14 



A.^.U 



• Florists^ Review 



8KPTEMBBB 26, 1912. 



that were heavily fed were magnificent, 

 far excelling that portion of the fields 

 where little manure had been used. Mr. 

 Wintzer says that the canna must have 

 space, manure and water to do its best. 

 Give all three, add early planting and 

 the modern varieties of cannas will 

 yield fifteen or sixteen flowers to each 

 plant. It seems extraordinary, but it is 

 often done. 



The newer varieties of cannas are 

 wonderful: Splendor, Beacon, Maid of 

 Orleans, Woreley, to be classed with 

 Mrs. Conard, Olympic, and many, many 

 more. The visit was a treat long to be 

 remembered, which I owe to my friend 

 Robert Pyle, president of the company, 

 whose unswerving devotion to his work 

 has made possible these splendid results. 



Phil. 



BOS£ OIiD aou). 



One of the year's striking European 

 rose novelties is Old Gold, hybrid tea, 

 raised by Samuel McGredy & Son, Por- 

 tadown, Ireland. At the recent Regent 's 

 park show of the National Rose Society 

 of Great Britain the variety received a 

 gold medal by the unanimous vote of 

 the committee. The basket there ex- 

 hibited is shown in the accompanying 

 illustration. The arrangement is sup- 

 posed to have been by one of London's 

 widely known retail florists. In speak- 

 ing of this exhibit one of the British 

 trade papers said: "The flowers are 

 of beautiful pointed form, and one of 

 the most glorious bits of color that has 

 ever been seen. The tint is a vivid red- 

 dish-orange, impossible adequately to 

 describe, the dark foliage forming a 

 delightful contrast. This should be a 

 gem for table and other decorations, 

 and we noted it was perfect when we 

 left in the afternoon, so that it evi- 

 dently has keeping quality." 



THE EVERYDAY WORK. 



Early Cutting. 



Those growers who find fault with 

 early planting give as one of their ob- 

 jections the statement that the early 

 cutting checks the plants and weakens 

 them for flowering later, when the cut 

 blooms are worth more money. Were 

 the flowers cut with a full length of 

 stem, there would be reason in this, and 

 doubtless in some instances this is done, 

 to the detriment of the stock. But the 

 grower who persists in cutting the life 

 out of his plants at a season when the 

 flowers hardly pay the cost of express- 

 ing to the market has a lot to learn as 

 to the fitness of things. 



Producing flowers does not weaken or 

 check vigorous young stock. It is tak- 

 ing away long stems, cutting out the 

 very heart of the plant, that does the 

 mischief. 



The ISfew Basal Shoots. 



The earliest planted Kaiserins, Killar- 



neys, White Killarneys and Richmonds 

 are now pushing up strong basal shoots, 

 showing that the roots have obtained 

 a good hold of the new soil and are 

 enjoying the good things provided in 

 this larder or storehouse of nutriment. 

 These vigorous shoots are they that 

 will lay the foundation of a vigorous 

 plant for winter flowering and they 

 should be encouraged in every way. The 

 futility of cutting these out entirely 

 with the flowers should be apparent to 

 any thoughtful grower. The flowers 

 are usually poor and the stems out of 

 all proportion to them. If the flowers 

 are cut for market at all, they should 

 be taken with only a few inches of 

 stem, and in most cases they would be 

 best removed when partly open, as in 

 disbudding. The way for these shoots 

 should be made clear by removing any 



crossing wood or useless small shoots, 

 so as to give them every ehanee to 

 swell up vigorous, prominent eyes. 



Insect Pests. 



This systematic pruning in the earlier 

 stages of the plants' growth will pr.' 

 vent the formation of bushy centers, 

 which are useless to the plants and fonn 

 a congenial home for all kinds of in 

 jurious insects. Were it always possible 

 to plant the whole of a house at on*- 

 time, the house could be heavily fnmi 

 gated with, cyanide beforehand and 

 there would be much less risk of in 

 sects, but this is by no means the case 

 and the best that can be done is to keep 

 both old and young sto^k as clean an 

 possible. 



There are several good spray nazcles 

 on the market, which, used with a good 

 force behind them, create a fine but 

 powerful mist that can be sprayed all 

 over and under the foliage and stems, 

 reaching every bit of the plant and yet 

 hardly wetting the surface of the 

 benches. This treatment, given daily, 

 or even twice daily if insects are seen, 

 is of great assistance in keeping them 

 in check. Where thrips is present some 

 insecticide will have to be used, but 

 even this insect, troublesome as it is, is 

 kept down by frequent spraying with 

 cold water. 



Plants That Are Held Over. 



Plants that are being held over for 

 another season should be cleaned np, 

 pruned, mulched and put in order. The 

 old plan of drying off is not as much 

 practiced as formerly, and is especially 

 unsuitable for the Killarneys. These 

 roses should not be dried, nor should 

 they be cut back as hard as some other 

 kinds, but all superfluous wood and 

 small, twig-like shoots can be cut out 

 with advantage. 



Should the soil appear to be sour and 

 close on the surface, from constant 

 feeding and watering, remove this to 

 the depth of a couple of inches, or more 



Rose Old GoM. 



... .^>.« ^— -t-- ---^ -- '^""' - 



