12 



ThcWcckly Florists' Review* 



January 4, 1912. 



As to the alkaloids of plants, some of 

 them are poisonous and others are val-> 

 uable medicines. All of them are bases; 

 that is, they unite with acids to form 

 salts and in many cases they are used 

 medicinally. All alkaloids contain car- 

 bon, ^nitrogen and hydrogen, and usu- 

 ally bxygen. Some of the most impor- 

 tant are theine of coflfee and tea, nico- 

 tine of tobacco, morphine from opium 

 and quinine from Peruvian bark, as 

 well as strychnine, atropine, cocaine 

 and others. 



POINSETTIAS IN KENTUCKY. 



Poinsettias appear to have done extia 

 well everywhere this season, but no 

 one has had better success with them 

 than came to reward the efforts of 

 Miss Fannie D. White, whose house, at 

 Lexington, Ky., is shown ift the accom- 

 panying illustration. The photograph 

 was made a week before Christmas. 

 Within seven days the entire 1,500 

 plants were sold without satisfying the 

 demand. 



>^?l.^^^'♦^<♦^<*^<^^W^^^^W^;^^*;fe»>^tfe♦>*fe♦>*fa;g? 



^^C^LXBLX^ 



SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS | 



!<^.v^v^^.<^^.;<^<#^t*^<*^WV<.W¥>.{»¥».;»%.<»%.w^<<^<<^<»^«#?>:; 



5 



Caimas and Dahlias. 



Of course, it is much too early to 

 start either cannas or dahlias, unless 

 some of the latter are wanted for a 

 spring crop. As to whether they are 

 a paying crop, there seems to be some 

 doubt. Their culture under glass is 

 probably not yet properly understood, 

 but those who have tried a house or 

 two of them say that they do not make 

 them any money. There are good rea- 

 sons for hoping, however, that indoor 

 dahlia culture may in the near future 

 be carried out on a considerable scale. 

 Look over the dahlia tubers wherever 

 they are stored. This should be done 

 every week or ten days. Remove any 

 decaying tubers, as decay spreads rap- 

 idly. In mild weather give abundance 

 of air. This, with a dry atmosphere 

 without the necessity of applying fire 

 heat, should keep the tubers in good 

 condition. Look over the canna roots 

 and cut away any decaying portions. 

 Sometimes these are stored below green- 

 house benches, but this is no fit place 

 for them, as they are bound to get 

 more or less drip, and this, added to 

 the humid atmosphere, will start pre- 

 mature growth. 



Greenhouse Tubers. 



Gloxinias, tuberous begonias, achim- 

 enes, gesneras, tydeeas and fancy cala- 

 diums will all now be at rest. During 

 stormy weather, when other work is 

 not pressing, is a suitable time to shake 

 them out of the pots and pans and store 

 them in boxes or flats until wanted for 

 forcing. Keep the caladiums warm; 60 

 degrees at night is not too much. The 

 other roots named will keep better in a 

 temperature 10 degrees lower. To pre- 

 vent shriveling or dry rot in the be- 

 gonias and gloxinias, pack them in 

 cocoanut fiber or dry sand. In order 

 to secure an early batch of gloxinias, 

 start some of the tubers now in flats of 

 sand and leaf-mold in a warm, moist 

 house. Do not water much until growth 

 starts, and even then it is better to err 

 on the dry side. Pot up before the 

 growths are too strong. 



Canterbury Bells. 



To have Canterbury bells, as Campa- 

 nula medium is commonly called, in 

 flower at Easter, plants which were pot- 

 ted last fall should now be given a 

 light, sunny bench in a temperature of 

 50 degrees at night. They dislike a 



close atmosphere and like lots of fresh 

 air. If forced hard, their growth will 

 be weak and attenuated. When well 

 grown they are * beautiful objects Snd 

 sell on sight. The single pink and 

 white are the best varieties for com- 

 mercial purposes. The calycantheum or 

 hose-in-hose variety is also popular, 

 but the doubles are much too heavy. 



Dlmorphotheca Aurantiaca. 



The South African plant, Dlmorpho- 

 theca aurantiaca, flowers under glass 

 in a shorter time than any other annual 

 I know of. It is of a lovely deep orange 

 color and is in demand at the best class 

 of stores. This season a variety of 

 hybrid forms are offered, including 

 many new colors. These are said to 

 be the finest novelties of the year, and 

 are well worth giving a trial. Probably 

 Arctotis grandis has teen used for in- 

 tercrossing them. 



Candytuft. 



No crop at Memorial day pays more 



per square foot of space than well- 

 grown candytuft. To have it of first- 

 class quality, the seed must be sown be- 

 fore February 1 in small pots. Sow sev- 

 eral seeds in a 3-inch pot and thin out 

 to three seedlings. Grow in a cold 

 house; 40 degrees at night is sufficiently 

 high; and plant out in beds or benches 

 before the pots t>ecome matted with 

 roots. The cooler the candytuft can be 

 grown in the earlier stages, the better 

 in quality will it be. Purchase the 

 finest strains procurable, and the money 

 will be well invested. 



Shamrocks. 



It is now too late to sow shamrock 

 seed and have salable plants March 17 

 next. The seedlings should now be 

 large enough to transplant into flats. 

 Give them a cool house; 40 to 42 de- 

 grees at night is sufficiently high; and 

 use a rather sandy loam for them. Avoid 

 spraying overhead and cold drafts, as 

 either of these would help to cause 

 mildew, and when once the plants get 

 badly attacked with this they are of 

 little further value. 



THE EIGHT DOSE OF CYANIDK 



Some weeks ago you were kind 

 enough to send us a copy of a formula 

 for fumigating with cyanide and sul- 

 phuric acid. We have made a number 

 of tests according to the formula and 

 prescription, but we find the result is 

 not satisfactory. With one fumigation, 

 it does not even kill the green aphis, 

 and as for ants, wood lice and such 

 other insects, they seem to grow fat on 

 it. We have repeated the dose and 

 made it a trifle stronger than the pre- 

 scription, and it killed the aphis but 

 did not touch the ants, mealy bug or 

 wood lice. We tried it in the gardenia 

 and orchid houses. Can you give us 

 any information as to why it does not 

 kill the other insects! We understood 

 that it would kill everything that wasr 

 breathing, or that was alive. S. & S. 



One-half ounce of cyanide, ninety- 

 eight per cent pure, per 2,000 cubic feet 



House of Poinsettias at Miss Fannie D. Wliite's, Leziogtoo, Ky. 



1 1 t, Tito I ^ "^i > AmM !■ 1 1 



