Mav L'ti, IDIO. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



15 



dtictcil I'or tho purpose of solving those 

 ■ liniciiltirs \\liicli meet liiiii from time to 



tiiiii'. 



Kxporimciits in floriculture at Cornell 

 Iliac, by force of circumstances, been 

 iariiciy coulined to field work. This is 

 li(( to lack of i,neenhouse equipment. 

 lm|iiFrtant results luive been obtained in 

 .>iiiicct i<in with the study and fjrouth of 

 ■el 1,1 in of liie im[)ortant florists' crops. 



Peony Studies. 



A> an exam [lie, the speaker cited tlie 

 ■ npcrativc jiediiy study now going on 

 Liiuccn the American Peony Society and 

 :iii Drpartmmt of Horticulture. Tlu; 

 |., iiiy ]ik)ts comprise some 1,200 or 

 :,i-ic varieties of tiiis plant. The study, 

 •iiioii was commenced in 1904, is being 

 -icadily continued and its progress has 

 lira marked liy the publication, first, 



1 a peony check-list containing all names 

 Ilia i-itations of peony varieties; and, 

 -ceMiid, by a bulletin giving the history, 

 :.-iaiiy and classification of varieties, to- 

 uitihi' witii an autiientic description of 

 ,i iniiiiber (if kinds best known to the 

 •i;,.ii. At tlie i)resent time a third pub- 

 :ir:iuiii. is going through the press. This 

 '.ill lie availalile to peony growers in 



V, .ir tlnet; weeks, and it will contain 

 H riiraii; and popular descriptions of over 

 J" ' \arieties which have been studied on 

 ill' ' oruell Experiment Station grounds 

 aii'i oil tlie grounds of two of the more 

 j'l-iiiiiioiit peony specialists of the coun- 

 iry. 



Ill dalilias and chrysanthemums, ex- 

 li;iii^ti\(> stutlics have been made and re- 

 j" i-s juiblished, which the floricultural 

 I'lililir have appreciated. 



Sweet Pea Studies. 



"^ tell years ago, sweet pea studies 



vi i( coiiiiiieiiced at Cornell and as a re- 

 fill; i<\' these two bulletins were puli- 

 i!~!i''l. Last year marked tlie organiza- 

 ■i I of a National Sweet Pea Society, 

 •ii I tile (Jornell Department of Ilorticul- 

 I" was glad to cooperate with this 

 I'ty to llie extent of taking charge of 

 ' - ' rial grounds. At the present time 

 ! '-' grounds contain some COO varieties 

 >w('et peas gathered from the four 

 iiirs of the horticultural world. A 

 I 'High monograjihic study will be made 

 :!iis group of plants, and it is hoped 

 ' a publication of large value will be 

 lable at the close of the season. 



Forcing Plants. 



!i 'he line of indoor work, or work 

 "f ghiss, experiments have been con- 

 ■<:i[ having for their object the dis- 

 • ly of the influence of artificial light 

 tlorists' forced crops and of the in- 

 'ice of etherization. These lines of 

 ' k have been in progress for some 

 's and are being prosecuted further 

 tie present time. In the etherization 

 !»ulbs this year the work commenced 

 the speaker is being continued by 

 fessor Judson, on narcissi, hyacinths, 

 'ips, Spanish iris, lilies, gladioli and 

 y of the valley. In the case of nar- 

 -si the greatest maximum gain of six- 

 • n (lays was secured. With hyacinths, 

 '- greatest gain was four days. With 

 ■ftoen varieties of tulips the greatest 

 -iiin was five days, while with lily of the 

 '■'iloy the greatest gain of etherized over 

 "etherized pips was four days. In addi- 

 ^' 'n to the hastening of the flowering -pe- 

 "'od. a considerable gain in height in 

 therized over unetherized was also se- 

 cured. 

 Pornier experiments with artificial light 



Begonia Incarnata, Sander's Improved Form. 



have shown that ai-elyleiic, which closely 

 ajiproximates in spectrum analysis the 

 rays of the sun, has important \aiues in 

 the forcing of i'ro]is iluring the dark 

 months. Tin; investig.atioiis !ia\t' been 

 suspended, owing to iiisiiilicieiit glass 

 house e(|ui[iment, but will be resumed this 

 year, and tlie Tungsten light will be coni- 

 par(^d with acetylem; for the forcing of 

 crops. 



The speaker cited many other experi- 

 ments which should be conducted liy way 

 of emphasizing tlu^ necessity of investi- 

 gation on behalf of the florists. Among 

 these were fertilizers in the growing of 

 greeiiliouse crops, sjiecial methods in the 

 forcing of flowering shrubs, as, for in- 

 stance, the use of carlioiiii' dioxide gas. 

 methods of sterilizing greenhouse soils, 

 methods of fumigating greenhouses with 

 poisonous gases, the breeding of florists' 

 crops for special purposes, the use and 

 application of flower dyes and the mono- 

 graphic study of important, but little 

 known, groups of plants. These lines 

 would be inaugurated as soon as war- 

 ranted by the extension of present glass 

 house equipment. 



Professor Craig pointed out that all 

 bulletins of the Experiment Station at 

 Cornell, whether bearing upon horticul- 

 tural matters or other studies, were free 

 and available to New York florists and 

 usually to florists of any part of the 

 country. 



BEGONIA INCARNATA. 



Begonia incarnata is an old and val- 

 uable winter-fiowering plant. The vari- 

 ety grandiflora, known also as Sander's 

 improved incarnata, has flowers double 

 the size of the older form and is a better 

 thing in every respect. When first shown 

 before the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, the improved variety was award- 

 ed a well deserved first-class certificate. 

 It was r;iised bv diaries Sander, for 



many y(\ars in charge of I'rot'. < '. S. Sar- 

 gent's beautiful estate at lloliu T.ea, 

 IJrookliiie, Mass., and iiue of tlie most 

 skilful .ill round LiardencM's we have in 

 America. .Mr. Sander is |)art icularly suc- 

 ces-^fnl in the raising, by various meth- 

 i"|>. Ill' plants generally regarded as difli- 

 ■ iili subjects. 



11. incarnata comes in >easiiii a little 

 latiT than I!, illoire de l.niTaine and is 

 iioi at its la'st until January and Feb- 

 iiiaiy. It is oi' inucli niiir<' \igorou3 

 habit than Gloire de Lorraine and of 

 conipaiati\('ly easy propagation. I'lants 

 done Moomiiig. if headeil back, will soon 

 ;^i\e an abundant sujjply of succulent 

 slinnt^. which .are easily rooted, and, if 

 taken in April or .M;iy, will make nice 

 plants ill ."> inch or (i-inch pots the fol- 

 lowing winter. Old jilants, cut back, can 

 also be planted luitdoors in rich soil 

 about the end ol" May and lift(>d about 

 the middle of September. A cool house 

 grows this begonia best, 4S to ."iU degrees 

 ;il iiieht being suflicient. For compost, 

 soil which will grow good mums or car- 

 nations suits this begonia. 



As a house plant B. incarnata is far 

 |ireferable to B. Gloire de Lorraine, hold- 

 ing its flowers much longer. Personally, 

 1 consider it mu(di the most useful bego- 

 nia on a private estate, and have often 

 wondered why one with such sterling 

 merits has so far been practically ignored 

 commercially. 



The illustration shows one plant of a 

 large batch of this begonia grown by 

 Daniel Whyte, head gardener to Win- 

 throp Ames, of North Easton, Mass., 

 who is a successful grower of fibrous- 

 rooted begonias in general. 



W. N. CR.UG. 



New Orleans, La. — Hermann Ross- 

 bach, at Kil.l Ferrier street, has been 

 ill for about five months, but is now 

 reco\(>ring. 



