Xo. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 263 



REPORT OF THJ^ COMMITTP^p; ON FLORICUL- 

 TURE. 



UV KdWIX LoNSDALB. Cliuiniuin. 



It gives luo pleasure to be able to sa^- that tioricultiu'e iu in a 

 most thriviug conditiou, as to tlie demand —this includes cut flow- 

 ers — as orchids, roses, carnations, \iolets, lily of the valley and 

 many other cut ilowers. CalhiK- {Rlckardia (jethiopica) are being 

 grown in greater quantity now than in the recent past and find 

 readv sale, so also the same may be said of the brilliant red bracts 

 of the poinsettia pulcherrima. Neither of the two last-named 

 tlow(,'rs are new, as both were popuhir twenty or thirty years ago; 

 they later became "old-fashioned" and were considered out of date. 

 Now, old-fashioned flowers are attracting attention again. 



The calla and poinsettia are, however, so easily multiijlied and 

 grown that the sup})ly is very likely to quite soon exceed the de- 

 mand. The calla, sometimes called "calla-lily," but botanically it 

 belongs to the Arum family, and is not a lily at all — is grow^n almost 

 altogether as cut flov>'ers, its peculiar white spathe api^ealing in- 

 tensely to the esthetic. The brilliant scarlet bracts (leaves) which 

 surround the insigniiicant inHorescence of the poinsettia are very 

 popular for Christmas and New Year's Da}' decorations; everything 

 of a bright-colored nature being more in demand at that season of 

 the year, both as pot plants and cut flowers with long stems. When 

 used as pot plants the poinsettia gives greatest satisfaction, propa- 

 gating late, say in July and August, and a number of the small 

 plants are placed together in a pan nicely arranged as to size, the 

 larger being plan led in the center and smaller ones graded down 

 to the sides. 



The difference between a pan and a pot is: The flower-pot in gen 

 eral use is about as deep as it is broad at the top, w-hereas, the 

 l)an is much more broad and shallow in comparison. Pans are be- 

 coming more popuhir each year, as they conform so readily as an 

 (»rnam<>nt, when fiiled with, living plants, to the dinner table. 



One of Philadelphia's more prominent retail florists grew 6,000 

 p(!insettia plants for his own Ijoliday trade i:i Phi]ade1j)hia at hi» 



