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May 4, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



15 



OEEIVELDINQ'S METHODS. 



Practically all growers of carnations, 

 -chrysanthemums and other stock of like 

 nature think it profitable to change the 

 soil in the benches or beds, if beds are 

 used, once a year. That this is not al- 

 ways necessary, however, is testified by 

 the accompanying illustration showing 

 a carnation house at the range of N. 

 Greivelding, Merrill, Wis. Mr. Greivel- 

 ding says that he uses no benches, grow- 

 ing everything in solid beds, and that 

 he has not changed the soil for the last 

 five years, and yet the flowers this 

 year are as good as any previous year 

 and some of the blooms measured four 

 inches in diameter. 



In describing his method of culture, 

 Mr. Greivelding writes: "My beds are 

 all twelve inches high; in some I made 

 a ditch filled with stone for drainage, 

 but T can see little diflPerence in results 

 compared to those without drainage. I 

 give water according to the needs of the 

 plants and never feed with liquid ma- 

 nure. First I use lime, then hardwood 

 ashes, and follow these with sheep ma- 

 nure, bone, blood and a little sulphate 

 of potash. Most of these I apply sep- 

 arately, but sometimes I mix them all 

 together and use as a mulch. Most of 

 the feeding is done in the spring, be- 

 ginning about February 1 and contin- 

 uing every two weeks. Of course the 

 plants do not take it all up and what is 

 left enriches the soil for the next year 's 

 plants. 



"The first year my soil had green 

 scum over it, the second year it was a 

 little better, and the third year it was 

 all clean, showing that the soil im- 

 proved constantly. I have three beds of 

 new soil and three and one-half beds of 

 five-year-old soil and the plants in the 

 old soil are quite a little the best. 



"I grow my chrysanthemums the 

 same way and will plant my dahlias for 

 this summer in the same old soil. The 

 soil is a clay, but not a heavy one. I 

 throw out my carnations between June 

 15 and July 4, then spade over the soil 

 and let it dry out well for ten days, 

 when I again spade it over and leave it 

 for another ten days. Each time it is 

 left as rough as the spade throws it. 

 At the end of the second ten days I 

 water it well, put on rotted manure to 

 a thickness of about two inches, mix 

 it, level it, and plant the new stock. I 

 grow about 5,000 plants in these vari- 

 eties: May Day, Mrs. C. W. Ward, 

 Dorothy Gordon, Alma Ward, White 

 Perfection, White Enchantress, En- 

 chantress, Eose-pink Enchantress, Vic- 

 tory, O. P. Bassett and Scarlet Glow. 

 I have some red seedlings of my own 



which I shall use next year in place of 

 O. P. Bassett. 



"I leave a second bud on the stems 

 two or three inches below the main bud, 

 and as I retail nearly all my flowers I 

 find it useful in several ways. When 

 funeral work is heavy we pick one 

 bloom and have another one coming for 

 future use, and when business is dull and 

 one flower spoils there is the second one 

 left on the same stem. This apparently 

 does not hurt the plants, as we had 

 blooms four inches across, and people 

 buying the flowers like them much bet- 

 ter because of the extra bud. I also 

 have carnations wifh a double calyx 

 that does not burst or spiff. I have 

 crossed about 225 this year and now 

 have the double calyx plants in three 

 colors." 



AMERICAN SORTS IN GERMANY. 



We always read with great interest 

 The Keview's notes on carnations and 

 look eagerly forward for each new is- 

 sue. We are thankful for your many 

 hints, and I should like at this time to 

 give you, in return, some data about 

 the growing of carnations here, in Ger- 

 many. 



In last year's introductions we found 

 Mrs. Ward and Alma Ward to be the 

 grandest carnations ever sent out. We 

 had 2,000 plants of each variety and 

 we found that both sorts did excel- 

 lently under various conditions. In 



four months we cut four or five flowers 

 per plant of Alma Ward and seven 

 flowers per plant of Mrs. Ward, and we 

 found an easy market for them at dou- 

 ble the price we got for any other va- 

 rieties. 



Alma Ward is doing exceptionally 

 well on solid beds in our new house, 

 which is sixty feet wide. The color, 

 with its lovely shade of pink, makes it 

 a fine novelty, and in stem and size of 

 flower it cannot be beat. 



Mrs. Ward is a fine commercial 

 flower, likely to displace all others in 

 its color. Even Winsor and Eose-pink 

 Enchantress are not able to stand 

 against it. In color, size and product- 

 iveness it is all that the introducer 

 claimed, and that means something. 



We intend to grow next season 25,000 

 Mrs. Ward and 12,000 Alma Ward. We 

 are dropping Aristocrat, Winsor, After- 

 glow, Eose-pink Enchantress and Al- 

 vina, to make room for the Wards, be- 

 cause they make us much more money. 



Among other novelties, we like only 

 Conquest. This seems to be a sport of 

 Lawson, with its many good qualities. 

 It is a nice little flower. Of the many 

 other new-comers, none seems to do well 

 in our climate. Neither Mary Tolman, 

 Sangamo, Shasta, Niagara, J. W. Eiley 

 nor Admiration is good enough to 

 stay with us. We need in this country 

 both quality and fine color, on long, 

 perfect stems. It would be far better 

 for us if there were not so many new- 











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Carnation* the Fifth Year in Solid Bed Without New Soil 



