16 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



May 11, 1911. 



A HOUSE OF HILDA. 



The accompanying illustration is lo- 

 |iiodnc('(l from a not ospocially good 

 I'liotogiaph of an excellent house ol' 

 roses. 'J'lie variety is Hilda, growing, 

 (if course, at the establishment of Myers 

 iV: Saintnian, Chestnut Hill, Philadel- 

 jdiia. As every rose grower knows, 

 Hilda is a s]iort of ]\fy Maryland and 

 originated with Myers & Samtman. who 

 were among the first to take up Mar\- 

 land in a largt- way. Wfth them Mary- 

 land was the most jnofitable rose on Hie 



place, until Hilda came. It is Maryland 

 over again except for a much deeper, 

 richer j)ink. Myers & Samtman last 

 season grew r);()00 plants of it, the pic- 

 ture showing orie of the houses cropped 

 for Christmas, when an extremely 

 heavy cut was taken. The picture 

 shows tne house as it was February 24. 

 The firm is adding another house 55 x 

 300 this season and will ])lant Hilda 

 more extensively than before. Some of 

 the plants now flowering have stood in 

 the same bench for three seasons. 



CARNATION GROWING. 



lA paper by IVriliiiiind Kc.lln'. of Xm-tli Detrnit. 

 Mirli.. read i)«>fiiit' tlir lictidit Florists' Chil) at 

 ;i ii't-i'iit meeting.'. | 



Isn 't it the carnation that fills the 

 biggest hole in our pocketbooks? What 

 could we do without it? Is there any 

 other flower that brings joy and jilcas- 

 ure to so great a number of people as 

 does t'he divine flower (to use the popu- 

 lar expression of other essayists) ? Is 

 there any other flower that excels it in 

 beauty, in fragrance, in lasting quality, 

 for general use in making up designs, 

 decorative work and many other uses 

 which it is adapted to, too numerous to 

 mention f Another point in its favor is 

 the simple and plain treatment it re- 

 quires to bring it to perfection. I say 

 simple; it is simple, if you are willing 

 to study its wants and habit .just a 

 little. Now, as to me is assigned the 

 task of giving my experience in grow 

 ing carnations, I will cheerfully do so 

 to the best of my ability. If others 

 differ with me in opinion, do not criti- 

 cise harshly, but let me know it. as I 

 am always willing to learn. 



The Cuttings. 



I will, of course, commence with the 

 cuttings. My first batch I generally 

 put in in December; then is the time 

 when the plants have a good number of 

 side shoots on the fall growth, and these 

 T consider the best, if the strongest, 

 near the base of the stem, are selected, 

 .'ind from healthy plants, of <oarse. 

 After this I generally make about two 

 more batches, as fast as 1 can find 

 any. When taking them off, I do it in 

 such a way as to do as little damage 

 as possible to the plants, as well as to 

 the cuttings. In trimming them, I 

 think it well to take off the lower two 

 or three tiers of leaves and make a 

 clean cut. 



After thorouglily cleaning the prop- 

 agating bench, I fill it with about 

 three inches of sand and insert the 

 cuttings about 2x1 inches apart, deep 

 enough so they will stand up straight 

 after giving a good soaking. In win- 

 ter I hardly touch them, except for 

 jirompt .'ittention in shading until they 

 are rooted. I do not syringe except 

 when they happen to get dry before 

 they are rooted. 



The next step is either to transplant 

 them into flats or to pot them up, each 

 of which methods has its advocates. 



For the last few years 1 have planted 

 the early ones in flats and potted them 

 in March in 2i/b-inch pots, which I find 

 is a fairly good way to keep them 

 growing right along. The late ones I 

 put in 2-inch pots and give them as 

 good a place in a cool house as I can. 

 As the weather permits I move them to 

 coldframes, to remain there until plant- 

 ing time in the field. The soil I use 

 for potting is the same as in the 

 benches, but well decomposed. 



Planting in the Field. 



While they are in the field, we must 

 not think we have a rest for a while. 

 They need attention then as well as in 

 the houses. In the first place, we must 

 ^re that the land is in proper condition 

 to receive them. It is a good plan to 

 plow the land in the fall, dragging it 

 early in the spring, giving it a good 

 rlressing of manure, plowing it again 

 and then dragging it and leveling it. 



Now we are ready for planting. I 

 iiiake. my rows about fifteen inches 

 apart and leave every seventh row out 

 to make room for a walk, as the 

 ground generally gets hard enough 

 without tramjding much between the 

 rows while working among them. In 

 planting we must see that we do not 

 either plant too deep or too shallow. 



If we plant them much deeper than 

 they were when standing in the pots, 

 they are likely to get stem-rot. If 

 planted too shallow, the roots of the 

 plants are liable to be laid bare in 

 cultivating among them. If you think 

 it might take too long to get them all 

 out in time, do not wait until you do, 

 but get the cultivator and run through 

 those first planted at least every two 

 weeks and keep it up. It will pay you. 

 I think keeping the ground loose on 

 top is worth half the fertilizer you can 

 put in. In preparing the ground, do 

 not forget to provide ditches, so the 

 water can not stand, as neglect in this 

 matter is sure death to carnations. , 



Topping the Plants. 



Next in order is a little scientific 

 work, the topping or cutting back. Do 

 not wait until the plants are big 

 enough so that you can cut back four 

 or more shoots at a time. It is better 

 to get at them whenever you have the 

 time to spare, taking the shoots as they 

 get long enough to make three or four 

 branches after they are topped. In 

 order to secure a steady crop in win- 

 ter, it is advisable not to have the 

 shoots come evenly on the plants. This 

 I prevent by skipping some ready 

 shoots when they are too even, and 

 leaving them for the next trimming. 

 To get the main crop in at a time when 

 we need them most, which is from De- 

 cember 1 to March 1. I stop topping 

 about August 1. 



The next step is the housing. in 

 this operation growers differ greatly 

 as to the time of planting. Earlier 

 planting will give earlier and larger 

 flowers, but not as many as when the 

 plants are given a little more time in 

 the field, and as long as the new stock 

 is outside we can keep cutting from the 

 old ones. I still stick to my old time, 

 from August 1 to September 1. The 

 Lawson family, and such varieties as 

 naturally do not make extra long stems, 

 should be taken in first. This. I think, 

 gives the plants plenty of time to get 

 established for the winter. 

 I 'I'o he continued. I 



Somerville, Mass. — Frank Reynolds 

 has closed his flower store in Central 

 building, on Davis square, and is now 

 employed as a salesman in tlie line of 

 flowers and nursery stock. 



A House of Hilda at Myers & Samtman's, 



