

12 



The Wc^y Florists' Review; 



FnmDABT S6, 1M9. 



shading, which holds well and is easily 

 removed. 



Nephrolepis should have no shade for 

 some time. They always succeed better 

 in much stronger light than the ma- 

 jority of ferns. In the case of seedlings, 

 recently potted cuttings and propagating 

 benches, cheese-cloth is much to be pre- 

 ferred to shading the glass for some time 

 yet. If you grow a good many flower- 

 ing plants and have a special house to 

 stand them in, the roof, of course, is bet- 

 ter shaded. This insures a cooler at- 

 mosphere, which plants in flower require 

 to hold them in good condition. In the 

 case of houses or frames of violets, which 

 it is desired to retard as much as possi- 

 l)le, shading is to be recommended, but 

 <io not use any on your carnations yet. 

 If a green shading is liked, add some 

 chrome-green to the white lead and kero- 

 sene until you get the desired tint. 



Lily of the Valley. 



While the growing of valley is largely 

 in the hands of a few specialists, there 

 are quite a number of small growers who 

 like to get a batch along for special occa- 

 sions, such as Christmas or Easter. The 

 big growers have an advantage over the 

 small ones, in that they can devote spe- 



Another and simple plan is to place 

 a few 6-inch pots at a time on a board 

 covered with moss under the bench, di- 

 rectly on the hot water pipes, covering 

 them with a box, or, better still, stand 

 the box on the pipes, fill with the pots 

 and pack between them and cover them 

 with moss. This plan answers well where 

 a small quantity only is wanted. If a 

 supply of 6-inch pots for Easter is de- 

 sired, with ample foliage, the best plan 

 is to start on the bench of a house kept 

 about 60 degrees at night, moving to 

 cooler quarters as the flowers expand. 

 These pota should be started at once, as 

 it will take about six weeks to flower 

 them. If forced in the datk, three to 

 four weeks only is necessary. 



Floweriog Shrubs for Easter. 



At Easter there is always a good de- 

 mand for well-flowered plants of Azalea 

 mollis, lilacs, hawthorns, Prunus triloba, 

 pyrus in variety, Deutzia gracilis and 

 Lemoinei, Staphylea Colchica and Phila- 

 delphus Lemoinei. The majority of these 

 plants require about six weeks' time from 

 starting to flowering in a temperature of 

 GO degrees; when the flowers are open- 

 ing, give cooler quarters. Of course the 

 azaleas, prunus and lilacs can be had by 



Fraok L. Washburn. 



(Treasurer Illinois State Florists' Association.) 



cial houses to valley, where bottom heat 

 and atmospheric conditions are ideal. 

 Where, however, a few hundreds or thou- 

 sands only are grown, mor& modest con- 

 trivances are necessary. It is usually 

 possible to build a propagating case di- 

 rectly over hot water or steam pipes. The 

 pips can be planted directly into a bed 

 of sand and kept dark until the flower 

 spikes are nearly ready for opening, when 

 more light is gradually admitted to make 

 the spikes more stocky and give the 

 leaves a chance to develop. 



hard forcing within a month, but such 

 plants are never satisfactory. They can 

 be quickly picked out in the store win- 

 dows, from their wilting appearance, and 

 will never please customers. Start your 

 jdants suflBciently early so that you can 

 allow the plants to open in a temperature 

 of 50 degrees, rather than 65 degrees, 

 and they will do you far more credit. 

 All these shrubs like a moist heat and 

 spraying overhead several times daily 

 until they are well started. 



Dutch Bulbous Plaots. 



Many inquiries are coming to hand, the 

 substance of which is: "How soon shall 

 I start my hyacinths and tulips for Eas- 

 ter?" None of this class of stock ever 

 requires much forcing unless Easter 

 comes abnormally early. All these bulbs 

 should be kept as cool as possible, in 

 cellars or frames until the middle of 

 March. If placed in any ordinary green- 

 house then, they will be along in ample 

 season. Sometimes we get a burst of 

 heat in early April which sends bulbs 

 along with a rush; in other years it is 

 very cold. It is, therefore, somewhat dif- 

 ficult to give an exact time when to house 

 bulbous stock, but as a rule three weeks 

 in a temperature of 50 degrees will be 

 found ample for any of the hyacinths, 

 tulips and narcissi, and even then it may 

 be found necessary to hold them for a 

 few days in a cold cellar. The double 

 tulips, such as Couronne d'Or and Mu- 

 rillo, take a day or two longer to open 

 than the singles. 



Easter Lilies* 



Lent is now here and if you can see 

 the buds peeping in the tops of your lily 

 shoots, you are all right. If you cannot, 

 your plants must be hurried or they 

 will be too late. A temperature of 55 to 

 60 degrees will bring out the buds now 

 peeping in season for Easter. It is al- 

 ways better to have your plants a little 

 early, rather than the reverse, as when 

 in bloom they can be easily held for a 

 few days in a cool house. 



In the case of backward plants, which 

 you are anxious to get in, if at all possi- 

 ble, give them. as warm a house as you 

 have; 70 to 75 degrees at night is not 

 too high. Spray over freely. Keep well 

 watered and see that aphis is not allowed 

 any quarter. 



Candidum lilies will be all right if the 

 buds show so that you can count them 

 by March 15. These should never be sub- 

 jected to any hard forcing. 



Propagation. 



Keep the propagating benches filled 

 with cuttings. Cuttings root much bet- 

 ter now than they will a month hence. 

 There is now an excellent and fairly 

 steady bottom heat at command, and the 

 percentage of loss, with careful watering, 

 should be small. Be sure not to make 

 the all too common mistake of allowing 

 cuttings to remain in the sand until quite 

 hard. These never make satisfactory 

 plants when potted. If the roots are an 

 inch long, the cuttings are better in pots 

 or flats right away. The longer the roots 

 become, the more they will be broken 

 when lifted. 



ILLINOIS* MODEL PLANT. 



State Builds Commercial Bange." 



The greenhouses built by the State of 

 Illinois at the Agricultural College, for 

 conducting experimental work in flori- 

 culture under commercial conditions, have 

 been spoken ot as a moael commercial 

 plant. For that reason the description of 

 them given at Springfield last week by 

 Prof. H. B. Dorner will be of special in- 

 terest. Prof. Dorner said: 



"The two houses already erected were 

 designed to avoid shading as much as 

 possible and so are of the lightest con- 

 struction possible, commensurate with 

 strength. Each house is 28x105 feet, 

 thus making it possible to have four 

 100-foot benches, each four feet wide. 



"All parts above the gutters are of 

 clear cypress, with sashbars of the type 



'^■'liiliL. rt . 



