18 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



OCTOBBB 12, 1911,.' 



THE MUM SPECIALIST'S NOTES. 



The Harvest Season. • ; • 



Flowers of many varieties are com- 

 ing in rapidly and by the middle of the 

 month there will be a good selection 

 of varieties in the market. The varie- 

 ties being cut this week are Gloria, 

 Beatrice May, Eosiere, Yellow Miller 

 and Mrs. J. A. Miller, following on the 

 heels of Monrovia, October Frost aaflt 

 Montmort. So far there has been lit- 

 tle damping on the flowers as compared 

 with other seasons, although we are 

 not yet out of the woods by any means. 



Growers in the interior do not real- 

 ize whftt it means when the sea fogs 

 drive for miles inland and a house of 

 chrysanthemums in full bloom may bo 

 rendered almost useless in a night froin 

 excessive moisture. In such cases the 

 only remedy is to close the house up 

 nearly tight, leaving just a little ven- 

 tilation to allow for a current of air, 

 and run a line of steam around the 

 house. 

 / Where there are no heavy fogs and 

 the temperature is low, there should 

 always be a line of steam in the house 

 to keep the atmosphere dry and buoy- 

 ant. 



Chrysanthemums seem to be looking 

 well with the exhibition growers. This 

 is somewhat surprising when we con- 

 sider the frightfully hot weather most 

 sections were subjected to during the 

 mouths of July and August. 



Careless Packing. 



In going through the wholesale mar- 

 ket, one is often struck by the care- 

 lessness with which the average grower 

 sends in his flowers. After spending 

 four to six months growing a crop it 

 certainly seems the height of folly not 

 to take sufficient care to get the flowers 

 on the market without getting them all 

 bruised up. 



Many growers use a deep box, like 

 a shoe box, jam as many flowers as 

 possible, into this without using tissue 

 paper between the flowers and then, 

 when the box is full, the top is pressed 

 doA^n as though it were a bale of hay 

 that^ras^berng packed and sent into 

 the market. In a few days the grower 

 is using lurid language and exclaiming 

 that ' ' chrysanthemums don 't pay ! ' ' 



It is true the margin of profit is 

 small, sometimes, but it is even smaller 

 in the case of careless growers who 

 do not seem to have learned the first 

 rudiments of packing. 



Make a pillow of old newspapers to 

 put under the heads of the bottom 

 layers. Use a small bit of tissue paper 

 between each bloom, so that the petals 

 do pot interlace and tear the flowers 

 apart wlien they are being taken out 

 of the box. Start the "second row of 

 flowers just beyond the first row and, 

 while. tke box should be full, it should 

 not be jammed. Then have a wooden 



cleat over the foliage to hold the cen- 

 ter firm. A box packed in this manner 

 should travel, with ordinary care, 500 

 or 600 miles without serious damage to 

 the contents. C. H. Totty. 



THE MUM AND ITS CULTUBE. 



[A paper by BImer D. Smith, Adrian, 

 Mich., read before the Chicago Floriets' 

 Club at Its sliver jubilee, October 5, 1911.] 



Although most of those present are 

 directly or indirectly interested in 

 chrysanthemums, I venture the large 

 majority do not consider the volumes 

 that have been written during the last 

 decade treating upon every phase of 

 this important branch of floriculture. 

 The trade papers have from time to 

 time presented excellent cultural notes, 

 and several ijtx^ts have been published 

 by able writers, so that our files are 

 filled with compilations of exceptional 

 merit, and adequate to the needs of 

 this vast country. Confronted by these 

 facts, it would be the height of folly 

 to attempt to offer food for thought 

 along new lines. The tillage has been 

 nearly or quite complete; and, further- 

 more, this is a complicated subject, 

 when we consider its diversified in- 

 terests. 



For these reasons it would seem wise 

 to present only the more important 

 features, and, presuming the majority 

 of your members are most interested 

 in commercial cut blooms, I will en- 

 deavor to give attention to this 

 aspect. 



Before discussing cultural methods 

 let us first consider best varieties for 

 our purpose. 



The Best Early Varieties. 



As the early kinds are first on the 

 market, they are naturally initial in 

 these deliberations. I have some mis- 

 givings in mentioning those I consider 

 best for this purpose, as it may appear 

 egotistical, inasmuch as the earliest 

 white, yellow and pink originated with 

 us. Smith's Advance and Golden Glow 

 are the earliest white and yellow and 

 may be had from July onward. 

 Unaka, for October 1, is the earliest 

 large flowering pink. 



There has been considerable discus- 

 sion as to the propriety of having va- 

 rieties which mature before the latter 

 part of September. This point must 

 be determined by those engaged in this 

 industry. Personally I would not ad- 

 vise growing in large quantities for 

 the wholesale market, unless the crop 

 is controlled so as to bring them in 

 about September 15 and later. The 

 grower who retails his products may, 

 with impunity, provide limited quan- 

 tities earlier in the season and use 

 them to good advantage. The question 

 is one of supply and demand, which 

 governs the florists' entire output, and 

 as the fall trade does not begin until 

 the latter part of September, it is a 



natural supposition that large quan- 

 tities could not be disposed of to ad- 

 vantage before there is a real demand. 



For early blooms the most impor- 

 tant feature is early planting, and 

 just when this should be done depends 

 upon the date they are to be cut. 

 Smith's Advance and Golden Glow 

 planted the first part of May and buds 

 selected about June 25 should mature 

 in the last half of August. Successive 

 plantings up to early June, securing 

 the first bud, will give a continuied 

 crop to late October. 



Unaka planted May 1 with buds se- 

 cured August 5 to 10 should all be 

 ready to cut in the first half of Octo- 

 ber. As it is a strong grower, with 

 stems four feet, incurved blooms over 

 six inches in diameter, and similar to 

 "William Duckham in color, though pos- 

 sibly a little brighter, it has no rival ^ 

 as an early pink. 



The Second Earlies. 



At the present ^me October Frost 

 and Donatello are making their appear- 

 ance. Both are good to follow Smith's 

 Advance and Golden Glow, but should 

 be planted in May or early June to se- 

 cure best results. 



For October 15 to November 1 we 

 would plant Oroba, a white coming in 

 a few days in advance of Ivory, pro- 

 ducing larger blooms and of splendid, 

 sturdy, dwarf habit. Chrysolora, for 

 yellow, is unsurpassed for this period, 

 being larger than Col. D. Appleton and 

 fifteen days earlier. It has stronger 

 stem and is of the best incurved form. 

 Gloria would be our choice for pink. 



These three, like the earlier kinds, 

 are more satisfactory when planted 

 fairly early, not later than June 15, 

 and buds secured about August 15, 

 which should insure the crop being cut 

 and out of the way before the mid- 

 season or November varieties are 

 ready. 



There are so many good midseason 

 kinds to select from it does not seem 

 necessary to mention them, and the 

 above remarks apply to the late flower- 

 ing section. 



Pompons, anemones and singles pos- 

 sess the desired qualities to a degree, 

 and are of special value to those who 

 retail their cut and cater to the best 

 trade. They lend grace and beauty to 

 floral arrangements; in fact, the best 

 effects can not be obtained without 

 them. The singles are more fragile 

 and are not so well adapted for con- 

 signments that necessitate rehandling. 



Preparation of the Soil. 



Soil is the first item to be considered 

 under the head of cultural methods. 

 Old sods, cut thin, from a moderately 

 firm soil and piled with one-fifth to one- 

 sixth their bulk of cow manure, six 

 months in advance, furnish the best 

 material for filling the bench. Some 



