Proceedings Library

The first step is to obtain the highest possible quality fresh seed, wherever possible from isolated seed trees of superior characteristics for a given species.

The second step is to plant the seeds in rows 1" apart in screen-bottomed seed flats filled with a mixture of 30% coarse peat moss and 70% coarse perlite — from mid-February through June. After the seed is sown, it is covered with fine screened sand to provide a dry, open a medium around the germinating seeds. Germinating requires one to two weeks.

These screen-bottomed flats provide a labor-free root pruning when the root-tip gets the open air, thus encouraging many lateral roots, which do not require much root pruning during transplanting to liners.

They are standard 18" × 18" × 2" wood flats with no bottom boards. We attach 1/8" galvanized hardware cloth to them to form a bottom, with 1" × 1"

What is the difference between a spore and a seed? A seed is an embryo (a fertilized egg) surrounded by nutritious tissue which will feed the embryo, and a capsule to protect the embryo. A sore is an asexual cell, unfertilized (no embryo) and containing no nutritious tissue. A seed grows immediately into a plant under the right circumstances. A spore, being asexual, will have to be placed under very exact conditions to develop first into a "stage in between", called the prothallium. Proper conditions are: the right amount of water, light, and a certain temperature. Without these three elements spores may remain dormant but keeping their capacity for

In addition to cool summers, winters are relatively mild. Minimum temperatures drop to about 22°F., and we have occasional snow flurries, but neither the cold nor the snow is really severe or long lasting. Thus we do not have the problems of Eastern growers of container plants in having to provide winter protection. And the cool summers are certainly an advantage, almost to the point of being an absolute requirement. We have attempted to grow container rhododendrons in southern California, but experienced nothing but trouble from the warm sun burning the foliage, to extensive infections of root fungus diseases caused by excessively warm soil in the containers.

It is not a coincidence that the rapid development of the bedding plant industry coincides with the tremendous increase in the use of the F₁ method for the production of flower seed. In fact, neither industry could have developed to the extent they have without the other. The bedding plant industry needed and has used the greatly improved cultivars in order to have a superior product which the public would buy, and the seed companies needed the professional grower who had the experience and facilities to grow the expensive seeds.

Hybrid flowers offer the same advantages over open-pollinated sorts

So many of our plants provide just the odd few cuttings or the occasional crop of seed. It is worthwhile asking the question "Would there by any point in producing such plants in quantity, even if it were possible?" True enough, a certain element of the gardening public will

Very limited quantities of material are initially available when originally virus-infected clones are made "virus-free" by heat therapy which provides, in the first instance, one meristem to start the new clone. In the case of a newly bred cultivar, the original plant is often supplemented by others during the early screening procedures for disease resistance and propagation ability, but initially few plants are available.

Scion cultivars. A simple approach can be used for a new cultivar destined to become a scion cultivar because fruit

In the Sacramento Valley, California, I saw peaches, plums and almonds being produced on seedling understocks. The seed was sown in the autumn. During the following spring the seed germinated and by June had produced a pencil-thick stem. It was budded at this time after reducing the understock somewhat. Two weeks after budding, the understock is further reduced. By autumn the bud will have

1. The physiology of growth control
2. The types of chemicals with growth regulatory activity
3. Experiences with chemical control of flowering pot plants:
1. Height retardation
2. Production of cuttings
4. Experiences with chemical control of nursery stock:
1. Plant shaping
5. The commercial potential of growth regulator chemicals on ornamentals.

A. THE PHYSIOLOGY OF GROWTH CONTROL. The continuing advancement in the knowledge of the physiology and biochemistry of growth and developmental processes in the plant is enabling the plant scientist to explore the potential of chemical growth control with more purpose and precision and to evaluate the many biologically active compounds produced by the agricultural chemical industry. Such chemicals function by supplementing, inhibiting or interacting with the naturally occurring (endogenous) plant growth hormones. The hormone systems control not only developmental processes in plants such as germination, dormancy, flowering, and

When this plant first flowered in late December 1967, we made a careful analysis of it and felt that we were correct in assuming the parentage to be M. lomariifolia × M. bealei. In order to be more certain we sent an inquiry to Strybing Arboretum to find if M. bealei or some other Mahonia

This is so basic to the production and sale of dwarf conifers that it is a matter on which I feel we, as nurserymen, should be able and willing to give the public much clearer guidance than we sometimes do. First and foremost we must endeavour to put over the fact that there is no simple answer to this apparently simple question; the concept of "ultimate size" just does not apply to plants which continue to grow throughout their long lives. Although the term "Dwarf Conifers" is too well established ever to be ousted from the language, one fact I believe we must get across is that they would be more accurately described as "slow-growing conifers" in that they are dwarf

It soon became apparent that large quantities of propagation material were needed and, at that time, unrooted cuttings of deciduous shrubs were not easy to obtain from trade sources although rooted conifer cuttings and, to a limited extent, unrooted cuttings could be obtained mainly from the continent.

It was decided to plant up stock beds to ensure a good supply of cutting material. It should be pointed out that no ornamental field-grown stock was produced, which might have yielded suitable material.

We already had some 20 years experience in the establishment and maintenance of blackcurrant stoolbeds, for the production of hardwood cuttings.

In this

Before raising plants from seed one might ask oneself, what are we trying to achieve? This is the key question, the answer to this is to produce plants that will fulfill the market's requirements, i.e. large one-year plants suitable for stocks or wide lining, for containerization, or for close lining to produce a 1 + 1 seedling. Since all the requirements for these purposes are different it is no good using the same method of growing to try to achieve this, it does not work; e.g. Acer platanoides seed sown in early March at about 200 per square yard will produce a large seedling at the end of the season as compared with sowing much later at a greater density, producing more smaller plants per square yard. This

1. because of poor bud takes in the field, due to spring planting and sometimes the poor quality of stocks available
2. to fit in with cropping programme on the nursery (i.e. at Oakover we are seed sowing or potting container plants at critical times for the field production)
3. labour profile, i.e. (because we have peaks at planting and budding time, it is convenient to graft these in the winter)
4. to produce a well-grown maiden whip of good size for field lining (i.e. 5–7')
5. to be able to line out in the field at 100% crop

Protected cropping. Possibly the advent of the woven materials gives cause for optimism. The growing environment on a hot day for humans, at least, is more agreeable than under polythene and it is reasonable to believe the plants, too, are under less stress and also that growth would be less drawn. These materials also offer a slight amount more protection from frost damage than does polythene. Polythene with it's very quick temperature build up, particularly in the early months of the year, constantly causes anxious moments when slow-release fertilizers are incorporated in the compost. To alleviate these risks, either a reduced rate of fertilizer is added to the compost, or it is eliminated entirely, depending only on regular liquid feeding. Glass can be ventilated, as can a newer type of polythene structure,

Vegetative Methods.Not many temperate vegetables are propagated vegetatively under commercial conditions — notable exceptions being rhubarb, asparagus, artichokes and, of course, potatoes. On the other hand, many of the important glasshouse ornamental plants are propagated in this way; chrysanthemums, carnations, poinsettias, alstroemerias and all the bulbs are good examples. In all instances the propagators pay great attention to the following points:

1. Virus elimination — using heat treatment, meristem culture and, subsequently, mother plant maintenance
.
2. Clonal performance indexing
3. Production of uniform propagules (cuttings/bulbs) by rapid multiplication techniques.
4. Provision of production and crop programming advice for their customers.

Certainly points 1 to 3 also apply in the case of rhubarb and potatoes where the production of

The examples of training need include —

1. New propagation techniques
2. New information concerning growth regulants
3. The new entrant and casual worker who frequently enter a business with little or no related skill
4. The member of staff already employed whose output/quality of work is not quite in line with the company's standards. For instance, budding rates and percentage take can vary quite dramatically within a gang of staff working in the same field.

As a Training Board, we have evidence that a three-day training course can very quickly improve the rate of

Understocks. Two-year seedlings of Acer palmatum are potted into 8 cm rigid plastic pots during the dormant season and stood, pot thick in a cold frame or on a protected open bed until required for moving under glass. Towards late spring or just after new growth has started to appear the plants are cut back to 40–50 cm in order to facilitate handling at time of grafting. If this early pruning is overlooked the tops of the understocks can be cut back later in the year but it has been observed that late cutting shortly before grafting can severely reduce the foliar area at a critical time and weaken the plants. During mid- to late-June the potted understocks are transferred to a well-ventilated glasshouse

Planting. In the past we have planted these two crops in the spring and in the fall; both dates have their advantage and disadvantages. Fall sowing of the seed allows

Cuttings are generally taken sometime after the third frost in the fall. We start with Taxus cuspidata ‘Densiformis’, which we sell the most of as a finished plant. Cuttings are made 8 inches long, cut on the top and bottom, with the lower half stripped of needles. After sizing, the cuttings are bundled about 50 per bundle held with a rubber band. Bundle bases are dipped in straight Chloromone which is held on a sponge in a shallow pan. We had been using Hormodin #3 powder but have found chloromone dip faster and more effective.

Cuttings are stuck in washed coarse sand. The addition of 40 to 50% perlite has been tried on a small scale and seems to be even better. Cuttings are stuck in the heated house from November to January with an air temperature of 60° to 65°F and with

The plastic houses are 21' &times 96'. The cuttings are stuck in 4' &times 4' pallets with side boards at a depth of 5" coarse sand and plastic burlap under the medium. We have found that the air space between the ground and the medium helps maintain a 60°F rooting temperature.

November to December is the time to make all taxus cuttings to obtain rooting with the least top growth. The cuttings are taken from 2 to 20 year old plants and placed in cold storage to be made up. They are all made up in handful bunches and cut to 8" in length with clippers. They are then stripped of needles 2½" from the bottom and quick-dipped in 3

All cuttings are stuck in pure perlite about 1½" to 2" deep. Spacing is ½" × 2". The medium is kept at 65° to 68°F. I believe bottom heat is very important. The cuttings are lightly syringed 2 to 3 times a day to maintain high humidity in the greenhouses. They are dusted with Captan every 2 weeks, especially for damping-off. We have found that it is best to

In our quest for improved quality one factor, medium, has received intensive study. Our standard production medium was a peat:sand mix, 3:2 (v/v) for ericaceous plants and 1:1 (v/v) for hollies, roses, junipers, euonymus, cotoneaster, and metasequoia. Our initial tests centered around the introduction of hardwood bark into the medium.

Through our experiments with hardwood bark as a medium component we hoped to answer several questions.

1. Were hardwood bark mixes superior to peat:sand?
2. What effect did particle size of the bark have on plant growth?
3. Was peat a necessary component in our hardwood bark mix?

The miniature rose is a newcomer to the West. Miniature roses were known in England early in the 19th century. It is believed that the plants were a form of Rosa chinensis ‘Minima’ found by traders in the Far East, and brought in from China or Japan, where they had been dwarfed by patient oriental art. This little rose, known as Rosa pusilla (Rosa humilis)

The first report of fluoride toxicity in tropical foliage plants was made by Conover and Poole (1) in late 1971. Freshly harvested cuttings of Cordyline terminalis ‘Baby Doll’ developed necrotic lesions primarily on

We consulted with Dr. Gouin, and a decision was made to add soil to reduce the soluble salts to a safe level. We used a half compost and half top soil mix for planting 500 shade and flowering trees in baskets. When the planting was completed, they were heeled-in with a hardwood bark mulch and top-dressed with nitrogen. There was not much different at first from our

Sewage sludge when properly composted with wood chips (1,6) makes an ideal substitute for peat moss as a soil amendment (3) and in potting mixes (5). This dependable source of organic matter, once a public liability, can now be converted into a community asset through composting. Compost made from sewage sludge and wood chips is similar in appearance to a potting mixture of peat moss and pine bark with an odor nearly identical to garden compost. Safe disposal of sewage sludge continues to be an environmental problem,

Two popular plants for bonsai training are Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia) and Catlin Elm (Ulmus parvifolia ‘Catlin’). Although elms are often propagated by seed, it is more convenient to root cuttings. For the ‘Catlin’ elm, of course, vegetative propagation is necessary to insure identity of a true cultivar.

Chinese elm cuttings are made in spring and summer. Usually the cuttings are 7.5 to 15 cm long. The bottom two or three leaves are removed, leaving a minimum of 5 leaves at the top. ("three leaf" cuttings will root, however) Cuttings are made from new shoots when they are 15 to 30 cm long. Longer shoots may be made into two or three cuttings. If the tip growth is very soft, it's best to cut it off, since it will probably wilt and die back in

Hartmann and Kester (2) state that 21°–27°C day and 15°C night is optimum for most plant species. Below 21°C rooting is reduced and slowed down. At temperatures of 23° –27°C root inhibition often occurs as well as root injury. Howard (4) has shown that easily-rooted plum cutting root best at 20°C. However, he noted that shy-rooting clones root more readily at 25°C.

A few workers throughout the last 50 years have looked at root

Leibig in 1843, developed what has become known as the "Law of the Minimum." The law states that, if any essential element is deficient with all others at optimum levels, growth is controlled by the deficient element. This premise holds for any essential component of the cultural system (light, water, temperature, pH, drainage). Thus growers may be employing similar nutritional practices yet obtaining different growth results because other cultural factors are limiting.

Response from

History. The storage of horticultural commodities and other perishables is limited by pathological and/or physiological disorders. Of concern is the influence of carbon dioxide, ethylene and other gases on commodity longevity. For example, it has been well documented that ethylene can promote many detrimental processes that can reduce commodity usefulness (5).

Studying fruit storage in 1965, Burg and Burg (8) observed that if gas exchange (i.e. CO₂, ethylene) from within the fruits to the atmosphere was enhanced, storage longevity increased. Expanding this concept, Burg and his associates developed LPS and have had two U.S. patents issued (4,10). After

Dr. Elwin Orton of Rutgers University showed slides of five hollies which he has developed. These are being introduced to the trade as Ilex ‘Green Dragon’, I. ‘Dwarf Pagoda’, I. ‘Harvest Red’, I. ‘Autumn Glow’ and I. ‘Jersey Princess’. Andy Knauer showed slides and discussed Idesia polycarpa. Jim Wells showed slides of Magnolia ‘Leonard Messel’, deciduous azaleas, Rhododendron ‘Pink William’, R. ‘Peachy Keen’, unnamed seedling designated as R. WS 1, R. ‘Gillian's Gold’, R. ‘Windsor Daybreak’, R. ‘Windsor Buttercup’, R. ‘Vivacious’ and a fragrant R. ‘Clear Yellow’ which he's currently increasing. Dr. Gus Mehlquist showed slides of his rhododendron breeding research aimed at developing a white and a red rhododendron. Mr. Flemer finished the plant forum with slides of trumpet flowers Campsis × tagliabuana ‘Mme. Galen’ and Campsis ‘Crimson Trumpet’, a fragrant double flowered wisteria, a sugar maple, Acer saccharum ‘Bonfire’, Aesculus pavia ‘Splendens’, and two new

Immediately after flowering the plants were dead-headed which seems to hasten shoot development. When the new shoots were 4 to 6" long and slightly firm, cuttings were made. Normally, this is from May 1 to June 15. We have both cut and stripped them and it doesn't seem to make any difference. However we did try to leave a stub to encourage future branching.

The cuttings are dipped into a solution of Vapor Guard, Sevin and Captan as described by Larry Carville when he spoke to us in Mobile in 1967. We use two pails, one for the dip and one to drain the cuttings, which are then packed into plastic bags for storage in a cooler. We feel it is good

Within their relatively dwarf stature, growth habits vary from distinctly upright to completely prostrate. Flower colors include clear white, near reds, a clear pink and all shades of rose and lavender. Flowering time is unbelievably diverse. On Long Island we have blooms in the garden in every month of the year except May. Textures vary greatly but probably the most pronounced characteristic, particularly of Calluna vulgaris is its extremely wide range of foliage colors. They offer unlimited potential for

Selection and breeding studies in recent years have focused attention on the diverse kinds of mountain laurel. These include: red-budded, banded, pink, or white-flowered types; selections with petaled flowers, and some with willow-like leaves or miniature habit. The genetic diversity, clonal selections, culture, and propagation techniques were recently reviewed in a book (3). Laurel propagation has also been discussed by Jaynes (2), Eichelser (1), and Radder (4) in the Proceedings of the International Plant Propagations' Society.

The crop requirements and the weather patterns at the greenhouse location are primary factors to be considered. The structure and its control systems must work together to provide the crop requirements under the prevailing weather conditions at a reasonable cost.

Bananas grown with high levels of nitrogen produced more and heavier bunches. Production peaks were compared at low, medium and high nitrogen rates.

Growth rates were greatest from May through October when solar energy averaged 424 gram cal./cm²/day and mean maximum-minimum temperatures were 28.5°C (83.4°F) and 22.8°C (73°F) respectively. Growth rates were lower from November through April when solar energy was 257 gram cal./cm²/day and maximum-minimum temperatures were 26°C (79°F) and 18°C (66.9°F). Rainfall of about 1300 mm (42") was supplemented by low-head sprinkler irrigation. Nitrogen, solar energy, and available water appeared to be the most critical factors under Hawaii conditions in banana production.

There are other heat sources that we ought to look into. One is earth heat — the heat in the soil — 6 — 10 — 100 ft deep. Heat pumps in our homes use earth heat. I believe that our poly structures should be designed as an "A" shape with perhaps a 30° rafter angle right down to the soil. You may not store many plants in that narrow angle, but your structure at night is picking up earth heat from that covered

Natural solar ponds were first discovered in the early 1900's in Hungary (2). Temperatures up to 80°C (176°F) have been recorded. It is theorized that such ponds are fed by saltwater springs while fresh rainwater periodically flushes off the surface. The result is a stable pond of solar heated brine at the bottom of which is too dense to circulate to the surface and cool. More recently, researchers believe that a warm

In January, 1975, we bench-grafted 7,169 apricot and plum scions on Prunus americana rootstock. The scions were dormant, one year growth. The grafting method used was whip and tongue, made at the crown of each seedling rootstock. The graft unions were wrapped with standard cloth grafting tape. The grafts were callused in the greenhouse for 10 days at about 65°F. After the callusing period the grafts were held in cold

Late leaf retention has plagued the nursery industry since storage of fall-dug stock began. This problem results in delayed digging and increased labor to hand-strip or "sweat" the leaves off. Heating of foliage in storage causes stem and bud damage and a possible increase in storage molds which can cause losses.

Leaves can be removed by mechanical or chemical means. The most common mechanical methods are hand-stripping and sweating in pits, both of which are expensive. This paper will discuss chemical defoliation.

A good chemical defoliant requires the following: at least 50% defoliation in a short time (2-3 weeks); inexpensive and easy application; and, most important to the nurseryman, not be injurious to treated plants. However, use of

Timing. I have taken lilac cuttings from early June after flowering until July 26th in quantity, and have found even at this late date 70% rooting was obtained. In most cases we prefer to take our cuttings from the last week in June until the second week in July. Cuttings with mature leaves are much easier to handle. We have had

In starting a tissue culture laboratory, there should be sound objectives to justify the expense of setting up the costly facility and delegating trained personnel for its year 'round operation. Also, one must set up goals and reasons for operating the laboratory. Two important reasons for investing time and money into this type of project are:

1. Recovery of Disease-free plants. This is probably the most important reason for getting into tissue culture. By removing virus, bacterial and fungus pathogens which invade the plants, chances are vastly greater in restoring the plant or cultivar to its normal vigor and state of productivity. I must point out that by tissue culturing a plant, we

Plant breeders, particularly of fruit trees, were some of the early advocates of test-tube culture of plant embryos. They found that some crosses, which normally did not set seeds due to embryo abortion, would produce seedlings if the embryo was excised and grown in vitro. Tukey (7) made considerable use of this technique and developed media for fruit tree embryos. Lammerts (4) produced dramatic increases in the breeding programs of fruit trees, camellias, and roses using embryo culture.

A recent development in embryo culture utilizes

As plant propagators, biological control has very little to offer you directly. Its greatest utility, based on knowledge to date, comes after the plants you have propagated are planted in the landscape, orchard, vineyard, or other growing site. Yet as plant propagators you properly have an interest in the kinds of pests which attack the crops you produce, the intensity of resultant damage, and the procedures necessary to alleviate pest infestations.

Parasites, Predators, and Pathogens. Our most important parasites are tiny wasps and flies whose adults deposit their eggs in or on pest

Culture of organs, tissues, single cells and protoplasts has been used to solve many problems including improving propagation time and increasing clones, developing new clones, growth regulator and physiological studies and producing disease-free clones. In our laboratory these techniques have been used for reduction of time for propagation, increasing clones, physiological and growth regulator effects and plant improvement of asparagus and freesia; in addition, separating chimeras and protoplast culture are being studied on dahlias. This paper is a preliminary report of our findings, techniques and of investigation underway, together with a brief review of research in tissue culture.

Asparagus: We will discuss asparagus tissue culture in some detail because its development has elements common to tissue culture in many species. Asparagus is a dioecious plant. The yield varies between sexes, male and female plants being

In August, 1973, I was part of the delegation of I.P.P.S. members from the United States that attended the Sixth Annual Meeting of the I.P.P.S. Region of Great Britain and Ireland. During the technical sessions held at Berkshire College of Education, G.V. Purcell of L.R. Russell, Ltd., Windlesham, Surrey, presented a paper pertaining to the budding of Hamamelis. In the discussion that followed we learned that in Britain propagation is by budding and grafting, using Hamamelis virginiana as understock. We also learned that seeds and seedlings are becoming unavailable in Britain and there was much concern about the future propagation of Hamamelis. Actually there is no problem, for experience at the Arnold Arboretum with 22 taxa indicates that all Hamamelis can be rooted from cuttings which can then be induced to survive the first winter.

In recent years many new cultivars of Hamamelis selected and named in Europe have been imported by the Arnold

Climate. Mountain Home is located near Asheville, N.C., in the Blue

MODERATOR SNYDER: Ben Davis, have you tried grafting peach cultivars onto Prunus besseyi or P. tomentosa?

BEN DAVIS: The paper I presented dealt with producing standard trees but we have used P. bessey as a dwarfing rootstock. We have never tried grafting them; we T-bud them but when we used P. tomentosa we had very poor results so we now T-bud only on P. besseyi

MODERATOR SNYDER: Were the bench grafts you made done by hand or machine?

BEN DAVIS: We bought one of those grafting machines and so we made them both ways; I had a count made but after looking at the figures I'm not sure they're correct. This year we made about 25% of our apple grafts on the machine and, as a rough figure, we got about 25 to 30% take as compared to 50 to 60% by hand grafting. We were saving

There are several nursery areas where unusual plants may be seen in abundance. Angyo, a few miles north of Tokyo, is one of the major centers. In this district may be found a great many small specialty nurseries, some of which may occupy ½ acre or less. Although in some cases the stock plants may be grown directly in the ground, more often all plants are grown in ornamental containers of varying size. Usually they have been carefully pruned and shaped as specimen plants. Most of these rare dwarf, contorted, or variegated plants will continue to be grown in this way when they leave the nursery. If they are used in the landscape, they may

In our meetings of the 1950's and '60's, we were constantly reminded to use fungicides like Captan, Phaltan, Phygon and Terraclor in preventive spray-programs in our propagation. What was the attitude of the average grower or propagator to these relatively new materials? We were supposed to be very cautious, read the labels carefully and follow all the instructions we were given conscientiously.

But did we really do all those things? Thinking back to my experiences as a propagator in Lake County, I have to admit that I, as well as most of the growers that I knew and met, were rather casual and even lax when it came to spraying. After all, the labels were often not too specific as far as warnings for dangerous consequences were concerned. And word of mouth in our area was that

Commercial soil steaming to control diseases and insects was begun in 1893, but the methods remained empirical for 60 years, with little scientific study or grower inventiveness. Critical investigations were published in England, Norway, and

The "Contraption" as I call it, is made entirely from glass and resembles a miniature glass house. A conventional 150 watt aquarium heater and thermostat provide the heat and control. The size is determined by the dimension of the trays used. My unit is designed to accommodate two plastic seed trays and is constructed from ¼ inch plate glass, the front being 10 inches high, back 15 inches high, by 40 inches long and 14 inches wide. The glass should be bought cut to size and glued together to form a tank. Small pieces of glass are glued to the middle of the bottom to form a cradle on which the heater is horizontally placed. A half-inch hole

Side Graft. We use this method to graft Cedrus atlantica onto C. deodora stock, also some hibiscus cultivars onto more vigorous stocks.

Prior to grafting, the rootstock plants are moved into the glasshouse to promote growth, usually up to 10 days before grafting. At the time of grafting, lower branches and side shoots are trimmed off and an oblique cut is made in the stock at an angle of 20 to 30°, up to an inch (25 mm) long.

The scion wood is cut into a wedge at the basal end, these cuts being made as smooth as possible. The scion is inserted into stock while pulling the upper part of the stock backward, ensuring contact between the cambium layers. Once the top of the stock is released the scion should be held firm by the pressure from the stock. Then it is relatively easy to tie with raffia or rubber ties. The cut

For some 12 years, we have been propagating and growing on plants collected by Dr. J.W. Dawson who has published a number of important monographs on the family Myrtaceae. In the course of this collecting work Dr. Dawson has sent back material from travels in the Pacific region, particularly from New Caledonia. Some of the Metrosideros species thus collected, after growing on in the glasshouse, have been planted out into an open shrub border and have been found to grow and

During October, we move the stock plants into a glasshouse which has a day temperature of 18°C and a minimum of 15°C night temperature. Fluorescent lights are used to extend the day length to 11 hours. The stock can be re-potted just before being moved into the glasshouse but we have found that care should be taken not to damage the fibrous root system as this can cause collapse of the young shoots as they are forced into growth. Possibly the safest way to topdress the container is with a nitrogenous fertilizer, such as Uramite, 4 to 5 weeks before bringing them into the glasshouse. To further stimulate growth all flower buds should be removed without damaging the vegetative buds immediately below them.

The stock plants, held under the conditions described, show signs of

In late February and early March cutting material was gathered from near the base of the standard ("tree") fuchsia plants. This basal growth tended to be more vigorous and sturdy and better suited to our requirements than top growth.

Tip cuttings of approximately 10 cm (4") long were made. The bases of the cuttings were dipped in Seradix II, before insertion in sharp river sand, with a bottom heat of 10° to 16°C.

It was found that no misting was necessary; a good watering 3 to 4 times per day was all that was required.

About two or three weeks later, roots were beginning to push and the plants were duly lifted from their rooting medium and potted into 3" fibre pots.

The potting medium was "John Innes" and consisted of 7 parts loam, 3 parts rotted leaf mould, 2 parts river sand. As there was a plentiful supply of fallen leaves in the autumn, rotted leaf mould was used in place of peat, with outstanding success.

The fertilizers added per cubic yard were: 2 lb superphosphate, 2 lbs dried blood

I am the Production Manager of a container shrub unit attached to a mainly retail nursery. The production area covers about two acres and has turned out from 40,000 to 70,000 units a year of from 5-inch to 1-gallon sizes. I have a staff of 2 to 3 males and 2 females, mainly trainees. When I came to my present job ten years ago from growing house plants, the methods, soil mixes and so on were all new to me. The nursery was fairly new; the firm's outlines were set out but, in detail, were fairly sketchy. If one area of the nursery was under pressure we could be called on to help out.

It was felt after 12 months that productivity was too low, and I was encouraged to do some reading in management and work study. One of the main problems was to find out WHY we weren't turning out as much as expected. We were keeping

The old propagation department is largely made up of glass, rigid type plastic structures, and polythene houses of a variety of shapes and sizes built over a period of 70 years. The cost of re-building in glass was prohibited so we decided to seek a cheaper substitute for our million plus cutting production per annum. Plastic with it's low level of capital investment seemed to be the best alternative.

The Lee Valley Experimental Horticultural Station started work on film plastic structures in 1968 and has largely overcome the resistance to plastic tunnel developments. We based our design with modifications, on their prototypes as described in Station Leaflet No. 17

The following descriptions and comparisons within the New Zealand genus should help to clarify some of the uncertainties that may have existed in understanding the Kowhai.

The genus Sophora (from sophera, an Arabic name for some leguminous trees), is not confined to New Zealand,

Planning cannot be done in a vacuum. Facts must be available for plans to be made, facts about your business and about the business world that affects your business. Among these facts must be what you expect to be spending for the goods you produce and sell.

Do we want to consider procedures to determine costs? Do we want to consider what 1-gallon plants, peat, containers, etc. cost me and you and you? Do we want to consider standardized costs for the industry? Do we want to consider what to do with the data we have? Many other questions can be raised — but enough!!

For this discussion I intend to cover, first, a general procedure for looking at costs; second, some procedures

Many apparently little known species are being grown only by specialist growers such as members of The Society For Growing Australian Plants. This same Society has been and is very active in all states in furthering an interest in use of indigenous plants in parks and gardens.

One of the more obvious results of this interest is the Canberra Botanic Gardens which is, I believe, the only botanic gardens in the world devoted exclusively to its continent's indigenous flora. I should mention also Maranoa Gardens and the extensive use of natives in airport and freeway plantings in Melbourne, the specialist gardens such as Stony Range, Kuring-gai Wildflower Gardens, and Bankstown Wildflower Reserve in Sydney and nearer at hand, the

With tomato seeds the heating of seed beds has reduced the time between seeding and planting by five weeks. Capsicums, which are normally difficult to raise during the winter, sold four to five weeks before seedlings planted from unheated beds. Croton, hibiscus, camellia, macadamia, celery, and passion fruit have been produced with great success, being struck and grown during the winter and sold in early summer. The grower can now compete on a market where it was not possible to do so before.

The use of 32-volt system enables low cost, easily replaceable galvanized iron wire elements to be used. These can be installed by the grower and adapted to suit his particular conditions and application.

The first is that after an initial lag phase the sawdust absorbs a large amount of nitrogen from the potting mix. The rate of absorption depends on the temperature and the type of sawdust (Table 1).

Another problem is that many kinds of sawdust contain large amounts of substances (mainly phenols) which can inhibit the growth of plants (Table 1). Since most of the hardwood sawdust that is available locally is composed of two or more species it can be seen that the nitrogen uptake and the amount of toxic compounds in them will vary widely.

Although softwood sawdust is likely to be more uniform, much of

Basic investigation into techniques of native grass establishment was required before these could be considered as a substitute for exotic grasses. Methods have been developed for propagation from seed of four native grasses: the warm-season grasses, Themeda australis

Known locally as Geraldton Wax, it flowers profusely from June to October. Flowers consistently of a disc of five petals are borne on the terminal growth, and have a waxy appearance. They have lasting qualities and make excellent cutting material for florists.

Leaves are short fleshy needles, soft to touch with a strong distinctive aroma when bruised and are rich in oil.

Although it grows readily from seed, about 12 selected cultivars are perpetuated from cutting-grown stock to obtain these better coloured forms. These range from white, pale pink, deep pink to purplish red.

Cuttings are taken between January to April but my best results have been from those taken in late March and early April.

Tip cuttings 2

When we first started to produce the Hawaiian cultivars from cuttings our stocks bushes were young and vigorous and our production results were very high indeed. However as the stock bushes matured, the strike became less and less. I was faced with the decision of having to bed out new stock bushes every few years, or to look into the possibility of grafting.

We had to develop a technique that we could use as our standard procedure and one which could produce a high percentage of success. We set down a series of trials to determine:

1. The most suitable rootstocks.

In Queensland grafting of macadamias was still generally an unsolved mystery by 1960 with one or two notable exceptions. One man in particular, Mr. Norman Greber of Beerwah, had mastered the art successful grafting technique. Mr. Greber could not understand the failures of others to copy his method. This continued failure at propagation was the major stumbling block to the establishment of a macadamia industry around this time.

Mr. Greber's graft is a modified side wedge which allows almost any sized scion and stock to be united. Success rates were generally high with rootstock sizes ranging from small seedlings to limbs on topworked trees 6 to 10 inches in diameter. This method was adopted by one or two

Grafting of macadamis is not as easy, as fast, or as sure as most orchard species. This is demonstrated by the early difficulties experienced with grafting macadamia and the numerous propagation methods which have been developed.

In 1969 scionwood supplies of desired cultivars was in short supply. We offset our scionwood shortage by going onto patch budding instead of grafting. Results and propagation rate were similar to grafting. (Propagation rate was approx. 100 / man / day.) It was while doing this laborious patch budding that the idea of punch budding occurred to me.

On 15th January, 1970 two 0.303 bullet shells were used to prove that macadamia buds could be punched. Our first punch-budded trees resulted from this and tens of thousands of trees produced since then have proved the benefits of punch-budded trees for CSR Limited requirements.

Most interest in juvenility focuses on 3 significant practical problems. First, how can one maintain or increase the rooting potential and regenerate hard-to-root cultivars by vegetative propagation? Second, how can one shorten the juvenile period to bring about early flowering to speed up breeding programs for fruit, nut and forest crops? Thirdly, how can one avoid (or utilize) the variability in growth performance and morphological appearance that sometimes characterizes juvenile growth

Relationships, such as the effect of

Subsequent tests with a variety of palm seed showed conventional techniques such as filing, chipping and acid baths for aiding germination of hard-coated seeds were ineffective.

In 1958 Dr. Walter Hodge, then President of the Palm Society, visited the Botanic Gardens and this led to exchange of seed and information from authorities such as Bruce Ledin, Stanley Kiem, Nat De Leon, Harold Moore Jr., and a host of others.

As a result of the exchange of ideas, a lot of experimentation, experience, and a regular supply of seed, the following facts clearly emerged;

1. Seed must be freshly harvested to successfully germinate.
2. Only mature

I, and other breeders, have made great efforts over recent years to get this established but nothing has been achieved. It has, however, been a great pleasure to know that all our State and Federal Nurseryman's Associations have formed a Plant Breeder's Rights Committee and are very active in this field. Currently, States have the power to enact appropriate legislation but I can not see the possibility of uniform legislation unless the states give this power to the Australian Federal Government.

An ordinary patent was taken out three years ago on a

We have at least four major groups of ground cover plant users:

1. Suburban home owners
2. Suburban and city townhouse and flat owners or dwellers
3. Urban landscape contractors
4. Contractors of large scale landscape restoration, conservation and management projects.

The first two groups of customers deserve particular attention. They buy mostly exotic intensive-care ground cover plants. Plant propagators can foster business goodwill and can make major contribution to the aesthetics of the environment in which these people live by merchandising well selected, high quality plants for the particular locality.

Sometimes these customers will need advice on how to use ground cover plants to the best advantage, how the ground cover plants can display other taller plants to advantage and how, with combination of ground cover and larger shrubs and trees, their homes, townhouses or

Traditionally, horticultural teaching at the college has centered around fruit and vegetable production, but now the scope has expanded with the introduction of specialist subjects such as Nursery Production, Ornamental Horticulture, Landscape Gardening and Turf Management. These specialist subjects are designed to meet the needs of the various sections of the horticultural industries and they have originated partly as a result of pressure from industry groups, such as the Queensland Nurseryman's Association, and the International Plant Propagators' Society. Our main emphasis now is on the development of the necessary practical facilities to effectively teach these subjects, particularly the facilities for the

A side veneer graft carried out in the summer has worked well. The procedure is as follows.

Camellia hiemalis ‘Kanjiro’ is used as the understock. a vigorously growing plant that has made stout shoots on the top is selected. Understock cuttings are prepared about 5 inches long with 2 or 3 leaves. A single sloping cut about ½ inch long is made into the stem about 1 ½ inches from the base. This is where the wood is thickest and the possibility of cutting right through is minimized.

The scion of the desired cultivar is prepared by cutting to approximately 3 inches in length with two leaves at the top and the base is shaped into a wedge about ½ inch long. The scion is