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12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Max 6, 1009. 



Hydrangeas. 



Mentioning hydrangeas reminds us that 

 there are many who carry . over speci- 

 mens of these plants in tubs or large 

 pots. These will be growing quite a lit- 

 tle now, no matter how cool a shed or 

 cellar they may be in. The impulse to 

 stand them outside may be strong^ buj: 

 these hydrangea shoots are tender now 

 and a mere breath of frost would ruin 

 them. Be sure that if you do place your 

 plants outdoors you have some facilities 

 for covering them on cold nights. April 

 proved an unusually cold month and, to 

 make up for the excess of temperature 

 during the winter, May is not unlikely 

 to be cool also. 



HYDRANGEAS FOR EASTER. 



I wish to grow several hundred hy- 

 drangeas, pink and purple, in 4-inch pots 

 for Easter, 1910, to produce one stem 

 and one bloom. When should the cut- 



tings be planted, and after being rooted 

 what cultural methods must be followed 

 to produce nice, low plants and large 

 heads of bloom? Where can these cut- 

 tings be secured? H. C. H. 



Four-inch is a rather small size of pot 

 in which to grow sizable heads of hy- 

 drangeas, and we would advise you to 

 give Ihem 5-inch pots. The latter size 

 you will find none too large. Of course, 

 you can grow plants with a single head 

 of bloom in 4-inch, but it entails great 

 care in watering and more feeding to 

 secure presentable stock. Cuttings should 

 be rooted during May in an ordinary 

 cutting bench, potted off into 2% -inch 

 pots and later shifted into the 4-inch, in 

 which you propose flowering them. Keep 

 them under glass in either the greenhouse 

 or coldframes, until they are well rooted 

 in the 4-inch pots. Early in October 

 gradually reduce the water supply; not 

 too suddenly, or you may lose the plants. 



Your aim should be to gradually (Jry 

 them until the leaves fall and the shoots 

 are firm and of a nutty brown color. At 

 this season keep them under glass to pro- 

 tect them from heavy rains, but give 

 them all possible sunshine. 



Easter, 1910, comes early, and to have 

 your plants in bloom by March 27 they 

 must have been thoroughly ripened and 

 rested, for they must be started again by 

 Christmas, and the middle of December 

 will be safer. A temperature of 45 de- 

 grees is ample for a start; 60 to 65 de- 

 grees can be given later to hurry them, 

 but hard forcing will mean leggy plants. 

 An abundant water supply and feeding 

 once in four or five days will be needed 

 to keep the plants toned up. You can 

 get suitable cuttings from any plants 

 which are not flowering. If you have 

 none, you can probably secure rooted 

 cuttings from one of the firms who ad- 

 vertise this class of stock in the Review. 



C. W. 



CAUSE OF SPLIT CALYXES. 



If the Common Theory Correct ? 



We have been bothered more or less 

 with the splitting of the carnation calyx, 

 and we believe there must be a reason 

 for it. Though we have talked with a 

 number of florists and have read nearly 

 every article obtainable, concerning this 

 subject, we have been unable to obtain 

 any satisfactory explanation. We notice 

 that the general opinion is that the cause 

 is sudden changes in temperature. That 

 may be the cause, but has any one ever 

 proven it to be sol We are looking for 

 information and are not merely skep- 

 tical. If anyone can give us any light 

 on the subject, we would receive it gladly. 



Everyone may have a theory, but to 

 prove it is another matter. Our theory 

 has not been proven, so it is open for 

 criticism and we wish the weak points 

 brought to light. Our carnation houses 

 are not partitioned from each other, so 

 we do not wish to experiment, as it might 

 be rather expensive for a commercial 

 grower, if the theory were proven false. 



A Cue From the Botanistc 



The theory is as follows: Botanists 

 claim that flowers and . fruits of ordi- 

 nary plants develop as well in darkness 

 as in the light, the reason being that 

 the starch formed in the daylight, and 

 stored in the chlorophyl bodies or green 

 parts of the plant, is made soluble in 

 darkness, thus allowing it to be imbibed 

 by the protoplasm, furnishing food to 

 the non-chlorophyl-bearing parts. On the 

 other hand, botanists claim that the green 



parts of plants grow only in the light. 

 Now then, if these statements are true 

 and if we understand them correctly, the 

 flower of the carnation develops at night, 

 while the calyx grows only during the 

 day. 



To anyone who examines a split car- 

 nation, it appears as if the flower part 

 had grown too rapidly for the calyx, 

 since carnations may be found to be split 

 even in the bud. What truth may be in 

 the supposition is not for us to say. 



Taking the botanists' theory concern- 

 ing daylight and darkness, and our own 

 observation of the split calyx, we would 

 say that for some reason or other the 

 flower part grows too rapidly at night 

 or the calyx does not grow rapidly 

 enough in the daytime. 



A 'Worldng Hypothesis. 



For the growth of plants we naturally 

 look to heat. It may be, then, that we 

 have too much heat at night or not 

 enough in the day, or both. Taking this 

 as a working hypothesis, it only remains 

 to be proven. 



At present we keep our night tempera- 

 ture as near 48 degrees as possible, but 

 to test the theory we believe the tem- 

 perature should go down to 45 degrees 

 about 1 o'clock. We believe the most 

 natural way is to gradually lower the 

 temperature from 1 o'clock in the after- 

 noon till 1 o 'clock in the morning, and 

 then gradually raise it again until it 

 reaches its maximum at 1 p. m. 



In all probability this would be al- 

 most impossible to follow exactly; never- 

 theless, it gives us a mark to aim at. 

 The day temperature could not be kept 



as regular as at night, but at 1 o'clock, 

 if the sun were shining, it would reach 

 its highest point anyway, that point de- 

 pending on the strength of the sun. 

 Even on cloudy days we believe the 

 thermometer should reach at least 62 de- 

 grees. 



These are merely suggestions and the 

 theory is given for discussion. It may 

 be entirely wrong, but it is given in the 

 hope that it may start someone. to think- 

 ing who will finally solve the problem of 

 the split carnation, which is a puzzle to 

 all florists. H. M. Harvey. 



POLLANiyS CARNATIONS. 



His Methods of Culture. 



J. S. Polland, of Eldora, la., has some 

 clearly defined ideas with reference to 

 carnation culture, which he has expressed 

 as follows: 



"I find early spring cuttings are best, 

 as they seem to grow more rapidly as 

 the days grow longer. Choose strong, 

 healthy cuttings of medium size from the 

 most vigorous, healthiest and best bloom- 

 ing plants. Take a batch of these and 

 trim them, and have a tub with strong 

 lime water, in which immerse the cut- 

 tings for a half hour or so. Then wash 

 them with soap suds thoroughly, and af- 

 ter they are clean rinse with clear water. 

 This process cleanses them of thrips' 

 eggs, or any disease that might after- 

 wards give much trouble; it insures clean 

 plants. 



' ' The bench is washed and limed. The 

 bottom is pretty close, so the cuttings 

 will not dry out. Only one good water- 



