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Mabch 27. 1018. 



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The Florists^ Review 



17 



be at least as important a feature as at 

 any previous conventions. 



The convention is to be held in the 

 armory, a building which affords as 

 good a floor space as the Coliseum at 

 Chicago, or tho armory at Baltimore. 

 In addition there is an excellent room 

 for the business sessions and a number 

 of smaller rooms for the meetings of 

 the special flower societies. The ar- 

 rangements are as good as the society 

 ever has enjoyed. 



Another new feature will be the out- 

 door display. An acre of ground in 

 front of the armory has been given 

 into the charge of Vice-President Theo- 

 dore Wirth and he is arranging for the 

 planting of exhibits there. This is a 

 feature tried some years ago at Day- 

 ton, where it proved successful, but it 

 has not since been possible to repeat it. 

 Mr. Wirth feels confident that he will 

 have a splendid outdoor show, and any- 



one who knows the energy and garden- 

 ing ability of the vice-president will 

 feel sure that stock sent him for this ex- 

 hibit will hp,ve the best of care. 



Work already has been begun on the 

 souvenir album. It, too, will be an 

 innovation, in that the shape of the 

 book will be like the standard maga- 

 zines, instead of the unwieldy flat form 

 previously used for such publications. 

 Plans for the book are well under way. 

 A dummy has been prepared, show- 

 ing the striking cover design and a few 

 of the illustrations that will go into 

 the book. The convention association 

 will be represented at the National 

 Flower Show at New York and work 

 will be pushe^p^orward actively. N<J 

 waiting until the last minute with the 

 Convention Association of Minneapo- 

 lis; they take time by the forelock. 

 Theodore Wirth was at Chicago March 

 21 and 22 furthering matters. 



VARIOUS QUERIES. 



We have some carnations that are 

 started in 3-inch pots and growing 

 nicely, but a number of them have a 

 ''leg." The thick part of the cutting 

 grows up from the top of the soil, on 

 a hard shoot. The plants are slightly 

 shaded by the bench of carnation 

 plants south of the shelf where the pots 

 are. What is the probable cause of this 

 growth? Does it make any difference 

 to the value of the plant? How should 

 these be topped? Should we top the 

 heavy part of the cutting, disregard- 

 ing the leg, or count on breaks from 

 this leg? Should these plants be set 

 in the soil so as to bury the leg? 



Does Bassett ordinarily show white 

 streaks in hot weather? Some of ours 

 have blooms that are almost faded. The 

 plants are healthy and vigorous, with 

 long, heavy stems. 



What is th^ ordinary spacing of plants 

 in a bench? We have planted 10x12 

 inches, but have been told that the 

 large growers plant 8x10 inches. 



What scarlets are best producers, in 

 this Kansas climate? K. G. 



If I understand you correctly, the 

 leg you speak of is a strong shoot start- 

 ing near the base of the cutting. There 

 is absolutely no objection to this kind 

 of growth, as it will be of material 

 assistance in making a good-sized plant. 

 Top your plants the same as you would 

 ordinarily, and when this shoot has be- 

 come large enough, top it too. Do not 

 pot any deeper than you would if this 

 shoot were not there. 



Bassett makes a few white streaks 

 in the flower all through the season. 

 They may be more prominent in warm 

 weather, though I cannot say positively 

 that such is the case. Perhaps you 

 are troubled with thrips, in which case 

 the edges of the petals would have 

 white spots on them. 



The spacing of your plants on the 

 bench must depend largely on the size 

 of your plants at planting time. If 



our plants are of ordinary size we set 

 seven plants across a 5-foot bench, 

 which means about eight inches between 

 the plants. The rows are set ten to 

 twelve inches apart, according to the 

 size of the plants. Unless your plants 

 are of unusual size, this space will be 

 sufficient. 



There is always room for argument 

 as to the best varieties in this or that 

 color. Some growers still icling to 

 Victory as their best scarlet. Others 

 claim there is no money-making scarlet 

 like Beacon. Still others incline to- 

 ward Scarlet Glow. St. Nicholas being 

 a production of our own, we naturally 

 think it is about the finest scarlet ever. 

 Had w^e not thought so, we would not 

 have disseminated it. However, after 

 all is said and done, these are all good 

 and each grower must try them out and 

 choose which one will suit his needs 

 best. A. F. J. B. 



PROBABLY NEED REPOTTING. 



I am enclosing somer leaves from my 

 Eureka and Benora carnations, which 

 are rusty. The plants were bought in 

 the early part of January. They 

 seemed to start well and looked 

 healthy, but lately they appear to be 



going backward. Can you tell me how 

 I can get rid of the rust? Would a 

 weak solution of nitrate of soda help 

 to start them up, so that they would 

 outgrow this disease? The other sam- 

 ple is from White Wonder, on which 

 a good many leaves are dying around 

 the base. Can you tell me the cause? 

 These samples are from this year's 

 cuttings, not from old plants. As I 

 am young in the business, I have a 

 great deal to learn and any information 

 on the subject will be greatly appre- 

 ciated. I am located in New York 

 state. P. C. E. 



You do not state what size of pots 

 your carnation plants are in, but since 

 you do not mention having shifted them 

 since they were potted early in Jan- 

 uary, I suspect that they are quite pot- 

 bound. I would suggest that you shift 

 them into larger pots, say from 2-inch 

 to 2%-inch, or even into 3-inch, With 

 the plants in the weakened condition 

 you state they are in, I would prefer 

 the small shift. While shifting them, 

 pick off all the rusty leaves. After 

 you have repotted them, water care- 

 fully until they show new growth, and 

 then keep them dusted with Grape 

 Dust or hydrated lime. There will be 

 at least six weeks yet, before you can 

 plant in the field, and plants which were 

 potted in January can not be expected 

 to hold in good condition in the original 

 pots that long. 



White Wonder is inclined to lose its 

 foliage a little more than some varie- 

 ties if the plants are allowed to get 

 stunted, or severely checked in growth. 

 A shift will likely remedy the trouble 

 on these, too. I can see no traces of 

 disease on these. A. F, J. B. 



THE CLASS AT AMHERST. 



The group shown on this page is the 

 short course class in floriculture at the 

 • Massachusetts Agricultural College, Am- 

 herst, Mass., for the current season. 

 Prof. White is third from the left in 

 the front row. The class is gathered 

 from all parts of the United States, 

 largely. Prof. White says, as the result 

 of the publicity given the course by 

 The Review, many of the students in 

 the short course being florists or the 

 sons or daughters of those in the trade. 



Cape May Court House, N. J.— Os- 

 wald Lange, formerly superintendent 

 for Theodore N. Vail, Lyndonville, Vt., 

 has started in business as a florist here 

 and will grow a general line of stock, 

 including hardy perennials. 



Short Count Gass in Floriculture for 1913 at Amherst Asfricultural G>Ucge. 



