10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



.Taxuarv 4, 1012. 



BENCHES VS. SOLID BEDS. 



I should like you to state what are 

 the advantages of benches over solid 

 beds. I notice that, throughout the 

 west, benches are used exclusively for 

 roses and carnations, and as benches 

 cost more than beds, both in erection 

 and for repairs, there must be some 

 grounds for the preference. I should 

 like to get information from some of 

 'the leading growers, who have had ex- 

 perience in that line. J. D. 



While some growers of roses and car- 

 nations prefer solid beds and get good 

 results, the majority favor raised 

 benches. The benches, it is pretty 

 generally conceded, have the advantage 

 in the winter months, when flowers sell 

 at their highest prices. The roots are 

 under somewhat better control, as the 

 soil dries out more quickly, this being 

 an advantage in dull, dark and cold 

 weather. It is possible, however, to 

 grow roses for several years in solid 

 beds, and probably the saving of labor 

 in replanting, combined with the fact 

 that the roses continue to give splen- 

 did flowers for a term of years, makes 

 this plan fully as profitable as the 

 raised benches in the long run. Still, 

 we find the majority of growers pre- 

 ferring raised benches for roses. 



In the case of carnations, there are 

 sdme who grow in solid beds and get 

 an excellent pick, even in winter. 

 However, most of the large and suc- 

 cessful specialists in this flower, both 

 east and west, prefer the bench sys- 

 tem. There is an increasing use of 

 cement to take the place of wood in 

 bench construction. For late spring 

 and summer flowering, solid beds are 

 much the best, but for winter bloom- 

 ing the benches have a decided advan- 

 tage. The experience of other Review 

 readers in this connection would be 

 interesting and timely. C. W. 



SINGLE BLOOMS ON MAY DAY. 



Will you please state the reason for 

 May Day carnations coming single and 

 of no value? Last year they did finely, 

 but this year, though the plants are 

 healthy and are making a splendid 

 growth, two-thirds of the buds are com- 

 ing single. I should like to know 

 whether May Day is liable to act in 

 that way, as our other varieties are 

 doing well and show no signs of any- 

 thing being wrong with them. 



G. R. B. 



. The variety under discussion has 

 always been in the habit of producing 

 a greater or less percentage of these 

 single blooms. Those who have been 

 careful to propagate only from plants 

 which threw no single blooms have kept 

 this percentage down to a nominal fig- 

 ure, but if you have paid no attention 

 to this in your propagating, you no 

 doubt have aggravated the matter in 

 that way. I have always found that 



plants which are defective in the way 

 of producing inferior or single blooms 

 usually produce an abundance of 

 growth and lots of cuttings. When 

 taking cuttings, the inexperienced are 

 apt to whack into these plants, think- 

 ing that they are getting a fine lot of 

 stock, when really they are ruining 

 their stock. A. F. J. B. 



BUDS DO NOT OPEN. 



Enclosed you will find a specimen 

 of my carnations. The blooms do not 

 unfold, or, if any do come out, they are 

 sleepy and unsalable. Part of them are 

 on benches and part of them on solid 

 beds, but they all act the same way. 

 What is the matter with them? Please 

 advise me at once, as I fear I shall 

 lose the whole crop. When they first 

 began to bloom, in November, they 

 were fine. J. M. B. 



The specimens were quite badly 

 frozen, but there were some thrips in 

 the blooms, and no doubt they are the 

 cause of your trouble. You will find 

 this subject treated exhaustively in re- 

 cent numbers of The Review. 



A. F. J. B. 



CABNATION RAINBOW. 



The accompanying illustration is re- 

 produced from a recent photograph 

 made at the Wa-no-ka Greenhouses, 

 Barneveld, N. Y. The variety is Rain- 

 \>o\\', on the order of Prosperity. 



A MIXTUBE OF FERTILIZERS. 



Would one part wood ashes, one part 

 bone meal and two parts ground sheep 

 manure be a good mixture to apply to 



carnations? Mine are doing well, but 

 I wish to feed them a little next month. 

 The soil is a clay loam and only a little 

 manure was added to it when the beds 

 were filled. I have never used wood 

 ashes, but am told it will produce stiff 

 stems. . • M. M. 



Do not mix the bone, manure and 

 wood ashes, but apply them separately 

 and at different times. We use no 

 bone on our carnations at all any more, 

 as we were unaWe to see any benefit 

 from the use of it. If your carnations 

 need feeding, you will find the sheep 

 manure an excellent article for that 

 purpose. Sprinkle a good handful on 

 the soil between each row of plants 

 halfway across a 5-foot bench. Repeat 

 this about once in three weeks if the 

 weather conditions are favorable to a 

 healthy, normal growth. If the stems 

 are weak, about the, saj^^ of 



wood ashes, applied about one* in six 

 weeks, will help to strengthen them. 



A. F. J. B. 



SOIL AND THE FLORIST. 



[A paper by Harry F. Good, of Spring- 

 field, O., read before the Springfield Flo- 

 rists' Club, December 11, 1!)11, concluded 

 from The Review for December 28.] 



Soils Known by Their Fruits. 



The fertility and chemical composi- 

 tion of a soil may usually be deter- 

 mined by inspection of its color and 

 texture, but these qualities, as well as 

 the dryness or moisture and the excess 

 or deficiency of silica and alumina, 

 may be more accurately determined 

 by the prevalence of certain species of 

 wild plants and weeds. You will see 

 the thistle and mullein growing where 

 the purslane could not exist. You will 

 find the nettle and wild snapdragon 

 growing in the alluvial soils along our 

 streams, but not in the uplands. There 

 is a reason. Nature has placed these 

 species where they assimilate from the 

 soil the requirements for their growth 

 and support. We seldom see the giant 

 sycamore on the mountain top or the 

 chestnut in the vallev. 



House of Carnation Rainbow. 



