AUGUST 4, 1910. 



The Weekly Fbrists^ Review* 



THE WINTER BLOOMEBS. 



It is now time to make a first sow- 

 ■ng of sweet peas for flowering from 

 the end of October onwards. Sweet 

 peas require a soil well enriched, cow 

 manure being an excellent medium to 

 add to the soil. If this is unprocurable, 

 well rotted horse oi sheep manure will 

 answer well. They can be grown in 

 either benches or on the giound in solid 

 beds. While they will flower well in 

 midwinter on benches, they will do 

 much better on the ground. Further- 

 more, the latter system allows of much 

 more head room, something necessary 

 in sweet pea culture under glass. No 

 sweet peas should have less than six 

 feet of clear head room and eight feet 

 is better. They will grow eight to 

 twelve feet high, if given good soil, a 

 suitable house and the right kind of 

 treatment. The ideal sweet pea house 

 should be thirty to forty feet wide, 

 quite lofty and of any desired length. 

 Those used by William Sim, of Clifton- 

 dale, Mass., who is probably the largest 

 and most successful grower of these 

 under glass, are 300 to 500 feet long 

 and thirty to forty feet wide, the rows 

 being run the long way of the houses, 

 five to six feet apart. 



A common error is to sow the seeds 

 too thickly and not thin out the plants. 

 The best plan is to sow in either small 

 pots or flats, transplanting these to the 

 rows when about three inches in height 

 and allowing four to six inches between 

 each plant. This is quite close enough, 

 as the plants will branch out and throw 

 stronger haulm and carry much finer 

 flower stalks than is possible when they 

 are sown thickly. Try both plans and 

 be satisfied as to which is the best. 



If sweet peas are grown directly in 

 the ground, there is no necessity for 

 changing the soil, as in the case of 

 raised benches, provided the soil is of 

 a generous depth and has good drain- 

 age. Each season it must be heavily 

 manured and plowed or spaded. The 

 latter plan is slower, but it insures the 

 manure being placed sufficiently deep 

 80 that the roots can readily strike 

 into it. 



Suitable varieties of sweet peas for 

 winter flowering are: Christmas Pink 

 and Earliest of All, pink and white; 

 Christmas White, Florence Denzer and 

 Watchung, pure white; Mrs. George 

 Lewis, waved white; Mrs. E. Wild, car- 

 mine; Mrs. William Sim, salmon pink. 

 As a general rule, the pure white and 

 pink and white varieties sell the best. 

 Do not make the mistake of sowing the 

 Spencer varieties now. These are not 

 suitable for winter forcing, although 

 they do splendidly for a late spring or 

 early summer crop. The kinds which 

 are popular outdoors should not be 

 sown now. 



OUTDOOR SWEET PEAS. 



Now that the aster season has ar- 

 rived, we can the better afford to dis- 

 pense with sweet peas, but many cus- 

 tomers will want them as long as pos- 

 sible. Besides, they have an odor 

 unequaled by any other annuals. The 

 summer has been a hot and trying one 

 on these plants, but if they have had 

 some water and mulching and have .the 

 roots in deep, rich soil, they should 

 flower well for some time yet. The 

 seed pods must be carefully removed, 

 and it is well to pull out any dead or 

 dying plants. Avoid, if possible, pick- 

 ing the flowers while damp. They will 

 spot quickly when placed in a cold 

 room, especially if they were warm 



when placed in water. Do not allow 

 the water to reach the flowers at any 

 time. Also avoid making large 

 bunches of flowers tightly placed 

 together. These, also, will spot and de- 

 cay quickly. 



CHINESE PRIMROSES. 



What is the cause of Chinese prim- 

 rose stems tapering near the leaf and 

 finally breaking off, when the plants 

 in other respects look healthy f 



C. G. J. 



You are undoubtedly growing your 

 plants too far from the light, or too 

 crowded; perhaps both, to allow the 

 leaves to become as weak as they ap- 

 parently are. The best place for them 

 for the next two months will be a 

 coldframe. Stand the pots on a bed of 

 coal ashes. Tilt the sashes top and 

 bottom. Shade during sunshine with 

 cloth or lath shadings. The latter are 

 the best. Remove sashes altogether in 

 the evening unless heavy rain seems im- 

 minent. This treatment will result in 

 the plants becoming stocky. They 

 should be spaced \apart once a fort- 

 night, and at that^iaie scratch over 

 the surafec soil. Bemove weeds and 

 dead leaves. Spray the plants over two 

 or three times a day, when the weather 

 it hot and sunny. C. W. 



DBT FOLIAOS AND BUST. 



My chrysanthemums seem to be firm- 

 ing up; that is, the bottom leaves are 

 turning brown and drying away, well 

 up into some of the plants. These have 

 had the best of attention. Can you 

 kindly furnish me with a remedy for 

 this disease f 



A remedy for the mst on chrysan- 

 themums would also be highly appre- 

 ciated. G. J. W. 



If the plants have made good growth 

 and are now three feet or so high, it ^s 

 nothing unusual for the bottom leaves 

 to turn brown and dry up, particularly 

 if the plants are getting hard and 

 showing bark on the stem where the 

 leaves dry up. Tou state that these 

 plants have had the best of attention; 

 therefore it would seem to me simply 

 to be a natural ripening of the wood, 

 rather than a disease. 



If they have only been recently 

 planted and the leaves are turning 

 brown, it might be due to one of the 

 fungoid diseases which attack chrysan- 

 themums, and for which the following is 

 an excellent remedy, as well as the best 

 thing I know of for rust: Sulphide of 

 potassium, used in the proportion of one 

 ounce to two gallons of water. This 

 is also an excellent preventive of mil- 

 dew where it is prevalent. 



If G. J. W. cares to write more def- 

 initely regarding the plants, stating 

 the time they were planted, the way 

 they have been treated, etc., I shall be 

 pleased to. answer more fully. 



Chas. H. Totty. 



WHEN TO TAKE BUDS. 



Please tell me when buds should be 

 taken from the following mums: Ap- 

 pleton, October Sunshine, Polly Rose, 

 Dr. Enguehard, Glory of Pacific, Vir- 

 ginia Poehlmann and Jeanne Nonin. 



J. T. L. 



In answer to this query, I will give 

 the approximate time after which it ii 

 safe to take buds on all these varieties. 

 This does not mean that they will not 

 come on buds taken earlier, but experi- 

 ence has shown in our section that the 

 buds taken as soon as possible after 

 the time mentioned give the best re- 

 sults. In the case of Enguehard and 

 Nonin, it is assumed that they have 

 been planted for very late work and the 

 time has been given accordingly. 



The dates are as follows: October 

 Frost, August 10; Golden Appleton, 

 September 1; Polly Rose, August 20; 

 Glory of Pacific, August 20; Virginia 

 Poehlmann, August 20; Enguehard and 

 Nonin, September 15, or later if the 

 plants are not throwing buds at that 

 time. Chas. H. Totty. 



TOO LATE TO PROPAGATE. 



Please let me know if it is too late 

 to propagate Coombs and Diana mums 

 for pots, as I have a lot of good cut- 

 tings. G. H. B. 



It is too late to propagate and ex- 

 pect profitable results; stock wanted 

 for flowering in November should by 

 now be sturdy young plants about ready 

 for a shift. 



