18 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JUNB 6, 1912. 



THE EVERYDAY WORK. 



Overcrowded Benches. 



The biggest problem confronting the 

 grower at this end of the season is to 

 find room for all his young stock with- 

 out crowding it. As long as the flowers 

 are selling for school commencements 

 and June weddings, he does not care 

 to throw out all that are scheduled to 

 go, especially if the plants are growing 

 and flowering freely. In favored locali- 

 ties it is possible to get some of the 

 young plants outside in frames, but 

 this is not safe everywhere and the 

 most has to be made of every inch of 

 bench space. 



Some of the dangers of overcrowding 

 may be eliminated by a frequent change 

 of position of the plants, and by the 

 removal of weak, useless shoots and 

 some of the older, lower leaves. Inci- 

 dentally, these lower leaves frequently 

 have red spider, thrips or other insects 

 upon them, so their loss to the plants is 

 not a great one, while their removal 

 allows air and light to circulate more 

 freely. 



Care of the Young Stock. 



For summer propagating the cuttings 

 do not need so long a time in the sand 

 and they should be watched closely and 

 potted before the roots make too much 

 progress. The growth on the newly 

 potted stock is quite free now and the 

 roots take up great quantities of water. 

 See that they are not neglected, or the 

 young plants will become stunted and 

 hard. The slapdash grower, who rushes 

 through with his hose regardless of the 

 condition of the plants, will never get 

 a nice, even lot, for the plants near 

 the edges of the bench will be dry and 

 those in the center too wet. Pay par- 

 ticular attention to the sides, and the 

 center will nearly always have enough. 



Continue to keep an eye around for 

 mildew and never neglect sulphuring at 

 once if it appears. If mildew once gets 

 a firm hold on young stock, standing 

 closely, it is extremely difficult to 

 eradicate. 



Eaiserin and Camot. 



Plants of Kaiserin and Carnot, re- 

 cently started up, are making a fine 

 growth and a little feeding is in order. 

 There is nothing better than fresh cow 

 manure, laid on thinly and watered in 

 at once. Too heavy a mulch is likely 

 to injure the feeding rootlets by keep- 

 ing out light and air, but if used in 

 moderation, and followed as soon as 



the surface dries by shallow yet thor- 

 ough cultivation, there is no risk. A 

 little air should be left on all night to 

 permit the escape of free ammonia 

 rising from the manure, as this may 

 injure the foliage. It is a waste of 

 manure to spread it on old stock that 

 has to be thrown out this season, but 

 keep the water going to the end. 



The Beauties. 



The Beauty canes will be setting 

 buds freely now and, to prevent a 

 glut of flowers all at once, some of the 

 shoots may be pinched and the others 

 taken straight on. Only the tip of the 

 shoot should be taken and this makes 

 a couple of weeks of difference in the 

 date of cutting. 



Where the benches can be spared, the 

 planting should be pushed as rapidly as 

 possible. Early or timely planting does 

 not of necessity mean early cutting. 

 Instead of taking the flowers with long 

 stems early in the fall, pinch them out 

 and let the plants grow, retaining the 

 beneflts of the new foliage as root pro- 

 ducers. 



Moderation in Watering. 



When young Beauties are planted, 

 they need a great deal of atmospheric 

 moisture for a time, until established, 

 but after this they are frequently 

 sprayed too much and too often. Con- 



stant spraying under pressure removes 

 the bloom from the foliage, and tht' 

 bloom is a natural protection against 

 fungus and insect pests. A constantly 

 moist condition, too, during the grow 

 ing or summer season, leaves the plant^: 

 in a soft, sappy condition for the win 

 ter, leading to long, flowerless growth, 

 instead of vigorous, well consolidated 

 stems, that flower freely. 



Do not, by any means, keep them 

 short of water, either at the roots or 

 in the air, but let sun and air have full 

 play around the plants and let the 

 foliage be dry for several hours daily. 

 Free growth is essential to success, but 

 not the kind of growth that is made at 

 the expense of sound, well consolidated 

 stems and foliage. 



LADY HILLINGDON FOR FORCING. 



I sent for Lady Hillingdon roses to 

 force in the greenhouse and received, 

 instead, outdoor 2-year-old roses. I 

 potted them off and they have thrown 

 some roots. The flursery company says 

 they will come out all right. Do you 

 think they will be all right to force 

 next winter? Any information you can 

 give on this subject will be thankfully 

 received. T. J, D. 



Outdoor-grown 2-year-old Hillingdon 

 roses are not to be recommended for 

 forcing and will not give you the same 

 results as young plants which were 

 rooted last winter and which are, or 

 should be, in S^^-inch pots. These lat- 

 ter are what you want and you can 

 get them from many of the rose spe- 

 cialists who advertise in The Review. 

 The nurseries do not, as a rule, carry 

 anything but dormant field-grown roses, 

 and, while they answer well for potting 

 up for spring blooming, they are not 

 what you want for winter forcing. 

 C. W. 



Grand Rapids, Mich. — Henry Smith, 

 the Monroe street florist, will build a 

 brick garage opposite the county build- 

 ing, on North Ottawa street. 



OUTDOOR SWEET PEAS. 



Not for many years have climatic 

 conditions been so favorable for sweet 

 peas in the open. The frequent show- 

 ers and absence of torrid heat have 

 been greatly to their liking, and the 

 plants have made a most satisfactory 

 growth. In order to secure first-class 

 flowers it is necessary to do some thin- 

 ning out where seedlings have germi- 

 nated rather thickly. Let the little 

 plants stand as much as four inches 

 apart and you will get stronger, hardier, 

 finer flower stems, and be far less trou- 

 bled with stem-rot than when they are 

 left overcrowded. Keep the cultivator 

 constantly going between the rows and, 

 as the weeds grow apace in the rows 



themselves, it is necessary to look them 

 over, remove weeds and scratch the 

 soil among them if it shows any tend- 

 ency to bake. Of course, supports 

 should be given at once, if they arc 

 not already in place. While we con- 

 tinue to have comparatively cool and 

 moist weather and the plants are grow- 

 ing so luxuriantly, there is no immedi- 

 ate need of mulching, but just as soon 

 as the weather conditions change and 

 the plants have a good start, it will 

 pay to give a good mulch between the 

 rows, using grass, old manure, straw 

 or old meadow hay. This will keep the 

 weeds down and, at the same time, 

 keep the plants cool and moist at the 

 roots. 



