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12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Dbcbmbsb 22, 1910. 



NEW TYING DEVICE. 



G. S. Ramsburg, who is a grower at 

 Somersville, N. H., recently has se- 

 cured a patent on a new plant tying 

 device made of spring wire, the sim- 

 plicity of which is shown in the ac- 

 companying illustration. It really is 

 not a tie but a loop, no knots being 

 made. It is a combination device and 

 readily clamps to a stake or holds to a 

 cord, as desired. The tyin^ or looping 

 is simple and rapid and any number of 



plants or branches can be held inde- 

 pendently, which alone is a great ad- 

 vantage in saving of time and flowers, 

 as not all of the blossoms on a plant are 

 ready to cut at the same time, and thus 

 there is not a tangle when one is taken, 

 as is sometimes the case with the old 

 and tedious method, when a numbef of 

 plants are tied together in order to 

 save time. There are no bits of cord 

 left on the stems, as the string remains 

 in the device. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



Amaryllis. 



The bulbs of amaryllis, having had a 

 few weeks of rest, will now be hard 

 and nicely ripened. Some will probably 

 be already pushing their flower spikes. 

 It is neither necessary nor advisable to 

 overhaul and start all the bulbs at once. 

 Better bring some into heM each week, 

 in order to provide a steady succession, 

 unless a large number are needed for 

 some special occasion. All the bulbs 

 may not require repotting, but see that 

 the drainage is efficient, and where the 

 roots are sound and active and the pots 

 of sufficient size, a liberal top-dressing 

 may suffice for another season, supple- 

 mented, of course, during the growing 

 season by frequent applications of 

 liquid manure. A good compost for 

 amaryllis consists of two-thirds fibrous 

 loam, with the finer particles discard- 

 ed; one-third dried and moderately 

 lumpy cow manure, a dash of bone meal 

 and soot, and plenty of sharp sand. 

 Such a compost will be porous. In a 

 pasty soil the roots will rot rather than 

 revel. After repotting or top-dressing, 

 place the plants in a night temperature 

 of 60 degrees, and if they can stand on 

 a bench where they can get some bot- 

 tom heat, they will succeed all the bet- 

 ter for it. 



It is cheaper to raise amaryllis from 

 seed, rather than buy bulbs. If the 

 latter are good hybrids, they will cost 

 high. Purchase a few packets of a 

 first-class strain from some specialist; 

 sow at once in pans or flats of light and 

 sandy soil, and in a night temperature 

 of 70 degrees they will not be long in 

 germinating. Prick off in flats when 

 big enough to handle and later pot off 

 singly. Keep them growing without 

 rest until they flower. It is a common 

 error to rest seedlings the first fall 

 after sowing. This only weakens them 

 and greatly delays the flowering sea- 

 son. Seedlings have been flowered in 

 fifteen to eighteen months, but they 

 usually take two to three years to do 

 so. Their flowers are so large and mag- 

 nificent that they amply repay anyone 

 for all the trouble they may have en- 

 tailed. 



Bouvardia Humboldtii. 



While the small flowering bouvardias 

 seem to be less grown each year, the 

 variety Humboldtii is once more grow- 

 ing in popular favor. This is not, as 

 some suppose, a comparatively new 



variety, but has been in continuous 

 cultivation for thirty-six years. It is 

 far the finest of the family. Its large, 

 pure white racemes of flowers have a 

 delicious odor, which is especially pro- 

 nounced at night. Flowers of this bou- 

 vardia are now procurable almost the 

 year around in some of the big mar- 

 kets, and bunches carrying stems two 

 to three feet long are grown by some 

 specialists. 



B. Humboldtii is an easy variety to 

 propagate. While the bulk of bouvar- 

 dias are most readily increased from 



Ramsburg's New Tying Device. 



root cuttings, it roots as easily as a 

 chrysanthemum from soft-wood cut- 

 tings, and any plants which have fin- 

 ished blooming, if placed in a warm, 

 moist house, will soon throw a heavy 

 crop of cuttings. If planted outdoors 

 after danger of frost has gone and 

 pinched once or twice to induce bushi- 

 ness, quite large plants will be pro- 

 duced by September, and these, when 

 potted or benched and grown in a tem- 

 perature of 60 degrees, will yield a fine 

 crop of delightfully fragrant flowers. 

 Any florist who has not yet tried this 

 bouvardia should plan to do so. 



Primulas. 



Quite a number of plants of both 

 Primula Sinensis and P. obconica will 

 probably have been disposed of for 

 Christmas. There are always, however, 

 many plants which are hardly in a 



salable condition so early. Primula* 

 are at their best in January and Feb- 

 ruary and it should be possible to dis- 

 pose of a good number during the first 

 months of the year. All of the primulas 

 named make excellent house plants and, 

 if given a suitable location and proper 

 treatment, will flower quite a long time. 

 Primulas, to be shapely and salable, 

 must have room. Let each plant stand 

 clear of its neighbor. Grown thus and 

 kept close to the glass, the plants will 

 be shapely, stocky and floriferous. Do 

 not feed heavily. Soot water will help 

 to keep the leaves a deep, lustrous 

 green, and weak cow manure water 

 once a week is also good. The twO' 

 fertilizers are often combined by being 

 mixed in the same barrel or tank, and 

 this is really the best way to apply 

 them. 



In order to get strong, early flower- 

 ing primulas for Christmas, 1911, seed 

 should be secured now and sown as 

 early as possible. The soil should bo 

 light, mainly leaf -mold, with some sand 

 added. A warm, moist house is neces- 

 sary for early and successful germina- 

 tion. In P. Sinensis, such varieties as 

 Crimson King, Chiswick Bed and 

 Covent Garden Red will sell on sight at 

 Christmas. In P. obconica, the variety 

 Kermesina, rich crimson in color, is 

 what is needed. Of course, other colors 

 than these will sell, but for Christmas 

 bright colors always have the first call. 



Calceolarias. 



The lower the temperature outdoors, 

 the better calceolarias indoors appear 

 to grow. They are impatient of strong 

 heat and never grow so well as during 

 the cold winter months. An arid at- 

 mosphere, wild extremes in temperature 

 and careless watering are all injurious ;^ 

 so, also, is green aphis, which will soon 

 ruin the plants if unchecked. Calceola- 

 rias that are flowering should be broken 

 from the sun's rays. Plants needing a 

 final shift should have fibrous yellow 

 loam, with a little leaf-mold and some 

 soot, sand and cow manure added. 

 Grow where there is as little fire heat 

 as possible and give the plants a good 

 spraying each bright afternoon. 



Allamandas. 



Keep allamandas, both of the climb- 

 ing and dwarf varieties, dry at the 

 root, so that the leaves may gradually 

 disappear and the wood become hard 

 and well ripened. These allamandas 

 are useful in the summer months, when 

 choice flowering plants are quite scaree,^ 

 and their value for table decorations, 

 to say nothing of house adornment, is 

 not half appreciated. Those who want 

 something really nice during July and 

 August should try a few allamandas. 

 They succeed well under ordinary 

 greenhouse culture, except when need- 

 ed in bloom early, in which case tropical 

 heat is necessary, but finer, stockier 

 plants are obtained if they are grown 

 cooler. It is still somewhat early to 

 start up plants, but such as are in tubs 

 or planted out will merely need some of 

 the surface soil removed and a rich top- 

 dressing added. If in pots, it is best 

 to shake away the soil fairly well and 

 place them in small sized receptacles at 

 first. Also be careful to water spar- 

 ingly until the roots become active and. 

 the plants start away into growth. 



Gloxinias. 



To have flowering gloxinia plants in 

 May, a batch of bulbs must be started 

 forthwith. Place them in flats of leaf- 



