10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Septembeb 22, 1910. 



Day; color^ pure white. This has been 

 cut under glass kite in April, but 

 blooms freely in May and June. Queen 

 of the Market, also called Queen of the 

 Earlies, is valuable for early cutting. 

 The plants have a branching habit, and 

 the flowers are very ijouble and well 

 formed. You can purchase separate 

 shades of this aster, including lavender, 

 pink and white. 



For an early indoor crop of asters, 

 sow the seed about January 15. Prick 

 off into flats when of suthcient size. 



Later plant put in benches containing 

 four to Ave inches of rich soil, allowing 

 eight to ten inches between the plants. 

 The plants like abundant ventilation, 

 full sun, and a night winter minimum 

 of 48 to 50 degrees. Keep the surface 

 well stirrixl, and if you want large- 

 flowers, . disbu(J as'you do chrysanthe 

 mums. As a general rule, however, it 

 pays to allow all the flowers to come. 

 They are quite serviceable^ especially 

 for funeral work. TJie Queen of the 

 Earlies blooms early in June, under 

 glass. C. W. 



GERANIUM CULTURE. 



Will you please give me advice as 

 to when and how to take geranium cut- 

 tings? Sould I pull all the leaves otf, 

 or when potted in the fall let them 

 dry ofl', or should the leaves be left 

 on? When is the best time to take 

 cuttings for Decoration day? I took 

 my cuttings in October last year, but 

 they got almost too tall by Decoration 

 day. What is the best mixture for pot- 

 ting geraniums? C. U. 



October is a good month in which 

 to take cuttings. The loss from damp- 

 ing off will be much less than if they 

 were inserted in August or September, 

 the colder nights helping to harden the 

 wood. All leaves should be cut off, 

 except the small ones at the top of 

 each cutting. If you leave them on, 

 it will simply nu'siii endless trouble 

 picking them off in a decaying condi- 

 tion. Cuttings put in during October 

 »will make excellent plants for Memo- 



_. rial day. The reason your plants got 

 so tall was probably because you neg- 

 lected topping them. About all the 

 cuttings ])ut in at this season should 

 give a good cutting in January or early 

 February, wliich can be rooted in gen- 

 tle heat in a 2-inch pot of sandy loam 

 ' and later shifted to a .'?-inch pot, in 

 ,which it will bloom for Memorial day. 

 The fall cuttings should be flowered 

 in 4 inch jiots. 



Avoid using mucii anima^ manure in 

 the compost for geraniums. Any added 

 fo 'the loam should be thoroughly de- 

 cayed, so that it will crumble through 

 the hands. A mixture of three-fourths 

 loam, one-fourth old manure and a 4- 

 inch pot of fine bone to each wheel- 

 barrow load of soil makes a suitable 

 [lotting medium for the final shift. A 

 little sand should also be adiled. Tlu' 

 (iuttiiigs will mot w(dl either in flats 

 or benches of clc;iii, sharp sand, or in 

 2-inch pots of sandy loam. Keep mod 



. erately moist until rootetl, then much 

 drier until jiotled on. The dryness 

 causes tlif cuttings to nuike a mass of 



> fibrous roots. 



C. W. 



JEAN VIAUD GERANIUM. 



The accompanying illustration shows 



'(Jerg^niurti Jean Viand as grown by the 



('ohimbiis Floral Co., Columbus. Miss. 



The cutting was -started where the 



jdant now stands, tiiret' years ago, 

 and has since yielded an income of 

 fully .$b50. The jihmt is seven feet 

 high and four feet in width, although 

 it has been cut back three times on 

 account of close cpiarters. There have 

 been 275 cuttings propagated and sold 

 from this plant this sej^son and at the 

 time the picture ^yas jnade there were 

 125 cuttings in sand. At one time this 

 year the plant carried fifty ])looms and 

 many pJants have been sold from it at 

 from 5 to 50 cents each. The Review 

 will be glad to hear from any florist 

 who can beat this record with any one 

 geranium plant grown under glass. 



DRAINING A GARDEN. 



I should like to get your ndvice with 

 regard to the land where I intend to 

 plant my perennials. This is a ^new 

 place and the recent i;nns ^how me 



that the beds are not well draine i, 

 1 understand there are tiles runnii.^ 

 through the land every fifty feet, b(.t 

 t he beds are cut out of the solid cluy 

 and so hold the water. The piece cf 

 land is 75x150 feet, with a 4-foot walk 

 all around, one walk through the centtr 

 lengthwise and three the short wa\, 

 thus cutting the whole tract into eigl i 

 stpiares, with four beds in each squari . 

 The. walks are well made, containiii;: 

 about one foot of cinders, with tw > 

 inches of dressing on top. 



This does not seem to be a choicj 

 place for perennials in its present 

 state. I thought I might run two tilo; 

 lengthwise, with a branch arm int • 

 each bed, or that I might cut throug"; 

 the sod, which is only eighteen inchei- 

 wide from the. walks to the beds; that 

 is, t might cut a trench about one foo' 

 wide through the sod into each bed, put 

 a little cindeis there and replace the 

 sod, and so let the walks drain the 

 beds. D'o you think either of those 

 plans all right, or can you suggest 

 something better? I?. P. 



The root's of about all our common 

 field crops, and also many perennial 

 flowering plants, penetrate much deeper 

 than we have any idea of, if the soil 

 conditions are to their liking. Drain- 

 age deepens the available soil. The 

 roots of plants will not live in that 

 part below the water line. If drains 

 are placed two feet deep, the soil to 

 that depth is warmed and has more 

 perfect aeration. If the drains are 

 placed three to four feet deep, it will 

 be even better, as, even when the lower 

 soil is less rich in plant food than the 

 upper portion, roots will penetrate it if 

 it is well drained. In droughty seasons 

 crops thrive better on drained land as 

 the water level is lowered and the rootF 

 can thus reach greater depths and re 

 tain moisture more effectually. 



In clayey soil such as you have, the 

 drainage afforded by 12-inch paths is 



Jean Viaud Geranium Seven Feet High. 



