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JANUABY 27, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



27 



If a horse cultivator is to be used, 

 the rows should be two and a half or" 

 Ihree feet apart, but if to be cultivated 

 by hand, they will only require to be 

 -ighteen inches apart. In either case the 

 plants should be set about a foot apart 

 a the rows. 



A half-inch rope should be tightly 

 tretched where the row is to be, and the 

 .ground should have a final raking and 

 leveling by drawing a fine-toothed gar- 

 Jen rake along the rope, walking back- 

 ward. Pressing the edge or cutting face 

 if a common garden hoe on the rope, and 

 valking forward with it in that position, 

 ill leave a fine mark to plant by, when 

 he rope is shifted, and is better than to 

 ry to plant beside a small stretched line. 

 The plants should be cultivated fre- 

 quently, and the soil kept in a loose con- 

 dition; especially should it be stirred at 

 'he proper time after a rain. No weeds 

 should be allowed to grow. The stopping 

 of the lengthening stems must be prompt- 

 ly attended to, if shapely, bushy plants 

 are wanted. No flowers or flower buds 

 should be allowed to grow, or at least not 

 until nearly time to transfer the plants 

 to the houses. 



During long-continued dry weather a 

 properly arranged system for irrigating 

 by means of perforated pipes may be 

 used to advantage, and as the plants are 

 all of the same nature, and the conditions 

 likely to be uniform, the objections to 

 such a system when used in a planthouse 

 where a variety of plants are grown, re- 

 quiring varying amounts of water, do not 

 apply. 



Housing the Plants. 



Planting in the houses may be done 

 from June to October, the earliest plant- 

 ings being from pot-grown stock. Prob- 

 ably the best time for housing the plants 

 from the field is August and early Sep- 

 tember. 



The beds or benches should be of con- 

 venient width to work over, say, not to 

 exceed five feet where there are walks 

 «n both sides, and not more than three 

 feet for side benches. 



Both low beds and raised benches have 

 their advocates, and good flowers may be 

 grown with either system of cultivation. 

 Ground beds are cheaply made and, if 

 furnished with cement or brick walls, are 

 durable, but should always have provi- 

 sion for sufficient drainage. Baised 

 benches, although more expensive to make 

 and requiring frequent renewal, are more 

 convenient to plant, weed, stake and 

 spray than the low beds are. Each 

 grower should test both plans and decide 

 for himself, after a sufficient trial, which 

 he will adopt. Possibly, as some have 

 already done, he will use both. 



While, with proper attention in other 

 respects, carnations may be grown fairly 

 ^vell in soils that vary greatly in quality, 

 still the time and cost required to procure 

 and prepare the best quality of soil for 

 iirie on the benches or beds are well ex- 

 ponded. 



Sods and the top soil from an old 

 loamy pasture field, cut three or four 

 iiiches thick and piled with one-fourth 

 ■i their bulk of clean cattle manure, a 

 i> ifficient length of time before using to 

 :'tain the proper condition when sliced 

 ' I'Wn and thoroughly mixed, and having 

 !' small quantity of air-slaked lime in- 

 •<!!irporated with them, "form an ideal 



''mpost. 



The bottom and side boards of the 

 '■ ised benches that will come in contact 

 ^*'th the soil, should, before filling, be 

 ■ oroughly coated with whitewash made 

 ^ ' "im freshly-slaked lime . and having a 



small quantity of sulphur added. Five 

 inches of soil, prepared as directed, is 

 sufficient for the raised benches. 



In digging the plants in the field, a 

 reasonable amount of soil should be left 

 attached to the roots, if possible, and 

 they should be carried and handled so 

 carefully that this soil will not be shaken 

 from them. 



Contrary to what the novice might ex- 

 pect, the best results in transplanting 

 will be obtained if the soil in the field 

 is dry when the plants are dug, rather 

 than if it is wet. 



The plants should be transferred to 

 the benches as promptly as possible after 

 digging, so that the roots may not be- 

 come too dry. 



Probably a majority of planters firm 

 the soil around the newly-set plants by 

 pounding it with the closed fist, but as 

 this firming is an important part of the 

 planting operation, a better plan is to 

 use a brick hammer, or something simi- 

 lar, as a tamper for the purpose. 



Care should be taken not to set the 

 plants any deeper in the soil on the 

 benches than they "were growing in the 

 field. 



Treatment in the House. 



After a few feet of bench has been 

 planted, the soil and plants should be 

 gently but thoroughly dampened, by using 

 the fine spray rose on the nozzle of the 

 hose. If the sun is shining on the 

 benches, the plants should be lightly 

 sprayed again after the foliage has be- 

 come dry, and the spraying should be 

 repeated on bright days as often as may 

 be necessary, so as, if possible, to avoid 

 shading the glass. 



After the plants have become some- 

 what established, they should be dusted 

 with air-slaked lime, and, as soon as con- 

 venient, they should be furnished with 

 the galvanized wire supports, to be 

 lengthened as needed. These, although 

 more expensive, are neater and better 

 than strings stretched between the rows, 

 a plan in common use. 



Carnation houses should be freely ven- 

 tilated whenever the weather will per- 

 mit, and fumigation and spraying, for 

 aphis and red spider, must not be neg- 

 lected. Weeds should not be allowed to 

 grow, and the surface of the 8oU should 

 be stirred frequently, when in the proper 

 condition, but not so deeply as to injure 

 the roots of the plants. 



As soon as the flower buds are of suf- 

 ficient size to handle, disbudding should 

 be commenced, and continued persist- 

 ently throughout the season. In dis- 

 budding carnations it will be found best 

 to begin at the top of each stem, so that, 

 if by accident the terminal bud is broken 

 off, one of the buds lower down may be 

 left to take its place. On account of dif- 

 ferences in habit of growth, certain 

 kinds can be disbudded much more easily 

 than others. Among the kinds that re- 

 quire most time, because of the numer- 

 ous buds and side shoots, are Beacon, 

 Bassett and Georgia; among those that 

 can be disbudded much more quickly are 

 Harvard, Victory and White Perfection. 



After the soil has become filled with 

 roots, the application of additional fer- 

 tilizing material may be made — either 

 pulverized cattle or sheep manure, to be 

 stirred into the soil, or liquid fertilizer, 

 for the making of which there is nothing 

 better than cattle manure. This must 

 be applied in combination with good 

 judgment, and neither too strong nor too 

 frequently. 



The most important thing connected 



with the cultivation of carnations is the 

 watering, and the most common failure 

 in this respect is in allowing the soil to 

 become too dry, even to the extent of 

 causing the plants to droop and wilt. 

 The soil on the carnation benches should 

 always be slightly moist, but should 

 never be watered when saturated. 



Immunity From Disease. 



But little need be said now concerning 

 the filthy carnation rust, that caused so 

 much trouble and dread a few years 

 since, nor indeed of the various other 

 fungoid diseases to which the plant is 

 subject, because, if intelligent care and 

 attention are given to the propagation 

 and culture of the plants, but little trou- 

 ble will be experienced from any of these 

 diseases, and this applies as well to the 

 case of other florists' plants. 



Those who complain so much of dis- 

 ease in their stock of forcing lilies, and 

 lay the blame on the men who grow the 

 bulbs, if they would give more care to 

 the plants, and especially in the matters 

 of temperature and naoisture, the "two 

 tures, ' ' as they have been called, would 

 find their stock practically free from dis- 

 ease. 



In regard to the style and size of 

 planthouses for the proper cultivation of 

 carnations, ideas differ and will continue 

 to do so, although at present the tendency 

 seems to be in favor of longer and wider 

 houses. However, some of the finest car- 

 nation flowers that have ever been pro- 

 duced were grown in narrow houses — so 

 narrow, indeed, that in some cases they 

 were wide enough for but one narrow 

 bench — but the man who grew them was 

 careful not to allow the ventilating sash 

 to remain unopened during the whole of 

 a bright, sunny day, nor to neglect the 

 watering until the plants hung their 

 heads from thirst. While good-sized 

 houses, well lighted and conveniently ar- 

 ranged, are highly desirable, success does 

 not depend so much on the style of house 

 as on the style of men in charge of it. 

 Houses 300 feet in length should be long 

 enough for any reasonable man, and 

 equal-span houses, running north and 

 south, do very well for growing carna- 

 tions in. 



The number of varieties that are grown 

 with profit at the present time is so 

 great, and is being so persistently added 

 to, that it seems unnecessary to specify 

 them, or to say which are the most profit- 

 able. The beginner in the business wiU 

 do best to consult some successful grower 

 on this point. Then, after having had 

 some experience, he can add to his stock, 

 for the purpose of testing, some of the 

 most promising of the new introductions, 

 and retain those that prove to be desir- 

 able. 



Production of New Varieties. 



Notwithstanding the many fine sorts 

 that are now cultivated, better kinds than 

 are now in existence will be warmly wel- 

 comed when they appear, as they un- 

 doubtedly will, and this prospect opens a 

 new field to the thoughtful carnation 

 grower, the production of new varieties. 

 He may be fortunate enough to have a 

 sport or variation from an existing kind 

 originate on his premises, which is a 

 short cut to the point aimed at, for which 

 he will deserve no particular credit, but 

 from which, if it is a decided improve- 

 ment in color, size or habit over those 

 now grown, he may derive a considerable 

 profit. 



The most promising way to proceed, as 

 well as the most interesting, is to resort 



