24 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Mabch 7, 1012. 



POINTEBS IN PROPAGATION. 



Individual Preferences. 



The young grower, with a season or 

 two of successful propagation to his 

 credit, has usually some pet scheme for 

 rooting his cuttings and can hardly be 

 brought to acknowledge that there is 

 any other method nearly as satisfac- 

 tory. Only after he has moved around 

 a little and seen other then equally sue-- 

 cessful by other means does he begin 

 to think there may be moves on the 

 board with which he is unfamiliar. 

 Then he who would have nothing but 

 two-eye cuttings finds that cuttings 

 with three eyes can actually be rooted 

 and even make good plants. He who 

 firmly decided for himself that nothing 

 but half ripened, wiry wood was worth 

 anything sees stock of a new variety 

 being worked up and every available 

 bit of wood, from soft tips to hard 

 butts as thick as the little finger, going 

 into the sand and finally rooting, and 

 he comes to the conclusion that there 

 are more things to propagation than 

 were dreamed of in his philosophy. 



The Future of the Plant. 



But this does not alter the fact that 

 there are conditions, both of the wood 

 used and of temperature, which, other 

 things being equal, lead to best results. 

 In rose propagation the future of the 

 plant has to be considered, as well as 

 the fitness or unfitness of the cuttings 

 to root. An extremely small, soft cut- 

 ting may root all right and count one 

 in the bunch when rooted, but it takes 

 much longer to make a good plant than 

 a cutting of proper size, and is liable, 

 too, to disappear by damping oflf in the 

 evolution ?rom cutting to plant. There- 

 fore it seems to be decidedly worth 

 while to select good wood for propa- 

 gation — wood that will hold its foliage 

 and will not wilt before rooting. Such 

 wood makes plants more quickly, leads 

 to a more even "strike" and a good, 

 level batch of plants. 



Some Essentials to Success. 



A good knife is a trusty friend to the 

 propagator and should be kept in order. 

 Dull knives lead to sloping, jagged 

 cuts, which, in turn, lead to damping 

 oflf at the tops and a failure to callous 

 freely below. Every bit of foliage 

 that can be retained on the cutting 

 helps to draw roots, so leave as much 

 of the leaf as possible without crowd- 

 ing when inserted in the sand. Medium 

 and heavy wood may be cut in lengths 



bearing two, or at most three eyes; 

 smaller wood, three to five, and these 

 will root more regularly than will oth- 

 ers cut all one length, irrespective of 

 size or condition. The closer the lower 

 cut is made under the lower eye, the 

 quicker the cutting will callous, accord- 

 ing to my experience. I do not care 

 for cuttings split through the joint or 

 those with no joint buried, occasional 

 records of success with them notwith- 

 standing. 



The House and the Bench. 



Much has been written and said on 

 the subject of propagating houses, and 

 many still think that the narrow, two- 

 bench aflfair, with a center walk, or 

 the still narrower, smaller lean-to with 

 north exposure, is the ideal propagat- 

 ing house. I once thought so too, but 

 now any old bench in the rose or other 

 houses that can be shut in below for 

 the requisite bottom heat, and shaded 

 above with linen, is good enough for 

 me, and the small propagating house, 

 , with its bench surface necessarily near 



the roof ventilators, may be used for 

 incubator chicken raising, or anything 

 rather than propagating. 



The question of bottom heat in re- 

 lation to Jthat in the house resolves 

 itself into the question of supplying 

 enough at the bottom to callous the cut- 

 tings well before the tops become ac- 

 tive in growth. The actual figures are 

 unimportant; the point is to keep the 

 sand a few degrees hotter than the at- 

 mosphere. A sand temperature of 70 

 degrees, with 8 to 10 degrees less above, 

 is usually recommended and is, I be- 

 lieve, as good an arrangement as pos- 

 sible, though a few degrees higher or 

 lower, provided the ratio is kept up, 

 will be quite satisfactory. 



HOUSING ANTIBBHINUMS. 



Can outdoor snapdragons be taken 

 into the greenhouse at this time of the 

 year, here in southern Oregon, aod will 

 they bloom successfully? TJiej' have 

 bloomed in the open ground one vear. 



S. G. B. 



It is possible to lift old plants of 

 snapdragons, plant them in benches and 

 flower them with a fair degree of suc- 

 cess. The plants should be taken up 

 carefully, preserving all possible roots, 

 and will probably require a light shade 

 for a week or two until established. 

 Of course, the tops should be cut back 

 quite hard. You will not get as fine 

 spikes by this method, however, as by 

 potting on rooted cuttings or seedlings 

 and benching from the pots. There is 

 then no root disturbance and the plants 

 start to grow vigorously at once. 



C. W. 



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SEASONABLE 





SUGGESTIONS 



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I 



Lemon-Scented Verbenas. 



About everyone who purchases a few 

 plants for the summer garden wants a 

 scented-leaved plant or two, and per- 

 haps the greatest favorite is the Aloy- 

 sia citriodora, better known as lemon 

 verbena. Perhaps you have remem- 

 bered to start a batch of cuttings. If 

 not, place one or two of the old plants, 

 which have been kept dormant over 

 winter in a cool cellar, in a moderate 

 heat and spray freely. There will soon 

 be a nice crop of cuttings obtainable, 

 and these, if rubbed off with a heel, 

 will root without trouble in a good 

 bottom heat, and, if potted off, will 

 make nice stock for May and June 

 sales. Mature wood of lemon verbenas 

 does not root readily, and the propa- 

 gation, while it may be done in the fall, 

 is much better if carried out now, as 

 the little plants can be kept right on 

 growing. 



Dutch Bulbs for Easter. 



Many inquiries are being received 



concerning the care of Dutch bulbous 



plants wanted for Easter. There is 



often a difficulty in retarding bulbs 



for Easter, particularly when it comes 

 late, but the long, cold winter has 

 materially helped to keep back this 

 class of plants for what is a moderately 

 early Easter. Provided that the bulbs 

 are either outdoors and well protected, 

 or are in a cold cellar, bedded in ashes, 

 they need not be housed until three 

 weeks before Easter. This would give 

 ample time to flower any of the pans 

 of tulips, narcissi or hyacinths. Should 

 we get an unusually cold spring, a 

 little forcing may be needed, while, on 

 the other hand, a mild wave will send 

 them on with a rush and necessitate 

 storing them a few days in a cool 

 cellar. None of the bulb stock should 

 require to be grown in the dark at all. 

 It will be stockier and better in every 

 way if exposed to full light from the 

 first. Let all have an abundant water 

 supply. Liquid manure twice a week 

 will be an advantage, discontinuing this 

 when the flowers start to develop. 



Spiraeas. 



Such varieties of spirtea as Qladstone, 

 astilboides and grandiflora make splen- 

 did pot plants for Easter and are popu- 



