The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



523 



: / . v-^ f 







^^f^i 



A bouse of the new Pandanos Sanderi. 



sons, though I did not grow very many 

 lately as it was not satisfactory. In our 

 trade papers there have ropeatoilly ap- 

 peared very good articles on forcin'.; lily 

 of the valley from prominent men and 

 I would rather confine myself tonight to 

 the stock to be used for forcing. This 

 is undoubtedly the most important point 

 in forcing valley successfully and too 

 much care cannot be used in procuring 

 the right stock. 



Pips to b? used for early forcing should 

 have been grown in light, warm soil; it 

 is immaterial whether a sandy soil or 

 a good cultivated garden soil. Pips 

 grown on a damp, cold p'ace, or in a 

 heavy loam, slinuUl be used only tor late 

 forcing. 



Good pips for early forcing should be 

 strong, solid, run even, and must have 

 plenty of fine, long, white roots that 

 start" right from the pips. These signs 

 will assure you that the pips have been 

 well taken care of and cultivated. Stock 

 like that can always be depended upon 

 to give good satisfaction providing the) 

 get proper treatment. 



For late forcing I use stock grown on 

 heavy soil. The roots are shorter and 

 coarser, but the pips should be strong 

 and evenly assorted. Here I find trouble 

 sometimes, particularly when the season 

 was rather moist. The lower bells are 

 too far advanced in the piji-^ iiml in prrnw- 

 ing they fade before llir \:ii:r\ i^ fully 



developed. Most of tlic i ■ i li'nl ilii- 



trouble with the stmn-i -i |.i|i- jm.wii 

 on heavy and damp soil. It is tlieretore 

 advisable to look >\]ion such stock, as 

 well as unevenly assorted pips, with 

 suspicion. Mv sliip|itr keeps me -in 

 formed as to "where the different kinds 



weie grown and how the season has been 

 as this is very important to know. 



Mr. August Juroens was to have read 

 a pa]K-r on the s^iinie siibject but had 



failcl l.i |,lrp:ur MllMluim. WlirM railed 



upon lir >.ii'l I h:ii .111 iiii|..ii I, ml |iMint in 



vallev i.'iriim \x,,, in 1 1 \]u- |.i|i. into 



soil just .1, Mjuu as i.ccncd and nut al- 

 low the pips to dry out. He said that tr 

 get really first class valley it must be 

 grown cool and given plenty of time to 

 develop. If forced fast you get stem 

 but at the expense of the flowers. The 

 flowers must have time to develop and 

 this process cannot be successfully 

 forced. The temperature varies, ol 

 course, with the season. His early valley 

 he gives 85 to 90 degrees, but later 

 crops get only 75 to 80 degrees. He had 

 found that the most expensive pips were 

 the most profitable to force as the poorer 

 average of flowers from the cheaper pipi- 

 made them most costly in the end. Ev- 

 ery batch must be treated differently 

 and he learns something new every year. 



He displayed a bunch of very fine val- 

 ley that excited the admiration of all. 

 Xiiese were from pips put in February 7. 

 He was pessimistic, though, as regards 

 the profit in forcing valley. His ex- 

 perience had been that the demand was 

 very uncertain and irregular and that 

 the demand was generally strongest 

 when he had but a few and diseouraging- 

 ly light when he had a good lot. 



Mr. Buettner took another fall out of 

 t lie retailers for not encouraging the 

 sale of valley. They seemed never, to 

 buy it for regular stock, he said. I)ut 

 bought it onlv when it was specially 

 called for and' then thev would want a 



big lot and wondered why the grower 

 couldn't supply it. He said there was 

 1 11(1 much of a tendency among the re- 

 tailers to hunt for flowers that wouid 

 rover a big space in a funeral design and 

 tliat they would better spend some of 

 their time in catering to and developing 

 a taste for something better. He took 

 the bunch of valley, spread it out loosely 

 and said that such a bunch placed on the 

 counter would sell, but that a much 

 greater demand would be developed if 

 the retailer were to make it up in some 

 pretty, dainty combination. He said 

 that the average retailer took the 

 bunches just as they came from the 

 grower, jammed several of them together 

 in a crude looking jar and then was dis- 

 gusted when customers passed it by. 



AN EMPLOYES' ASSOCIATION. 



Editor Florists' Keview: 



I have read with much interest the 

 paper read by Herman Knope before the 

 Detroit Florists' Club and printed in 

 your paper. He certainly brings out 

 some points worthy of consideration. But 

 how to improve the situation is the ques- 

 tion. 



Would it not be a good idea for em- 

 ployes to have an association, admitting 

 only good men and excluding all the 

 skates and big mouths and get together 

 on their ow^n account. I am sure they 

 could advance their own interests and 

 those of honest employers too, by an or- 

 ganization if broad enough in its aims 

 and character. 



How would it do to try to get together 

 at the time of the S. A. F. convention in 

 liufl'alo next August? I would make an 



