10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



I'KUiiLAKi: 17, lUlc 



CARNATION CULTURE. 



[A piii)er by S. J. Goddanl, <il' Fraiiiinirhaiii. 

 Miiss., read at a iiicolinc nf the tJardcnors' and 

 nmists' Chih of liosloii, rchniai-y 1.", 1910.) 



'I'd be sucocssfiil in yio\viii<; ciinin- 

 tiuiis. the niimitcst ilctnils imist -ln' care 

 liilly considonHl. 



Ti) start, with, the propagating bench 

 must be absolutely clean; no old, rotton 

 bottom or side boards should he alluwi'd 

 to umain when starting to i)ropagate in 

 thr early winter. ]\Iy method is to biiihl 

 a. b(>nch of 1-ineh pecky cypress. We 

 l;iy the boards close together, using sides 

 Miiii' .and one-half im-hes deeii. 



Ready for the Cuttings. 



lii'fore Hlling with sand, whiteuash 

 tin.' bench thoroughly, using hot li7n»» with 

 a sMiall proportion of I'ortland i-ement. 

 lit' the consistency of very soft inorttir. 

 s(i that it has to be rub1)ed well with ;i 

 biii:-li in order to fill every crack. 



in {picking off cuttings, great care 

 -hiiuid ])e exercised to make the selec 

 tiiois from only the healthy plants, and 

 dii not take tliem unless they ha\(' fully 

 matured. By being matured 1 m<'aii tliat 

 thry are on stems on whii-h tlir Imd !■« 

 showing color or is fairly mcII developed. 

 In -etting them in tiie sand Ite careful 

 iii't to set them too deep; about three- 

 <|uaiters nf an iiKdi is deep eiidugii, 

 Make them as firm as jtossilile and water 

 each row ;is ^imhi .ns picssed in. Ihi:- 

 metliod gi\fs mie a better chance to see 

 th;it the sand is tlioroughly so.aked ;ind 

 leveled. So that lluMO are no di'v s|>aces 

 around the b.ases of tlie cuttings. ^Vatl■l■ 

 sliDuld be gi\i'n every day I'nr ten d.-iy<. 

 The sand will then kee|i wet enough tu 

 caii\ the cuttings tdr the bal.'iiice ot' 

 i|ieii- sojouiii in tlie ]irnpa'_','it in^; Imitse. 



Flats Versus Pots. 



i'lie ne.M proceJ'ding is tu ^hitt tin' 

 iM.iied cuttings from the sand to ll.ats ur 

 jM.t-. We j>refer flats, as they are easier 

 t(i handle, take up less room and arc 

 much easier tn care for later in the se.-i- 

 -loi. with reg.ard tn w;iteiing. My exjieri 

 eui-e has been, when lifting lield-growii 

 plants, that stock planted fiom pots will 

 ret.ain the shape of the pots ;nid the loose 

 I'oiits around tlit^ outside 'ill lire;ik ufT tn 

 .•I i^reat extent. This is nut the case with 

 stock planted from flats. We use flats 

 tvvelve inches wide, twenty-four inches 

 hoig and three inches dee|i. These will 

 hcild sixty plants, placed in ten rows, 

 with six in each row. That is for the 

 eiirliest boxed stock. Later in the sea- 

 sun, or with any boxed after March 1, we 

 put in eleven rows, with seven in a row, 

 iir seventy-seven plants in each flat. We 

 prcj'are our boxes by making the soil 



moderately firm and of the j-ight de- 

 •,;ree of moisture to work well, using one 

 ])art well rotted cow nuinui'e and four 

 jiarts fresh loam. We always immersi^ 

 the roots of our cuttings in a ]iail of 

 water when lifting, to remove the sand, 

 finding that by tiiis ]irocedure fewer roots 

 are broken in course of handling. 



Alwaj's give a good soaking after 

 transplanting. Put the young trans- 

 jdanted stock in a house that is kept at 

 a night temperature of not over ;1U de- 

 grees or less than 4Si degrees, shielding 

 them from the bright sunshine for three 

 or four days and keeping them from 

 drafts as much as possible. 



Topping the Young Plants. 



1)0 not top or pinch back until the 

 cutting has grown enough to show the 



S. J. Goddard. 



.iniiits. 1 notice that when a top is pulled 

 trnin one not develoj>ed. one does not get 

 the heart out (dea*!! and tlic process lias 

 to be repeated sonu^ time later. Conso- 

 ouently the cutting that was jointed h.as 

 commenced to branch .and the other is 

 two weeks behind. 



He|)eat this o|iei;il mn e\ei'\ week, tak- 

 ing tops from tlit> ones most advanced. 

 Never try to s;i\o the toj)S to increase 

 your stock, even if it is .a new \ariety and 

 cost you .fll' .'I hundrt^d. The tempta- 

 tion is great, but the profits will be less 

 the next winter. Alio this mav cause 



you to say the variety is "N. G." ar 

 heap abus(> on the disseminator. 



Keep the young plants growing coi 

 tinuously; never fail in your attention 

 Water, top and feed. Do not hurry f. 

 l)ut them in a coldframe until the weather 

 is warm enough to have the sash off ic, 

 the daytime. \ jirefer a coldframe to 

 hotbed. 



Now for the spring rush to plant ou; 

 siile; we are all anxious to get the car 

 nations in the field. Here, in Massachu 

 setts, Ave commence about A])ril 2.") or 

 May 1, if the weather is favor.able. Ot 

 course, the land must be dry enottgh ani 

 |)roperly plowed and smoothed. 



Planting Outside. 



<)ur systemjs as follows: Set the lim 

 across the piece to be planted. Take ; 

 I'lant, Jr., wheel hoe, with the small plou 

 attachment, and make a small furrow 

 right across. This is just as good a» 

 chopping with a spade and ten times as 

 rapid. Have a boy drop the plant-^ 

 (which have previously been cut out), si> 

 inches a])art. After jjlanting, rake or 

 smooth off a couple of feet next to th- 

 row an<l repeat the operation, setting thi 

 line this time fifteen inches from thi 

 starting point. This will give amph 

 loom to run a wheel hoe through fo' 

 weeding and cultivating. 



Never let the weeds get ahead of you 

 K(^ep the wheel hoe going once a wee! 

 and hand-weed every two weeks. Wt 

 never use a hand hoe, as too many plant' 

 .are injured by carelessness on the par 

 of the operator. 1 find we can do thi 

 Work faster and much better by gettin-. 

 down on our knees and weeding, le.avini 

 tiie weeds on the right hand siile of thi 

 row. This accumulates .all weeds in ever 

 other row, where they can be more rea<i 

 ilv taken off with a fork, if the we.atlie 

 i^ unfaviu'.able for- killing them 



Topping in the Field. 



The most impoit;int work to be ecu 

 sidered ;it this stage is the topping o 

 |iinchin^ back. Hi'ie is where you 

 foundation is laid for next winter's sn^ 

 cession of blooms. Never pinch ba,ck c 

 eiy shoot at one time. (io over th 

 plants at least ome a week and remov 

 the longest shoots, junching them bac 

 hard to secure good, strong growths. AV 

 never use a knife. 



r believe that one can regulate tli 

 crop right through the winter by thi 

 style of topping, at least until sprins. 

 when carnations will crop anyway. 



We commence planting inside early i 

 July and plan to finish during the 61*^ 

 week in August. 



