10 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



SSPTBMBBB 15, 1910. 



have blighted or mildewed foliage for 

 the rest of the season. 



Have some of these plants on your 

 own grounds and endeavor to have 

 them thrive to their utmost. Plant a 

 corner as you would have your cus- 

 tomers plant it. Cover a fence or make 



up a specially pretty porch box or 

 vase. This will improve your place and 

 help sell your stock. Plant, in your 

 own grounds and in those of your 

 neighbors, as much of your surplus 

 stock as you think it wise to spare. 

 Every place will be better if decorated 

 with flowers instead of weeds. 



GOOD SORTS FOR A START. 



Please name four good carnations in 

 the following colors: Pink, white, 

 scarlet and dark red. I want the 

 darkest red to be had. H. G. S. 



If you^ have not grown carnations 

 previous to this time, as your inquiry 

 would indicate, I would advise you to 

 plant more than one variety of each 

 color. The success attained by differ- 

 ent growers with the same varieties 

 is so varied that to recommend any one 

 variety as being the best for you to 

 grow, would be quite foolhardy. 



I would advise you to plant quite a 

 large selection of varieties the first 

 year. Then, when you have seen with 

 which you succeed the best, you can 

 select the ones you want to grow. 

 You might select those which I would 

 recommend, and again you might not. 



The following varieties are all good 

 sorts, and any one of them might suit 

 you better than all the others in its 

 color: White Perfection, White En- 

 chantress; in flesh color, Enchantress, 

 May Day, May, Pink Delight; in rose- 

 pink, Winona, Rose-pink Enchantress; 

 in cerise. Afterglow, Aristocrat, Vic- 

 toria; in red, Victory, Beacon; in 

 crimson, Harlowarden, Harry Fenn, 

 Crimson Glow. A. F. J. B. 



FEEDING BENCHED PLANTS. 



In building anew this season we built 

 raised benches, placing an inch and a 

 half of fresh cow manure in the bottom 

 of the benches and the;5 filling in with 

 three and one half Aches of rotted 

 blue grass sod. The carnation plants 

 were then planted in this, and kept 

 free of weeds and well cultivated. The 

 plants have done exceptionally well, as 

 we are cutting carnation blooms with 

 15-inch to 16-inch sterna. We can ob- 

 tain both cow manure and sheep ma- 

 nure and we wish to ask which is the 

 best way to treat these plants from 

 now on. About September 10 the plants 

 were enclosed. C. W. 



Cow manure and sheep manure are 

 both excellent fertilizers and produce 

 great results when used properly. For 

 a steady diet there is no other manure 

 so good as cattle manure, but for a 

 quick acting stimulant there is none 

 better than sheep manure. The former 

 is put on as a mulch or as a liquid, 

 while the latter is used as a dressing 

 or a liquid. 



Inasmuch as your plants had a good 

 lot of cow manure when you planted 

 them, I would suggest that you give 



them a good dressing of the sheep ma- 

 nure. Then mulch them with cow ma- 

 nure any time after that, when you 

 think it is advisable. How much sheep 

 manure you should put on will depend 

 on what condition it is in. If it has 

 been leached by the rains and is pretty 

 well rotted, you can put on a half inch 

 of it without any danger to your plants, 

 but if it has been kept under cover, 

 you can not use more than a third of 

 that quantity with safety. A. F. J. B. 



HOLDING OVER STOCK PLANTS. 



We have a small lot of late struck 

 carnation plants which we should like 

 to hold over for blooming next summer. 

 Would it be practicable to bench them 

 in a frame outside and winter them by 

 giving protection of glass or litter! 

 Most of the plants have been topped 

 once and are nice, strong, bushy plants, 

 though small. Tie varieties are: The 



Enchantress family, Perfection and 

 Scarlet Nelson Fisher. It is important 

 to add that a temperature of 40 de- 

 grees below zero is not uncommon in 

 this part of North Dakota. 



W. F. C. 



In a milder climate than yours it 

 would be quite practicable to winter 

 carnation plants by covering them with 

 hotbed sash and banking the sides of 

 the frames with manure, but with the 

 temperature at 40 degrees below zero 

 they would hardly come through in 

 good condition. You would find it much 

 safer to propagate a lot of cuttings in 

 early December and grow them along 

 into 3-inch or 4-inch pots by planting 

 time. These would give you good blooms 

 during the summer, and perhaps better 

 results than the others would, even 

 should they live through the winter. 



A. F. J. B. 



THE GODFREY CALLA. 



Is the " Godfrey calla that is adver- 

 tised by some concerns in the middle 

 west a dwarf calla, or are its blooms 

 normal with the regular calla? Is it a 

 regular trade name or one that has just 

 been put on the market? 



H. E. D. G. 



The Godfrey calla, as I have grown 

 it, is somewhat dwarfer than the ordi- 

 nary variety. I have also found it 

 rather more free flowering. I believe 

 some western growers have found it to 

 be much more profitable than the old 

 variety. With me the flowers came 

 somewhat smaller, but of a good com- 

 mercial size. I consider this a good 

 calla to grow. C. W. 



STRINGS FOR SWEET PEAS. 



What kind of string is used in 

 stringing sweet peas? Will they cling 

 without being tied! How do you pre- 

 vent the ground from getting green 

 on top? Do they ever damp off? If 

 so, how do you prevent it! 



C. n. P. 



Ordinary white twine, such as is used 

 in stringing carnations, answers well 

 for stringing sweet peas. Some grow- 

 ers, where the houses are lofty, use 

 soft brown twine. Many carnationists 

 use the same twine. This can be pur- 

 chased cheaply. The strings are run 

 from a stout wire just above the 

 ground to one as high as the head room 

 of the house allows. This may be six, 

 eight or ten feet. It should not be 

 less than six-feet. If your plants have 

 an 8-foot or 10-foot run, it will give 

 added stability to run another wire 

 across the center of the space length- 

 ways, giving the upright strings a 



twist around it. The peas are in a 

 considerable measure self-supporting, 

 but it is necessary, in order to keep 

 them even and symmetrical, to go over 

 them at least once a week while in 

 active growth and loop them up with 

 the ordinary thin white twine. Eun 

 this lengthways and do not draw it too 

 tight. 



Given a light, airy house and ideal 

 soil and growing conditions, ther-' 

 should be no trouble from peas damp 

 ing off. If you endeavor to hold the 

 winter night temperature as near 48 de 

 grees as possible, air them freely oi' 

 every possible opportunity and have 

 your drainage right, there should he 

 little greening of the soil or damping 

 off. Be sure that you have good drain- 

 age for the water and, if the beds get 

 good sunshine, slime should not trouble 

 you. Perhaps the soil is somewhat acid. 

 If so, a dressing of air-slaked lime, 

 lightly raked in, will prove beneficial- 

 It might also be of considerable advan- 

 tage to lime your soil some time be 



