20 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



NOVDMBEK 3, 1910. 



CATTLEYA BUDS ROTTING. 



Can you advise me in reference to 

 Cattleya labiata? My plants make fine, 

 healthy sheaths; the buds grow up in 

 the sheaths from one to two inches and 

 then stand still and rot, the sheath 

 remaining in an apparently healthy 

 condition. It seems as if too much 

 water had been given at some stage of 

 development. Will repotting into new 

 fiber help them? G. B. 



The sheath forwarded was a fine one 

 and contained five buds which were 

 quite rotten. You evidently have 

 strong plants, as this is more than the 

 average number of flowers C. labiata 

 produces per sheath, though occasion- 

 ally six are produced and in exceptional 

 cases seven. All cattleyas want a good 

 water supply until the bulbs are made 

 up. This is before the flower buds be- 

 gin to push up in the sheaths. Cat- 

 tleyas may have no real resting period, 

 but it is imperative that the supply of 

 moisture at the roots should be 

 gradually decreased before any buds 

 show through the sheaths, and they 

 need little water while the buds 

 are developing or while the flowers are 

 open. It is a common error to give an 

 abundant water supply while they are 

 in bloom, growers thinking that this 

 will keep the flowers fresh longer and 

 improve their quality. The reverse is 

 the case. 



From the time the bulbs are made up 

 until new growths are nicely started, 

 cattleyas want a light water supply 

 and it is safer to err on the dry side. 

 The fleshy bulbs in themselves, if cut 

 oflf, will keep the flowers fresh as long 

 as though they were placed in water. 

 The same is true of coelogynes, dendro- 

 biums and other orchids. 



Repotting of cattleyas should be done 

 after the flowering season is over and 

 just before new growth commences. 

 Your plants may or may not require 

 repotting. As a general thing, they are 

 better if they get an overhaul each 

 season. This Avill not prevent rotting 

 in the sheaths, but will be good for the 

 plants. Too much water at the roots is 

 undoubtedly the cause of your trouble. 

 Reduce the supply considerably another 

 year when the bulbs are well plumped 

 up and you should have no further loss 

 of this kind. Quite a few growers have 

 the same trouble, from too much heat, 

 too much root moisture and insufficient 

 ventilation. The ventilators on the cat- 

 tleya house should be open both night 

 and day as late in the season as pos- 

 sible, and even in midwinter it is pos- 

 sible to leave bottom air on, except on 

 the coldest nights. Plenty of fresh air 

 is what cattleyas like, and a position as 

 near the glass as possible. Add to this 

 careful watering, firm potting and a 



winter minimum temperature of 55 de- 

 grees and the bulk of the regular com- 

 mercial varieties will do well. C. 



WATER VS. OIL. 



There is only one place where water 

 is at a premium and that place is on the 

 desert. There water is worth as much 

 if not more than oil, and there only. 



Water is the cheapest ingredient that 

 can be put into paint, and the most de- 

 ceiving as well; for very few people 

 imagine that water and oil will mix. 



Contrary to the old adage, water and 

 oil do mix by chemical action, through 

 the assistance of a powerful alkali, 

 making an emulsion of oil. 



Paint made in this manner must 

 necessarily be much cheaper than that 

 made with pure linseed oil and turpen- 

 tine, and its use is always at the ex- 

 pense of the house owner. 



It cannot last any longer than com- 

 mon whitewash, and the labor of apply- 

 ing is just as great as for first-class 

 paint. When this inferior paint begins 

 to deteriorate, it leaves the wood bare 

 in spots, and it costs money to remove 

 it; so that "the last state of that house 

 was worse than the first." 



Seventy per cent of the cost of paint- 

 ing a house is the labor. Can anyone 

 afford to use a paint that does not state 



in plain language, on every can, its true 

 contents? — Patton's Monthly. 



PRINCETON, N. J. 



Stockton & Howe have nearly 40,00U 

 feet of glass, devoted to roses, with 

 calla lilies and Adianturii hybridum as 

 side crops. Their latest house, 55x316, 

 is planted with Richmond and Killarney 

 in solid beds. Three older houses, 21x 

 310 each, are filled with roses in raised 

 benches — two with Brides, the third 

 with their new rose, Princeton. The 

 front bench of their north side propa 

 gating house is planted with Adiantum 

 hybridum and a corridor house with 

 calla lilies, just coming into bloom. The 

 plants are all looking well, promising 

 to uphold the firm's reputation for high 

 grade stock during the coming season. 



The heating is by hot water from a 

 Pierson sectional boiler and by steam; 

 the two systems are working together, 

 the former being used in severe weath 

 er, while the steam is used in mild 

 weather and for emergencies. Mr. 

 Stockton prefers steam. Water is 

 pumped from two artesian wells, each 

 having a capacity of twelve gallons per 

 minute, into an elevated tank. A com- 

 pression tank is also used to give power 

 for syringing. 



The product of this place is handled 

 by Berger Bros., of Philadelphia. The 

 flowers are packed in wooden trays, 

 made of spruce three-eighths of an inch 

 thick. The spruce is sawed in a mill 

 into strips five feet long and six 

 inches wide; each box is twelve inches 

 wide and six inches high. After being 

 unpacked, the spruce strips are taken 

 apart, fastened in bundles and shipped 

 back by freight, an economical and 

 most satisfactory method. Phil. 



Oneonta, N. Y. — B. Ackley has added 

 a conservatory to his dwelling, making 

 an excellent show house. He is replac- 

 ing wood with concrete, and intends 

 adding a house for carnations. 



VALLEY IN COLDFRAMES. 



Can you give me cultural directions 

 for lily of the valley in coldframes, so 

 as to have a succession of flowers, be- 

 ginning in the early spring? E. A. P. 



Any well built w^ood or brick frame 

 will answer your purpose. It is essen- 

 tial that it should be of sufficient depth 

 to allow a foot of warm manure for the 

 earliest batches. After April no bottom 

 heat is necessary. A bed of clean sand, 

 six inches thick, is the best and clean- 

 est material to plant the pips in. It is 

 an advantage to have this sand moder- 

 ately coarse, rather than fine. Let the 

 pips, when planted, be twelve to eigh- 

 teen inches from the glass. For the first 

 ten to fourteen days, or even longer for 

 the first batches, keep the glass dark- 

 ened with boards or cloth. Gradually 

 irure the plants to light, in order to 



get some foliage. Do not use any water 

 after the flowers start to expand, as 

 they are liable to damp. 



A fresh batch should be started every 

 week, and one sash with a close division 

 should be set apart for each. A frame 

 of half a dozen sashes would suffice if 

 you wanted only a moderate quantity. 

 The pips can be planted quite thickly 

 in the sand and the same sand can be 

 used as often as desired. The pips do 

 not make any roots while being forced. 

 A strong bottom heat should be accom- 

 panied by a much lower atmospheric 

 heat. For instance, in forcing valley at 

 a bottom heat of 80 to 85 degrees, the 

 heat above should not exceed 55 de 

 grees. If it were 80 to 85 degrees, the 

 stems would be thin, spindling and of 

 poor quality. It takes longer to get 

 the flowers in the lower temperature, 

 but you get the quality as a compensa- 

 tion. C. W. 



