14 



The Florists' Review 



SKl'rKMItKIl LMJ, ^^>\■2 



that were heavily fed were magnificent, 

 far excelling that jiortion of the fiehls 

 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. canuas will 

 yield fifteen or sixteen ilowers 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. 



ROSE OLD GOLD. 



One of the year's striking European 

 rose iiov(>lties is Old (JoM, liy]>rid tea, 

 raise<i by Samuel McGredy & Son, Por- 

 ta<iown, Ireland. At the recent Regent's 

 park show of the National Rose Society 

 of Great Britain the variety received :i 

 gold medal by the unanimous vote of 

 the committer. The basket there ex- 

 hibited is shown in the accompanying 

 illustration. The arrangement is sujt- 

 posed to have been by one of London's 

 widely known retail ilorists. In speak- 

 ing of this exhibit one of the British 

 trade papers said: "The Ilowers are 

 of beautiful ]iointed 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 

 ilently has keeping quality." 



THE EVERYDAY WORK 



Early Cutting. 



Those growers who find fault with 

 early jilanting ;;iv(' as one of their ob 

 jections the statenifiit that the early 

 cutting <li('cks the |ilaiits and weakens 

 them for lluwci iiig later, ^vhi'ii the cut 

 blooms arc worth more Tiioney. Were 

 the flowers cut with a full icti^th of 

 stem, thcit' wnuM be rc'ison in this, anc] 

 doulitless in snmr instances this is done, 

 to the detriment of tlie stock. But the 

 grower wlm persists in cutting the life 

 out of his ]il;»nts at a season when the 

 flowers hardly pay tlie cost of express- 

 ing to the market has a lot to learn as 

 to the fitness of things. 



Producing fhnveis does not weaken or 

 <'heck vigorous young stock. It is tak- 

 ing away long stems, cutting out the 

 \('rv lieart of the ])lant, thiit does tlu; 

 mischitd'. 



The New Basal Shoots. 

 The earliest planted Kaiserins, Killar 



neys, White Killarueys and Richmonds 

 are now pushing up strong basal shoots, 

 showing- that the roots have obtained 

 a good hold of the new soil and arc 

 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 thest; out entirely 

 with the flowers should be apjiarent to 

 any thoughtful grower. The tlowers 

 are usually ])oor and th(^ stems out of 

 all proportion to them. If the Ilowers 

 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 jtartly open, as in 

 disbudding. The way for these shoots 

 should l)e made clear by removing any 



crossing wood or useless small shoo^ 

 so as to give them every chance 

 swell up vigorous, i)rominent eyes. 



Insect Pests. '* 



This systematic pruning in the earli. 

 stages of the plants' growth will pr- 

 vent the formation of bushy centei 

 which are useless to the plants and for 

 a congenial home for all kinds of ii 

 jurious insects. Were it always possibi 

 to plant the whole of a house at on 

 time, the house could be heavily fum 

 gated with cyanide beforehand an 

 there would be much less risk of in 

 sects, but this is by no means the cas' 

 and the best that can be done ia to keei 

 both old and young stock as clean a- 

 possible. 



There are several good spray nozzle 

 on the market, which, used with a gO0( 

 force behind them, create a fine but 

 powerful mist that can be sprayed ab 

 over and under the foliage and stemb 

 reaching every bit of the plant and yet 

 hardly wetting the surface of tht 

 benches. This treatment, given daily 

 or even twice daily if insects are seen 

 is of great assistance in keeping theni 

 in check. Where thrips is present somt 

 insecticide will have to be used, but 

 even this insect, troublesome as it ia, if^ 

 kept down by frequent spraying witl 

 cold water. 



Plants That Are Held Over. 



Plants that are being held over toi 

 another season should be cleaned up 

 jiruned, mulched and put in order. Thi 

 old plan of drying off is not as much 

 ])racticed as formerly, and is cspecialh 

 unsuitable for the Killarneys. Thest 

 roses should not be <lried, nor should 

 they l)e cut back as hard as some othei 

 kinds, but all superfluous wood and 

 small, twig like shoots can be cut out 

 with ad\antage. 



Should the soil appear to be sour and 

 (lose on the surface, from constant 

 feeding and watering, remove this ti' 

 the depth of a couple of inches, or more 



Rose Old Gold. 



