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14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Apbil 7, 1910. 



od of spraying can be devised to control 

 them. They are evidently more or less 

 soil organisms and are probably carried 

 over in the soil, or in or on diseased seed 

 corms, or possibly even adhering to the 

 surface of healthy corms that have been 

 in contact with diseased ones. As to 

 which of these methods prevails or when 

 and how. infection takes place, we have 

 yet to learn. We therefore consider it 

 probable that certain sanitary methods of 

 handling the crop would naturally reduce 

 the rot in many cases. With this in view, 

 the following experiments are suggested:. 



Field Experiments. 



Plat I. Perfectly sound seed corms on 

 soil where gladioli have never been 

 grown. 



Plat II. Perfectly sound seed corms, 

 sterilized by immersing in five per cent 

 formalin for ten minutes, on soil where 

 gladioli have never been grown. 



Plat III. Diseased seed corms on soil 

 where gladioli have never been grown. 



Plat IV. Healthy seed corms on soil 

 where diseased corms had grown last 

 year. 



Plat V, Diseased corms on soil where 

 diseased gladioli had grown last year. 



Plat VI. Healthy seed corms, steril- 

 ized, on diseased soil. 



Plat VII. Healthy and diseased seed 

 corms on diseased soil, heavily limed, two 

 tons per acre. 



Plat VIII. Healthy and diseased seed 

 conns on diseased soil fertilized heavily 

 with acid phosphate, 1,000 pounds per 

 acre. In selecting sound seed corms the 

 husks must be removed and each exam- 

 ined very carefully. 



In cultivating, the infection may be 

 carried to the new soil plats by tools. If 

 available, use another set for tl^ese. If 

 not, cultivate clean plats first each time. 



Observe conditions at harvest time and 

 V store corms from each plat separately. 

 \ Sort in winter, to determine the per- 

 centage of rot in each. 



\, Harvesting Experiments. / 



I woulcT^uggest some experiments in 

 regard to harvesting. It seems that the 

 disease continue)*, to develop quito seri- 

 ously after harvesting, in storage. Now, 

 whether the infection h^s all taken place 

 in the field or continues to take place in 

 storage, we are not able to state posi- 

 tively. If it continues to take place in 

 storage, there is a possibility of the 

 germs of the fungus being spread from 

 the affected bulbs to the healthy ones 

 during the process of harvesting. To 

 *' illustrate: If the corms are harvested 

 and thrown together in the bins with the 

 old mother corms still adhering, and are 

 allowed to stand for a couple of weeks or 

 so before cleaning up and removing the 

 old corms, there would seem to be ample 

 chance for the germs to be spread into 

 all the corms of the bin from the few 

 diseased ones, by means of the particles 

 of soil that are adhering to them. Dur- 

 ing this time, unless they have been thor- 

 oughly dried at harvesting, they are likely 

 to take more or less of a sweat, which 

 results, perhaps, in production of suffi- 

 cient moisture to favor infection, wher- 

 ever the fungus is present. Now, you 

 will understand, of course, that this is 

 merely a suggestion as to what might 

 happen, and I would not dare to label 

 it as even probable, as yet, but experi- 

 ments as outlined below should give us 

 some light on this point. 



First, select some variety that is sus- 

 ceptible to decay in storage. In harvesting 

 in the fall, allow each corm to lie where 



it has been pulled until dry. When thor- 

 oughly cured, remove the mother corm, 

 husk and treat with five per cent formalin 

 for about five minutes and then sort. Do 

 not pile in heaps or bins before treat- 

 ment. Another lot, from a row close by, 

 treat in a similar way, omitting the for- 

 malin treatment. In part of these omit 

 the husking, but simply allow individual 

 corms to dry thoroughly before being 



heaped together, and remove the mother 

 corm and as much of the adhering soil 

 as possible before they are heap^ to- 

 gether in the bins. Another row, close 

 by, gather and dry and store in bins with 

 the mother corms attached, and re-sort 

 two or three weeks later in the usual way. 



Errett Wallace. 

 N. Y. State College of Agriculture, Cor- 

 nell 'University, Ithaca, N. Y. 



THE CARNATION. 



Its Society. 



The objects of the American Carnation 

 Society are the improvement of the car- 

 nation, to familiarize its members with 

 the best and most economical methods of 

 its cultivation, to encourage the produc- 

 tion of new and better varieties than 

 heretofore have been grown, and to con- 

 demn the dissemination of new and im- 

 properly tested sorts that are no improve- 

 ment over older kinds. 



The Carnation of Yore. 



The old-fashioned carnation or pink 

 has been a favorite garden flower for 

 over 2,000 years, but it is summer bloom- 

 ing only. In European gardens hun- 

 dreds of varieties of it are grown, and 

 this has been the case for 400 years. It 

 has several popular names, such as gilly- 

 flower, sops of wine and clove pink. 



It is claimed that the name carnation 

 was given to it because of the common 

 use made of its blossoms in garlands 

 in ancient times. Pliny mentions it in 

 his list of garland flowers used by the 

 Bomans and Athenians, and Nicander 

 also gives it in his list of Greek garland 

 plants. Others insist that the name of 

 carnation simply means the flesh -colored 

 tint of the blossoms. 



Carnatlon'd like a sleeping Infant's cheek. 



— Byron. 



Divine flower is simply the meaning of 

 the generic name, Dianthus; Dios, di- 

 vine; anthos, flower. 



Gillyflower, often applied to carnations 

 in general, more pointedly refers to the 

 variously colored or variegated flowered 

 sorts. 



The fairest flowers o* the season 

 Are our carnations and streak'd gillyflowers. 

 — Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene 3. 



Sops in wine was a name given to the 

 crimson clove pink. Chaucer tells ua 



And many a clone gilofre, 



To put in ale, 

 Whether it be moist or stale. 



The Carnation of Today. 



The carnation of today is not the car- 

 nation of our forefathers. Long ago car- 

 nations were summer-blooming only and 

 such a thing as perpetual winter flower- 

 ing sorts was unknown. Furthermore, 

 the methods of greenhouse cultivation, as 

 now pursued, were practically undiscov- 

 ered prior to forty years ago. In olden 

 times greenhouse carnations were grown 

 and bloomed in pots, but nowadays flo- 

 rists plant them out in beds on open 



benches in their glass houses. No other 

 method would pay. 



The carnations we grow are known the 

 world over as "American" carnations, 

 for in their general makeup they differ 

 materially from the rigidly symmetrical 

 European varieties. Europe requires a 

 perfectly circular flower, the petals of 

 which are free from notches, indentions 

 or fringe; with us, providing the flower 

 is otherwise good, we pay no attention to 

 indentions or fringe on the outer petals. 

 Besides, in beauty and purity ,of color, 

 health, vigor, adaptability and florifer- 

 ousness the American varieties are supe- 

 rior to those of Europe, and even the 

 conservative Old World is becoming alive 

 to th^^fact, and our carnations are tak- 

 ing prec^ence over their own sorts. 



What Constitutes a good carnation? 

 First, the plant must be a healthy and 

 vigorous grower, a free and continuous 

 bloomer and show no tendency to disease; 

 the flower stems must be stiff, strong, 

 erect and leafy; the blossom must he 

 large, full, symmetrical, and of a clean, 

 clear, pleasing color; the calyx or flower 

 cup must not burst, and blooms must 

 keep well after being cut and show no 

 inclination to go to sleep. 



Three inches across is the average size 

 of a good carnation, but we have many 

 varieties that exceed this measurement, 

 while some of the new sorts reach four 

 inches through. The hybridists are work- 

 ing for four-inch flowers. The Mal- 

 maisons, a gigantic class of carnations 

 grown in Europe, have massive flowers 

 four to five inches in diameter, but their 

 blooming period is of quite limited dura- 

 tion, and our florists declare there is 

 more money in growing Lawsons at $1 

 a hundred than in Malmaisons at 50 cents 

 apiece, and our gardeners are generally 

 credited with some business sagacity. 

 Unfortunately, in our rush after size and 

 appearance we are losing sight of that 

 most delightful quality of the old-fash- 

 ioned carnation — fragrance; while some 

 kinds are deliciously scented, other sorts 

 have lost in this direction. 



Raising New Sorts. 



We must keep on raising new varieties, 

 for old varieties run out. Twenty years 

 ago Hector was our best scarlet, Grace 

 Wilder, pink; Mrs. Fisher, white, and 

 Anna Webb, crimson. Today none of 

 these is on the market; they have been 

 completely superseded by others. 



Does raising new sorts pay? Properly 

 handled, yes. Some years ago the coun- 

 try was startled by a plunge into carna- 

 tions by Thomas W. Lawson, king of 

 frenzied finance. It was reported that 



