June 17, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



i3 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



Care of Planted Stock. 



As sodii as the stock is planted the 

 iiadinj;' on the house should be reuiov(5d, 

 I any lias been api)lied for other crops, 

 riie clirysautheniuin does not need shade 

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

 it any season, except when the llowers 

 ii'e finishin<r, and then it is necessary to 

 jirotect thcin from the sun. 



It is true tliat if a. house is shaded in 

 MUiuncr it will not get so hot, but plants 

 wiien shaded have a tendency to run soft, 

 :inil the temperature can be reduced by 

 copious sprayings. On bright days the 

 house should be sprayetl over several 

 limes during the ihiy — not only the 

 |ilants, but the roof and paths. This 

 will keep down the temperature and fur- 

 nish the moist, growing atmosphere that 

 liie plants delight in. Tlie foliage, which 

 is one of the most necessary adjuncts of 

 I lie flowi^r today, can never be produced 

 m an arid atmosphere, and the man be- 

 laud tlie hose socui learns to spray with- 

 i>ut getting tlie soil of the benches too 

 wet. 



Staking. 



Get your plants staked, also, as soon 

 ;ts you can, so that tiiey 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 i)lanting. 

 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 

 mor(> 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 

 tliat way. 



Many plants will produce a bud s<ion 

 after being planted, and it does the 

 jdants no harm if the bud is rubbed out 

 and the best one of the shoots that will 

 apf)ear is kej)t for service. As a general 

 rule, the second shoot below the bud is 

 1 he best to retain, but do not be in any 

 hurry to remove the others till you ha\(' 

 >een how they look, as freijuently some 

 i)f them come blind after thi- first leaf 

 has formed. 



Singles and Pompons. 



I ha\i' always been successful in pro 

 ducing beaut it ul sjirays of these plants, 

 and my method is :i^ follows: I ]iut in 

 ' iittinys l'i-iiin .Inne jii \n I'o, ^md ;i-^ <iiiin 

 as iliey aie rooted they arc |ilaiited in a 

 lieiM'h. six inclii's apart. \o pinehing or 

 i raining is res<uteii to. and the plant 

 makes a single, (dean stem till it makes 

 its ''iu-etik,'' about the end ol' .\ii;^nst. 

 Then it bramdies out and mnkes a lieaii 

 liful top. with fi'oni si.\ to twelve (dusters 

 of lloweis. Then, when it i-^ eut clo^e to 

 the ground, oMi' lia^ .'in ide;il s]ii',-iy ot' 



llowers, as nearly perfect as possible, 

 varying in length ace-ording to the vari- 

 ety, from eighteen inches to three feet. 



ClIARI.E.S II. TOTTV. 



A NEBRASKA PLANT. 



During .Inly, 1907, Ii'vin L. Downing, 

 son of Geo. II. ])t)wning, and otu' of the 

 firm of Geo. H. Downing iV; Son. coal 

 merchants, at Ketinu'y, A'eb., olitaiiu'd a 

 decidedly fiivorid)le impression of the 

 florists' business, and wrote to the .John 

 C. Zollinger Co., Chicago, for plans and 

 specifications • I'or a new greenhouse, 

 consisting of oflice, workroom ami two 

 houses liMxIOd feet. lie at once placed 

 tlie order for the material for the two 

 houses, aiul let the contract to W. I-'. 

 Crossley, a contr.actor at Kearney, for 

 the erection. ( 'onstiuction commenced 

 the middle of December and, although 

 they experienced sonu* b:id weather, they 

 were able to turn oid and take care of ;i 

 good Easter busiiu'ss. 'i'hey soon discov- 

 ered that two houses were too suuill, and 

 May 6, I90S, placed an order for a third 

 house, which was finished about dulv 1. 



During .lannary, 19US, the Kearney 

 Floral Co. secured the services of II. 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 ;i fine prospect for continued 

 growth and a largi; busim'ss witiiin a 

 few vears. 



CRESOTE IN GREENHOUSE WOOD. 



lias the United States Department ot' 

 Agriculture done any experimenting with 

 tlH> cheap creosote oil for prest^rving 

 wood greenhouse benches, an(l especially 

 with reference to its effecd upon rose 

 bushes or other ])lants grown in bemdies 

 so treated? 



I have be(>n using crude jietroleu'ii in 



this connection for the la.'^t few years 

 and have seen no harm ilone to the rose 

 bushes by it. This is ap|i!ied each sum- 

 mer, after the old soil has been reinove<l. 

 Since creosote oil is now being used so 

 largely for preserving wood, among otlu'r 

 things railroad ties, and siiu-e I have not 

 lieard of petroleum lieing used for these 

 purpo.si^s, my inference is that creosote is 

 the better preservati\e, as it is more ex- 

 pensiv<', A. .1. l*i:xxoCK. 



The Departmeid of Agficultnre, ami 

 also the I'ro])agat ing (inrdens of the War 

 Department, ha\'e given some study to 

 this (|uestion. Se\'eral yea is ago the 

 walls ot' a greeidiouse of the l'ro])agating 

 (iai'dens, which 'was being repaired, were 

 i('|ilaced \\itli lund)er whiidi had been 

 treated with creosote ]ii'eserva1 i\e ma- 

 terials recommended by someone inter- 

 ested in lengthening the li t'e of bench 

 material. The result w;is that it was 

 practically impossible to ;;row rose^ or 

 carnations in this house t'or nearly a 

 year after the material was us(>d, in spite 

 of the fact thiit the lundier was after- 

 ward coated with :i lime ceiiuMit wiiit(>- 

 wash and e\ery jirecaution w;is taken to 

 jtrevent the escape of the \(datile oils 

 from the treated material. If was not 

 until tli(> treatcMl lumber was all torn out 

 !ind replace(| with noiinal material that 

 it was possilde to again grow .satisfactory 

 crops in the house. 



I can concei\c that there \vould bo 

 much less injury from crude jvtroleum 

 than from strong creosot(> products. 

 Cr<'os()te, even in \t'ry minute (piantities, 

 is injurious to plant growth and T would 

 not advise its use in conm'Ction with 

 greenhouse con.sfruct i(Mi in any fonn. 



Tv. C. CORBETT. 



\kw TIavkx, Coxx. — .Tohn Slocombe, 

 cMi Towiisend tiveniu'. is building an- 

 other i:reeuhnns(>, .'54x1".") f(^et. 



Establishment of the Kearney Floral Co., Kearney, Neb. 



