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Deckmbeu 2, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



u 



BEST SORTS FOR BEGINNER. 



We have completed a new greenhouse 

 and wish to plant it to carnations. Would 

 you please tell us what varieties are the 

 best? We are located in southwestern 

 Idaho. P. O. M. 



Which varieties of carnations will suit 

 you best will depend somewhat on your 

 climate and your trade. I will name 

 several varieties in each color, any one 

 of which may suit you better than all 

 the rest. I would advise you to try them 

 all, and then select those varieties which 

 do best for you. 



White — White Perfection, White En- 

 chantress, Lady Bountiful, Mrs. J. C. 

 Vaughan. Flesh Pink — Enchantress, May, 

 Pink Delight, Mayday. Light pink — Kose- 

 pink Enchantress, Winona, Winsor. Dark 

 pink — Victoria, Afterglow, Aristocrat. 

 Scarlet — Victory, Beacon, O. P. Bassett. 

 Crimson — Crimson Glow, Harlowarden, 

 Harry Fenn. 



You will also do well to include a few 

 each of some of the novelties being in- 

 troduced this season, as it will not- only 

 pay you to buy the best varieties now, 

 but it will pay you well to keep your list 

 of varieties up-to-date. We see this dem- 

 onstrated every few days. Visiting grow- 

 ers will, in going through the houses, 

 make remarks about this variety or that, 

 which they failed to buy when they were 

 introduced, thus making a mistake which 

 they greatly regretted, since they had 

 missed some good things. We consider 

 that a reasonable amount of money spent 

 each season on new varieties is money 

 well invested. A. F. J. B. 



FAIRY RING AND STIGMONOSE. 



I have been in business for some years 

 and never had any serious trouble with 

 my carnations until last year. The dis- 

 ease at that time was pronounced the 

 fairy ring. I followed the instructions 

 given in the Eeview and got rid of the 

 trouble in the spring, but the flowers 

 never amounted to much. To avoid the 

 recurrence of the trouble, I fumigated 

 the carnation house twice with flowers 

 of sulphur, whitewashed all the wood- 

 work, used fresh top soil and procured 

 new plants,, and yet a few weeks ago the 

 same trouble appeared, only more aggra- 

 vated. At once I took heroic measures, 

 cut all the plants back, removed the 

 stakes to give more light, used Grape 

 Dust twice a week and sprinkled the 

 pipes with flowers of sulphur. A few 

 days ago I gave weak liquid cow ma- 

 nure to stimulate new growth. 



As I never had such serious trouble 



before, I am puzzled to know what causes 

 this disease. 



I forward a few specimen plants. Al- 

 though they are still covered with Grape 

 Dust, yet they show a lack of vitality and 

 the leaves appear spotted when held in 

 the sunlight. As I cut all the plants 

 back, I am not able just now to send 

 buds, where the fairy ring manifests 

 its deadly power the most. P. C. M. 



Your plants may be affected with fairy 

 ring, as you suggest, but the shoots for- 

 warded do not indicate any such condi- 

 tion. They are, however, full of stig- 

 monose, which in some respects is even 

 worse. The two together would prove 

 most destructive to any house of car- 

 nations, and you will ha^e a hard, long 

 fight to get rid of them both. 



For the fairy ring I would suggest 

 Bordeaux mixture, sprayed on about once 

 each week. Also go over the plants 

 and pick off all affected leaves. Water 

 moderately, though not too scantily, and 

 eliminate syringing altogether for a 

 time. Ventilate freely and paint a steam 

 pipe with sulphur and lime, made into 

 a thick paint with water. This ought 

 to eradicate the fairy ring. 



For the stigmonose you will have to 

 practice careful selection of cuttings. 

 Select those which are free from those 

 light spots, and in the course of a few 

 years you may have your stock clean and 

 healthy. This trouble is brought on 

 through the punctures of insects, such 

 as aphis, etc. Your present blooming 

 plants can not be cured, but you can help 

 them somewhat by careful culture. 

 Avoid excessive watering and any feeding 

 which may have a tendency to soften 

 the growth. Instead, you must water 

 carefully and keep the temperature uni- 

 form and moderate. Give the soil a 

 light dressing of air-slaked lime about 

 once in each month, to toughen the 

 growth. Ventilate day and night if 

 possible, to keep the atmosphere fresh 

 and bracing. You cannot reach this dis- 

 ease with remedies applied externally, 

 so you must confine your efforts to aiding 

 the plant to grow strong and to throw off 

 the disease itself. A. F. J. B. 



Wni. Scott; color, briglit pink, like 

 Wm. Scott; size, three to t^ree and one- 

 quarter inches; upright and erect in 

 growth, with good constitution; free 

 bloomer and has a good calyx; easy to 

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



NAME OF CARNATION. 



What is the name of the enclosed car- 

 nation flower? It resembles Winsor, only 



the color is darker. 



A.O. 



The carnation bloom forwarded is Mrs. 

 Tlios. W. Lawson. A. F. J. B. 



TAKING THE CHILL FROM WATER 



The water we use for watering our 

 greenhouse plants is piped along the sur- 

 face of the ground from artesian wells 

 100 yards distant, and when it reaches 

 the houses it is like ice water. Is this 

 injurious to plants in general? If ao, can 

 you suggest a method to overcome the 

 difficulty? F. E. W. 



Ordinarily tlie use of water at its 

 normal temperature will not have an in- 

 jurious effect upon most plants, if it is 

 properly applied, but when below 35 de- 

 grees it will pay to take the chill off, for 

 any plants that require a stove tempera- 

 ture. This can be done bv storing it in 

 a tank. Or, if the water has a "head" 

 which it is desirable to retain, it can be 

 carried in a coil through a tank filled 

 Avith water which is warmed artificially. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



W. H. Shumway, Berlin, Conn., regis- 

 ters the following new carnations: 



Elizabeth — Parentage, uncertain ; color, 

 brilliant red; size, three to three and one- 

 half inches; a good grower, of excellent 

 habit ; not overmuch grass ; every shoot 

 flowers; does not discolor after cutting; 

 IS a wonderful keeper. 



Almira— Parentage, Enchantress x I 



PENNISETUM. 



We would be glad to have you inform 

 us at what time pennisetum seed should 

 be planted. Could it be planted now 

 and carried through the winter in cold- 

 frames? What kind of care should it 

 receive ? yi^ g_ q 



Yom will do better by sowing in heat 

 in January than starting the seeds now. 

 P. longistylum, the most popular variety, 

 IS not a hardy grass north, although in 

 tlie southern states it will winter. By 

 starting in January you will get good 

 plants for late spring sales. Another 

 year it will pay you to carry over a num- 

 ber of old plants in a coldframe, or 

 any place where they will not freeze 

 much. Cut the foliage off in February 

 or March and divide the clumps. Start 

 in flats of leaf-mold and sand iu a brisk, 

 moist heat and pot off singly as they 

 start to grow. These plants' will give 

 better returns than the seedli&gs. They 

 can go in a coldframe bv the early part 

 of April. Q -^ 



