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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Deccmbsb 24, 1008. 



SPECIMEN PLANT MRS. TRANTER. 



The plant illustrated was grown by A. 

 Herrington, of Madison, N. J. It car- 

 ried over 800 flowers and was nine feet 

 ten inches in diameter. I consider it as 

 near perfect as it was possible for a 

 plant to be. The variety is Mrs. J. E. 

 Tranter, which is particularly adapted to 

 such work, being very dwarf and break- 

 ing freely after pinching. 



It is, of course, possible to have a 

 plant of almost any size by combining 

 several plants in July or August ana 

 putting them together into one enormous 

 tub. The plant illustrated was grown 

 from a single stool and is to all intents 

 and purposes a single plant, and some- 

 thing that to the uninitiated is impossi- 

 ble to produce in the space of one year. 



Such a plant in the national show at 

 Chicago would have been the sensation 

 of the show, and it is a matter for re- 

 gret that millionaires are not so public- 

 spirited as some of us smaller fry, or it 

 certainly would have been on exhibition. 



Chas. H. Totty. 



NONIN WILTING. 



Is it characteristic of cut blooms of 

 Jeanne Nonin to wilt in two or three 

 days if placed in a room at 60 degrees? 

 I had some six inches in diameter that 

 two and a half days after cutting were 

 VFilted to the size of medium carnations. 



O. H. C. 



While it is not characteristic of Nonin 

 to wilt so quickly, still cases where it 

 does so are by no means unusual. It is 

 caused by the wood being so hard at the 

 point where the stem is severed from the 

 plant that the water cannot pass up to 

 the flower. Nonin is not alone in this 

 respect, many kinds showing this more 

 or less, depending largely on how they 

 are grown. A plant grown cold and on 

 the dry side will have wood much harder 

 than one more plentifully supplied with 

 water. A plant that has received plenty 

 of nitrogen in the shape of sulphate of 

 ammonia or some such chemical is al- 

 ways more pithy and will take up water 

 more readily than a plant not so fed. 



We hear much less about Merza wilt- 

 ing than we used to and I put it down 

 to the fact that more growers use chem- 

 icals than did a little while baek. 

 0. H. C. should split the stem up 

 several inches and, if there are any joints 

 in the stem, run a knife through the 

 joints and get them below the water line 

 in the jar. This gives the flower every 

 chance and if it still wilts there is Kttle 

 that can be done. C. H. T. 



EXHIBITION VARIETIES. 



Please let me know what is the largest 

 white chrysanthemum for exhibition, and 

 what color is Chadwick, also Eosiere, 

 Beatrice May and Tousetf Are any of 

 them good exhibition varieties? I have 



been looking over my catalogues, but can 

 not find any descriptions of them. 



M. C. J. 



The largest one stem white chrysan- 

 themum is Mrs, Norman Davis, with 

 Merza a good second. W. H. Chadwick 

 is a late white flushed with pink. 

 Beatrice May and Touset are early 

 whites and Rosiere an early pink. Bea- 

 trice May is the only good exhibition 

 variety, as Chadwick is always too late 

 and Eosiere and Touset too early. 



A good lot of varieties to select ex- 

 hibition kinds from is given in the 

 Eeview of December 10, some fifty varie- 

 ties being there described. C. H. T. 



TREATMENT OF NERINES. 



We have 100 bulbs of nerine, Guernsey 

 lily. Kindly inform us how to treat 

 these to have them in bloom by Easter. 



G. A. L. 



The natural flowering period for the 

 nerines, or Guernsey lilies, is from the 

 end of September until the early part of 

 November and I doubt the possibility of 

 either retarding or forwarding the bloom- 

 ing time. If your bulbs are still unpot- 

 ted, I would advise putting three in a 5- 

 inch pot or five in a 6-inch pot of such 

 varieties as Fothergilli major or corusca. 

 Grow these along in a cold greenhouse or 

 any pit from which frost may be ex- 

 cluded. The growth should be completed 

 about the end of May, when water can be 

 gradually withheld, and by the middle of 



June lay the pots on their sides on a dry, 

 sunny bank, where they are to remain un- 

 disturbed until the flower spikes begin to 

 show, usually about October 1, when they 

 may be housed and watered. 



These bulbs will only flower freely 

 when the pots are a perfect mat of roots 

 and I doubt if your plants will flower 

 more than sparsely the first season. Were 

 it possible to have nerines in flower for 

 either Christmas or Easter, they would 

 make desirable novelties. Blooming when 

 they do, they are useful, as flowering 

 plants are scarce early in October. 



W. N. Ckaig. 



CINDERS FOR CONCRETE. 



I have a large pile of cinders and 

 want to build a boiler shed of concrete. 

 Can I use the cinders? How shall I pro- 

 ceed with the work? What proportions 

 of cinders and cement should be used? 



R. 0. H. 



If the cinders are from hard coal, the 

 proportions should be one part of cement 

 to seven of cinders; if from soft coal, 

 one part of cement to five of cinders. 



When made from hard coal cinders, 

 the concrete sets quickly and makes 

 a tough, porous wall, which withstands 

 the action of even the hardest winters 

 in your Illinois climate. See that the 

 concrete is thoroughly mixed before put- 

 ting it in the frames. A thin skin of 

 a finer mixture, in the proportion of one 

 part of cement to five of cinders, applied 

 to the surface of the wall, makes a nice 

 finish. EiBES. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Zonal Pelargoniums. 



The clearing out of considerable flow- 

 ering stock for the Christmas trade will 

 give some needed additional bench space 

 for the bedding geraniums. It never 

 pays to neglect this best selling and most 

 universally popular of all bedding plants. 

 A little extra space given to each pot 

 now will mean much to the ultimate value 

 of the stock. If still in 2-inch pots, a 

 shift to 3-inch will be timely. Be sure 

 not to use cold soil, that which has been 

 freshly carried in from outdoors. Many 

 failures can be traced to using this. 

 Keep the plants a little dry after the 

 first watering until root action is active, 

 to prevent damping off. Any cuttings 

 carried over in flats should be potted 



forthwith. If these can have a bench 

 under which hot water pipes run, to give 

 them a little bottom heat, it will be 

 found an advantage. 



Old stock plants potted or being grown 

 in benches in a cool house will now have 

 a plentiful supply of cuttings. Put these 

 singly in 2-inch pots. Use sandy loam 

 for compost. Give a little bottom heat 

 and full sun. A night temperature of 

 50 to 55 degrees will suffice. Under 

 these conditions ninety-five per cent 

 should root. Never water until the soil 

 has well dried out. All that is necessary 

 is to prevent shriveling until the cuttings 

 root. 



Show Pelarsfoniums. 



Show pelargoniums lack the persistent 



