12 



TheWcckly Florists' Review. 



September 1, 1910. 



AN AVERAGE CROP. 



How many blooms per season would 

 be considered an average crop from the 

 following carnations: Enchantress. 

 Lawson, Lady Bountiful, Harlowarden.- 

 M. A. Patten, Queen Louine and Vic- 

 tory? L. M. B. 



If you get your carnations all into 

 crop tolerably early, there will not be 

 a great deal of difference in the number 

 of blooms you will get per plant from 

 each variety. They will likely run 

 about as follows, in point of produc- 

 tion: Queen, Mrs. Lawson, Harlowar- 

 den, Lady Bountiful, Enchantress, Mrs. 

 M. A. Patten, Victory. An average cut 

 from Queen would be in the neighbor- 

 hood of twenty blooms per plant, while 

 that from Victory would run some- 

 where around fourteen, with the other 

 sorts strung along between those two 

 figures. Your cut may vary some from 

 these figures, according to the quality 

 of your treatment and the adaptability 

 of the variety to your climate, etc, 



I want to caution you here against 

 being led astray by some of those Baron 

 Munchausen stories which have been 

 printed from time to time about phe- 

 nomenal cuts of blooms, besides alleged 

 robbing of cuttings beyond the average 

 production of the plants. How any in- 

 telligent being can give out such figures 

 as facts, is more than I can understand. 

 Certainly no experienced grower would 

 believe them. I speak of that here, be- 

 cause such tales are sure to cause more 

 or less trouble for growers who are 

 employed by owners of greenhouses who 

 know little of such matters. It leads 

 them to think that they are not getting 

 fair returns from their glass, when per- 

 haps they are getting the best returns. 



A. F. J. B. 



THE NORMAL TEMPERATURE. 



Kindly state the lowest temperature 

 in which carnations can be successfully 

 grown in the middle western states; 

 also the highest practicable tempera- 

 ture, Gr. B, 



The average run of carnations seem 

 to do their best in a temperature 

 around 52 degrees. When you go much 

 above that figure, you do it at a sacri- 

 fice of quality. The blooms lack sub- 

 stance and size, the stems come weak 

 and the plants lose in vitality generally. 



When it comes to lowering the tem- 

 perature the effect is just the opposite, 

 as long as yoa keep within reasonable 

 limits. The blooms come larger, with 

 more substance, and the stems are 

 stronger. This, however, will be at the 

 expense of quantity, and the lower you 

 go the more you will cut down the quan- 

 tity, while the improvement in quality 

 will become slighter the farther you get 

 away from the normal. In fact, after 

 you get below 48 degrees there will be 

 no improvement in quality. 

 It has been established that the 



slight improvement in quality will not 

 offset the decrease in quantity resulting 

 from a temperature much below nor- 

 mal, which is 50 to 52 degrees. 



A. F. J. B. 



LILIES FOR EASTER. 



Please tell me the best kind, size and 

 planting time of lilies, to be grown in a 

 temperature of 50 degrees, for Easter. 

 I should like to have from two to five 

 blooms to the plant. A. C. 



The most satisfactory lily for you to 

 grow for Easter next year will be L. 

 longiflorum giganteum. Bulbs of these 

 are now said to be on their way 

 from Japan, and, if potted any 

 time before the middle of Octo- 

 ber, will be in season for Easter, 

 1911, The size 7 to 9 will give 

 you nice stems and you can plant one 

 each in 6-inch pots. Keep them dark 

 and cool until well rooted and starting 

 to grow, being careful not to give much 

 water until the pots are well filled with 

 roots. If you put your plants in a tem- 

 perature of 50 degrees at Christmas 

 they will come on in good season. It 

 takes fifty days to bloom them, from 

 the time the buds can be counted, in an 

 average night temperature of 50 de- 

 grees. C. W. 



POT PLANTS FOR CHRISTMAS. 



I wish you would tell me what are 

 the best plants to grow for pot plants, 

 to be in bloom at Christmas, I have 

 jirimulas, cyclamens and Jerusalem cher- 

 ries, and also will have hyacinths. When 

 should I pot them and when should I 

 bring them to the light to have them 

 ready for Christmas? Are there any 

 other plants that I could have ready 

 to sell at Christmas? L. H. T. 



Eoman hyacinths and Paper White 

 narcissi, potted or placed in pans any 

 time between now and the middle of 

 September, will easily flower for Christ- 

 mas. The Dutch bulbs, such as narcissi, 

 tulips and hyacinths, are occasionally 

 forced into bloom for Christmas, but 

 are not of really good quality. The 

 Paper Whites can be kept in the light 

 all the time. Stand them under a green- 

 house bench or in any shed or cellar. 

 The hyacinths must be kept dark. 

 House them five weeks before you want 

 them and give an average night tem- 

 perature of 50 degrees, or allow four 

 weeks if kept at 60 degrees. 



Begonia Gloire de Lorraine is a good 

 Christmas plant. Purchase some young 

 plants now and pot them on. Poinset- 

 tias are popular at Christmas, owing to 

 the brilliant coloring of their bracts. 

 They need a temperature of not less 

 than 60 degrees to properly develop 

 their bracts, but can be kept in good 

 condition for weeks in a cool house 

 while in flower. 



Some of the varieties of Azalea In- 

 dica, such as Firefly, Mme. Petrick and 

 Deutsche Perle, force well for Christ- 

 mas. These arrive usually during Oc- 



tober, and after potting they need a 

 warm, moist house and frequent syring- 

 ings. 



Zonal geraniums, both single and 

 double, are fine for Christmas. Keep 

 the flower trusses picked off until the 

 middle of November; then let the plants 

 have a bench where they can get full 

 sun. 



Erica melanthera is an easily grown 

 heath, which flowers for Christmas. 

 It needs a cool house. There are some 

 other Christmas plants, but perhaps you 

 may be able to fill your requirements 

 from the foregoing. C. W. 



WORMS IN SOIL. 



I am annoyed with a black gnat, 

 which makes a tiny white worm in the 

 soil. I have tried 'kerosene emulsion, 

 also tobacco, but neither has done any 

 good. Can you tell me what to do? 



C L. S. 



Lime water should clean out the 

 worms in question. Failing this, get 

 a can of carbon bisulphide. A few 

 drops will kill all worms or larvse in 

 a pot six to eight inches in diameter. 

 Simply make a hole with a pointed 

 stick, pour in the carbon and imme- 

 diately cover it up. The fumes are 

 penetrating. In the benches or open 

 ground, make holes eighteen inches 

 apart each way and six inches deep. 

 Put a teaspoonful in each hole. When 

 the soil is damp, the fumes are most 

 penetrating. Keep naked lights away 

 when using the carbon, as it is liable 

 to explode. The use of it will not in- 

 jure any plants in the least degree, but 

 it will surely kill anything living in 

 the soil through which the fumes pen- 

 etrate, C, W. 



MISS MARGARET ARMSTRONG. 



Miss Margaret Armstrong, of Spo- 

 kane, Wash., is not only acknowledged 

 to be one of the most successful busi- 

 ness women of the city, but she has 

 the further distinction of being the 

 pioneer business woman of Riverside 

 avenue. 



Seventeen years ago, when she began 

 selling flowers, her entire stock in trade 

 was displayed on a stand with about 

 as much surface as an ordinary desk. 

 The stand occupied a corner in a store 

 in the Jamieson block, then just com- 

 pleted. Now she rents an entire store 

 at 807 Riverside avenue, where she con- 

 ducts a business that requires a force 

 of from twelve to fourteen assistants, 

 including two expert decorators. And 

 it is said that she possesses in a rate 

 degree that executive faculty or in- 

 stinct, quiet but forceful, which enables 

 the head of an establishment to control 

 every detail of a business without 

 being personally conspicuous in the 

 management of it. 



At the date when Miss Armstrong 

 entered the florists' field, Spokane was 

 absorbed in recovering from the great 

 fire and had no leisure, apparently, for 

 the proper appreciation of the fragrance 

 and beauty of flowers. But Miss Arm- 

 strong, with true courage and fore- 

 sight, placed her little stand on the 

 brink of the mercantile current. The 

 display of flowers was slim and the 

 choice limited in those days. Nobody 

 thought of growing flowers in or about 

 Spokane then. They had to be shipped 

 !2*" Portland and Chicago. There were 

 other drawbacks, but Miss Armstrong 

 stood by her little stand in the corner. 



