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14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



December 1, 1910. 



OENEBAL CARNATION CULTURE. 



Kindly tell me what would be con- 

 sidered ideal conditions for growing 

 carnations — the best time to take the 

 cuttings, to put them in the field and 

 to lift them in the fall, with some in- 

 formation about the soil in the houses, 

 the type of house, etc. 1 am located 

 in central Michigan. H. H. G. 



Your query covers practically the 

 whole calendar of carnation growing, 

 and to answer it fully would require 

 more space than The Review could well 

 spare. Then, too, conditions vary so 

 much in different localities, and markets 

 are so different, that it is impossible 

 for one to lay down exact rules for 

 someone else to follow. What sugges- 

 tions I shall give you will have to be 

 modified to suit your conditions. 



The ideal type of house would per- 

 haps be about forty-six feet wide, run- 

 ning east and west, and with two-thirds 

 of the glass on the south side of the 

 ridge. Such a house would contain six 

 beds and seven walks. Make it any 

 length you want. Large houses are 

 undoubtedly the best, if no division of 

 temperature is needed. Place venti- 

 lators on each side of the ridge, and 

 on the sides under the gutters or eaves. 

 If more houses are to be added, then 

 leave enough space between them so 

 that the one will not shade the other 

 when the sun is at the lowest point in 

 December. Run a narrow corridor from 

 the one to the other, to save going 

 outside in cold weather. If possible, 

 arrange to put the boiler house on the 

 north side. 



For our own growing we prefer cut- 

 tings which are put into the sand in 

 January, so that they will come out 

 of the cutting bed from February 15 

 to March 1. Cuttings which are potted 

 up in early April will often make fine 

 stock under favorable conditions. The 

 earlier cuttings, however, can be de- 

 pended on to make fine plants in almost 

 any kind of season. We do not like 

 December struck cuttings, because the 

 young plants are too apt to become 

 stunted before planting-out time. If 

 they are shifted as they should be, they 

 will reach 4-inch pots by May, and, ex- 

 cept in rare cases, few growers care 

 to spare that much space for their 

 young carnation stock. The result is 

 stunted plants. 



The time of planting in the field will 

 have to depend entirely on your locality 

 and climate. Get them out as early as 

 you can with safety, but do not run 

 any chances of their being out in a 

 heavy frost. A slight frost will not do 

 them any serious damage if the plants 

 were properly hardened off before being 

 planted out. We usually get ours out 

 during the first half of May. 



We consider the last half of July 

 and the first half of August the best 

 time to house the plants. By that time 

 the plants have grown to fair size and 



the more thrifty ones can be selected 

 at a glance. During that time, too, 

 there is usually less rain and the growth 

 is less succulent, permitting the lifting 

 of the plants with less wilting and loss 

 of foliage than would be possible later. 

 Occasionally we see a bench which took 

 hold splendidly though planted in Sep- 

 tember, but the difference is generally 

 evident when winter sets in. The plants 

 are not so well established and the 

 quality is lacking in the bloom. 



There are few soils that will not 

 grow at least fairly good stock. The 

 point is to have it in a proper state of 

 fertility and in good mechanical condi- 

 tion. By the latter I mean to have it 

 in such condition that the roots of the 

 plants will work through it freely, so 

 as to get what plant food there is in 

 it. It should appear mellow and should 

 crumble readily. You will find that 

 while the plants will take hold a little 

 more quickly in a light, sandy soil, the 

 blooms will be larger and of better tex- 

 ture if there is just a suspicion of clay 

 in its composition. Handle a soil of 

 this texture only when it is in the 

 proper state of moisture, else it will 

 become lumpy and unfit to use. 



A. F. J. B. 



the season at higher prices than have 

 been paid for any other varieties, will 

 ■she interested in the accompanying 

 "^illustration, showing the bench of Car- 

 nation Mrs. C. W. Ward from which 

 Weiss & Sons have cut these fancy 

 blooms. Weiss & Sons have one large 

 house devoted to Mrs. C. W. Ward and 

 Alma Ward and referring to them 

 they say: "We think these are the 

 best carnations on the market today, 

 not only in regard to size of flower and 

 length of stem, but as money makers. 

 This is especially true of Mrs. C. W. 

 Ward. We started to cut the Wards 

 September 1 of this season and up to 

 today (November 18) we have cut five 

 blooms per plant of Mrs. Ward and 

 four blooms per plant of Alma Ward. 

 The plants at present carry from fifteen 

 to twenty-five flowering shoots. We 

 plan to plant 25,000 to 30,000 next 

 vear. ' ' 



THE WARDS. 



Those who have read the items in 

 the Philadelphia news-letter referring 

 to the high quality of blooms of Carna- 

 tions Mrs. C, W. Ward and Alma Ward 

 cut by Harry M. Weiss & Sons, Hat- 

 boro, Pa., and sold in the Philadelphia 

 market steadily since the opening of 



STIQMONOSE ON WINSORS. 



r am enclosing a few leaves from my 

 Winsor carnation plants. As you will 

 see, the leaves have light streaks 

 through them. Will you be kind enough 

 to state the reason for this and the best 

 remedy for it? What is the best night 

 temperature for carnations, such as 

 Winsor, the Enchantress varieties. 

 White Perfection and Beacon? 



C. S. L. 



Your Winsors are affected with the 

 disease called stigmonose, described" on 

 page 17 of The Review of November 

 24. Winsor has run its course with the 

 majority of growers and I doubt seri- 

 ously whether it would pay you to try 

 to work the disease out of your stock. 

 It would take several years to. accom- 

 plish this, and by that time Winsor 

 would likely be decidedly outclassed. 



Winsor, like Lawson, likes a tempera- 

 ture of about 54 degrees. Beacon likes 

 52 degrees and so does White Perfec- 

 tion, while Enchantress seems to be 

 best in quality at 50 degrees. 



A. F. J. B. 



Bench of Carnation Mn. C V. Ward. 



