

10 



The Weekly FIoHsts' Review. 



Atiqust 3, 1911. 



star and crescent set in a field of 

 daisies. In order to show the design, a 

 sloped, background may be arranged. 

 Immense rosette bows of scarlet chiflfon, 

 with white centers, will enliven the 

 upper space. 



A Colonial Scene, with Dahlias. 



The dahlia is a queenly flower, and 

 her court, when held in your window, 

 must needs be dignified and formal. 

 Use colonial vases, if any, and pyramid 

 bays. Have tall white columns, such 

 as are seen at a colonial entrance. 



flanked at either side by the bays. Top 

 each column with a plant of ivy in a 

 white enameled basket. Range a group 

 of tall yellow and copper-colored dah- 

 lias about the base of each pillar. In 

 a flaring direction toward the front of 

 the window set a number of colonial 

 vases with the orange and yellow dah- 

 lias. From each vase to the floor drop 

 a single end of ribbon to match. A 

 tight, prim rosette may flnish the lower 

 end of the ribbon drape. For the pink 

 and crimson dahlias use the same de- 

 sign. 



Another line of reds and yellows, 

 beautifully blended, may be found in 

 cannas. Each stalk will need a tall, 

 slender vase. Over the floor and the 

 base of each vase place a thick mat of 

 green moss, or sphagnum with a green 

 covering. Plant this closely with yel- 

 low pansies in bloom. Set in cannas as 

 thickly as seems fit. A few aspidistras 

 may appear in the background, with a 

 group of palms at a disappearing corner. 



Further suggestions on summer win- 

 dow displays will be given in a later 

 issue of The Review. Q. B. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



Feeding. 



Early planted stock that has been 

 on the benches from eight to ten weeks 

 will be greatly benefited by a stimu- 

 lant. The soil is, or should be, full of 

 roots and the plants should be hungry 

 for food. An examination of the soil 

 will soon determine whether this is so 

 or not. 



A light mulch of well decomposed 

 fertilizer, either horse or cow manure, 

 is beneficial at this time. It furnishes 

 a certain amount of nourishment, keeps 

 the soil uniformly moist and prevents 

 the surface roots from being burned up 

 by the sun, which is liable to happen 

 along the edges of the benches. Before 

 this fertilizer is used, a sprinkling of 

 bone flovir or horn shavings, applied to 

 the bed and lightly rubbed in, is also 

 good. I use the term "bone flour" be- 

 cause it must be of the finest possible 

 texture to be of any benefit to the 

 plants, as it will have only six or seven 

 weeks in which to work, and this is 

 entirely diflPerent from using bone on 

 a rose bed, wliere its gradual dissolu- 

 tion is of benefit all winter and spring. 

 Horn shavings, though not often used, 

 are valuable as a fertilizer. They aver- 

 age high, I believe, in nitrogen, the 

 principal element in plant life. Horn 

 shavings will decay readily under the 

 top-dressing of rotted manure. 



This top-dressing should carry the 

 plants for a week or two, when liquid 

 fertilizer may be applied. 



Tine Best Time to Feed. 



It is an old saying, which has passed 

 current among mum growers for many 

 years, that the plants should not be fed 

 to any extent until after the bud has 

 set. Any up-to-date grower knows that 

 this is an absolute fallacy. It is really 

 far better to feed the plants well in 

 August, to induce them to make a 

 strong final growth and bud, than to 

 wait until after the bud has set and 

 then feed heavily after all growth is 

 stopped, as the plants at that time will 

 not be in such good condition to take 

 up the food. Heavy applications of 

 food late in the season are also bad 

 for the flower, making it soft and much 



more liable to damping than it other- 

 wise would be. 



These notes on feeding do not con- 

 cern the commercial grower, perhaps, 

 to any great extent. As a general rule 

 he makes the compost fairly rich and, 

 aside from a light top-dressing, the 

 plants are left to finish as best they 

 can. It is a different matter, however, 

 with the exhibitor, who must feed, and 

 feed heavily, if he is going to get the 

 best of his competitor. 



If the plants have been grown in 

 pots they will, of course, need a great 

 deal more feeding than the same plants 

 grown in a bench, as the soil is much 

 more quickly exhausted. Liquid fer- 

 tilizers, if made from sheep or cow 

 manure, can hardly be made too strong. 

 Most establishments of any size have 

 a mixing tank and apply the liquid 

 manure in some way through the pipes. 

 Where the number of plants grown is 

 limited and the establishment is small, 

 a bushel of manure can be placed in a 

 bag and put in a 50-gallon ker^ABene 

 barrel; then the barrel can be filled 

 with water and the manure allowed to 

 soak for several days. It is not a great 

 while since this was about all any of 

 us had to work with. 



Chemical Fertilizers. 



Chemical fertilizers are a valuable 

 aid to the exhibition grower. A 4-in'>,h 

 potful in a 50-gallon barrel of water 

 is perfe&tly safe to use and its good 

 effects can be quickly seen in the color 

 of the foliage. Waterings of these 

 chemicals between the applications of 

 liquid animal fertilizer seem to do the 

 most good. 



The most commonly used chemical 

 fertilizers are either nitrate of soda, 

 sulphate of ammonia, nitrate or muriate 

 of potash. In my own case, after re- 

 peated experiments, I have figured out 

 my own formula, which is a combina- 

 tion of several of these ingredients, 

 and other growers of my acquaintance 

 have done the same. 



By using fine bone as previously ad- 

 vised, both in the soil and as a top- 

 dressing, we afterward get with these 

 chemicals a combination of the three 

 chief elements of plant growth, nitro- 

 gen, phosphoric acid and potash, the 

 lesser elements being almost always 



present in every soil in suflScient quan- 

 tities. 



Nowhere, perhaps, does the beginner 

 fall down more quickly than in feeding 

 his plants, and under no condition can 

 the expert grower, however willing he 

 may be, be of much help to him. The 

 novice must work out his own salva- 

 tion, which he can only do by per- 

 sonal experience and years of pains- 

 taking care and observation. 



Chas. H. Totty. 



TIME TO TAKE BUDS. 



When is the best time to take buds 

 of Golden Glow and Smith's Advance? 

 After the taking of the buds, what 

 length of time will elapse before the 

 plants will be in flower! H. L. 



The buds on Golden Glow and Smith 's 

 Advance can be taken at any time now. 

 In fact, in the case of the former, it 

 is probably making nothing but buds 

 from now on. Buds taken the first 

 week in August will be in flower by 

 the end of September. The question of 

 bud selection on the earliest varieties 

 was discussed by me somewhat in de- 

 tail in The Review of July 13, page 10. 



Chas. H. Totty. 



BUSH PLANTS IN THE SOUTH. 



Can you tell me what varieties of 

 pompon chrysanthemums will make 

 good bush plants and bloom for No- 

 vember in New Orleans? Will any of 

 the other chrysanthemums, if planted 

 now, make good bush plants and bloom 

 for November 1? If there are any, 

 please name them. N. O. 



It is somewhat difficult for me, liv- 

 ing in New Jersey, to state with any 

 degree of certainty what will be in 

 flower in New Orleans November 1. 

 The large flowered kinds that have 

 been recommended to me by a grower 

 living in New Orleans include Mrs. 

 Robinson, Col. Appleton, Monrovia, 

 Timothy Eaton, Alice Byron, Gen. Hut- 

 ton, Yellow Eaton, Maud Dean and 

 A. J. Balfour. 



Pompons, apparently, have not been 

 grown much in the south, but the fol- 

 lowing list, given in their colors, are 

 good growers and should be excellent 



