a new residence at a 

 cost of over $5,000, which seems to in- 

 dicate that carnation growing is not the 

 least profitable of occupations in cen- 

 tral New York. 



ARRANGEMENT OF BENCHES. 



Can you tell me the most practical 

 way of dividing a house 11x85, and eight 

 and a half feet high to the ridge, into 

 bench room for the growing of carna- 

 tions? It is an even-span house. 



Subscriber. 



Your house is of an awkward width for 

 dividing in an up-to-date manner. You 

 do not give as much data as you might 

 have done, either, and so T must guess at 



Carnation Edward. 



what you did not furnish. I will assume 

 that the eaves are about five and one-half 

 feet high and the sides boarded up to 

 them. In such case, I would build a 

 bench two and one-half feet wide against 

 the north wall. This will hold four 

 plants across. Leave a 2-foot walk be- 

 tween it and the next bench, which will 

 be five feet wide. This will leave room 

 along the south wall for a walk one and 

 one-half feet wide, which is wide enough 

 to work in. You will do all your heavy 

 work, like wheeling soil, in the wide cen- 

 ter walk. Under this arrangement you 

 will get all the light possible under the 

 circumstances. When you build again, 

 plan your house to be at least fifteen 

 feet wide. That will give you two 5-foot 

 benches with walks all around them, 

 which is the up-to-date way of building. 



A. F. J. B. 



CARNATION EDWARD. 



W. H. Shumway, the carnation grower 

 at Berlin, Conn., has been experimenting 

 for a number of years in the raising of 

 seedlings and has a series of new varie- 

 ties undergoing test which he expects will 

 be put on the market within the next 

 year or two. This season he is introducing 

 a variety named Edward, which he has 

 been growing for four years. The color 

 is deep pink. The petals are heavily 

 fringed and the flower is high built in the 

 center, being more than ordinarily dou- 

 ble. Mr. Shumway says that what par- 

 ticularly im[iressed him about this va- 

 riety was its continuous blooming habit. 

 He also claims that the percentage of 

 good flowers is above the average, al- 

 though an occasional split is found. He 

 says it is easy to grow and comes into 

 bloom early, but does not reach its high- 

 est development until the middle or last 

 of November. He says, ' ' The disseminat- 

 ing of new varieties will be my spe- 

 cialty, and I hope to produce several new 

 carnations that will gain widespread 

 recognition." His place is well kept 

 and up-to-date. 



RUST ON CARNATIONS. 



Can you tell me what is the matter 

 with the enclosed carnation leaves? 

 Please give me a remedy, as the trouble 

 is spreading fast. A. L. 



The specimens forwarded were covered 

 with the pustules of the common carna- 

 tion rust. If you will look up your recent 

 numbers of the Review you will see this 

 subject treated repeatedly. If the rust 

 is spreading rapidly, you may be sure 

 your cultural methods are wrong. Look 

 up your Reviews and get busy cleaning 

 the plants off, and then correct your 

 methods according to the suggestions 

 given. A. F. J. B. 



STIGMONOSE. 



Enclosed you will find samples of car- 

 nations which seem to be affected in 

 some way. The plants were in fine con- 

 dition until two weeks ago, when the 

 trouble was first noticed, and it seems to 

 spread rather than to improve. We «re 

 at a loss to know what is our trouble and 

 will appreciate any suggestion. 



H. S. W. 



The light spots in the leaves on the 

 specimens forwarded are what is called 

 .^tigmonose — formerly called bacteriosis. 

 These spots are supposed to be caused by 

 the punctures of insects, such as aphis, 

 thrips, red spider, etc. While the growth 

 is quite young these insects puncture the 

 tender skin and suck the juice from the 

 leaves, causing a breaking down in the 

 structural cells on account of the with- 

 drawal of this sap. 



Occasionally one runs across a batch 

 of plants thus affected, which had been 

 kept as clean of insects as possible from 

 the beginning, and naturally one is apt 

 to doubt this theory. Scientists, how- 

 ever, tell us that seldom is a plant en- 

 tirely free from insects of some kind, 

 even though they may escape the naked 

 eye. That these punctures are primarily 

 the cause of this disease I have no doubt. 



