ACGUST 31, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



la 



sand. Give them a warm, moist house 

 and keep the flats covered with glass 

 and paper until the seeds germinate. 

 When this occurs, keep the seedlings 

 well up to the light to prevent their 

 becoming drawn, but still grow them 

 moderately warm. It is better to sow 

 the seeds moderately thickly and trans- 

 plant into shallow flats, but there are 

 some growers who sow rather thinly 

 and leave the plants in the flats until 

 they are potted off. 



Plants being grown in the frames 

 for fall and winter flowering, soon 

 should have their final shift. They 

 like a fairly rich soil. The manure 

 used should be old and of the sort 

 that <*rumbles readily through the 

 fingers. Use a good deal of sand; the 

 plants like it. As a general rule, 5- 

 inch and 6-inch pots are the most 

 salable sizes to grow; 4-inch have some 

 sale, however, and are useful for mak- 

 ing up into pans for Christmas. Extra 

 strong plants can go in 7-inch and 8- 

 inch pots for later flowering, but, of 

 course, these must be sold at a pro' 

 portionately higher price to make them 

 profitable. 



Use sashes over the plants only when 

 there are heavy rains or on cold nights. 

 Lath shades, which let the air in freely, 

 are the best and treated thus the plants 

 will be dwarf and stocky, while with 

 shaded glass they must become much 

 drawn. Look out for thrips. Spray 

 the plants with nicotine every week 

 to keep them clean. Any plants show- 

 ing curled up and deformed leaves 

 should be thrown away. This may bo 

 due in part to aphis attacks, but more 

 generally is due to cyclamen mite, for 

 which no real cure is yet known. 



Bulb Compost. 



The early Dutch bulbs are already 

 at hand and soon the main shipments 

 will arrive. Take time by the forelock 

 and see that there is an adequate sup- 

 ply of flats in good repair, pans and 

 pots for them. Now is also the time 

 to prepare a good compost heap, if 

 this is not already done. It is a com- 

 mon heresy that any old soil is good 

 enough for bulbs. Do not believe any 

 such nonsense. Dutcli bulbs like a 

 generous compost, as well as ot^er 

 plants. Plant a batch in pure loam 

 with sand added and another lot in 

 soil containing one-third decayed cow 

 manure or spent hotbed manure and 

 note the difference in the growth. Do 

 not use any leaf-mold. It is too light 

 for bulbs, nor should any bone or 

 chemicals be added, but sharp sand 

 can be mixed in freely with advantage. 



Transplanting Evergreens. 



We have had excellent weather dur- 

 ing the last days of August for mov- 

 ing evergreens. With the possible ex- 

 ception of spring, from now until the 

 end of September is the best time to 

 do any transplanting of this class of 

 stock. Select a cloudy day. Be sure 

 to soak the roots well before giving 

 the final filling in, and if the plants 

 have had a ball of earth they will in 

 nearly every case grow. A mulch of 

 old manure after planting is beneficial. 

 Not only pines, spruces, junipers, retino- 

 sporas, arbor-vitses, etc., but also any 

 of the broad-leaded varieties, which in- 

 clude rhododendrons, kalmias and 

 andromedas, will transplant success- 

 fully now, and as at this season there 

 is not such a rush of work as in April 

 and May, the nurseries can fill orders 

 better and more speedily and the trees 



The Wittman Family, of West Hoboken, N. J. 



or shrubs can be planted with greater 

 care. 



Foinsettias. 



It is now too late to do any furtheT 

 propagating of poinsettias, even for 

 small pans. Make the plants up into 

 pans before they become too much pot- 

 bound and use some small nephrolepis. 

 Asparagus Sprengeri, Cyperus alterni- 

 folius or other green plants among 

 them. These make a nice garnishing 

 at the bottoms of the flowering stems 

 and take away any nakedness caused 

 by loss of leaves. Plants in benches 

 should be kept tied up to keep the 

 stems straight. Any which are to be 

 flowered in 5-inch or 6-inch pots should 

 be firmly potted for their final shift, 

 and use good loam and cow manure 

 as a compost. The nights are not yet 

 suflSciently cool to warrant the use of 

 fire heat. This is most necessary after 

 the bracts show. 



COSMOS LADY I£NOX. 



Will you give me some information 

 in regard to Lady Lenox cosmos? Is 

 it practical to lift them and pot them 

 in pails for late flowers? If so, when 

 would be the best time to begin doing 

 it, and would it pay? I live in the 

 state of Rhode Island. J. C. 



If the cosmos plants are not too tall 

 and unwieldy, they can easily be lifted 

 and potted, or placed in pails or small 

 tubs in a cool greenhouse to flower. 

 Much finer cosmos flowers are produced 

 under glass than outdoors. They flower 

 at a time when chrysanthemums aro 

 abundant, but there are many pur- 

 chasers who welcome a change from 

 mums, and good flowers sell readily 

 in the large markets. 



Lady Lenox cosmos is a late bloomer 

 and can not be depended upon to flow- 

 er in your state outdoors, unless frost 

 holds off later than usual. The pres- 

 ent is a suitable time to dig up and 

 pot cosmos. Choose, if possible, a cool, 

 cloudy day, with the soil moist, and 

 endeavor to get a little ball with the 

 roots. After potting, they will require 

 spraying and shading for a few days 

 until established. Another year, if you 

 want some good plants of this cosmos. 

 Sow the seed in April. Keep them in 



pots or boxes outdoors and pinch un- 

 til the end of August. House them 

 when frost threatens. Such plants 

 will give far superior flowers to tho 

 lifted ones. C. W. 



THE WITTMAN FAMILY. 



One of the popular families in the 

 trade circles at New York is that of 

 Rudolph Wittman, 806 Ann street, West 

 Hoboken, N. J. You will see the reason 

 for it in the accompanying illustration, 

 which is reproduced from a snapshot 

 made at the recent outing of the New 

 York Florists ' Club. Here is prosperity, 

 peace, and good-fellowship. It is the 

 reward of the grower who knows his 

 business and attends to it. 



DISEASED IBIS. 



Last fall I bought several hundred 

 Japanese iris from a leading grower. 

 I planted them during October and have 

 not a single plant to show. This spring 

 I dug a few of them and the roots 

 seemed in good condition, but had 

 made absolutely no growth and did 

 not seem to have taken any hold on 

 the earth. What cause would you as- 

 scribe for this failure? A large assort- 

 ment of perennials planted at the same 

 time, and in the same patch, all did well, 

 among them being phlox, peonies and 

 German iris. Last fall I also planted a 

 few Iris pallida Dalmatica, and a few 

 of the same variety this spring. All did 

 well this spring, the fall planted ones 

 blooming. The fall planted ones all 

 died shortly after blooining, and the 

 spring planted ones have been gradually 

 dying out during the summer, and are 

 now all gone. I have never had this 

 trouble with any other iris, though I 

 have quite a large collection. 



W. G. S. 



It is just possible you may have a 

 disease on your Iris pallida Dalmatica 

 and Japanese varieties. The stems 

 keep rotting off until the whole plant 

 goes. Too much rank manure about 

 the roots will help to start this, but it 

 often appears on establisneu plants. The 

 only remedy is to dig them up and 

 plant them on fresh ground, well 

 drained, using some lime in the soil. 



C. W. 



V 



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