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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



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Tanoaby 14, 1909. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Calceolarias. 



Calceolarias do not naturally flower 

 until the last of April or early part of 

 May. They are now making satisfactory 

 growth, the cool weather and absence of 

 strong sunlight being much to their lik- 

 ing. Growth being now quite rapid, it is 

 necessary to spread out the plants at 

 least once a week. Elevate some of the 

 stronger specimens on pots. The foliage 

 is somewhat brittle and careful handling 

 is required to keep it from being broken. 



On no account allow the pots to be- 

 come matted with roots before giving 

 them the final shift, or the plants will 

 disappoint you. While nice little stock 

 can be flowered in 6-inch pots, those two 

 inches larger will give much finer plants. 

 For compost use two-thirds fibrous loam 

 from an upland pasture, one-third old 

 cow manure well broken up, with a little 

 leaf-mold, fine charcoal and sharp sand 

 added. Do not pot too firmly. 



If your plants show a tendency to run 

 up to flower, pinch back the shoots. Give 

 a night temperature of 40 to 45 degrees 

 and never omit the fumigation, or green 

 aphis will speedily raise havoc with your 

 stock. Abundant ventilation, shade from 

 direct sunshine and light spraying on 

 warm days are beneficial. 



G>rnfIower. 



Centaurea Cyanus, the well known blue 

 cornflower, is always a popular market 

 flower. A few growers get a moderate 

 winter crop by sowing it in early fall and 

 treating similarly to mignonette, but the 

 best sales are in early spring, the demand 

 being also much better at that time. 



Sow the seeds thinly in rows two feet 

 apart on either benches or solid beds. A 

 night temperature of 45 to 48 degrees 

 should not be exceeded, or the plants will 

 become weak. The little seedlings will 

 appear in a few days and a close, moist 

 atmosphere will cause many to damp off. 

 Keep the surface soil scratched over. 

 Thin out where the plants have come up 

 too abundantly and air freely to make 

 the seedlings stocky. There are several 

 colors of these centaureas, but the blue 

 variety, Emperor William, is the best 

 seller. 



Coleut and Altemanthera. 



Neither coleus nor altemanthera are 

 as popular as they were. The decline in 

 carpet bedding has caused a lessened 

 demand for the latter and the advent of 

 cannas of the Crozy type affected coleus. 

 Yet there is still considerable call for 

 them, and as they grow and flourish with 

 so little care, it is not surprising that 

 they still have many admirers. 



It is better now to get in all possi- 

 ble cuttings from the old coleus plants. 

 As these latter make ideal headquarters 

 for mealy bug, get rid of the old stock 

 at once. Altemanthera can either be 

 pulled to pieces or propagated by cut- 

 tings. Whichever method is adopted, be 

 sure to give it a brisk heat. The plants 

 will barely exist in a cool house. As 



soon as the coleus and altemanthera are 

 rooted, place the flats on a shelf in a 

 warm house. You will get all the cut- 

 tings you want from these for later 

 propagation. 



Spanish Iris* 



To have Spanish irises in flower by 

 the middle of March, the flats should now 

 be placed in a night temperature of 50 

 degrees. Do not on any account try 

 harder forcing, as it will only result in 

 complete failure. As the flats are now 

 a solid mass of roots, a little liquid man- 

 ure once in four or five days will prove 

 beneficial. These irises, commonly known 

 as ' * the poor man 's orchids, ' ' are always 

 a welcome arrival in the spring and bring 

 good prices. Their extremely low price 

 should encourage more country florists to 

 try them. 



Dahlias. 



It is, of course, much too early to start 

 any dahlias for outdoor culture, but a 

 small batch grown under glass provides 

 a welcome change in the late spring. The 

 cactus varieties do not prove so satis- 

 factory for this early flowering as the 

 singles, shows and pompons. Do not 

 make the mistake of planting a mixture 

 of colors. Your customers do not want 

 this. Restrict yourself to two or three 



popular shades, Uke Grand Duke Alexis, 

 Kriemhilde and Countess of Lonsdale, 

 colors which no one will ever find fault 

 with, A single strong eye is all that 

 is needed to a plant. Lay your tubers 

 in a bed of moas in a warI^ house. 

 Lightly sprinkle them until they start 

 to break, then divide and plapt them. 

 Restrict the plants to a single shoot and 

 stake these securely. Set your pliants two 

 feet apart in the rows and let the rows 

 be a little wider apart than this. A 

 carnation house temperature we find 

 will grow good dahlias. 



Purchase Seed Now. 



The seedsmen's catalogues are now 

 pouring in with each mail and will soon 

 make a formidable and bewildering col- 

 lection. Take time by the forelock and 

 order your supplies of flower seeds dur- 

 ing the present month. It always pays 

 to try a packet of a few novelties, es- 

 pecially in asters, stocks, sweet peas 

 and other staple florists* flowers. Many 

 of these so-called novelties may turn out 

 to be old friends under new names, or 

 so slightly changed as to be hardly dis- 

 tinguishable, but every prominent seed 

 merchant feels the necessity of provid- 

 ing a page or two of novelties each sea- 

 son. The task of so doing is sometimes 

 quite considerable. 



All the Seed houses appreciate early 

 orders. It relieves in a measure the 

 tremendous spring pressure. It also en- 

 sures to the purchaser prompt delivery 

 of his order. By waiting until later in 

 the season it may be difficult to secure 

 seeds of some special favorites, so order 

 your seeds now, before the rush starts. 

 By so doing you will help the over- 

 worked seedsmen and not be subjected 

 to vexatious delays, such as are un- 

 avoijiable later in the season. 



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PRESERVING 

 GREENHOUSE WOOD 



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GOVERNMENT BEGINS TESTS. 



Plans for Experiments. 



The increxising scarcity of wood is al- 

 ready felt in many parts of the country 

 and will undoubtedly be more noticeable 

 in the next few years. The manufactur- 

 ers of greenhouses and horticultural 

 buildings, like other users of wood, are 

 meeting with a great deal of difficulty in 

 obtaining lumber suitable for their pur- 

 poses at reasonable prices. Naturally 

 the more durable woods have been in 

 greatest demand and consequently this 

 class of material has been the first to run 

 short. This shortage has made it neces- 

 sary to investigate carefully all possible 

 substitutes for these valuable, durable 

 species. 



It is easy enough to find woods that 

 are cheaper than heart cypress, which is 

 most widely used for greenhouse pur- 

 poses at the present time ; but such woods 

 are usually not durable, and unless 

 treated with some preservative substance 

 will not last more than two or three years 

 in a greenhouse, making the cost of re- 



placement in most cases prohibitive to 

 their use. On account of the heat and 

 moisture conditions to which greenhouse 

 timbers are invariably exposed, decay is 

 rapid. 



The Giuse of Decay. 



Decay in wood ia caused by low forms 

 of plant life called fungi. These plants 

 are not able to manufacture their own 

 food, and so, like ourselves, must subsist 

 on animal and vegetable matter. Their 

 reproduction is brought about by minute 

 spores, millions of which are constantly 

 floating in the air, like dust, and being 

 deposited everywhere. If conditions of 

 heat and moisture are favorable,, a spore 

 falling upon a piece of wood germinates 

 and sends out numerous thread-like 

 tubes, called hyphse, which exude an_ 

 ' ' enzyme, ' ' a substance capable of so 

 changing the tissue of the wood that it 

 can be assimilated by the fungus. After 

 a spore has sent out masses of these 

 hyphsB it gradually produces a spore- 

 case, an example of which is the com- 

 mon toadstool. In this case countless 



