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MARCH 23, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



17 



has been in cultivation upward of 2,000 

 jears. Certainly the carnation, or gilly- 

 flower, as it was then termed, would 

 appear insignificant beside its progeny 

 of today. Our greatest poet, Shake- 

 speare, speaks of the carnation in one 

 of his poems as the "flower of the 

 season. ' " 



Origin of the American Carnation. 



We read, and also learn from our 

 one or two carnation pioneers, that 

 the American carnation originated 

 about sixty years ago on Long Island, 

 not gaining niucli headway until 1890, 

 when John McGowau introduced Lizzie 

 McGowan, followed in 1893 by Dor- 

 ner's William Scott. 



One of our most successful origina- 

 tors is Peter Fisher, who introduced 

 Mrs. T. W. Lawson, which was sold 

 for $30,00U, and which was followed 

 by Encliantress, the only carnation 

 that has stood the test of time with 

 our growers, wholesalers and retailers 

 of the present day. 



Twenty years or more ago, when Mc- 

 Gowan, Albertini, Scott and Keller 

 were grown, a 2-inch flower was con- 

 sidered the limit and many a grower 

 would puff out his chest if he espied 

 one just a shade larger. It is also quite 

 amusing when I think how in many 

 ■cases we used to let three or even more 

 buds develop on one stem, picking each 

 bud short-stemmed and in many cases 

 just the calyx stuck on a toothpick. 

 We would send them to the begging 

 wholesalers and net more than we do 

 now for our best flowers. 



Today we have varieties such as 

 Dorothy Gordon, the Enchantress fam- 

 ily, White Perfection, Mrs. Patten, C. 

 W. Ward, T. W. Lawson, Pink Delight 

 and Harlowarden. Some grow one or 

 two varieties well, while they fail on 

 others; therefore some recommend cer- 

 tain varieties, while others prefer other 

 sorts. Then, with this year's distribu- 

 tion we have White House, the prince 

 of whites, and Princess Charming, the 

 queen of pinks. 



Some of the Latest Arrivals. 



Kegarding Charming, the improved 

 Enchantress, we go so far as to say 

 that Enchantress here will meet its 

 Waterloo before many more months 

 have passed. It has not split under 

 various conditions of weather and cer- 

 tainly this past winter has been a true 

 test. We like it so well that we shall 

 plant all the stock we can. Both 

 Charming and White House are good 

 shippers and well worthy of the recom- 

 mendation they have received. These 

 varieties are certainly an improvement 

 on previous introductions. Of this 

 year's batch there are also Washing- 

 ton, the improved Lawson, and White 

 W^onder and Gloriosa. 



While speaking here on novelties I 

 should just like to mention the new 

 variety called Wodenethe. It is going 

 to take all before it next year. Most 

 of you have heard of it. Now compare 

 Lizzie McGowan with this variety and 

 jou will form a clearer idea of the 

 strides in twenty years. It has been 

 claimed by authorities to be the great- 

 ■est carnation in existence. Just think! 

 We have cut several flowers — I will 

 not say all of them — just a shade under 

 five inches across and three inches in 

 •depth, with a strong stem three to four 

 feet long. This variety was scored 

 ninety -three points by the committee 

 of the New York Florists' Club; so you 



Carnation Pennsylvania Grown on Solid Beds. 



may be assured of its value. I wish 

 you all could have seen it the day it 

 was judged. 



Some Cultural Hints. 



Now, talking about varieties, etc., 

 is not growing them, and 1 prefer to 

 grow them rather than write or talk 

 about them, but you have asked me to 

 write these few notes and I could 

 scarcely refuse to do so, since I feel 

 somewhat indebted to you all. I will 

 begin, therefore, by stating to those 

 who have not had as extensive experi- 

 ence as a few of our worthy members 

 here, that it is np sinecure to grow the 

 carnation successfully. 



While we do not profess to always 

 have a lot of first-class flowers at our 

 greenhouses, we certainly make a spe- 

 cialty of having the young stock in 

 a proper condition to ship to our cus- 

 tomers all over the world. 



In these brief cultural notes it is 

 hardly possible to go into details. As 

 you all know, the cutting bench should 

 be filled with clean, close sand, so that 

 when the cuttings root they will have 

 plenty of sand to cling to. The old 

 idea of using gritty sand is mislead- 

 ing. Then they should be potted up in 

 2 14 -inch pots, in beds or benches, and 

 after being sufficiently established they 

 should be pinched back hard and 

 worked along in that condition until 

 July, when they are planted into the 

 bench. From then on is a most critical 

 time. A wet summer will invariably 

 cause a lot of stem-rot, which can be 

 much checked by blowing slaked lime 

 with a sulphur bellows in between the 

 plants. After planting they should be 

 kept sprayed three or four times a day 

 until properly established, keeping 

 plenty of ventilation on, but not allow- 

 ing a direct draft. 



As regards supports, some people pre- 

 fer the round wire supports, which are 

 useful in- private places, but where one 

 has many to handle it is better to use 

 the long wires and thread them through 

 crossways with string. 



Temperature and Moisture. 



There has always been a difference 

 of opinion about the temperature in 



which carnations should be grown. I 

 find that all white carnations will 

 stand more heat than colored ones. The 

 temperature should never on any occa- 

 sion be allowed to drop below 50 de- 

 grees at night and 60 degrees in the 

 daytime, and whites will take five per 

 cent more heat. 



The benches should never be allowed 

 to dry out. When you permit this to 

 happen and then water them, it gives 

 too great an impetus to the plants, 

 thereby causing a considerable number 

 of splits. I do not believe any per- 

 son ever lived who can prevent splits. 

 It can be helped somewhat by watch- 

 ing the temperature closely, but one 

 cannot rule the weather and you will 

 always notice that when a period of 

 dull weather is followed by two or 

 three bright days, a large percentage 

 of flowers split. 



As regards pests, red spider is about 

 the worst, but this cannot well- be 

 avoided in dull weather. One is afraid 

 to syringe on account of getting rust, 

 and if he does not syringe he will be 

 badly annoyed by spider. A good, 

 strong application of Aphine will erad- 

 icate red spider. Fumigation should be 

 resorted to in case of aphis. I find a 

 little tobacco powder and red pepper 

 the best. As regards rust, the Aphine 

 Mfg. Co. has a new solution that eradi- 

 cates rust. I am glad to say that we 

 are seldom troubled with the latter 

 two pests. 



From the Shipper's Point of View. 



I should just like to mention here, 

 from the shipper's point of view, how 

 hard it is to please everybody. A lot 

 of growers invariably buy the cuttings 

 out of the sand. They have them ex- 

 j)ressed to them, and perhaps, on ar- 

 rival, they lie around a few hours; then 

 they are potted and often placed in a 

 bright house, with no papers over them. 



If people will buy rooted cuttings 

 they must expect a certain amount of 

 loss. One cannot guarantee, under the 

 best of conditions, that they will be all 

 right after their transfer to perhaps an 

 entirely different continent. Speaking 

 of this reminds me that we sent orders 

 of 3,000 carnations to W. W. Wells, in 



