The Florists^ Review 



^ 



Deckmbkk 5, 1912. 



SOIL FOR NEXT YEAR. 



I should like to get your advice con- 

 cerning the preparation of carnation 

 soil for next year. We have a heavy 

 soil and we can get but little sod. 

 Should we use much manure with the 

 soil? Should the manure be long? How 

 about chemical fertilizers and bone? 

 In buying cuttings from other places, 

 we have found some of thorn so much 

 larger than ours that we think the 

 plants must have lieen grown in u 

 much better soil. .F. J. C. & S. 



If your soil is top soil which has been 

 growing good crops, it ought to be 

 fairly good for growing carnations. If 

 it is heavy in texture, it will be bene- 

 fited by adding considerable long stable 

 manure. As much as one-fourth will do 

 no harm, providing it has ample time 

 to decay thoroughly before using. Do 

 not attempt to treat your soil with 

 chemicals before bringing it into the 

 house, for the danger of disastrous re- 

 sults is too great. If the soil is poor, 

 you could add sheep manure to it, either 

 when composting it or when plowing it 

 the last time. Twenty-five pounds to 

 each wagon load will help it wonder- 

 fully, and even fifty pounds would prob- 

 ably not do'iany harm. 



The fact that those cuttings were 

 larger than yours does not necessarily 

 indicate that the stock was stronger 

 than 3'ours, unless they are the same 

 kind of cuttings that you select. A 

 medium sized cutting, taken from a 

 plant which had not been overfed, is by 

 far the best, in our estimation. That 

 is the reason why cuttings taken from 

 plants which are grown for cuttings 

 alone are usually preferable to those 

 taken from blooming stock. However, 

 if the blooming stock is grown mod- 

 erately, the cuttings taken from it are 

 equal to any. A. F. J. B. 



MORE ABOUT FEEDING. 



I notice that A. F. J. B., in The 

 Review of November 14, page 26, ad- 

 vises the use of sheep manure for feed- 

 ing carnations. I should like to know 

 the quantity used per square foot of 

 bed and about how often it should be 

 used. Should bone meal be used? If 

 so, what quantity and how often? 



In using nitrate of soda, one pound 

 to fifty gallons, can the foliage be 

 ■watered without injury to the plants? 

 In using the sheep manure and bone 

 meal, can they be dusted or thrown 

 on the plants or should they be thrown 

 between the rows? I should think they 

 could be put on more evenly if thrown 

 on the plants. When thrown between 

 the rows, the middle plants in the bed 

 are likelv to get less fertilizer. 



W. C. P. & C. 



"When we apply sheep manure to our 

 carnation beds, we usually put on a 

 handful (about as much as a 3-inch pot 

 would hold) to each row, halfway across 



a .'j-foot bench. It is easy enough to 

 scatter it over the surface of the bed, 

 so that practically the whole surface 

 is covered evenly. A little practice 

 will make that operation easy. Do not 

 try to throw it all in from the edge of 

 the bed, or you will have just the result 

 you suggest. Nothing could be gained 

 by dusting it over the plants. In fact, 

 to dust it on the plants might bring on 

 disease, as much of it would naturally 

 lodge in the axils of the leaves and, if 

 it remained there ibSig in a damp con- 

 dition, it might start a fungous growth 

 which would develop leaf -spot. So keep 

 it off the plants all you can. 



Do not use sheep manure too often. 

 It is rich in nitrogen and has a tend- 

 ency to make the stock soft. Once in 

 six weeks is often enough, usually. The 

 amount of sunshine is the safest guide. 

 Less sunshine, less feed of any kind. 



We have not used a pound of bone 

 for our carnations in the last four 

 years. Experiments conducted previous 

 to that time demonstrated to our en- 

 tire satisfaction that the money we had 

 been spending each year on bone for 

 carnations was thrown away. In water- 

 ing with nitrate of soda, no special 

 harm will result if some of it splashes 

 on the foliage. But that is not where 

 you want it, so why not try to get it 

 all where it is wanted? 



A. F. J. B. 



jjlants start nicely each year, but after 

 that I have my troubles. The trouble 

 starts soon after housing and 'pinching 

 them. They either stand still and do 

 not grow,. or they dry up from the. bot- 

 tom, leaf by leaf, till the whole plant 

 is dried up, just like the one that you 

 will find enclosed. I have given them 

 plenty of ventilation every day and also 

 at night, except in extremely cold 

 weather. I have tried to run them dry, 

 and again I have tried them wet. I 

 have also tried different sorts of sprays 

 for insects. I do the watering in the 

 morning on clear days, and do not water 

 on cloudy days, but the trouble con- 

 tinues just the same. In some cases 

 some of the shoots are quite healthy 

 and others are dry, on the same plant. 

 I am growing the three kinds of En- 

 chantress, and Perfection, Lady Boun- 

 tiful and Beacon. The Enchantress 

 sorts are the worst affected. Any light 

 that you can throw on my trouble will 

 be much appreciated. J. G. K. 



rtlY ROT OF CARNATIONS. 



This is my third year in carnation 

 growing and I have had almost the same 

 trouble each year. I have been trying 

 different remedies, but it seems that 

 every one fails. Every yoar I have used 

 new soil. In preparing a bed — that is, a 

 ground bed — I added one wheelbarrow of 

 cow manure to each bed -1x12 feet. The 



The specimen forwarded is affected 

 with what is commonly known as 

 branch rot, or dry rot. If you have 

 much of it among your carnations, you 

 have good reason to feel discouraged 

 with them. It is perhaps not so de- 

 structive as the wet stem-rot, as it 

 does not spread so rapidly, but it is 

 harder to control, once it gets a start, 

 as we know of practically nothing that 

 will destroy it. The only process that 

 we have ever known to check it is to 

 l)ull up every plant that is affected and 

 burn it. 



If your plants are so badly affected 

 that you cannot feel safe in getting cut- 

 tings which are free from it, you will 

 do well to buy a fresh stock, either of 

 rooted cuttings this winter or field- 

 grown plants next summer. Of course 

 you will change the soil in your beds, 

 as to plant new stock in the old soil 

 would only invite a repetition of your 

 old troubles. 



Good cultural methods will, of course, 

 help some in dealing with any kind of 

 disease, by helping the plants to resist 

 its attacks. This disease, however, 

 seems little affected in that way, 



A. F, J, B, 



BROWN PETALS ON BONNAFFON, 



Some of my Bonnaffon chrysanthe- 

 mums, both white and yellow, are get- 

 ting a few brown petals on the outer 

 circle of the flowers. What is the cause 

 of this? They are planted on side 

 benches and consequently are near the 

 glass about blooming time. The trouble 

 was first noticed last year. I was quite 

 careful in watering, heating and venti- 

 lating this year, on account of last 

 year's trouble. M. B. 



The brown petals on the Bonnaffons 

 can come from two causes, either the 

 damping of the petals, which is seen to 

 a greater or less extent on practically 

 every variety, or the damage done by 

 spider, which works rapidly over the 

 flowers after syringing is discontinued 



and the flowers show color. The spider 

 sometimes renders the flowers utterly 

 useless. I assume you are familiar 

 enough with plants to know if the 

 trouble is damping. The spider can be 

 identified by the web that is woven all 

 over the flower. Chas. H. Totty. 



BLACK APHIS ON MUMS, 

 Our mums are fine, but some of them 

 are bothered with black fly. We can- 

 not use Nico-fume now, as we are 

 afraid of spoiling the flowers. Please 

 tell us what to do. C. B. G. 



You need not be afraid to use the 

 Nico-fume or other tobacco papers in 

 your chrysanthemum house. This fumi- 

 gation will not harm the flowers in the 

 least, but tobacco stems would be 



