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FEBRUARY 16, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



18 



you use steam, paint some on the flow 

 pipe. Eamblers that were pot-grown 

 through the summer will need feeding 

 a! once, while those potted up in the 

 f.'tU can wait a little longer. Be sure 

 tlie roots are kept moist, and only spray 

 o\er on clear mornings when you are 

 tolerably sure the plants will be dry 

 Ix'fore nightfall. 



Hybrid Perpetual Roses. 



Hybrid perpetuals are always better 

 if started cool. There is not the call 

 tor them that once existed at Easter, 

 )iut such varieties as Frau Karl 

 Druschki, Brunner, Mme. G. Luizet and 

 rods like the old Jacqueminot sell well. 

 These will be on time if given a house 

 Huch as the ramblers have. Boses of 

 tlie Baby Eambler type and Clothilde 

 Soupert, if just breaking away, will 

 ilower for Easter. Their treatment 

 should be the same as that of the climb- 

 ing ramblers. 



Dutch Bulbs. 



Many inquiries come to hand at this 

 season asking when to place Dutch 

 bulbs in heat to flower them at Easter. 

 It is virtually impossible to give any 

 precise answer, owing to the (extreme 

 variations in temperature which may 

 be experienced after they are housed, 

 in some cases a month may be needed, 

 in the case of tulips and trumpet nar- 

 cissi three weeks should suf&ce, in a 

 temperature of 50 degrees at night. 

 Some growers keep their plants in cold- 

 frames, and in this way the nicest, 

 stockiest plants can be had. If per- 

 chance we get a cold March, it may be 

 necessary to place some of the bulbs 

 in heat to have them in on time. It is 

 an easy matter to keep them back for a 

 few days on the floor of a cool cellar. 



After this time tulips, hyacinths and 

 narcissi will be sufficiently well 

 sprouted and will give stems of ample 

 length if placed on the benches in full 

 light at once. A batch should be 

 started at least once a week, in order 

 to keep up a continuous supply. The 

 severe weather experienced so far in 

 1912 has made difficult and disagreeable 

 work for those who continue to keep 

 their bulb stock in pans and flats out- 

 •loors, for, no matter how well it may 

 be protected, it takes considerable time 

 and much patience to get a fresh batch 

 in each time it is wanted. If the same 

 bulbs were stored in a cool cellar they 

 could be examined any time, and 

 no one will claim that bulbs thus stored 

 are not fully as good as those buried 

 outdoors. 



Show Pelargoniums. 



IN 



The show pelargoniums are now 

 making quite rapid growth. All should 

 now be in the pots in which they are 

 to flower. Pinching of the leading 

 shoots should now be discontinued. For 

 an early Easter it is hardly possible 

 to have these pelargoniums in good 

 bloom. They are usually at their best 

 during May and early June, although 

 some will flower in April. Grow them 

 cool; it is useless to try to hurry them 

 in a warm house. It will only mean 

 Weakened plants and more green aphis 

 on them. When well rooted, feed freely. 

 Such manures as Clay's fertilizer and 

 Bon Arbor, alternated, are excellent. 

 Fine bone also makes a useful medium 

 for surface dressing. Either fumigate 

 "OT spray once a .week and your plants 

 are sure to be clean. 



D. Fuerstenber;. 



Deutzias. 



If the deutzias have been pot-grown 

 they will flower in six weeks in an 

 average night temperature of 60 de- 

 grees. If they were dug up and potted 

 late in the fall they will neither break 

 so freely nor flower so well. These and 

 such shrubs as Spiraja Van Houttei, 

 pyrus, prunus, forsythias, etc., need not 

 be started yet for Easter. Some of these 

 shrubs come into bloom quickly, notably 

 the forsythias and prunus, and a month 

 before Easter is sufficiently early to 

 start them. 



Schizanthus. 



A last sowing of schizanthus should 

 now be made. Do not place the seed 

 in a warm house. It soon germinates, 

 and if not kept all the time near the 

 light will soon become drawn. It wants 

 to be grown quite cool all the time and 

 always without shade. Plants of 

 earlier batches are better if pinched to 

 keep them shapely. Of course, S. Wise- 

 tonensis is naturally a dwarf grower, 

 but even this can be improved by judi- 

 cious pinching. When well rooted they 

 appreciate copious waterings, and liquid 

 manure and a chemical top-dressing 

 should be alternated every three or 

 four days. The cooler the schizanthus 

 is grown and the nearer the light, the 

 stockier will it be. If grown cold, few 

 stakes are needed. If grown too warm 

 it needs considerable staking to keep it 

 erect. 



Lamed, Kan. — The Lamed Green- 

 houses are conducted by Joel Smith, 

 florist, and Louisa Smith, designer. 

 Another greenhouse, 30 x 130, is being 

 built and will be used for a crop of 

 vegetables this spring, to be followed 

 by mums and carnations next season, 

 for the demand grows steadily. 



NEW IDEAS IN PRODUCTION. 



The Florex Gardens, of North Wales, 

 Pa., represent to the entire floral world 

 new ideas in construction. Their mon- 

 ster house has been read about, won- 

 dered at, and visited by florists all over 

 the land, even by visitors from abroad. 

 The keynote of their idea, that the 

 wide, flat house affords the greatest 

 economy in construction, as demon- 

 strated by the monster house that suc- 

 ceeded a slightly less monstrous house 

 in four years, is known everywhere. 

 Its height, length, width, every detail 

 of construction is familiar to all well 

 informed florists; they have wondered 

 much, trembled a little; for these mon- 

 ster houses might reasonably be ex- 

 pected to distance them in economy of 

 production. Gradually they have be- 

 come accustomed to the existence of 

 such houses. While interest is still 

 keen, fear has vanished, just as the 

 small craft float happily on the ocean 

 beside the sister leviathan. 



The new ideas in production that are 

 being tried at North Wales are not gen- 

 erally known. No one, not even the 

 active brains that control the destinies 

 of the Florex Gardens, has attempted 

 to give these ideas in detail. They are 

 so interesting and so clearly defined 

 that I shall attempt to describe them 

 as they exist today, merely prefacing 

 my description, by saying that these 

 ideas are the result of years of experi- 

 ment at Edgely in addition to the few 

 years that have elapsed since the com- 

 mencement of the great place at North 

 Wales. 



The first idea governing production 

 at Nprth Wales is, "A flower for the 

 million." This idea is clearly shown 

 in the methods employed in the growing 

 of roses, carnations, sweet peas and 



