

'■• f c • 



40 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



November 16, 1911. 



PROPAGATING. 



The Necessary Preparations. 



While it is yet too early to propagate 

 your next season's general stock of car- 

 nations, yet it is not too early to give 

 the matter some attention. A few 

 things yon will be sure to need, and if 

 you propose to have as good results as 

 can be had, you should not wait until 

 the tiiiio for putting in the cuttings is 

 light iijiim you. 



You will need a cutting bench if you 

 do not possess a propagating house. 

 Many of us do not possess such a house, 

 and r doubt seriously whether we are 

 not just .IS Avell off as those who do. I 

 have always considered these specially 

 built propagating houses as a good deal 

 of a Joke. Those who own them do not 

 have ;:reater success in propagating 

 than many who use just a good, clean 

 bench or house. The joke is that they 

 :ire usually built small and are unfit 

 to grow much in except small stock, 

 and wh»'n, for one reason or another, 

 the grower decides to propagate in one 

 of the larger houses, the small one is 

 unfit to use for the crop which for- 

 merl}' grew where proi)agating.is to be 

 done. 



The Bench and Its Location. 



So, if you do not pos.sess a ])ropa- 

 gating house, do not ilespair. Select 

 a bench — a raised one, of course — where 

 you can easily keep off the sunlight and 

 where you can control the drafts. This 

 is usually more easily done on side 

 benches, iis they are farther away from 

 the ventilators. There should be one 

 or two heating pipes under the bench, 

 to keep the sand warmer than it would 

 likely bo at times without bottom heat. 

 This"^ should not be overdone, however, 

 iis too much bottom heat will cause the 

 cuttings to come out of the sand soft. 



There are many different opinions as 

 to what kind of bench construction 

 gives the best results. We have seen 

 many styles in use and have seen both 

 successes and failures in each style of 

 construction. 8o you "pay your money 

 and take your choice." The style of 

 propagating bench which appcails most 

 to me is a clean wooden bench, with 

 enough cracks to allow free drainage. 

 We ]dace in the bottom two inches of 

 cinders and on top of these three inches 

 of sand. The cinders will allow warmth 

 to pass through into the sand above 

 and they will drain away all the excess 

 water which may have boon put on the 

 cuttings. 



Building the Bench. 



We build our benches as follows: 

 Along the front edge and along the 

 rear we place a stringer, which will 

 rest on legs. When these are properly 

 set up and braced, so they will stand 

 up, we are ready for the bottom boards. 

 These are sawed into the proper lengths 

 to reach across the bench. Thus, when 

 a board becomes weak, it can be re- 

 placed without ripping up a long 

 stretch of the bench, which is often im- 

 possible. We use pecky cypress, of 

 course, whenever we use wood, but you 

 can use second-hand pipe to good ad- 

 vantage for the stringers. 



Many concrete benches are being 

 built nowadaj's. They are perhaps just 



The Editor is pleased 

 'When a Reader 

 presents his ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



As experience is the best 

 teacher, so do w^e 

 learn fastest by an 

 exchanee of experiences. 

 Many valuable points 

 arebrousht out 

 by discussion. 



Good penmanfhip, spelling and 

 ■ Krainmar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 wlieu doing your liest. 



WE SHAIX BE GLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU 



as good for propagating as any, but I 

 feel sure that they are not any better. 

 The point I wish to make is, that no 

 particular style of bench will bring you 

 success in propagating unless you give 

 the cuttings proper attention, and that 

 if you do give this proper care you will 

 have success on any style of bench, as 

 long as you have complete control over 

 light, heat, water and air currents. 



If you have another crop now grow- 

 ing on the bench w"hcre you purpose to 

 propagate, be sure that you cleanse and 



sweeten the bench well before puttimg 

 in the sand. Let the boards dry out 

 well first, and then apply a heavy ooat 

 of hot lime wash, allowing it to dry, 

 too, before filling in the sand. This will 

 kill any fungi which might be hanging 

 around the sides or bottom. 



A. JL-'. J. Baur. 



TBOUBLE WITH HABD STEMS. 



I am having trouble with one house 

 of three varieties of Enchantress carna- 

 tions. I am cutting good blooms and 

 in looking over the benches from a dis- 

 tance one would think they were per- 

 fect, but on looking closer one sees 

 rather high on the plants a place about 

 one-half an inch long getting hard and 

 woody, through which no nourishment 

 can pass. The shoot above the diseased 

 part dries up, while the lower part of 

 the plant is trying to thrive. I might 

 say I had trouble in getting them to 

 take hold when first planted and had to 

 pick off a good many dead leaves where 

 the disease is now showing. 



This is my first fall-down with carna- 

 tions. I have always followed The Re- 

 view 's cultural directions closely, ex- 

 cept that, believing my soil to be in- 

 clined to be sour, 1 had put on a little 

 too much air-slaked lime before they 

 were sufficiently established. How can 

 I check the disease and what is best to 

 keep it from spreading to another house 

 of healthy carnations? Any informa- 

 tion as to the cause or how to check its 

 spread will be greatly appreciated. 



J. C, Jr. 



The hardening and drying of the 

 stems of your carnations is not caused 

 by any of the ordinary carnation dis- 

 eases, but through improper culture, if 

 my theory is correct. I have figured it 

 out about as follows: You will be able 

 to tell whether my theory fits your case 

 or not. 



In the first place, the cuttings were 

 made from blooming shoots, some of 

 which were rather too long. Then, when 

 they were potted up, they quickly ran 

 up to bud. They were allowed to run 

 up to bud and become a little stunted 

 and hard before they were topped. Per- 

 haps they lost some of the lower leaves. 

 Then, when they broke, there Was 

 a hard stem between each shoot which 

 never swelled as it should. This same 

 condition may have occurred before the 

 second topping instead of the first and 

 would have acted the same way. Then, 

 when you stripped the foliage off the 

 stems, the rotting began, on account of 



