40 



The Florists^ Review 



August 15, 1012. 



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^ SEASONABLE s^ 



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i 

 i ^ SUGGESTIONS \ 



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Lilium Candidum. 



As soon as the bulbs of Lilium can- 

 didum arrive, unpack them. Some will 

 already be making leaves, and nearly 

 all will have roots. Do not leave them 

 a day longer out of the soil than is 

 absolutely necessarj', as, like all of 

 their family, they lose vitality every 

 day they are exposed to the air. Do not 

 grow these singly in 5-inch or G-inch 

 pots. You will get much finer spikes by 

 growing three in an 8-ineh or five in a 

 10-inch pot. Use quite sandy soil and 

 be sure there is no fresh manure in it. 

 After potting, give a watering if the 

 soil chances to be dry. If not, postpone 

 it for a day or two. Place the pots 

 where you can protect them from heavy 

 rains, which will sodden the soil and 

 not infrequently rot the bulbs. Do not 

 stand them in a dark place, but give 

 full sun all the time. 



A word as to the type to grow: There 

 are two distinct forms in commerce. 

 One has a large bulb, somewhat hol- 

 lowed in the center; thin scales, rather 

 flat on the upper surface. This pro- 

 duces narrow leaves, thin spikes and a 

 few narrow-petaled, undersized flowers. 

 More of these are cultivated than of 

 the good type, which usually comes 

 from the north of France, has rounde<l 

 but smaller bulbs, thicker scales, pro- 

 duces broad foliage and robust flower 

 spikes which carry as high as twelve to 

 fifteen flowers each, which have broad, 

 thick i)etals. This is the only candidum 

 worth growing. It costs more than the 

 poor type, which latter is dear at any 

 price. It always pays, however, to grow 

 -the best. 



Lilium Harrisii. 



Coming, as Easter does, unusually 

 early next year, more Harrisii bulbs are 

 being bought for 1913 than for a num- 

 ber of years. The bulbs generally used 

 for early forcing will do well in .1-inch 

 pots singly, or three of the smaller ones 

 to a 6-inch pot. Somewhat large bulbs, 

 which it may be intended to hold back 

 for Easter, should have 6-inch pots each. 

 It seems a long time ahead until Easter 

 and in the warmer states it will be dif- 

 ficult to hold bulbs, received and potted 

 now, until that date, but for winter 

 flowering the bulbs cannot be potted and 

 started any too soon. The cold storage 

 bulbs will start into growth much more 

 rapidly than the newly imported stock. 

 "Whichever kind is grown, it is impor- 

 tant to give them a place on a cellar 

 bottom, in a coldframe or shod, and to 

 keep pretty dark until growths appear, 

 when light may be given. There is a 

 good demand for lilies right through 

 the winter, and a few dozens a week 

 are acceptalde to every country florist 

 who has design orders to fill. 



Summer Lilies Under Glass. 



At this season, when roses are puny, 

 carnations practically nil and asters 

 almost dominating the markets, really 

 good quality flowers are not at all ])len- 

 tiful. The several forms of speciosum 

 and auratum lilies which were fall pot- 

 ted will now be giving a fine crop of 



flowers, which, with a little judicious 

 retarding, will furnish a succession for 

 many weeks. L. speciosum album is 

 the most useful of all. Be sure to keep 

 the pollen masses removed as the blooms 

 expand, as, once discolored, their beauty 

 vanishes. The flowers are much im- 

 proved in quality if some liquid manure 

 is afforded when the buds have formed. 

 It win pay to keep these lilies in a cool, 

 shaded house. In addition to being 

 valuable for cutting, the plants them- 

 selves are splendid for the decorator of 

 hallways and piazzas. The odor of L. 

 auratum is almost too heavy in a dwell- 

 ing, but on a well protected and shaded 

 piazza they will be found decorative. 

 Outdoor Lilies. 

 During the hottest part of the sum- 

 mer lilies in the garden are not abun- 

 dant. It is, perhaps, just as well, as 

 in periods of heat and drought their 

 lasting properties are reduced to a mini- 

 mum. At the present time L. Henryi, 

 popularly but incorrectly called a form 



of speciosum in some catalogues, is mak 

 ing a grand show. This is a remarkably 

 fine lily, which, while still rather scarce 

 and high priced, will in a few years be 

 quite cheap, for no lily possesses mort' 

 vigor or is" more immune from disease. 

 The speciosums proper are now coming; 

 into flower, also L. auratum. If a mulcli 

 of well decayed manure or some similar 

 material has been given, the flowers will 

 be much finer. There are many failures 

 in the culture of lilies in the open 

 ground. The principal cause is too shal- 

 low planting. Such varieties as aura 

 tum, Henryi and speciosum should go 

 ten to twelve inches deep. When set 

 half this depth they always suffer 

 acutely from droughts. 



French Bulbs. 



The earliest shipments of Roman 

 hyacinths. Paper White narcissi and 

 trumpet major narcissi are now due. 

 The hyacinths are of inferior quality 

 and are higher priced this season. Nar- 

 cissi are more moderate. Some of each 

 variety should be placed in flats at once. 

 The Paper Whites can remain in light 

 all the time, but the Romans and trum- 

 pet majors are better kept in a cellar, 

 or, if in a lighter place, given a coating 

 of coal ashes after being well watered. 

 The Paper Whites are easily flowered 

 in November, but the hyacinths and 

 trumpet majors come later, usually bo 

 ing in good shape for Christmas. 



SCALE ON FERNS. 



Can you tell us what these insects 

 are on our ferns, and how to get rid 

 of them? H. & C. 



The insects on the fern fronds are 

 scales of an extremely troublesome char- 

 acter, and are quite frequently found 

 upon nephrolepis and pteris. The best 

 treatment would be to cut oflf all the 

 fronds that are as badly infested as 

 those submitted for examination, and 

 then to dip the plants about once a 

 week in a solution consisting of one 

 part by measure of one of the nicotine 

 extracts to 400 parts of water, or you 

 could spray with the same solution. 

 The plants should be protected from 

 the sun after treatment with the solu- 

 tion. W. H. T. 



TO CLEAN FERNS. 



Please let me know the best thing 

 to use on ferns to kill the army worm 

 or other eating pests. Of course it 

 must be something that will not injure 

 the fronds of the iferns. H. V. B. 



or too frequently, the nicotine solution 

 is liable to injure the young fronds of 

 the ferns, but it is the cleanest insecti- 

 cide one can use for such a purpose. 



W. H. T. 



CATERPILLARS ON BOSTONS. 



For several years we have been trou- 

 bled with green caterpillars on our Bos 

 ton ferns and have not found any 

 means of thoroughly checking them. 

 We have used the commercial tobacco 

 extracts with good results, but cannot 

 keep the plants clean. These cater 

 pillars are like cabbage worms; when 

 full-grown they are about an inch and 

 a half long and when they are older 

 they turn a brownish green. Any in 

 formation that will aid us in keeping 

 these pests down will be greatly appre 

 ciated. L. W. 



Try one of the forty per cent nico- 

 tine liquids, used as a spray. A solu- 

 tion containing one tablespoonful of 

 the nicotine to one gallon of water is 

 not likely to injure the ferns, but will 

 kill the caterpillars that are within 

 reach of the spray. If used too strong. 



There are several poisons that may 

 be used to destroy these caterpillars, 

 but most of them have the disadvan- 

 tage of making the foliage of the ferns 

 dirty. This is the fault with powdered 

 hellebore and also with Slug Shot, 

 either of which would kill the cater- 

 pillars. Spraying with the commercial 

 nicotine solutions is the cleanest rem- 

 edy I know of, but as the nicotine soon 

 ox^aporates, the spraying needs to be 

 followed up at regular intervals in or- 

 der to catch tho successive broods of 

 the worms. W. 11. T. 



