12 



The Rofilis' Review 



JtiNB 26, 1013. 



Those in charge of the Arlington farms 

 and the bureau of plant industry, at 

 Washington, have assured us of their 

 hearty cooperation in this matter, 



''The suggestion has been made that 

 when the time arrives for the division 

 of the plants at Arlington the in- 

 crease should be sent to various othej 

 experimental farms under the care or 

 the gotfiBrjuoaent. in different parts of 

 the country, ' notably such as the one at 

 Bellingham, Wash. In this way the so- 

 ciety would finally have typical collec- 

 tions established in various parts of the 

 country under the protection of the 

 government, where they would be easily 

 accessible to almost everyone. " 



The Peony Blight. 



Mr, Farr clpfe^.with a tribute to the 

 late Prof. Craig, of Cornell, and con- 

 gratulated the society that the work 

 with peonies there had fallen into such 

 good hands as those of Prof. Beal. ' ' The 

 department is carrying on an active 

 study of the fungous disease which, in 

 various localities, has attacked the 

 peony. My ownopiBion of this disease 

 is that it is transient and due largely 

 to conditions prevalent during certain 



seasons, notably -dnriHg the Reason just 

 passed, it is a question whether the 

 blight of the buds that is sometimes 

 noticed is caused by the fungus, or 

 whether the blight is caused by yeeather 

 conditions, such as fi^ezing, etc., which 

 weakens the plant 1» such an extent 

 that the fungus follows theNonjury. At 

 any rate, it is the, opinion among a 

 large number of growers that, while the 

 disease should be stopped, and S; remedy 

 found to combat it, it is nrft of suffi- 

 cient importance to warrant any public 

 agitation -oil the subject." 



SOME ST. LOXnS WOBEEBS. 



The accompanying illustration was 

 prepared from a photograph m&de Sat- 

 urday afternoon, June 21, just as the 

 working force of the W. C. Smith 

 Wholesale Floral Co., St. Louis, was 

 leaving the store for the first Saturday 

 half holiday of the season. Beading 

 f^'pm left to right are J. W. Patton, Jo- 

 s^eph Zunz, S. Vogel, W. H, Ossick, W. 

 C. Smith, Ed Schneider, A. Bolls and 

 Osca^^uehn. And we must not ih>rget 

 Jackrond Bob, who are always on hand 

 when something of importance is going 

 on. 



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f SEASONABLE 



^ ^ SUGGESTIONS M 



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Freeslas. 



The bulbs of those popular winter- 

 flowering plants, the freesias, will soon 

 arrive, and, if an early batch is de- 

 sired to come in for the Christmas holi- 

 days, they should go into pans or flats 

 before the middle of July. As a gen- 

 eral rule, I prefer pans to either flats 

 or pots. They can be stood on shelves, 

 and in a carnation temperature a fair 

 proportion can be had for Christmas. 

 For compost, use three parts well de- 

 cayed loam, one part rotted cow manure 

 and plenty of sharp sand. If the soil 

 is moist, water need not be given for a 

 few days after planting. The pans or 

 flats do well if kept in a coldframe or 

 pit, where they can be covered with 

 board shutters to prevent drying out 

 until leaves appear, when the plants can 

 be gradually inured to the light. They 

 will do much better in coldframes than 

 in greenhouse^ until October 1. Of the 

 several varieties of freesias, the true 

 Fischer's Purity is easily the best on 

 the market, but some dealers are claim- 

 ing to have improved strains of this fine 

 variety. 



Asters. 



A last sowing of asters should be 

 made at once. They will not produce 

 quite as fancy flowers as the early or 

 midseason sowings, but will come into 

 crop, barring an early, sharp frost, at a 

 season when carnations are scarce and 

 other flowers none too, plentiful, and 

 for this reason they will prove especial- 

 ly valuable. Sow in a coldframe for 

 best results. Shade the seed bed well 

 and keep it well watered. For best 

 results, transplant into frames and later 

 to the open ground. Be sure to have a 

 good ball on each when planting out and 

 be quite sure it is moist. 



The early asters are not yet making 

 much of a show outdoors. Keep the 

 cultivator going constantly among them, 

 especially when the weather is dry. 

 They will advance fast when genial 

 rains arrive, and we are sure to get 

 these sooner or later. One or two 

 benches of asters u^der glass are mak- 

 ing great growth and promise a fine 

 crop of flowers at an early date. These 

 will be useful for funeral work at a 

 time when carnations are at their poor- 

 est. 



Show Pelargoniums. 



As show pelargoniums pass out of 

 flower, stand them outdoors in the full 

 sun. Gradually reduce^'the water sup- 



ply and, when the woo4 /bas ;loat its 

 soft appearance, lay the'M tiiS their sides. 

 After that has been done, do not afford 

 any water, except to give the plants a 

 spraying over oeijasiopally. Usually 

 about the last of '•uly they will have a 

 well ripened appVarance and can"^ be 

 pruned back, watered only lightly until 

 they start into growth and then shaken 

 out; the long roots should be cut back 

 and the plants placed in much smaller 

 pots than they were formerly in. 



Gladioli. 



The indoot plant^pi of the large- 

 flowered gladioli "vnlPSobn run out with 

 the advent of such temperatures as 90 

 degrees in the shade, but the earliest 

 outdoor batch should, by this time, have 

 some spikes ready to cut. Be sure not 

 to make the mistake, all too common 

 still with many growers, of allowing 

 half a dozen or more flowers to open 

 before cutting the spikes. The proper 

 time to cut them is when the first flow- 

 ers open. Allow the bal^'Qce to ;Open 

 in cold water and you will have flowers 

 which. will possess more substance, and 

 which will be far less liable to become 

 bruised than if they were well ex- 

 panded before being cut. 



It is time now to make the final 

 planting of gladioli. If the bulbs have 

 been kept in a cold cellar they will still 

 be quite plump, although probably start- 

 ing to sprout a little. Plant to aflfcpth 

 of six or seven inches, and, if th«^l is 

 quite dry when you plant, soak the 

 bench with the hose before Voveiing the 

 bulbs. This will wonderfully assist 

 their growth. 



Callas. 



Calla flowers after this time are of 

 little value and the pots should now 

 be outdoors on their sides, where they 

 can be rested for a few weeks. Small 

 plants, such as offsets, do better if 

 planted out in rich soil, where they can 

 be occasionally watered and frequently 

 cultivated. Treated thus, they will make 

 much stronger plants than can be pro- 

 duced in pots. They can be lifted and 

 potted toward the end of August. 



Hard-wooded Plants. 



All kinds of hard-wooded plants, in- 

 cluding acacias, ericas, genistas, azaleas, 

 camellias, boronias, etc., no matter 

 whether plunged to the brims in ashes 

 or some other material, or planted out, 



Stori^ Force of the W. C. Smith Wholesale Floral Co., St. Louw. 



