12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



SKPXB.MBKK .'!0, lUO!) 



BASSE TT'S DAHLIA FARM. 



.). Murray liassctt has four dahlia 

 farms iu and about Haiiimonton, N. J., 

 that arc of ospecial interest to flower 

 lovers at this season. Hanimonton, as 

 everyone knows or ought to know, is a 

 growing town in tlio central part of 

 southern New Jersey. One naturally 

 adopts the stanihirds of others better 

 posted and when the railroad conductor 

 called out "Hanimonton and Atlantic 

 City only." the words of a sporting 

 I'hiiadeljiiiian who said there were only 

 two cities in the world, Paris and Atlantic 

 C"it>, lecuncd \i\idiy, suggesting the 



J. M. Bassett's Yellow Seedling Dahlia. . 



thought thai Ihitnmouton had been iu- 

 adsi'iicntly o\erlooked. 



lI;immoutou ii«'\cr apiieared to better 

 aihantage tlian on tiie last yatuiilay 

 aft<Miioon ill Scptemlier. The air was 

 clear and fresli, tiie trees bright green 

 witiiout a trac-e of autumn; the grass and, 

 best of all, the ilahlias, were in splendid 

 condition after tlie rain of the previous 

 day. The season has lieen a har(l one on 

 daidias, the long-continued summer 

 drought being most trying. Fancy, then, 

 the jik'asure exjierieiiced at tiie sight of 

 the liehis in splendid condition. The 

 deep ciilti\atiiig, followed at fie(|uenl iri- 

 ter\als liy further culti\atiuu less and 

 less decji as tiie plants grew, had evitiently 

 conserved moisture in a marked degree. 



The featuit's of especial interest in .Mr. 

 i?asv,.tt 's place are thi'ee seedling dahlias, 

 all ill their second year and all of un 

 usual jiroiiiise. One is a scarlet believed 

 to !)(• superior to l.y ndiiuist , of like color, 

 f re( r in lilooiii, stroiiuer in growth, largei' 

 in dower, when comi)ared to the older 

 vaiiety. Another is an orange yellow, 

 a dahlia of liie ilecoiative type that 

 Khould pio\e lieautitnl in comljinatioii 

 witii autuiiiii foliage. The third is .Mi. 

 UaS'^ett 's especial piide. It is a dcvora 

 ti\e white, ]ar-e and full, wonderfullv 

 free; this \ariety had an immense (|uaii 

 tity of buds oil long, stitf steins. 



|)elic(> w.as etleclive. the clear pillK 

 showing to a<l\antage. Parcifal. too, was 

 seen in good foini. The novelty that at 

 tracts everyone. .Mr. liassett said, is 

 .Master Carl, an orange yellow variety, 

 cactus type. This \;iriety is exception- 

 ally beautiful and seems assured of a 

 bright future. Aiiiotiu tiie singles, Sen- 

 sation. re(| white tijiped, an introduction 

 of L. K. I'eacock. was striking. Hiy I 



Chief anil Cardinal were also effective. 

 There are a number of single seedlings 

 of the Century tyj)e that, while fine, were 

 no improvement, Mr. Bassett said, over 

 existing varieties. ' Sylvia. Nympha'a, 

 I'erle (1 'Or and other good standard kintis 

 are grown in quantity. Aurora, the name 

 describing the color, a cactus variety, 

 very showy, is a favorite of Mr. Has 

 sett's, as also is its counterpart, .lack 

 Kose. 



Mr. Bassett completed a house last 

 winter 14x4U for propagating dahlias, 

 lie also is experimenting with California 

 pi ivet grow n as standards. J*jiil. 



IMPORT STOCK. 



l\al|)li M. Ward & Co. have just re- 

 ceived cable advices from Japan to the 

 elfect that the crop of bulbs of Lilium 

 iongifloruni giganteum is much shorter 

 than was anticijiated and that jirices have 

 advanced from thirty to forty per cent. 

 Large sizes have turned out extremely 

 scarce and full deliveries are not ex 

 pected. Adolphe (ioldenberg, of Ward 

 6c Co., is iu Eurojie and reports a good 

 crop of lily of the valley pips in the 

 Hamburg jiroduciiig center, with tiic 

 jirospect, also, that the stock will be of 

 excellent ((uality. He fonnti azaleas at 

 Client to be short this year, and reports 

 that some varieties cannot be delivered 

 in full. He says prices will no doubt ad- 

 vance next season, for the Ghent district 

 is idosely sold out of growing stock. 



Another of the large importers of Bel- 

 gian jilants states that he has learned 

 from several sources in Belgium that ' 'thi' 

 cold, wet summer there has prevente(| 

 az.-ileas making their usual growth, and 

 for that reason jdants will not be so lili- 

 eral in size, or so well budded, as in for 

 mer seasons. Deliveries now arriving bear 

 out thes(> statements. Palms are as scarce 

 as ever, principally owing to the large de 

 iiiand from tiermany, Kussia, England 

 and France. Azaleas are up in price and 

 will be higher by next fall. Dresden 

 growers have taken over 500,000 plants 

 from Client more than usual this fall. 

 Araucarias are plentiful."' 



LIFTING AND STORING CANNAS. 



Please tell me when 1 should take up 

 my cannas and how and where i should 

 ke<'p them over winter. C. H. 



After the plants have been killed bv 

 frost, cut down the shoots to within six 

 imdies of tiio ground. On a ilry, sunny 

 day dig them up. Shake away a good 

 portion of the soil, but allow some to 

 adhere to the roots. Let the soil and 

 roots be well dried before housing them. 

 Pack them on shelves in a dr}' c(dlar or 

 shed; one wlieie jiotatoes or dahlias will 

 keep will answer \\ell for cannas. Be 

 sure that no moisture reaches them, as 

 this will cause the tubers to decay or 

 start tli(^ jilants into premature growth. 



A greenhouse is hardly a suitable pl.ace 

 to kee[i them in, unless you can give 

 them a position free from drip and wheic 

 lliev will not lie wetted bv the hose. 



W. N. C. 



FAILURE WITH ASPARAGUS. 



J am having bad luck with Asparagus 

 plumosus. 1 have a bed in the green 

 liouse on the ground. First the ground 

 was spaded deeply and was well en- 

 riciied with cfivv manure. Boards were 

 nailed aiijinnl the b<'d about fifteen 

 inches liii;h anil it was then tilled in with 



carnation soil. The soil -was new, be n„ 



left over after filling the benches for > ,(. 



nations. 1 have the rows one foot aj rt 



and eight inches between each plant. ^ 



bed is shaded and is watered every ()■ .^ 



day if it is at all dry on top. It si j., 



up vines four or five feet high, but ; y 



then turn yellow and ilry up, and i,. 



most of the foliage is a light green j 



applied some manure water on some, t 



I think it made the plants look wi ,. 



What shall 1 do to make them a pr^ y 



dark green, and what is the cause of V 

 new growths dying? J. ( 



1 am inclined to think tiiat you h c 

 not proper drainage in your soil. , 



way your shoots turn would seem to , 

 dicate sour soil conditions or inij)eri i 

 drainage, probably both. It is of no . 

 trying to grow this asparagus, unl - 

 you give it thorough drainage conipo-,: 

 of rocks or clinkers from the fnrna 

 i would advise lifting your plants ■.<■,] 

 giving plenty of coarse drainage, so th i 

 water will pass away freely. Then pla > 

 eighteen to twenty-four inches of i i h 

 soil over it, composed of fibrous loam, 

 rotted cow manure, partially decay r,i 

 leaves and sharp sand. The conipc-t 

 should be rather coarse, for if properly 

 made you ought not to rejilant for six ^r 

 eight years. 



Giving manure water will only aggm 

 vate the trouble with your plants. Tin 

 roots are evidently in an unhealthv state 



J. M. Bassett's Scarlet Seedling Dahlia. 



and nothing short of jiroper drainage ai 

 replanting will remedv voiir trouble. 



W. C. 



Po.NTiAC, 111.— W. J. Miller & Son, ;'■ 

 41G Fast Payson street, are gettin. 

 ready to erect three greenhouses, eac. 

 27x100, and a boiler-room, 20x81. The\ 

 will grow roses, carnations and generf> 

 stock, for the wholesale and retail trade 

 They exjiect to be able to fill the house 

 in January, 1910. They will build :• 

 salesroom and a projiagating house nex' 

 s[)ring. The new range will be called the 

 Pavson Street Greenhouses. 



