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36 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Deceiibee 16, 1900. 



them outdoors (and because they can 

 grow tomatoes, melons, grapes, peaches, 

 cucumbers, etc., outdoors). They plant 

 them f ron** six to ten inches apart and 

 run up single stems, and when ready 

 to cut, they cut them with long stems, 

 and send them to market in eases nine 

 or ten feet long. Everything is done 

 to save labor in America and I saw thou- 

 sands of mums growing and being cut 

 which were benched the first week in 

 July, and the price ranged from 6 pence 

 to 1 shilling and 6 pence each, and al- 

 though I saw many sold at less, I saw 

 some good, large blossoms sold for as 

 high as 4 shillings each to the florists, 

 who had to make a bit out of them. 



"The varieties which I saw being 

 grown for market were Merza, Appleton, 

 Eaton, Enguehard, Balfour, Chadwiek, 

 Monrovia, Whitney, Golden Wedding, 

 Winter Cheer (the latter was quite in- 



curving and too small for their taste). 

 Miss M. Hankey and W. Duckham are 

 grown as specimen pinks, but Wells' Late 

 Pink will soon become the best known 

 of any pink, for a large grower offered 

 to purchase every stock plant which I 

 couJd spare, 



' ' They have no market in New York 

 like our Covent Garden, but each florist 

 sends to the various stores, where the re- 

 tail florists go to make their purchases. 

 These stores all have their ice-rooms to 

 keep any choice flowers which are not 

 sold upon arrival. All flowers fetch high- 

 er prices than" they do at home, but 

 their labor is about double that which 

 we pay, while coal is cheaper. Rates are 

 not half what ours are, and taxes, why, 

 great guns! There are none! 



"I did not- see anyone out of work, 

 and the ordinary laborer gets 6 shillings 

 to 7 shillings 6 pence per day, while any- 



thing of a garden laborer gets from 7 

 shillings to 10 shillings a day. Carpen 

 ters and bricklayers, etc., get about £1 a 

 day, and these all go to work like swells 

 going to business, and change into over- 

 alls for work, and a little black bag 

 contains their dinner. Everybody seemed 

 well dressed, and if this would not make 

 an impression upon anyone who has seen 

 so much destitution the last few years, I 

 don't know what would. 



"I met many, yes, hundreds of men 

 who have 'gone out' within the last few 

 years (some twenty years) and not one 

 but what is doing well. The 'kindly re- 

 member me to so-and-so' was really 

 hearty, and not one did I meet but made 

 inquiries respecting the old country — 

 'What is going to happen to itf etc. 

 But the answers I made to these ques- 

 tions I will not attempt to put into 

 print. ' ' 



MR. HIDER ON CARNATIONS. 



Experience With Varieties. 



In carnations the Enchajitregs family 

 will be my choice in white, light pink 

 and rose-pink. In red. Beacon ha§ t¥em 

 all beat ; it will average fifty blooms to 

 the plant. Victory, however/ has the best 

 of it in «hape and color and also has bet- 

 ter stems. Did you notice the jealousy 

 of Winsor, stretching out Jxer long stems 

 to get even with, if not the best of, Rose- 

 pink Enchantress? Winsor knows when 

 the flowers are worth having. I will grow 

 my Winsor outdoors next year and house 

 it in July. Sarah Hill can not have a 

 place on my grounds. Lawson, Lawson- 

 Enchantress, Lady Bountiful, Boston 

 Market and Mrs. J. C. Vaughan will not 

 be grown again, except a few plants of 

 Mrs. Vaughan, which I will try again 

 next year. Mrs. Chas. Knopf will not bear 

 comparison with an old standby like En- 

 chantress, though the blooms of Mrs. 

 Knopf are larger when it is well done. 



Now, I hope that no one will be of- 

 fended by what I have said. I am just 

 speaking from my standpoint. Some 

 others may have an entirely different 

 opinion, and we all, no doubt, would like 

 to hear the story of their experience with 

 the different varieties. I do not pretend 

 to be a first-class florist, as I have only 

 about 4,000 feet of glass and have been 

 in the business only five or six years. 



Cultural Methods. 



I am now going to tell you how I grow 

 my carnations. When I get my young 

 stock into 2-inch pots I give them good, 

 uew soil from land never used before. I 

 have an acre of lieavv loam land, on 



which I allow such stock as hogs, horses, 

 cows and chickens to run all winter. I 

 plow up this land in the spring, take the 

 top soil and make a heap large enough 

 to give me all I want in the* greenhouse. 

 I turn this heap of soil once or twice to 

 get it thoroughly mixed. I use no bone 

 meal or anytnipg of that kind. I use the 

 same soil to pot my young stock, and 

 when they have got the pots well filled 

 with roots I move them to a cold green- 

 house, about March 15 to 20. Now, there 

 is no heat in this house at all and the 

 plants just stand still. I only give them 

 water enough to keep them alive. They 

 stay in this house until April 10 to 20. 



I spade the ground instead of plowing 

 it, and get it in fine shape. Then I plant 

 my young stock out, doing all the plant- 

 ing myself and seeing that each plant is 

 set right. I have cut out the use of 

 water in summer, giving the plants no 

 moisture except the rain they get. I 

 work the ground every week, except in 

 wet weather, and keep the plants free 

 from weeds. 



About July 20 to August 10 I house 

 my plants. I have my houses all cleaned 

 well and whitewashed. I put one inch 

 of cow manure in the bottom of the 

 bench and five inches of the soil pre- 

 viously mentioned. When I have the 

 bench full, I take a straight 4-inch plank, 

 about two feet longer than the width of 

 the bench, and by means of this, with a 

 man on one side and myself on the other, 

 we level the surface nicely. I now take a 

 short-handled rake and go over the bed, 

 loosening the soil so as to let the water 

 soak through. Then I take the hose and 

 give the beds a good watering. In about 

 three to four days ihe beds will be ready 



to plant. Some advise waiting a week or 

 two before planting any stock in newly 

 filled beds, but I can not see it that way. 

 Before I begin to plant I have my 

 glass whitewashed. Then I mark the bed 

 lengthwise and crosswise and begin to 

 plant. I dig the plants a few at a time 

 and put them in just as soon as possible. 

 I water each lot as soon as planted; not 

 the whole bed, but just around the 

 plants. When I get all my houses planted 

 I go over the beds, and where I see a 

 plant not standing well I first see whether 

 it has had enough water or not and begin 

 to coax it until it gets hold of the new 

 soil. I never give any heavy watering 

 until they get well established, but just 

 use a fine spray all over the house two 

 or three times a day. When the plants 

 begin to show a bright-looking foliage I 

 take the rake and go over the bed, 

 loosen the soil a little and give them a 

 good shower bath, just like a shower of 

 rain, and from then on I keep the bed 

 worked every week. I use air-slaked lime 

 every month and spray with To-bak-ine 

 once a week. I plant 10x10, but next 

 year will give the Enchantress and Win- 

 sor 12x12 and Beacon 14x14. 



Simon J. Hider. 



RED SPIDER ON CARNATIONS. 



Which is the best of the tobacco ex- 

 tracts to use as a spray to get rid of red 

 spider on carnations? J. H. W. 



You will find salt water about the best 

 remedy for red spider. Dissolve a 2-incb 

 pot of common table salt in three gallons 

 of water and apply with a fine spray. 

 Several nicotine products are advertised 

 in the columns of the Review. All are 



J 



