May 19, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



19 



about eight inches by ten. In the case of 

 Mile. Desjouis, Yellow Ivory or small 

 loafed varieties of that description, one 

 <'an set the plants quite a little closer 

 with safety. I am well aware that some 

 .rrowers plant a great deal closer than 

 niis with fairly satisfactory results, but 

 our aim is to have the finest flowers ob- 

 tainable, as we have discovered that the 

 market in New York will pay the price 

 for the flowers that are away above the 

 Miarket grade. 



If a man is in a small town, where tne 

 retail price is from $2 to $5 per dozen, 

 lie will naturally plant closer and en- 

 deavor to make his income by a larger 

 quantity of flowers to cut. Anyone who 

 purposes to grow flowers for exhibition 

 will find that it is absolutely imperative 

 to give the plants sufficient room so that 

 every flower develops perfectly in its own 

 space. 



While it would not do for every florist 

 to grow only just the best flowers, still 

 I have often thought that, if the grade 

 were twice as good and the number re- 

 duced one-half, there would probably be 

 a much better price prevailing in the fall 

 for mums than there has been for the 

 last two years. 



Early Sorts Most Profitable. 



It is a question with many sometimes 

 whether to concentrate on the early flow- 

 ering varieties or to have more of the 

 later varieties. It will be found, five sea- 

 sons out of six, that the early varieties 

 are more profitable to grow. 



When we get the early fall frosts, nip- 

 ping everything outside, during the -last 

 of September, the demand for early flow- 

 ers is immediate and profitable. If the 

 weather continues warm, however, early 

 varieties do not sell so well, but under 

 average conditions the man who has a 

 first-class lot of flowers to sell around 

 the first of October can almost always 

 make a profit on them. It is, of course, 

 possible to get some varieties in from 

 the middle of August to the first of Sep- 

 tember, but I have always argued that 

 there is a time and place for everything 

 and the time for the mums does not 

 seem right until the frosty nights and 

 clear, cold, crispy days remind us that 

 the summer has really ended. 



Late varieties, in some localities, pay 

 pretty well, but in most of the eastern 

 markets people do not want to see mums 

 after Thanksgiving. • 



Midseason varieties pay least of any, 

 because they are in during the glut and 

 unless of superior quality often get sac- 

 rificed. 



The far-seeing grower is he who 

 studies out this question before planting 

 time. It is of little use regretting next 

 October, when a little foresight before 

 planting time will make considerable dif- 

 ference in the returns per square foot of 

 bench surface. 



Chas. H. Totty. 



SOME GOOD VARIETIES. 



Kindly name some good mums in 

 white, pink and yellow. I should also 

 like to know which is the best size to buy 

 for planting directly into a bed — rooted 

 cuttings or larger sizes. I am located in 

 Indiana. L. E. 



I would suggest the following: White 

 — Byron, Beatrice May, Desjouis, Taft, 

 Lynnwood Hall, Chadwick. Pink — Pa- 

 ci^c, Brock, Hopetoun, W. Duckham, 

 Winter Cheer, M. Hankey. Yellow — Yel- 

 low Miller, Golden Glow, Monrovia, S. A. 



Golden Glow Mams Photographed May 7, 1910. 



Naceur Bey, Appleton, Cheltoni, F, S. 

 ValUs. 



While there are many varieties to select 

 from, the foregoing will give you a good 

 .selection, in early, nudseason and late. 

 They are all easy doers and seem to give 

 good satisfaction through the country 

 generally. 



As to which is the right size to buy 

 for planting for the best results, there is, 

 to my mind, nothing like a good plant in 

 a 2^ -inch pot. If finances play an im- 

 portant part in the operation, rooted cut- 

 tings may be procured, but I do not call 

 it the best policy to buy rooted cuttings 

 if they have to be shipped any distance. 



C. H. T. 



MUMS AT ALMOST ALL SEASONS. 



Perhaps the majority of florists are not 

 fully aware of the possibilities that exist 

 in the Golden Glow chrysanthemum as a 

 flower for nearly all seasons of the year, 

 available for about all of the great holi- 

 days and church festivals when flowers 

 are especially in demand. A correspond- 

 ent of the Review stated, in the issue of 

 May 12, that he had just seen some ship- 

 ments of well flowered pots of Golden 

 Glow mums. The flowers, he said, were 

 fully equal to those usually produced in 

 October. He added that he "had seen 

 this variety in bloom for Labor day, 

 Thanksgiving and Christmas, and, with 

 the addition of Memorial day, only Easter 

 is lacking to complete the cycle of floral 

 festivals. ' ' 



E. Leroy Johnson, of Palmer, Mass., 

 writing at almost the same date as the 

 correspondent quoted from, unconsciously 

 verifies the foregoing statements, and 

 even supplements them, for he says it is 

 possible, also, to have Golden Glow mums 

 for Easter. A sample of Mr. Johnson's 

 blooms is shown in the illustration here 

 reproduced. The mums, he says, were 

 planted last winter and the first blooms 

 were cut April 23. With reference to 



the methods used in growing them, he 

 says: 



' ' I took the cuttings October 22, 1909, 

 and put them in 214-inch pots November 

 9. They wore placed in the bench about 

 January 1 and run in a cool house, with 

 mum stock plants and the like. In fact, 

 the temperature one night went down to 

 28 degrees. They did not make much 

 growth, except at the roots, until the 

 latter part of February. Then they grew 

 like weeds. They were grown one bloom 

 to a plant and were fed with liquid cow 

 manure from the time the buds showed 

 until tftey showed color. They were 

 grown as an experiment, so only 100 

 were planted. 



"By growing them a little warmer, 

 say at a carnation temperature, they 

 could be had for Easter in most years. 

 Also, they could be grown on into 3-incb 

 pots before benching, thus saving room." 



YELLOW PETUNIA FOLIAGE. 



I should like to know what makes the 

 leaves on my double petunias turn yellow 

 and die at the bottom, near the pot. 

 Some are all yellow and some not at all. 

 I cannot see any insects on them. 



C. P. M. 



Too dry root conditions, or lack of 

 food, may be the cause of the leaves 

 turning yellow. Give an abundance of 

 water and if the pots are well filled with 

 roots, give liquid manure once in four or 

 five days. A teaspoonful of nitrate of 

 soda in three gallons of water, given on 

 two occasions a week apart, mil tone 

 them up. Petunias want plenty of water 

 and quickly take on a yellow hue if 

 starved at the roots. C. W. 



Richmond, Ind. — Fred H. Lemon & Co. 

 have shown that they are wide-awake and 

 hot after business, by running a two-col- 

 umn advertisement of bedding plants in a 

 local daUy paper. 



