J '':. 



Mabch 31, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



u 



Moving a Douglas Spruce 'Weighing Nine Tons. 



are: Crimson Eambler, Dorothy Per- 

 kins, Tausendschon, Lady Gay, Wedding 

 Bells, Leuchstern, Mrs. W. C. Egan, 

 Hiawatha and Goldfinch. As usual, the 

 so-called yellow rambler, Aglaia, killed 

 back badly. 



Bedding Geraniums. 



Geranium plants intended to be flow- 

 ered in 4-inch pots should be got into 

 that size as early as possible. For com- 

 post, avoid anything in the nature of 

 fresh manure. Some thosoughly decom- 

 posed mushroom manure, or that from a 

 spent hotbed, may form one-tliird of the 

 whole. Add a 4-ineh potful of fine bone 

 to three bushels of compost. Use clean 

 pots. If new, soak them well first. Be 

 sure the balls are damp when the plants 

 are potted. 



Do not allow the flower trusses to re- 

 main on the plants for a while yet. Al- 

 low a month before sales-time for the 

 trusses to develop. The plants cannot 

 have too light a house. Preserve a sweet, 

 pure atmosphere for them, giving ventila- 

 tion on every possible opportunity. Keep 

 later plants potted along before they can 

 become matted at the roots. Care and 

 cleanliness are essential to successful ge- 

 ranium culture. Remove all weeds. 

 Loosen the surface soil of pots. Pick off 

 all dead, decaying or diseased leaves and 

 do not hose them over every time you 

 feel like it. They should dry out well be- 

 tween waterings. Too much moisture 

 produces soft plants, which will not flow- 

 er satisfactorUy. 



Ten Weeks* Stocks. 



Benc-hed right away, ten weeks' stocks 

 will be in flower for Memorial day. These 

 always prove to be useful, cheap flowers 

 for bouquets. Pull out plants with single 

 flowers. They are of little use in the 

 market, compared with doubles. A soil 

 which will produce good carnations, roses 

 or mums will answer well for stocks. In 

 addition to the general run of ten weeks' 

 stocks, such varieties as Beauty of Nice, 

 delicate pink; White Column, Crimson 

 Column and Empress Augusta Victoria, 

 silvery lilac, are well adapted for bench 

 culture. 



Cannas. 



There is still time to secure, start and 

 grow nice salable plants of cannas for 



Memorial day or June sales. Carefully 

 avoid an excess of moisture in the early 

 stages of growth and there will be little 

 likelihood of failure. Plants started and 

 growing should be potted before they 

 have made too many roots and too much 

 top growth. Use a generous compost, as 

 cannas are robust growers. Of course, 

 they like a moderately warm house; 55 

 to 60 degrees now and 50 degrees a month 

 hence will be found all right. 



Amaryllis. 



As the flowers on your amaryllis are 

 cut, do not make the too common blunder 

 of standing the pots below the benches or 

 even laying them on their sides, as we 



have sometimes seen done. How anyone 

 can ever hope to achieve success in 

 amaryllis culture under such conditions, is 

 beyond our imagination. The plants 

 should be given a light, sunny house and 

 be carefully watered. They should be 

 encouraged to make a vigorous leaf 

 growth. Achieving this will mean a 

 much enlarged and improved bulb. There 

 should be no drying off of the bulbs be- 

 fore fall; in fact, some of the best ama- 

 ryllis growers hardly rest their plants at 

 all, and they carry foliage while mums 

 are in season. Keep seedlings growing 

 constantly until they flower. 



MOVING LARGE TREES. 



The two photographs which are here 

 reproduced illustrate the method used by 

 George J. Langman, a landscape gardener 

 of Colorado Springs, Colo., for the mov- 

 ing of large trees. The contrivance is a 

 simple one and is attached to the running 

 gear of an ordinary wagon. As the pic- 

 tures show, the tree can be raised to any 

 desired angle, and retained there, by 

 means of the endless chains on the cog- 

 wheels in the upper part of the frame- 

 work and their connections with the block 

 and tackle below. The old-fashioned guy 

 ropes, usually fastened to the head of the 

 tree, are discarded, as they have fre- 

 quently proved to be injurious by discon- 

 necting or loosening the roots from the 

 ball of earth. 



In order to get the wagon directly over 

 the ball of the tree, and also over the 

 hole where the tree is to be replanted, the 

 rear axle of the wagon is removed, and 

 the back of the truss or elevated frame- 

 work upon which the tree is suspended 

 keeps this part of the wagon together at 

 any width required. To prevent damage 

 to grass areas, wide tires are used. In 

 the case illustrated, 14-inch tires were 

 used on the rear wheels. 



■4' 



Moving a Douglas Spruce horty Feet High. 



