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June 17, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists' I^eview* 



i3 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



Care of Planted Stock. 



As soon as the stock is planted the 

 shading on the house should be removed, 

 if any has been applied for other crops. 

 The chrysanthemum does not need shade 

 at this season of the year, nor, in fact, 

 at any season, except when the flowers 

 are finishing, and then it is necessary to 

 protect them from the sun. 



It is true that if a house is shaded in 

 summer it will not get so hot, but plants 

 when shaded have a tendency to run soft, 

 and the temperature can be reduced by 

 copious sprayings. On bright days the 

 house should be sprayed over several 

 times during the day — not only the 

 plants, but the roof and paths. This 

 will keep down the temperature and fur- 

 nish the moist, growing atmosphere that 

 the plants delight in. The foliage, which 

 is one of the most necessary adjuncts of 

 the flower today, can never be produced 

 in an arid atmosphere, and the man be- 

 hind the hose soon learns to spray with- 

 out getting the soil ,of the benches too 

 wet. 



Stakioe. 



Get your plants staked, also, as soon 

 as you can, so that they may start right 

 and keep up the good work. It is dead 

 wrong, though a common practice, to 

 leave the young plants lying around all 

 over the bed for weeks after planting. 

 Some growers even go so far as to claim 

 that the plants make more root when so 

 treated. Such an idea is, of course, a 

 fallacy, and could have been nothing 

 more than a lazy man's ingenious ex- 

 cuse for not doing his work on time. 

 Stake up your plants and let the other 

 fellows' lie around, if they want them 

 that way. 



Many plants will produce a bud soon 

 after being planted, and it does the 

 plants no harm if the bud is rubbed out 

 and the best one of the shoots that will 

 appear is kept for service. As a general 

 rule, the second shoot below the bud is 

 the best to retain, but do not be in any 

 hurry to remove the others till you have 

 seen how they look, as frequently some 

 of them come blind after the first leaf 

 has formed. 



Singles and Pompons. 



I have always been successful in pro- 

 ducing beautiful sprays of these plants, 

 and my method is as follows: I put in 

 cuttings from June 10 to 20, and as soon 

 as they are rooted they are planted in a 

 bench, six inches apart. No pinching or 

 training is resorted to, and the plant 

 makes a single, clean stem till it makes 

 its "break," about the end of August. 

 Then it branches out and makes a beau- 

 tiful top, with from six to twelve clusters 

 of flowers. Then, when it is cut close to 

 the ground, one has an ideal spray of 



flowers, as nearly perfect as possible, 

 varying in length according to the vari- 

 ety, from eighteen inches to three feet. 

 Charles H. Totty. 



A NEBRASKA PLANT. 



During July, 1907, Irvin L. Downing, 

 son of Geo. H. Downing, and one of the 

 firm of Geo. H. Downing & Son, coal 

 merchants, at Kearney, Neb., obtained a 

 decidedly favorable impression of the 

 florists' business, and wrote to the John 

 C. Moninger Co., Chicago, for plans and 

 specifications for a new greenhouse, 

 consisting of office, workroom and two 

 houses 28x100 feet. He at once placed 

 the order for the material for the two 

 houses, and let the contract to W. F. 

 Crossley, a contractor at Kearney, for 

 the erection. Construction commenced 

 the middle of December and, although 

 they experienced some bad weather, they 

 were able to turn out and take care of a 

 good Easter business. They soon discov- 

 ered that two houses were too small, and 

 May 6, 1908, placed an order for a third 

 house, which was finished about July 1. 



During January, 1908, the Kearney 

 Floral Co. secured the services of H. L. 

 Hunt, of Oklahoma City, Okla., who had 

 been manager for the Stiles Co. for sev- 

 eral years, to take charge of the techni- 

 cal part of the work. The trade is open- 

 ing up with a fine prospect for continued 

 growth and a large business within a 

 few years. 



CRESOTE IN GREENHOUSE WOOD. 



Has the United States Department of 

 Agriculture done any experimenting with 

 the cheap creosote oil for preserving 

 wood greenhouse benches, and especially 

 with reference to its effect upon rose 

 bushes or other plants grown in benches 

 so treated? 



I have been using crude petroleum in 



this connection for the last few years 

 and have seen no harm done to the rose 

 bushes by it. This is applied each sum- 

 mer, after the old soil has been removed. 

 Since creosote oil is now being used so 

 largely for preserving wood, among other 

 things railroad ties, and since I have not 

 heard of petroleum being used for these 

 purposes, my inference is that creosote is 

 the better preservative, as it is more ex- 

 pensive. A. J. Pennock. 



The Department of Agriculture, and 

 also the Propagating Gardens of the War 

 Department, have given some study to 

 this question. Several years ago the 

 walls of a greenhouse of the Propagating 

 Gardens, which was being repaired, were 

 replaced with lumber which had been 

 treated with creosote preservative ma- 

 terials recommended by someone inter- 

 ested in lengthening the life of bench 

 material. The result was that it was 

 practically impossible to grow rosea or 

 carnations in this house for nearly a 

 year after the material was used, in spite 

 of the fact that the lumber was after- 

 ward coated with a lime cement white- 

 wash and every precaution was taken to 

 prevent the escape of the volatile oils 

 from the treated material. It was not 

 until the treated lumber was all torn out 

 and replaced with normal material that 

 it was possible to again grow satisfactory 

 crops in the house. 



I can conceive that there would be 

 much less injury from crude petroleum 

 than from strong creosote products. 

 Creosote, even in very minute quantities, 

 is injurious to plant growth and I would 

 not advise its use in connection with 

 greenhouse construction in any form. 



L. C. COBBETT. 



Nevj^ Haven, Conn. — John Slocombe, 

 on Townsend avenue, is building an- 

 other greenhouse, 34x135 feet. 



Establishment of the Kearney Floral G>., Kearney, Neb. 



