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OCTOBER 10, 1912. 



The Florists' Review 



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Carnation Hoaies of Rolf ZetU^(t, Lima, O. 



words, never allow your plants to carry 

 an extremely heavy crop of buds in the 

 same stage of development at one time, 

 during the early part of the season. 

 Just as sure as you do, there will come 

 a time when the crop will be off in just 

 the same degree. 



If you desire a heavy cut during the 

 winter months, and if the blooms have 

 no real value to you now, then it will 

 pay you to remove the blooming stems 

 as indicated above, but take them all 

 off as they reach a certain stage of 

 development. Keep in mind that it will 

 require about six to eight weeks to de- 

 velop the bloom from the time the bud 

 appears, and be governed accordingly. 



If the blooms can be used to good 

 advantage now, and the plants are 

 well established, showing shoots in 

 every stage of development, then it 

 would be a question in my mind just 

 how far this cutting away of flower 

 stems should be carried on. If you can 

 cut any considerable portion of the 

 blooms so that the breaks from these 

 stubs will start before the youngest 

 shoots reach any considerable height, 

 then not much thinning out need be 

 done. I think there is too much manip- 

 ulating of crops being done, with the 

 idea of hitting the holidays with a 

 heavy cut, regardless of what may be 

 cut during the rest of the season. The 

 result is that during January and Feb- 

 ruary we frequently see a glut of 

 blooms which could have been used 

 to good advantage during late Novem- 

 ber and early December. Just last 

 winter we had a good case in point. 

 Two years ago the rose growers made 

 tho same mistake, with the result that 

 thousands of roses were dumped in the 

 large flower centers at Christmas time, 

 and in February good roses could hard- 

 ly he had in any quantity. 



T'hen, again, you must also consider 

 the varieties somewhat. There is abso- 

 lutely no sense in allowing Beacon to 

 <l<'velop a single bloom until after No- 

 vember 1 or even later. The color 

 is poor and the bloom will not keep. It 

 '** strictly a midwinter variety. Vic- 

 tory ia just the opposite, and needs 

 to he worked the other way. Work for 

 * ''ig plant, thereby getting a large cut 

 ^aily;and another later in the season, 

 allowing Beacon to fill in during mid- 

 ^'iiter. The other varieties you name 

 ^^(' all good during the entire season, 

 *x« opt Mrs. C. W. Ward, which is best 



in the fall and toward spring. The 

 color is inclined to be poor during the 

 dark weather of midwinter. 



Wood ashes are the best and most 

 generally used agent for strengthening 

 the stems. Their use, however, must 

 not be overdone. Too much will make 

 the stems brittle at the joints, which 

 is more annoying than weak stems. 

 After the plants are in the house about 

 three weeks, I consider it a good time 

 to give them a top-dressing of wood 

 ashes. I put a handful to each row, 

 halfway across a 5-foot bed, scratch it 

 in lightly and then water. This sweet- 

 ens the soil, as well as adding the 

 potash. Later on, the condition of the 

 stems will indicate whether more is 

 needed or not. A. F. J. B. 



THE ZETLITZ HOUSES. 



Kolf Zetlitz has a highly prosperous 

 business at his place opposite the ceme- 

 teries at Lima, O. He has up-to-date 

 houses that always are kept in the most 

 perfect order. A general line of bed- 

 ding plants is grown, as is natural in 

 such a location, but more space l£ude- 

 voted to carnations than to any iMner 

 crop. The accompanying illustrations 

 show two of the Zetlitz carnation 

 houses as they appeared September 24. 



WORMS OM CABNATIONS. 



I am enclosing some tops of my car- 

 nations, and wish you to advise me aa 

 to how to treat my plants to get rid 

 of the trouble. I benched them in the 

 second week of September. I have 

 found two worms about half an inch 

 long, but on most of the plants affected 

 I cannot find this trouble-maker. I 

 shall appreciate a prompt reply, as 

 the trouble seems to be increasing. 



A. E. B. 



The little worms, of which you found 

 two specimens, are doing the damage 

 of which you complain. Hand-picking 

 is, of course, the surest way of -de- 

 stroying all those you can get your 

 hands on, but it should be supplemented 

 with some other remedy, such as Slug 

 Shot or hellebore. Use these as di- 

 rected and there should be no trouble 

 in eradicating the pest. A. F. J. B. 



SHAMROCKS FROM SEED. 



Please state in The Eeview the kind 

 of soil and temperature for propagat- 

 ing shamrocks. L. G. 



• Use a mixture of equal parts of leaf - 

 mold and loam, with some fine sand 

 added. Sow in shallow flats, covering 

 the seeds lightly. A temperature of 

 48 to 50 degrees at night is suflB.cient, 

 and later 5 degrees cooler will be bet- 

 ter for the little plants. The present 

 is a good time to sow the seeds. 



C. W. 



DELPHINIUM BELIJU>ONNA. 



How many years will a Belladonna 

 delphinium last without dividing it; 

 in other words, not touching it at all 

 but just letting it grow? . G. F. 



Delphinium Belladonna and other 

 hardy larkspurs will live a good many 

 years without dividing or replanting. 

 They do better, however, if moved 

 every third year to new ground. This 

 keeps them free from disease apd makes 

 them more vigorous. They fike deeply 

 spaded, well enriched ground. 



C. W. 



Charles City, la. — Arthur M. Brisco 

 has nearly completed his new green- 

 houses on Chautauqua avenue. He has 

 stocked the houses and installed the 

 heating system. _ 



Camatloii Houses of Rdf Z(tlitz> Lima* O. 



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