J4 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Apeii. 7, 1910. 



od of sjirayiiifr can bo devised in control 

 thoni. Tl]cy arc oviilontly more or loss 

 soil oryaiiisiiis and are probably carried 

 over in ilir sdII, or in or <m diseased seed 

 conns, or jiossibiy e\en adiieriilu to the 

 surfa(<' of Ilea It by cornis tiiat have been 

 in contact with diseased ones. As to 

 which -of tiiese iiu-thods prevails or when 

 and liow infection takes place, we have 

 yet to learn. We therefore consiiler it 

 jiroliable that certain sanitary nietiiods of 

 handling,' the crop would natnraily rednce 

 the rot in many cases. Willi this'in view, 

 the follow ino r.\|ieriiiK'iits ai'o siiyyesfed: 



Field Experiments. 



I'la! I. i'eil'ectly sound seed conns on 

 soil- wJiere L:ladi(di li;i\c iic\cr been 



gTOWW. 



Pl.-U II. J'ril'ectly sound seed cornis, 

 sterili/.cil bv inunersincr in five |)er cent 

 formalin for ten nunutes. on sidl where 

 gladioli have never been grown. 



I'lat Ml. ])iseased seed'corin< on soil 

 where gladioli jiave m^scv Iwen gi'own. 



Plat IV. Healthy see<l cornis on soil 

 where dlseasi^l conns had grown last 

 year. 



I'lat y. Diseased conns on soil where 

 diseased gladioli had grown last year. 



Plat A' I. Healthy seed coring; steril- 

 ized, on diseased soil. 



Plat VJI. Healthy and diseased seed 

 corms on tiiseased soil, heaxily linn-d, two 

 tons per acre. 



I'lat VI II. Healthy and diseased seed 

 conns on diseased soil fertilized lieavily 

 with acid jthosjihate, ],UUO i)onnds per 

 acre. In seleeting sound seeil corms the 

 husks mu«t lie removeil and each exam- 

 ined very carefully. 



In cultivating, the infection may be 

 carried to the new soil jdats by tools. If 

 available, use another S(?t for these. If 

 not, cultivate (dean plats first each time. 



Observe conditio^is at harvest time and 

 store conns from each plat separately. 



Sort in winter, to determine the per- 

 centage of rot in each. 



Harvesting Experiments. 



I wouhi suggest some experiments in 

 regard to harvesting. It seems that the 

 disease ■•ontinues to develop quite seri- 

 ously after liarvesting, in storage. Now, 

 whether tlie infection has all taken place 

 in the fi<'ld or continues to take jilace in 

 storage, nc are not able to state j)Osi- 

 tively. \i' it continues to take place in 

 storage, there is a i>ossibility of the 

 germs of the fungus being spread from 

 the aU'eite.l Imlbs to the healthy ones 

 during tlo- process of harvesting. To 

 illustrate: If the conns are harvestetl 

 and thrown together in th(> bins with the 

 old mothei- corms still adhering, and arc 

 alloweil to -land for a conj>le of weeks or 

 so btdore cleaning up and reino\ing the 

 old ciiiin<. there \vould seem to be .ample 

 chance foi- the germs to lie spread into 

 all the rorins of the bin fiom the lew 

 diseaseil one-, by means of the p;irti(des 

 of Soil iliiit ;irr adhering to them. I>ur- 

 ing this tiiiM'. unless they ha\c been tlior- 

 ouglily ijiied at li;ir\ est ing, t liey ;ire likely 

 to take iiioii' or less of n swe.-it. which 

 result-. |Miii;i|p-. in j)i-oducti<in of siilli- 

 cicnt moisture lo favor infecti(ni, ^vher- 

 ever the fungiis is present. New. you 

 will iMideislaiid. ol' course, that this is 

 mor<dy u sii^::^csl ion as to \\li;it might 

 happeu. :iiid I would not dai-e lo hibel 

 it as e\eii pidliable. as yet, luit experi- 

 ments as outlined lielow sjiould give US 

 some light "u this point. '-r-- 



I'irst, select some variety tli.at is siis- 

 cci)tilih' to i|ei-ay in stur.age. In harM-sting 

 in the fall, ollnw ear)i i-oiiii in lie where 



it has been inilled 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 

 lorms to drv tlioroughlv before being 



heaped together, and remove the mother 

 corm and as much of the adhering soil 

 :is possibh' before they are heaped to- 

 gether in the bins. Another row, close 

 iiy, gather and dry and store in bins with 

 the motiier conns attached, and re-sort 

 two or three weeks hater in the usual way. 



Erkett 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 impro\omeut of the car- 

 nation, to familiarize its members with 

 the best ami most economical methods of 

 its cultivation, to encourage the produi'- 

 tion of new and better varieties than 

 heretofore 'ha\'e been grown, .and to con- 

 demn the <lissemiiiation of new and im- 

 properly tested sorts that are no improve- 

 ment o\vv oldtn* kinds. 



The Carnation of Yore. 



The old-fashioned carnation or pink 

 has been a favorite garden llower for 

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

 ing onh'. In Kuropean gardens hun- 

 dreds of varieties of it are grown, and 

 this has been the case for 400 years. It 

 has several pojiular names, such as gilly- 

 llower, sops of Avine and clove pink. 



It is claimed that the name carnation 



was given to it because of the cojnmon 



use made of its blossoms in garlfTnds 



in ancient times. Pliny mentions it in 



his list t)f garland tlowers used by the 



Romans and Athenians, and Xicander 



also gives it in his list of (Ireek garland 



plants. Uthers insist that the name of 



carnation simply means the lU>sh-colored 



tint of th.e blossoms. 



C.-irnalidiiM like .'i -Icej.inj; iufniu's check. 



— Bynm. 



Divine flower is simply the meaning of 

 the generic name, Dianthus: Dios. di- 

 vine; anthos, flower. 



nillyflowcr, often applied to carnations 

 in general, more pointedly refers to the 

 \ariously ccdored or \ariegate<l flowered 



sorts. 



■|!ic f.'iinsl 

 Are liiir laniMl iMii> 

 Wiiilc'i-'' 



Sojis in wine \\;is a name given to the 

 ciinison (loxc pink. Chaucer tells iis 



.\:iil IIIIM.V M ll.illc t.'illiflC. 



T" |iut ill ale. 

 Wlicllicr ii Ire iicii-l (ir stale 



The Carnation of Today. 



The carnation of today is not the car 

 nation of our forefathers. Pong ago car- 

 nations were summer-blooming only and 

 ^iich a tiling as perpetual winter flower- 

 ing sorts was unknown. I'^irthermore, 

 the methods of greenhouse cultivation, as 

 now pursued, were practically undisiov- 

 ered prior to forty years ago. In olden 

 times greenhouse carnations were grown 

 and bloomed in pots, but nowadays flo- 

 rists jdaiit theiii out in beds on open 



liiwers o' tlie -easciii 



ami streakM irill.vlloweis. 

 ; 'I. -lie. Act IV. S(Vne :;. 



letichc s in their glass houses. No other 

 method would pay. 



The carnations we grow are known the 

 world over as "American" carnations, 

 for i^i 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. 

 Pesides, in beauty and purity of color, 

 health, vigor, adaptability and florifer- 

 ousness the American varieties are supe- 

 rior to those of Europte, and even the 

 conservative Old World is becoming alive 

 to this fact, and our carnations are tak- 

 ing jirecedenco over their own sorts. 



What constitutes a good carnation? 

 First, the plant must be a healthy and 

 vigorous grower, a free and continuous 

 bloomer aiid show no tendency to disease; 

 the flower stems must be stiff, strong, 

 erect ami leafy ; the blossom must be 

 large, full, symmetrical, and of a clean, 

 clear, jdeasing color; the calyx or flower 

 cup must not burst, and blooms must 

 keej) 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 

 f(Mir to five inches in dij»neter, but their 

 blooming period is of quite limited dura- 

 tion, and our florists declare there is 

 more money in growing Lawsons at $1 

 :i hundred than in Malmaisons at 50 cents 

 ajdece, and oiir gardeners are generally 

 credited with some business sagacity. 

 I'nfoi iuiiat(dy, in <iur rush after size and 

 appear.ance w(> aii' losing sight of that 

 most delightful quality of the old-fash- 

 ioned carnation — fi'agrance; while some 

 kinds .are deliciously scented, other sorts 

 lia\e lost in this direction. 



Raising New Sorts. 



We must keep on raising new varieties, 

 for old varieties run out. Twenty ye.ars 

 ago Hector was our best scarlet, Grace 

 Wihler, junk; .Mrs. Fisher, white, aii'l 

 Anna \Vebb, crimson. Today none of 

 these is on the mtirket ; they have been 

 completely superseded by others. 



Does raising new sorts pay? Pro]ierly 

 handled, yes. Some years ago the coiin- 

 tr.\ wiis startled by a plunge into carna- 

 tions by Thomas W. Lawson, king of 

 frenzied finance. It was reported that 



