JANUARY 5. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



133 



Greenliouses of Mr. Jos. Gelven, St. Charles, Mo., Looking North. 



good qualities. It was raised by Mr. 

 E. G. Hill and is now owned by 

 Messrs. Dailledouze Bros, and Mr. As- 

 mus. 



Maceo is a dark crimson, a very tree 

 bloomer, raised by Mr. C. W. Ward, 

 who has also Gomez, a crimson as well, 

 Ijrighter and better In color^ but not 

 nearly so free a bloomer as Maceo. 

 Mars is a superb scarlet. It is doubt- 

 ful, however, that it will be sent out 

 the coming season. America, by E. G. 

 Hill, is a red one of great promise. 



Mrs. Lawson is probably the finest 

 pink in existence for forcing. It will 

 not, however, be disseminated until 

 the spring of 1900. It is currently re- 

 ported that $5,000 has been refused for 

 the stock of this variety, and the re- 

 port seems to be true. Did the owner 

 make a mistake in refusing? 



CANNAS. The word "canna" seems 

 to give most growers the grippe. They 

 have got them badly and cannot get 

 rid of them. Today you can buy them 

 for a song. The cause is again over- 

 production; and while the demand has 

 doubled or trebled every year, the sup- 

 ply is always too great. Think of one 

 man getting 300 pounds of seed from 

 liis patch of cannas, and then imagine 

 how many roots he must have lifted! 

 I have known, however, of foreign va- 

 rieties, costing $3 to $4 each, being 

 left in the ground to freeze. There is 

 said to be an edible canna — and if all 

 ■cannas were only so, what a paying 

 crop they would be! 



In the raising of new and superior 

 cannas we have within the last few 

 years totally eclipsed and displaced 

 the French ones, upon which we used 

 to rely altogether. Today thousands 

 ■of American cannas are sent abroad, 

 not only to France but also to every 

 part of Europe, Asia, Africa and even 

 Australia. As they interest you so lit- 

 tle, I will not take up your time by 

 mentioning all the good varieties, but 

 will refer you to the Florists' Ex- 



change of October Sth, in which the 

 opinions of the principal growers are 

 given at length. 



You will not make a mistake, how- 

 ever, in growing Philadelphia, Presi- 

 dent McKiuIey, President Cleveland, 

 Menelick, Duke of Marlborough and 

 Champion as the best reds; Mademoi- 

 selle Berat, Mary Washington, Duch- 

 ess of Marlborough as the best pinks; 

 Yellow Crozy and Topaz as pure yel- 

 lows; Klondike as the only true or- 

 ange; Rosemawr as the best salmon; 

 Maiden's Blush as the best rosy flesh; 

 Gloriosa and Cuba as the best gilt- 

 edged sorts; and Florence Vaughan as 

 still the best spotted variety to date. 

 Black Beauty is not only a beautiful 



Although I am personally a great ad- 

 mirer of the dahlia, and have endeav- 

 ored to help the boom, yet I begin to 

 believe my friend Mr. Craig when he 

 says, "Drop them!" In Pennsylvania, 

 at least, it is a losing business. But if 

 I had the knowledge of their require- 

 ments and the warm, sandy soil that 

 our enthusiastic friend Mr. Peacock 

 has at his command, no flower would 

 be more delightful to grow. 



In dahlia novelties we are far behind 

 the English growers. None of the lat- 

 est and best Cactus dahlias — now the 

 only class popular in England — have 

 been grown, or at least shown, in this 

 country. If they are as far superior 

 to the variety Gloriosa and others 



Greenhouses of Mr. Jos. Gelven, St. Charles, Mo., Looking South. 



dark-leaved sort for bedding, but could 

 well be gi'own as a decorative plant. 

 Probably every one of these may be 

 superseded by newer and better varie- 

 ties before long. It is edifying to 

 know that in the raising of new can- 

 nas we can still report progress. 



DAHLIAS. In dahlias some of us 

 think we beat the world ; but I guess it 

 may be easier to beat the Spaniards. 



shown here as they are said to be, and 

 will bloom as early or earlier, then in- 

 deed there is a grand future in store 

 for them. You all know what splen- 

 did exhibitions were made in this hall 

 of such flne flowers as Grand Duke 

 Alexis, Clifford W. Bruton, Wm. Ag- 

 new, and other prize winners; and I 

 am sure that Mr. Peacock has some 

 great surprises up his sleeve, with 



