JUNB 1, 1011. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



IS 



Kn.T.ABNEY BOSES. 



Will you give me some information 

 as to the general treatment of Killar- 

 ney roses in detail, so as to have them 

 in crop from October to June! 



R. E. P. 



To describe in detail the treatment 

 of Killarneys would require more space 

 than The Review can spare at this sea- 

 son, and information must be well 

 boiled down. Presuming that you have 

 plants in 3%.-inch or 4-inch pots, either 

 own root or grafted, they should be 

 planted as soon as possible. Use five 

 inches of soil if on raised benches, 

 being sure to leave ample drainage be- 

 tween the boards or cement slabs. The 

 compost should be heavy rather than 

 light. Three parts of fibrous loam well 

 chopped and one part well decayed cow 

 manure, to which some bone meal has 

 been added, and which has been well 

 mixed before being placed in the house, 

 makes a good compost. If in solid 

 beds, do not use over six inches of soil, 

 and be sure the drainage is ample. Fif- 

 teen inches apart each way will answer 

 for the plants. Do not soak the whole 

 bed when watering, but leave a little 

 hollow around each plant to hold water. 

 Keep the surface soil frequently stirred 

 and ply the hose freely to keep down 

 red spider, aphis and other pests. 



Ventilate according to the weather. 

 From now onwards it will be necessary 

 to leave air on at night, except it may 

 be exceptionally cool. It pays not to 

 cut fire heat off too early. The larger 

 establishments keep up some steam, 

 even in midsummer, and it pays in 

 keeping the houses sweet, and in fight- 

 ing mildew fire heat is a necessity. 

 Fumigation must not be neglected, of 

 course, at any time. Aphis will be par- 

 ticularly troublesome in late summer 

 and early fall. Pinch off all flower buds 

 until the end of August if you want a 

 crop early in October. Prices then are 

 not high and it may pay to allow part 

 of the plants to get stronger and bloom 

 later. Always plan to get in a consid- 

 erable crop for special occasions, like 

 Thanksgiving and Christmas. The time 

 from cutting one crop to getting an- 

 other depends on the season. It may 

 be five or eight weeks. 



An average winter minimum of 56 

 degrees will be found about right. 

 Avoid feeding during the dark days in 

 winter. Do not attempt it until the 

 days lengthen. Nothing beats liquid 

 cow manure. This is safer and better 

 than any chemicals. A light top-dress- 

 ing of cow manure can be applied about 

 January 1 and this can be renewed at 



intervals of six weeks, making the 

 mulch rather heavier as the weather 

 grows warmer. In applying fresh cow 

 manure, however, be sure to leave a 

 crack of air on for a night or two, as 

 there have been many cases of foliage 

 being scorched by the ammonia in a 

 tight atmosphere. 



Plants can be carried over a second 

 year, in which ease they must be rested 

 about six weeks, starting about the 

 end of June. Then prune back to good 

 eyes and cut away all weak, useless 

 growths. Do not dry so as to cause 

 foliage to fall. Start up again about 

 the middle of August for an October 

 crop. Remove surface soil and give a 

 good top-dressing, or if you prefer, dig 

 up carefully after pruning and replant 

 in new soil. Killarney is a splendid 

 winter and spring rose, but not a good 

 summer variety, being too single. How- 

 ever, the new double variety may prove 

 a better summer sort. 



ESICAS. 



Will you give me some information as 

 to the general culture of ericas? 



B. E, P. 



The varieties commonly cultivated in 

 the cooler states of America are Caffra 



densa, melanthera, persoluta alba, fra- 

 grans and Mediterranea. These are prop- 

 agated somewhat easily in the early 

 winter months by small tips an inch or 

 so in length placed in an ordinary prop- 

 agating bench, such as is used for car- 

 nations. Bell glasses and special cases 

 are not necessary for their propagation. 

 They root rather slowly, but cuttings in- 

 serted in sand about Christmas will be 

 rooted in eight to twelve weeks. Use 

 pots of thimble size for the first shift. 

 Grow outdoors after the end of May, 

 plunging the pots to the brim and keep- 

 ing them well watered and freely 

 syringed. Pot on as required, using a 

 compost of fibrous loam, leaf-mold and 

 sand. Avoid manures and fertilizers in 

 the compost. Plants once they are in 

 3-inch pots or over will grow faster if 

 planted outdoors in any good soil, but 

 one containing leaf soil in quantity is 

 specially good. They must be kept well 

 watered and hosed over thrciugh the sum- 

 mer. 



Lift and pot early in October. Shake 

 away all loose soil and chop around the 

 balls of large plants with a sharp spade 

 to make them fit their pots. Spray 

 freely and leave outdoors after potting 

 until frost threatens. Then place in an 

 airy, frost-proof plant pit or a cold 

 greenhouse; 40 degrees at night is suf- 

 ficiently warm; in fact, a few degrees 

 of frost will qot hurt them. Pot-grown 

 plants plunged in soil or ashes will bloom 

 rather earlier than those planted out, 

 and melanthera can be had for Christmas 

 in good shape. 



Ericas must never be subjected to 

 anything like forcing, or they will be 

 ruined and, like all hardwooded plants, 

 want careful waterings. The large- 

 flowered, waxy forms of ericas are grown 

 to a limited extent by a few specialists 

 in New York and Massachusetts, but 

 would not succeed where they could not 

 have cool and moist climatic conditions. 



C. W. 



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IMPRESSIONS ^^.^^^r^^ 



OF AMERICA 1 



By L. M. Graves, Harlington, England. 



The first item to attract my notice in 

 New York was the roads. How Amer- 

 icans, who boast of their great country, 

 can tolerate such vile roads as are to 

 be seen everywhere is more than I can 

 fathom. We Londoners are apt to com- 

 plain about a few ruts, but never again 

 shall I criticise them. But we had a 

 really good time at the banquet of the 

 New York Florists' Club, and some of 

 our party, I am sure, relish the nice 

 things said about us. The New York 

 boys, too, aren't above accepting a bit 

 of blarney. My word, it's a wonder we 

 survived it! Throughout our tour we 

 were feted; every fiorists' club on the 

 route seemed mad to outdo the previous 

 one, but I will give them credit for not 

 being too pressing. If anything makes 

 me bored it is being pressed to take a 

 cocktail when I don't want it. 



The trip to Philadelphia was inter- 

 esting and I honestly believe that the 



great building" run by 'W^ Atlee Burpee 

 & Co. is the smartest place of its kind 

 to be found either in or out of America. 

 The average seedsman on this side can 

 have no conception of this remarkable 

 place. Machinery and labor-saving de- 

 vices are everywhere. In the oflices I 

 noticed that typists take their dicta- 

 tion from talking machines. 



The Americanized English, Scotch, 

 Greek, Germans and so on seem to be 

 a really happy family, and they knock 

 off things wonderfully well. They have 

 the vastness of the country to thank 

 for this, I fancy, coupled with the fact 

 that the number of florists and growers 

 are infinite as compared with over 

 here. They have things in their own 

 hands, and by keeping well together 

 they can control the output and the 

 market generally. Importations of 

 stock from other quarters do not trou- 

 ble them, so they have reason to be 

 happy and brotherly. We can all be 

 overflowing with kindness when the 



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