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The Weekly Florists^ Review/ 



February 17, 191o 



sucli a noteworthy trio of varieties as 

 Mrs. Lawson, Enchantress and Beacon, 

 all of which originated with Mr. Fisher. 

 While the west is undoubtedly coming 

 forward at a good, round pace in the 

 production of new carnations, yet there 

 may be many that "also ran," before 

 such another team as ihat we have noted 

 is brought forth. 



The evidence seems to be that 3esycoii 

 is the most productive red in the mar- 

 ket, and although it is not extra large, 

 and with many growers is given to split- 

 ting badly during midwinter, yet it is 

 a good Christmas color. In short, with 

 all its faults, we love it still. 



The Lawson Family. 



We have already mentioned Mrs. Law- 

 son, which for several years was the 

 leader in the dark pink class and even 

 yet is grown to some extent, having dis- 

 placed a number of other varieties in 

 various shades of pink. But Mrs. Law- 

 son does not appeal to our market, very 

 strongly now, her place in turn, having 

 been taken by some later arrivals. 



Mrs. Lawson has, however, left a nu- 

 merous family. Among them are Wel- 

 come, Winsor and Variegated Law;son, 

 which are still grown -to a- greater or 

 less extent, and White LawSoh may also 

 be occasionally found, though _, these vari- 

 eties are usually under the standard for 

 length of stem. 



Counting from La Purite, which I be- 

 lieve was introduced from Europe in this 

 country by Dailledouze, Zeller & Co., 

 and was the first pink carnation with 

 which I had an acquaintance, there have 

 been hosts of pink varieties launched on 

 the sea of trade and many of them have 

 been wrecked on the rocks of criticism. 



But it is much easier to be a knocker 

 than to produce the goods, and I think 

 we should all give honor to the pioneers 

 in the carnation trade, who offered to 

 the world for a proper consideration, in 

 due course, such pinks as Grace Wilder, 

 Wm. Scott, Albertini, and others. 



The varieties we have noted were not 

 perfect, but neither have those of the 

 present day reached that lofty standard. 

 Even now there is room for a good dark 

 pink, and there are more than whispers 

 that such is on the way. 



Crimson and Varieeatted. 



Crimson is not a color that is demand- 

 ed in thousand lots in most markets, the 

 most likely exception to this statement 

 being found in the neighborhood of Har- 

 vard, but crimson carnations have been 

 grown for a good many years when we 

 count from Crimson King, and even now 

 the crimsons that are offered do not ap- 

 proach the size and vigor we find among 

 the white and pink varieties. This fact 

 makes us think that there is still room 

 for improvement among the crimsons, 

 and possibly it may be found among the 

 number of crimson seedlings that are 

 being tried out. In some parts of the 

 country Harrv Fenn is still producing 

 some good flowers, but in our neighbor- 

 hood this varietv has lost its grip. 



Patten and Variegated Lawson are 

 probably the most popular of the varie- 

 gated varieties, but neither of them can 

 safely be counted upon to pay the rent. 

 The first named is especially slow in 

 blooming in the fall and early winter, 

 though it produces abundantly m spring. 



Bay State secured the gold medal last 

 season, but, from the accounts of sev- 

 eral growers, it does not seem to pro- 

 duce much gold in the regular order of 

 business. 



Fancy and Dark Pink Sorts. 



Among the fancy varieties of past 

 years. Prosperity was the greatest suc- 

 cess, and in its time brought the highest 

 price of any, but now one would have to 

 hunt for, some time to get 100 flowers of 

 Prosperity, for few growers handle it. 

 Toreador is a later variety of similar 

 type to the Jast named, and though vari- 

 able in color it is an attractive flower, 

 on an unusually stiff stem, 



' In dark pink and cerise there have 

 been many novelties of late yeays, among 

 them being Aristocrat, Afterglow, Eose- 

 pink Enchantress and Dorothy Gordon, 

 each of which has had or still has its 

 champions, . and each of which is beau- 

 tiful in its own way. The first three, 

 however, have all developed some disad- 

 vantages, and regarding the latter vari- 

 ety most of us will know more in a year 

 from now. 



Mrs. Ward and Alma Ward are both 

 beautiful varieties. They have com- 

 manded good prices during the last two 

 or three seasons, and, being on the mar- 

 ket now, may be tested by the trade in 

 general. 



Room {or a Good Yellow. 



There still is room for a good ye aw 

 variety. Strive as they may, yet he 

 hybridizers do not seem to attain t' >ir 

 ideal in this line, for yellow carnati; us 

 generally speaking, are either lacking in 

 constitution or else they are not frei in 

 blooming or are under-sized, with he 

 result that no yellow variety is i w 

 grown to even the extent that Elder; io 

 was a few years ago. 



And now, to sum up briefly, it may dq 

 said that in the opinion of an ordin ;v 

 observer, and one that by no mer is 

 claims to know it all, there is much ti it 

 is encouraging in the progress that lr;s 

 been made in carnation varieties and cul- 

 ture during the last few years. Won 

 derful things have been done by Dornci. 

 Fisher, Ward, Weber and other men if 

 prominence in this department of our 

 profession, and I fully believe that there 

 will be quite as great achievements to 

 chronicle in the next ten years as have 

 been witnessed in the last decade, for 

 with increased knowledge and experience 

 more systematic work will be possible in 

 the future than has been accomplishea 

 in the past. 



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I SEASONABLE 



I ^^A^ SUGGESTIONS I 



Herbaceous Calceolarias. 



Herbaceous calceolarias should now be 

 in their flowering pots and will be start- 

 ing to push their flower spikes in some 

 instances. We like to pinch these pre- 

 maturely early ones. It causes the 

 plants to break freely and make much 

 nicer flower heads. Short of actual 

 freezing, the plants can hardly be grown 

 too cool; 40 degrees at night is far bet- 

 ter than 50 degrees, and in the lower 

 temperature the green aphis is far less 

 troublesome. While a little winter sun 

 will not harm the plants, we prefer to 

 grow them with a light shade even at 

 this season. On clear mornings we give 

 a light spraying over. Those of the 

 rugosa section are useful at Memorial 

 day. These should now have their last 

 pinching and can go in their flowering 

 pots. A good plan is to set them out 

 in a bench containing four to five inches 

 of soil, in a violet temperature. Grown 

 thus, they thrive amazingly and give a 

 grand ctop of fine golden heads of 

 flowers, which are always welcome at 

 Memorial day. 



Marguerites. 



Quite a number of growers have con- 

 siderable trouble with the leaf-miner 

 each year, which disfigures the foliage 

 on marguerites. Spraying with Nico- 

 fume .iuice is the best of the remedies we 

 have tried. If persisted in, the worms 

 all appear to be killed, even though they 

 are within the inner tissue of the leaves. 

 Plants for Easter should be in their 

 flowering pots before this time. They 

 are now, with us, growing rapidly and 

 take abundant water supplies. We do not 

 plan to flower all our plants, for Easter, 

 but select some of the largest and most 



forward, giving these slightly elevated 

 positions, clear of the surrounding 

 plants, in order to make them shapely 

 and at the same time get better light. 

 The demand for marguerites is even 

 better in April, May and June than at 

 Easter, especially for cut flowers, and 

 all the later plants should be reserved for 

 these months. Plants in boxes or shallow 

 benches will give a grand crop of long- 

 stemmed flowers in May and June. The 

 present is a suitable time to take some 

 cuttings from both the white and yellow 

 varieties to carry over summer and flower 

 for next Christmas. 



Sfflilax. 



When a crop of smilax has been cut off 

 clean, give the bed a rest for a week or 

 two, keeping it on the dry side. Give a 

 mulch of cow manure before starting it 

 up again. Be sure to get strings in 

 place before the new crop gets entangled. 

 Smilax will grow in a comparatively 1o\n 

 temperature, out 55 to 60 degrees at 

 night is what we like to give it. If you 

 have forgotten to sow a batch of seeds, 

 it is not yet too late to do so. Thi 

 seeds germinate quickly and should bi 

 potted off into 2-inch pots, as soon a- 

 large enough to handle. 



Gladioli. 



From the middle to the end of Feb 

 ruary is a good time to plant a batch ot 

 the large-bulbed gladioli for Memorial 

 day. There are probably patches of un 

 occupied bench space which may be util 

 ized for them. America, May, Augusta. 

 Snow White, Benchleyensis and, in fact, 

 almost any other variety of moderate 

 cost may be planted. As a rule, rfhe 

 high colors sell best at Memorial day. 



A batch of Colvillei The Bjide in a car 



