90 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



May 9, 1912. 



necessary to change the sand for suc- 

 cessive l)atches. Water the pijts once a 

 (lay until the flower spikes are advanc- 

 ing; then reduce the supply and be 

 careful not to wet the flowers after they 

 expand, or you will discolor them. 



A case with a hinged or sliding cover 

 should be used for the valley. Keep it 

 close and dark for some days. As 

 growth advances, air a little, and air 

 more freely as the spikes appear. From 

 this time onward also give more light, 

 to make the flower stalks stiff and in- 

 sure good foliage. A bottom heat of 

 80 to 85 degrees, with a top heat 20 de- 

 grees lower, suits valley. A portion of 

 H raised bench is sometimes boarded in 

 closely to get the needful bottom heat, 

 while green baize or some other dark 

 cloth is used to extdude light from the 

 top and sides. After May 1 a close cold 

 frame answers well for valley. A little 

 warm manure can be given as bottom 

 heat. Lay a good layer of sand over 

 this and treat in other respects the 



same as you would in the greenhouse. 

 Usually three weeks will suffice to 

 flower valley, provided you have the 

 l)roi>er temperature. ('. W. 



OODETIA FOB MEMORIAL DAY. 



Please inform me through The Review 

 if godetia can be had in bloom for 

 Memorial ilav and how to treat it. 



H. N. 



In order to have such godetias as 

 Lady Albemarle and The Bride in bloom 

 for Memorial day the seed must be sown 

 from February 15 to March 1. The 

 best plan is to place half a dozen seeds 

 in 3-inch pots and later transfer them 

 to benches if wanted for cutting. If 

 pot plants are desired, shift into 5-incli 

 pots. (Jrow comparatively cool; an 

 average night tem]»erature of 45 de- 

 grees will suffice until the middle of 

 Aj)ril, when it can be raised 5 degrees. 



C. W. 



CARNATIONS IN NEW ENGLAND. 



One of the progressive concerns in 

 New England is the Queen City Floral 

 (^o.. of Manchester, N. H., of which S. H. 

 Mead & Co. are proprietors. Carna- 

 tions are a leading 8j)ecialty and the ac- 

 companying illustration is reproduced 

 from a photograph of a house 28x365 

 in which the standard varieties are 

 grown. Since wholesale and retail busi- 

 ness is done, a general line of stock is 

 grown and in the summer the grounds 

 are so elaborately planted with bedding 

 stock as to afford a fine example to the 

 people of the town. 



INSECTS ON CARNATIONS. 



Last fall our houses were invaded by 

 a host of little black bugs. They did 

 not seem to disturb anything except the 

 carnations. On these they ate the green 

 from the u])per side of the leaves, leav- 

 ing it light colored, somewhat as do 

 the red spiders. We sprayed and dusted 

 all sorts of insecticides, but none seemed 

 to drive them out or kill them. We 

 also tried hydrocyanic acid gas, liut 

 still had these small, black, jumping 

 bugs, until the arrival of cold weather. 

 W^e notice them now, and coming 

 all at once "as thick as hops," on the 

 carnations only, so far. in the past a 

 few which we think to be the same 

 kind have been found on our smilax 

 and also on our early vegetables out- 

 side. We enclose a few of the bodies ot 

 the insects, caught after a long chase 

 and perhaps badly smashed. Is there a 

 remedy? We found our carnations suf- 

 fered in the fall from the war we waged 

 against the bugs, but later rallied and 

 came along satisfactorily. R. H. 



The insects enclosed with your query 

 are strange to me and 1 regret to say 

 that 1 can suggest no remedy which 

 ■would likely be more successful than 

 what you have already used. 1 car 

 only suggest that, when you replant this 



summer, you fumigate the house thor- 

 oughly with sulphur before planting 

 new stock. Send specimens to the state 

 or government experiment station near- 

 est to you. Perhaps they can identify 

 it and advise you how to combat it. 



A. F. J. R. 



POINSETTIA CUTTINGS. 



Will you please give directions as to 

 how to take poinsettia cuttings off the 

 obi plants, how to cut them, and how to 

 handle them, in a general way, so as to 

 root them successfully in sand? 



J. B. D. 



The old, dormant poinsettia plants 

 should have been started before now 

 Do not give them too warm a house; 



50 degrees at night is sufficiently high, 

 as then the cuttings will be more stocky. 

 The best cuttings are those rubbed off 

 with a heel. They will root earlier than 

 those which have been allowed to get 

 long and have to be cut through with 

 a knife. They are also less likely to 

 damp off. A bottom heat of 75 degrees, 

 with a top heat of 60 degrees, is ideal 

 for rooting poinsettias in. Use a fairly 

 coarse sand, keep them shaded from 

 direct sun and water them on an aver- 

 age once a day, except when the weath- 

 er is dark and damp. Pot up the cut- 

 tings as soon as the roots are an inch 

 in length. Use 2-inch pots and a com- 

 post of loam, leaf -mold and sand. Give 

 them a bench in a warm house. Shade 

 for a few days and they will soon start 

 away to make roots and growth. Be 

 careful to take the cuttings out of the 

 sand while the roots are short, as they 

 are quite brittle. When making the 

 cuttings, trim the leaves off pretty 

 closely. If these directions are followed 

 you should have little trouble in rooting, 

 cuttings. To stop bleeding, dip the 

 bottoms of the cuttings or any other 

 portions in powdered charcoal. 



C. W. 



GARDENIA CULTURE. 



Rooting the Cuttings. 



Many growers of good stock in other 

 lines fail or only partially succeed in 

 growing gardenias; yet there is no par- 

 ticular difficulty in their culture where 

 the requisite heat and moisture are main- 

 tained and the plants are kept clean. 



Cuttings may be made at any time of 

 the year when clean, flowerless shoots 

 can be obtained. They root most freely 

 when the wood is only half matured, 

 and if taken with a heel, all the better. 

 A brisk bottom heat should be given 

 and the sand should be well firmed, 

 whether pots or the ordinary propagat- 

 ing bench is used. The plants should 

 not be allowed to make much root in 

 the sand, but should be potted into 

 2-inch pots as soon as about half an 

 inch of root is made. 



In the Pots. 



From the earliest stages of their 



Carnation House of Queen Chy Floral G)*, Manchester, N. H. 



