Dbcbmbeb 23, 1009. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



u 



VEBER'S CARNATION HOUSE. 



H. J. Weber & Sons Nursery Co., lo- 

 cated at Nursery Station, a suburb of St. 

 Louis, this season added a house 25x150 

 in which they planted Enchantress car- 

 nations only. The accompanying illus- 

 tration is from a photograph made early 

 in December. One of the interesting fea- 

 tures of the picture is the side ventilation 

 shown. The house has proven excep- 

 tionally well adapted to the purpose for 

 which it was built. 



ELEVEN DIVISIONS IN CULTURE. 



[The paper by Barney Myers, Lancaster, 

 N. Y., read before the Utlca Florists' Club 

 December 2, 1909.] 



The growing of carnations we will 

 divide into eleven subjects. 



First, propagation, — Have good, clean, 

 gritty sand on a clean bench, cement pre- 

 ferred, as it is less liable to produce 

 fungus. If on wood, clean thoroughly 

 and whitewash with hot lime. Take 

 strong cuttings off the flower stem with 

 a good heel; use none but healthy plants. 

 Insert in the sand about one inch and 

 press firm; water well. With the sand 

 at about 60 degrees and the house at 

 50 or 52 degrees the cuttings should be 

 rooted in about twenty days. The full 

 secret of getting good stock is in the 

 selection of strong, healthy cuttings, and 

 rooting them in an even temperature, and 

 never letting them wilt. 



Second, potting the cuttings.— Your 

 soil should be in just the right condi- 

 tion; that is, moist enough so that when 

 pressed together in the hand it will stay 

 together, but hardly any more. Pot 

 firmly enough so that the soil at the bot- 

 tom of the pot will hold together. 



Third, care of the young stock. — The 

 house to keep them in should be light 

 and clean, with a temperature of 50 or 

 52 degrees at night, with a slight rise 

 in temperature in the daytime. At all 

 times keep the air in the house pure with 

 ventilation. Give water freely, but not 

 too much or it will sour the soil. After 

 seven to nine weeks they will be thor- 

 oughly rooted in the 2i4-inch pots, and 

 should be planted out in the benches 

 about three inches apart each way, 

 farther if the room can be spared. Pinch 

 back at least once. From there they go 

 into the field the first week in May, or 

 into the benches, if possible. 



Fourth, care of inside-grown stock. — 

 There is little to say except to give lots 

 of water and plenty of cultivation by 

 working up the surface soil every other 

 day,-or as often as possible, with plenty 

 of water at all times. 



Fifth, field-grown stock. — With us it 

 means nothing but cultivation and two 

 or three pinches back, the last about July 

 10, until they are brought back inside 

 to plant. We always try to get all plants 

 in the field the first week in May. 



Sixth, planting from the field. — First 

 clean your house thoroughly, whitewash 

 your benches, put something on the 

 cracks; we use partly rotted horse 

 manure; have your soil all mixed and 

 ready to put in; if the soil is not just 

 the right consistency, water and leave 

 until it is right before planting. Shade 

 the house with mud or something that 

 will come off easily. Spray lightly until 

 the plants are established. After about 

 ten days remove the shading. All plant- 

 ing should be completed by August 10 

 or earlier. 



Seventh, preparing the soil. — It de- 

 pends a great deal on the kind of soil 

 you have. The soil we use is a sandy 

 clay loam, to which we add one-eighth 

 cow manure, one-eighth horse manure 

 and a 5-inch pot of bone flour to a 



less spider should get in at some point, 

 when of course they must be destroyed. 



Ninth, feeding. — After your plants get 

 a good growth it is well to give a little 

 sulphate of potash, one-half pound to 

 100 square feet of bench, not more. 

 Horse manure water is a good feed. A 

 sprinkling of pulverized sheep manure 

 also is beneficial. 



Tenth, insects. — For green fly, aphis 

 and thrips we fumigate as often as pos- 

 sible while the plants are growing, be- 

 fore flowering; afterwards we use one of 

 the forty or forty-five per cent nicotine 

 preparations once a week. For red 

 spider, spray with cold water. If some 

 corner near the heating pipes should get 

 badly infested, use Ivory soap, a 5-cent 

 cake to twenty gallons of water, and 

 thoroughly spray the plants with this; 

 then wash off after twenty-four or thirty- 

 six hours. This is better than most of 

 the insecticides we have tried. 



Eleventh, the cutting and keeping of 

 flowers. — Always try to do the cutting in 

 the morning, vase in cold, fresh water 



New Carnation House of H. J. Weber & Sons Co.^ St. Ldtiis. 



wheelbarrow of soil, about two bushels. 

 Mix thoroughly before putting in the 

 benches. 



Eighth, care of the plants. — They 

 should at all times be kept free from 

 weeds, disbudded, watered freely but not 

 too much. Spray lightly every bright 

 day until into October, when spraying 

 should be discontinund until spring, un- 



and keep in a temperature of 48 degrees 

 twenty-four hours before shipping. 



This is the way we have been growing 

 carnations, but on account of the demand 

 for long-stemmed, high grade flowers 

 early in the fall, are we not coming to 

 the growing of them in pots like roses, 

 until they are wanted for the permanent 

 beds, shifting them along in pots to 



