8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Seftembeb 29, 1919. 



being more easily forced. Black-stemmed 

 bulbs, potted into 6-inch pots in Novem- 

 ber, can be had in bloom by the first week 

 in April. It taJies four weeks from the 

 time they first show buds to get them to 

 full bloom. 



Iris bulbs can be forced along in a 

 temperature of 60 degrees after they are 

 well rooted. This refers principally to 

 Spanish iris. 



The gladiolus season can also be 

 lengthened by early forcing. Such varie- 

 ties as Blushing Bride, Colvillei alba, etc., 

 can be had in April and May by grow- 

 ing in a temperature of 45 to 60 degrees. 



Other bulbs which can be forced to ad- 

 vantage are: Eucharis Amazonica, 

 Agapanthus umbellatus, amaryllis, Free- 

 sia refracta alba, Freesia Purity, ixias, 

 lachenalias, Scilla Siberica, nerines, etc. 



VAEIOUS BULBS. 



Please give full directions for forc- 

 ing Gladiolus America, Augusta, Peach 

 Blossom, The Bride, Spanish iris and 

 ixias. Include the temperature at dif- 

 ferent stages for best blooms. What 

 fertilizer should be used and when? 

 Little stable manure can be had here. 

 Can all be grown in the same house? 

 We have overhead flows and the re- 

 turns on the side of solid beds. Would 

 boxes be better? How early could 

 each be planted and when would they 

 commence to bloom? Can Peach Blossom 

 bulbs be held and planted in early 

 spring? They are not reliably hardy 

 here in Virginia. C. W. B. 



The small bulbed gladioli, including 

 such popular varieties as Peach Blos- 

 som, Colvillei The Bride, Blushing 

 Bride, Crimson Queen, Ackermanni, 

 Mathilde, Muna and others, are pro- 

 curable early in September. While they 

 can be grown in benches, we have 

 always found they do much better in 

 flats containing four inches of soil. 

 These can be placed on a cellar floor 

 or in a coldframe. They need no cov- 

 ering over the soil, but the sun's rays 

 should be excluded until the growths 

 start. A flat 4x12x24 inches will hold 

 fifty to sixty bulbs of any of the va- 

 rieties named, A suitable compost con- 

 sists of two-thirds well decayed sod 

 and one-third old, well rotted barn- 

 yard manure; cow manure is the best; 

 next to this, horse and sheep. If you 

 cannot secure any good stable ma- 

 nure, perhaps you can secure bags of 

 pulverized sheep or shredded cattle 

 manure, using it in the proportion of 

 one to ten or twelve. Chemical fer- 

 tilizers should not be used. I have seen 

 many ill results from experimentine 

 with them. * 



The large bulbed gladioli, such as 

 America, Shakespeare, May, Augusta 

 and others, are not to be had, as a rule, 

 before the end of November. If grown 

 in boxes, these require to be six to 

 eight inches deep. They do well in 

 benches or solid beds. From a crop 

 planted in December, you could in your 

 state start to cut about the middle of 

 March. Successive plantings can be 

 made, to prolong the season. A tem- 

 perature of 50 degrees at night is as 

 high as these gladioli care for. Cer- 

 tainly it should not go beyond 54 de- 

 grees in midwinter. A carnation tem- 

 perature is about right, and soil used 

 for mums, roses, violets or carnations 

 will answer well for gladioli. 



Th& Bmall bulbed gladioli should be 

 growB in a coldframe until the end 



of October and kept in a pit or cold 

 greenhouse until the first week in Jan- 

 uary, by which time they will have the 

 flats well filled with roots and growth 

 several inches long. A night tempera- 

 ture of 50 degrees will suit them; 60 

 degrees is too high and will make them 

 weak and spindling, and the flowers 

 will lack substance. Weak liquid ma- 

 nure can be applied once a week after 

 the flats are placed in heat. 



Spanish iris requires much the same 

 treatment as the smaller bulbed gla- 

 dioli and the same number of bulbs 

 should go in a flat. Four to five inches 

 of soil is needed. Grow cool and as 

 light as possible at all stages of 

 growth. Anything in the nature of 

 forcing will spoil the plants. Avoid 

 using strong liquid manure, as it will 

 cause the ends of the leaves to turn 

 brown. Heavy fumigation with tobacco 

 stems will also similarly affect them. 

 These irises want a copious water sup- 

 ply. They can be grown in beds or 

 benches in a cool house, but it is an 

 advantage to have them in flats, as 

 then they can be moved around at will. 

 They are sometimes dotted among car- 

 nations and violets as a supplementary 



Charles W. Schmidt. 



crop. The violet temperature is the 

 most to their liking. Peach Blossom 

 and other gladioli can be kept cool and 

 dry, and planted outdoors as soon as 

 frost has left the ground. 



The charming little bulbs of ixias are 

 not so much grown as their merits de- 

 serve. They are commonly classed as 

 fussy subjects, many growers failing 

 with them entirely. I have grown them 

 well planted among violets. In flats 

 they have not been a success, the least 

 excess of moisture causing the flowering 

 shoots to damp off just above the bulbs. 

 In pots or pans, well drained, six to 

 seven inches in diameter, they succeed 

 well. A suitable compost consists of 

 two-thirds loam and the other third 

 equal parts of leaf-mold and old hot- 

 bed manure, to which is added sufficient 

 sharp sand to keep it porous. If the 

 soil is moderately damp, no water need 

 be given until growth starts; then 

 avoid giving too much. Keep the plants 

 in a coldframe as late as possible. Al- 

 ways underwater rather than over- 

 water them. Place in a cool, light 



house in December, where the tem- 

 perature will be 45 to 50 degrees at 

 night. In such a place they will grow 

 well. Afford a little liquid manure when 

 the spikes show. The best commer- 

 cial ixias are craterioides major an(l 

 rosea plena Wonder. Ixias would win- 

 ter outdoors with you on well draineU 

 soil. Plant out just before the ground 

 freezes and mulch so as to exclude 

 frost. Remove the covering early in 

 April and protect from late spring' 

 frosts.- C. W. 



PAPEE WHITES FOR CHRISTMAS. 



When is the proper time to plant 

 Paper Whites in a house kept at 50 de 

 grees at night and 60 degrees in the 

 daytime, to have them for Christmas? 

 * J. C. E. 



Your best plan will be to plant the 

 bulbs now, in flats containing four 

 inches of soil, and stand them in a 

 coldframe or on a cellar floor. The 

 bulbs lose much of their strength if 

 kept out of the soil too long. In a 

 temperature averaging 50 degrees at 

 night and 60 degrees in the daytime, 

 allow five weeks after housing for the 

 plants to flower. Growing in flats will 

 give you better results than planting 

 directly in the house. If you prefer 

 the latter plan, you need not put in the 

 bulbs until the beginning of October. 



C. W. 



CHARLES W. SCHMIDT. 



Charles W. Schmidt, president-elect 

 of the Springfield Florists' Club, was 

 born December 16, 1868, the son of 

 Adam Schmidt, the well known pioneer 

 druggist at Springfield, O. He attended 

 the public schools, graduating from the 

 high school in 1884, following which he 

 spent a year in Nelson's Business Col- 

 lege. Engaging as bookkeeper for the 

 district superintendent for the Union 

 Central Life Insurance Co., sixteen, 

 years were spent, when Mr. Schmidt be- 

 gan to cast about for a business in 

 which to invest his savings. Nothing 

 appeared more inviting than the mail 

 order plant trade. A partnership was 

 formed with Robert Botley, a practical 

 florist of thorough English training, and 

 a strong team of German and British 

 blood was thus yoked together to pull 

 what seems to be their life business. 



The start was made in a small way 

 at the nearby village of Husted in the 

 fall of 1891, under the firm name of 

 Schmidt & Botley. 



In 1893 six acres of land were se- 

 cured on what was then the edge of 

 Springfield, and three houses erected. 

 Additions were made rapidly until the 

 present total of twenty-eight was 

 reached, aggregating about 65,000 

 square feet of glass. The first five of 

 these houses are being rebuilt this fall. 

 To better facilitate the business of the 

 growing concern, the Schmidt & Botley 

 Co. was incorporated in 1908, with 

 Adam Schmidt president, Robert Bot- 

 ley vice-president and superintendent, 

 and Charles W. Schmidt secretary and 

 treasurer. 



A recent purchase of thirty-two acres 

 of land about two miles out of the city 

 was made, which will eventually be 

 planted with hardy shrubs; an adjoin- 

 ing tract of nine acres was acquired 

 later. On the larger tract a bungalow 

 has been built, at which Mr. Schmidt 

 and family spend their summers. ' !» 

 1894, Mr. Schmidt married Alice Barnes, 



