14 



The Florists^ Review 



Jvhx 4, 1912. 



THE EVERYDAY WORK. 



BefiUing the Benches. 



Cleaning out and refilling benches 

 and beds, with the accompanying hard 

 labor, do not, fortunately, come under 

 the heading of every-day work. It has 

 been said that moving earth is the next 

 hardest task to moving heaven, and cer- 

 tainly, under the glass, with the June 

 or July sun beating down upon the 

 workers, there are few more arduous 

 tasks in the florists' business and the 

 care of the young stock in the benches 

 comes as a pleasing change. 



A rose that is being largely planted 

 this season is Eadiance. For some rea- 

 son this fine variety has not, up to the 

 present, had the recognition it deserves. 

 It is one of the most beautiful in cul- 

 tivation. The color is a soft, lumi- 

 nous, rosy pink, that is even more at- 

 tractive under artificial light than by 

 day. It has given us more long- 

 stemmed, first-grade flowers than any 

 other variety and is a magnificent grow- 

 er. In some places it comes with rather 

 a weak neck, but this is the only fault 

 that can be urged against it. Grow it 

 strongly and the stems will be heavy 

 enough to carry the blooms well. There 

 are one or two new pinks that are be- 

 ing planted in place of it, but, as far 

 as I have seen, none can come up to 

 Radiance, either for color or vigor. 



Some Pinks and Yellows. 



Mrs. Aaron Ward proved a great 

 disappointment here among the yellows. 

 While the plants grew well and flowered 

 freely, there was an absence of long- 

 stemmed flowers, and the color of no 

 two flowers was exactly alike. 



Sunburst is described as yellow, 

 which it is not, but it is a beautiful 

 rose for special purposes. It is pretty 

 in the bud and extremely showy even 

 when fully open, and will probably be 

 largely planted. Killarney Queen 

 promises well, the color and substance 

 of a few flowers that opened on small 

 plants being fine, while the growth ap- 

 pears to be all that can be desired. 

 Eose Queen is truly beautiful in color, 

 but that is the only point in its favor 

 so far noticed. However, it is much 

 too early to say anything about these 

 novelties as yet. 



When the Soil Is Heavy. 



The treatment of the young stock 

 after planting depends to some extent 

 upon the nature of the soil. Soils that 

 are heavy and retentive of moisture 



often grow grand roses if the root 

 system of the young plants is carefully 

 studied in the earlier stages. The thing 

 to avoid is getting the soil wet and 

 inert outside the radius of the roots. 

 Good drainage is essential, so that the 

 young plants can be watered more or 

 less daily in bright weather, and this 

 without wetting the surrounding soil. 

 A slight depression or "dish" around 

 each plant facilitates this and conducts 

 the water just where it is wanted. As 

 a general rule, this class of soil gets 

 sufficiently firm without any ramming 

 or treading, though when there is plenty 

 of fiber present, from decaying grass 

 roots in the sod, it is sometimes help- 

 ful. 



I always like to see a good crop of 

 weeds in the new soil, for a soil that 

 is so "lazy" that the summer weeds 

 will not thrive in it will probably fail 

 the roses at a critical time. 



When the Soil Is Light. 



Where the natural soil is light and 

 sandy or gravelly, growers are often 

 advised to bring in heavy soil to mix 

 with it, or to make solid beds above it, 

 the advisers pointing out the excel- 

 lent drainage that the natural, grav- 

 elly soil makes. There is, I believe, 

 no worse medium for growing roses in 

 than heavy soil added to a naturally 

 light one. The continual watering 



makes the upper layer wet and cohesive, 

 keeping the air from the roots that 

 will go down into the lower soil. Then 

 it is impossible to get water or feed 

 down through the top layer; conse- 

 quently the top layer is sour and over- 

 rich, quite unsuitable for surface roots, 

 while below there is nothing to keep 

 the larger roots going. It is far better 

 in such cases to build low benches and 

 plant in about five inches of the heavy, 

 imported soil. The roots are then al- 

 ways under control and their condition 

 as to moisture easily ascertained. 



The Annual Fight with Thrips. 



The annual fight against thrips is 

 now at its height, and while it seems 

 useless to try to exterminate this pest> 

 yet unless it is fought unceasingly at 

 this time of year all the flowers will 

 be ruined. Southern growers are prone 

 to think they are the worst sufferers 

 in this respect, and say that northern 

 men have less trouble in keeping their 

 plants clean. But, from observations 

 in both the northern and southern ex- 

 tremities of the country, and also in 

 Canada, I think there is little to choose 

 between the various localities. No mat- 

 ter how clean the plants may be, the 

 first upward move of the ventilators 

 opens the way for millions of the in- 

 sects to enter the houses, and nothing 

 but constant spraying will keep them 

 in check. Any of the commercial in- 

 secticides are good when they reach 

 the insects, but, safely hidden in the 

 petals of the flowers, only a small per- 

 centage can be reached. 



Preventive measures consist of re- 

 moving all old flowers, keeping the dis- 

 budding well in hand and damping all 

 dry places in the houses several times 

 daily, to maintain a moist atmosphere. 



PTEBIS PABKEBI. 



The great Royal International Horti- 

 cultural Exhibition at London without 

 a doubt set a new high mark for flower 

 shows — in every particular save one: 

 there were comparatively few novelties 



Pterit Parkert. 



