

-•"?-;■ ,'v ■• ' -f 



JANVART 7, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Revicwi 



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Establishment of the W. C. Hill Floral Co., Streator, UU 



.56 degrees at the other end, in which we 

 have White Perfection, and where the 

 greatest trouble is. About three weeks 

 ago the temperature at night went down 

 to 46 degrees at this end, but I should 

 think that they would be over it by this 

 time. At the first of the season they 

 were alL good, but for three weeks they 

 have been splitting. This being my first 

 year at carnations, I am at a loss to 

 know what ails them or what to do for 

 them. Any light thrown on the trouble 

 will be greatly appreciated by us. 



B. H. Cr. 



Ih the first place, you are growing 

 your "White Perfection rather too warm. 

 Better reduce the temperature in the 

 whole house about two degrees, making 

 it 50 to 54 degrees. White Perfection 

 is prone to split a small percentage of 

 its calyxes under any conditions, but 

 when grown too warm any carnation is 

 more sensitive to a changeable temper- 

 ature than it would be in a lower aver- 

 age temperature. 



You are most likely now reaping the 

 result of that severe drop of which you 

 speak. It would take just about this long 

 for the buds which would be affected by 

 it to develop. Another two or three 

 weeks ought to see you through the 

 trouble. Keeping a uniform, steady tem- 

 perature is all you can do for it. 



A. F. J. B. 



AVERAGE CROP OF CUTTINGS. 



What would you consider an average 

 crop of cuttings per plant, say on 1,000 

 carnations, grown exclusively for the cut- 

 tings? I was planning to try the cut- 

 ting business, with 2,000 or 3,000 plants. 

 What would you suggest as the best 

 leading varieties, including three or four 

 pink, two white and two red, to start 

 with! F. C. G. 



A common phrase, frequently em- 

 ployed in answering questions such as 

 yours, is, "That depends." The fact is, 

 the answers to your questions might be so 

 varied, depending entirely on so many 

 things which would change conditions 

 and results, that I would need about one- 

 half of this number of the Review to 

 exhaust the subject, I will be as brief 

 as possible and ypt give you at least 

 some information. 



To begin with, varieties vary in the 

 production of cuttings as well as of 

 blooms. What would be a good average 

 for one variety would be poor for an- 

 other. The size of the plants at the 

 start, too, must be coiisidered, and I 



might say right here that large plants 

 are really more essential in growing for 

 cuttings than they are for blooms, be- 

 cause your propagating season is so 

 short. You can, however, set them 

 closer on the bench and stiU make the 

 bench yield a good crop, if you started 

 out with that intention in the fall. From 

 such varieties as the Enchantress tribe 

 you should be able to get from thirty 

 to thirty-five cuttings per plant. Victory 

 will not give you so many; neither will 

 Lady Bountiful xor Aristocrat or De- 

 fiance. The last ^ named will not give 

 more than half that number, unless you 

 have unusually good plants. How large 

 a percentage of these you succeed in 

 shipping out will of course depend on 

 your ability as a propagator, as well as 

 some other qualifications, which we will 

 touch on later. 



When you ask me to name the varie- 

 ties you should grow for this purpose, I 

 can only advise you to use your own 

 judgment. If you will visit a numoer of 

 ifarge establishments where rooted cut- 

 tings are sold, you will find that while 

 some of the standard varieties are grown 

 on each place, yet the list of varieties 

 will vary on the various places. Each 

 grower will have different ideas as to 

 what varieties will have the biggest call 

 in that particular season. As good an 

 indication as you will find anywhere, will 

 be found in the Review. When the 

 reports are generally favorable about a 



certain variety of recent introduction, 

 you may be sure there will be a good 

 demand for the cuttings. To the rooted 

 cutting specialist it matters but little 

 what he himself thinks of the good or 

 bad qualities of a variety. What in- 

 terests him more is, what do the rank and 

 file think of it? If the reports average 

 well, he stocks up. If, on the other hand, . 

 a variety which he considers extra good 

 does not make a favorable impression 

 elsewhere, he may try to save it from 

 oblivion, by saying a good word for it 

 now and again, but he will not propagate 

 it heavily. 



This, of course, applies mostly to va- 

 rieties pf recent dissemination. After a 

 variety becomes a leader in its color, 

 there is, of course, no guesswork about 

 it, but prices are lower, too, and profits 

 smaller. For instance, there is no guess- 

 work about whether you can sell White 

 Perfection cuttings, or White Enchant- 

 ress, on account of its origin, but how 

 about the varieties sent out last season? 

 Some of them promise well, but will they 

 be in demand next season? In case one 

 of them meets with a big demand, the 

 grower who was lucky enough to have a 

 big stock can make much more than he 

 could out of Perfection or White En- 

 chantress, on account of the higher price. 

 After a variety becomes a standard and 

 is generally grown, the specialists' oppor- 

 tunities are reduced considerably on ac- 

 count of the large number of cut flower 



Carnation Houses of W. C. Hill Floral Co., Streator, IIL 



