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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



July 1, 1909. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



The Old Soil 



What to do with the soil taken from 

 the benches when cleaning them out, is 

 an important question with many grow- 

 ers, especially those whose source of soil 

 supply is none too large. This old soil 

 is far from worthless and can be util- 

 ized in many ways, but I wish to men- 

 tion more particularly a plan whereby it 

 can, with little trouble, be restored to 

 its former fertility, meanwhile returning 

 the expense of time and labor in han- 

 dling. 



Do not shovel it out through the side 

 ventilators, leaving it there to catch drip 

 from the roof, but spread it at once on 

 a vacant piece of ground, which should, 

 for best results, have been plowed and 

 kept free from weeds by an occasional 

 harrowing. 



If desired, a planting of some dwarf 

 early sweet corn could be made at once, 

 a seeding with crimson clover being made 

 among the corn late in July. It would 

 be better, however, to keep clear of 

 weeds and seed to clover only. Early 

 next spring apply a dressing of manure 

 and, when the clover is in full bloom, 

 turn it under. 



A Crop of Peas or Beani. 



With a view to further improving the 

 land and at the same time obtaining a 

 revenue, some leguminous crop, such as 

 peas or beans, can be grown. We prefer 

 peas, as the early sorts give quick returns 

 and can be gotten off in good season; 

 then the land can be plowed or disked, 

 a dressing of lime applied and another 

 seeding of crimson clover made. 



The following spring this land will be 

 in condition to furnish good bench soil. 

 It can be top-dressed with manure, 

 plowed, disked and later scraped into 

 ridges or at once made into a long, flat 

 pile, intermixing it with manure. 



Eemember that crimson clover is not 

 absolutely hardy under all conditions, but, 

 even should it winter kill, the land has 

 been benefited. Do not sow it too early, 

 for if it blossoms the same year sown, 

 not a plant will be found the following 

 spring. Arrange to keep the soil free 

 from standing water during the winter 

 and, above all, purchase reliable seed. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



ENGLISH GEOVER'S NOTES. 



American Novelties in Britain. 



It is always interesting to the raiser 

 of carnation novelties to know just how 

 his creations make out in other countries 

 and what the loreigner thinks of them, 

 and it is perfectly safe for the critic to 

 write the candid truth while the rolling 

 Atlantic separates him from the orig- 

 inators of the flowers. 



We in England would be most ungrate- 

 ful if we belittled the more recent in- 

 troductions without at the same time ex- 



pressing our appreciation of the several 

 most excellent novelties which have pre- 

 viously been disseminated, and to whose 

 raisers we owe so deep a sense of grati- 

 tude. 



Taking the more important 1908 novel- 

 ties alphabetically, we commence with 

 Afterglow. As yet no grower over here 

 exactly knows Ms own opinion of this 

 variety, but it is diflScult to suspend 

 judgment on anything, particularly so 

 when it is your contemporary's novelty. 

 Nothing was too bad for Afterglow up 

 to last December. The November fog 

 affected this variety more than any 

 other, many of the blooms never opening. 

 The lack of sun during the entire win- 

 ter robbed its color of richness and de- 

 veloped a magenta shade in it, while the 

 flowers themselves were small. Yet, 

 since the turn of the year an entirely 

 different tale has been told and this 

 variety has gradually won increased 

 favor. When good, the color is the cor- 

 rect shade for us over here, and the 

 habit of growth is also good. So, under 

 the prevailing circumstances, regarding 

 Afterglow we can tell you better next 

 year what our opinion really is. 



Andrew Carnegie was not taken up 

 seriously by many, its parent being no 

 recommendation to it. Certainly it has 

 a good shade of color, but that is all. 



As to Defiance, this was certainly a 

 most unfortunate name to select, and, 

 as it has done with us, it is the biggest 

 collection of bad points we have ever 

 seen in any named carnation, but we 

 simply attribute this to the fact that it 

 is not suited for our climate. None of 

 the growers will grow it next year. 



Harvard has been disappointing be- 

 cause of its shyness. The color is rather 

 too dull, yet what flowers it does produce 

 are of good size. Also its stem, calyx 

 and habit of growth are worthy of a bet- 

 ter variety. Certainly no one could live 

 on the returns from Harvard. 



Sarah Hill has made many friends 

 and, speaking generally, is well liked. 

 It comes an enormous size. While its 

 lasting capacity is not of the best, its 

 odor is strong, this being quite an im- 

 portant feature over here. Its habit of 

 growth, which is free and short, also is 

 preferred to too long a stem. 



Lawson-Enchantress has not met with 

 much favor under any of its several 

 names, the growth being much too soft 

 for this climate, and after its first crop 

 of bloom it takes too long to produce 

 other good flowers. Competition is too 

 keen in this shade of color for it to sur- 

 vive. 



Winona is an uncertain variety, its 

 color hardly being distinct enough to 

 warrant its dissemination. Also the 

 flowers over here lack size and petalage. 

 Yet its habit is free, but its stem is 

 weak here in winter. 



The prevailing tendency over here 

 among commercial growers is to stock 

 light on the novelties, chiefly because 

 they appear to want twelve months to 

 recuperate and become acclimated before 

 we know what we have got. ■ 



Montague C. Allwood. 



SOIL FOR THB BENCHES. 



I have a rich soil, to which I have 

 added a heavy coat of well-rotted horse 

 manure, well worked in. Do you think 

 this is too rich to put in benches for 

 carnations? The soil has little sand. 

 Would you advise using any feeder with 

 this soil? If so, what kind and at what 

 timet I have an abundance of liquid 

 manure. Would you advise using it on 

 carnations or plants of any kind? I 

 also have a lot of cement paint left 

 over from painting a barn roof. Do you 

 think it would be of any benefit to paint 

 benches with this? 



It is not likely that your soil will be 

 too rich to grow good carnations. If 

 your soil is a fairly heavy soil, that is, 

 a soil with a good body to it, and the 

 coat of manure of which you speak does 

 not amount to more than one-fourth as 

 much as the soil, it wUl not be too much, 

 providing it is well mixed with the soil. 

 I would not add any other feeder until 

 the plants are established and you can 

 see by the growth what is needed. You 

 may be able to use the liquid manure to 

 good advantage later on, but just now it 

 is of no use to you for carnations. Don't 

 think of putting any of it on your new 

 soil. 



The cement paint will preserve your 

 bench lumber for several seasons and it 

 will do the plants no harm. 



A. F. J. B. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOQETY. 



Recent Registrations in England. 



The following new carnations have 

 been registered during the last season 

 with the Perpetual Flowering Carnation 

 Society of England. Growers on this 

 side will please take notice, to avoid 

 duplication of names. 



Name of Variety, and Reg. By. 

 C!olor. 



Hon. Mrs. F. Agar,* 



deep rose-pink. lion. Francis Agar. 



Mary Vilren,* rose. Blackmore & Laugdon. 



Banslon Gem.f apricot 



and orange. Sir R. L. Baker, Bart. 



Rose Dore,* golden rose. W. H. Lancasbir^. 



Golden Glory,* yellow. Heath & Son. 



Ethel Whitney,* crim- 

 son. Gor & Whitney. 



Carola,* crimson. C. Engelmann. 



Rex,* light pink. C. Engelmann. 



Burrough Scarlet,* 



scarlet. E. T. Johnstone. 



Black Chief,* crimson. Hugh Low & Co. 

 • Seedling, t Sport from Boyes' Victory. 



A. F. J. Baur, Sec'y. 



SWEET PEA SOCIETY. 



First Exhibition Next Week. 



The proposed National Sweet Pea So- 

 ciety of America will hold its first an- 

 nual exhibition at the Museum of Natural 

 History, Columbus avenue and Seventy- 

 seventh street. New York city, July 7 

 and 8. Siberian hall will be available 

 for the convention. 



The judges will be G. W. Kerr, with 

 W. Atlee Burpee & Co.; Wm. Sim, of 

 Cliftondale, Mass., and Edgar A, Hig- 

 gins, of Avoca, N. Y. 



Papers will be read by Rev. W. T. 

 Hutchins, of Santa Bosa, Cal. ; Prof. 

 Craig, of Utica, N. Y., and others. 



Great interest is being shown by sweet 

 pea enthusiasts throughout the country 

 and it is expected that there will be over 

 1,000 vases of sweet peas exhibited. 



The National Sweet Pea Society sug- 

 gests that an ideal bunch of sweet peas 

 in the vases supplied by the society con- 

 sists of not more than twenty sprays. 



