474 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



APRIL 6, 1899. 



no support to prevent them from slip- 

 ping down, but witli a steeper roof, 

 a tack driven part way in, at the 

 center of the outside laths on the 

 lower side, would catch on the but- 

 tons, and thus support the screen. 



When not in use, the screens are 

 stored under the benches, or else- 

 where. Being very thin, they occupy 

 little room. They should be made of 

 the best quality of well-seasoned 

 house lath. If wet lath are used, the 

 screens often warp badly. By means 

 of a simple form, which may be de- 

 vised by any person apt with tools, 

 the screens may be nailed up very 

 rapidly. 



For houses in locations where the 

 sunshine is less intense than in our 

 comparatively clear and dry atmos- 

 phere, as in the Atlantic states, or in 

 the vicinity of the great lakes, it 

 would probably be better to place the 



It may be questioned if any method 

 of shading that wholly obstructs the 

 direct rays of the sun is as favorable 

 for the growth of most plants as one 

 that, like the lath screen, obstructs 

 only a part of the rays, leaving the 

 others to shine in their full force. 

 FRED CRANEFIELD, 

 Ass't. Horticulturist, Wis. Exp. Sta. 



NEW YORK. 



The Eastir Trade. 



"You tan fool tlie people .some time, 

 but — not always," as Barnuiu said, and 

 that principle unfortunately impresses 

 itself most emphatically upon the aver- 

 age florist of today. It is wrong to im- 

 agine that because there is lots of 

 money thrown around carelessly in this 

 country that we can honestly pocket it 

 without a fair compensation, or, to put 



T~r 



XX 



"i~r 



T~T 



A Section of Lath Shading. 



lath a full inch apart than the dis- 

 tance noted above. Indeed, it seems 

 well to have two or more classes of 

 screens, with different spaces between 

 the lath. In houses extending north 

 and south, the east side usually re- 

 quires less shading than the west, 

 since the most intense sunlight comes 

 somewhat after noon. We have found 

 that screens made of lath placed one 

 and a half inches apart answer fairly 

 well for the east side of our Station 

 greenhouse. 



In the summer of 1S9-1. the attempt 

 was made to grow muskmelons in our 

 "garden house," in which the glass 

 was kept sprinkled with lime water, 

 to break the intensity of the sun's 

 rays. The plants grew well, and the 

 foliage appeared healthy, but the 

 vines fruited very sparingly, and the 

 melons came far short of their normal 

 high quality, even when left on the 

 vines until decay had commenced. 

 The only reason suggested for the 

 failure of the crop to mature satis- 

 factorily was that the sunlight, sub- 

 dued by the continuous film of lime 

 over the glass, was lacking in some 

 of the qualities that are necessary to 

 the normal development of the melon. 



it plainly, not to give the people fair 

 value for their money. Oh, no: the 

 florist who starts out that vt'aj sooner 

 or later (most often sooner) reaches, the 

 end and mourns his loss. 



The Easter business of New York city 

 for 1S99 was simply a record breaker; 

 to take it on the average, it was the 

 poorest cut flower trade ever known, and 

 to again take it on the average, it was 

 the best flowering plant trade ever 

 known. Y'ou can draw your own par- 

 ticular inferences fi'om it, but let us, 

 for the benefit of the uninformed, say 

 v.hat we think. Despite the condition 

 of affairs, tiie i-iices of cut flowers at 

 Christmas and 'faster ha\c been nn- 

 reaionubly high, thus we finrl that every 

 year th;: people buy less cut llnwer.? ,'.nl 

 more pl.iut?, because plants give them 

 more satisfaction, more for their mnne}-. 



This Easter every retail florist went 

 heavy on plants and wag anxious that 

 the weather be fine, and it was, too, Fri- 

 day, Saturday and Sunday being ideal 

 days. Lilies were of poorer quality 

 than scarce, and retailed at from 20 to 

 35 cents a flower. Cut lilies were too 

 green and frequently had to go at 8 or 

 10. Azaleas were good and plentiful anil 

 brought more than they were worth for 



their size. Some of the rhododendrons 

 were grand and went with a rush. So 

 did roses, particularly the Crimson Ram- 

 blers, which, taking all in all, were 

 rather poorly grown. Spireas, cinerarias 

 and genistas are scarcely worth grow- 

 ing; the demand for them is yearly de- 

 creasing. Bulbous stock, such as tulips, 

 hyacinths, daft's, etc., were poor and suf- 

 fered in consequence. Ericas were grand, 

 particularly some rare varieties, which 

 were easily the choicest things on the 

 market. Primroses were scarce and in 

 demand; so were sweet violets. Daisies 

 sold well, especiallj' the giant California 

 variety. Of course, some of the retail- 

 ers have a few plants left, but. taking a 

 general view of the plant market, there 

 was a larger trade than ever. 



Many of the wholesalers went in for 

 plants and the indications are that next 

 Christmas and Easter we will see ex- 

 traordinary preparations made for these 

 occasions, like with Christmas greens 

 the butcher and grocer and harnessmaker 

 will be handling them. 



Now, as to the cut flower market, 

 well, the less said the better; it was 

 simply dead; very few flowers were or- 

 dered in advance, because there were 

 the jjlants to work ofl', and there being 

 such a quantity of them, it required till 

 Sunday to do so. It was the same old 

 story of the pickling vats in the coun- 

 try: without any indication whatever of 

 floods, all manner of stock found its 

 way into the market on Friday and Sat- 

 urday, much of it being of that awful 

 Chinese color. Carnations went to sleep 

 early, even with rubber bands 'roimd 

 their necks. Violets were small, but oh ! 

 so powerfully strong in smell. Jacques 

 went good; so did Meteors, and the mar- 

 ket is patiently waiting for "Liberty."' 

 Beauties were ratlier poor, much of them 

 being too small and insignificant to no- 

 tice at all. Maids seemed to have been 

 kept in some unhealthy place too long; 

 so did the Brides. There was a good 

 demand for callas and candidums, which 

 were scarce. All manner of bulb stock 

 was plentiful. 



Bowling. 



Following are the scores made at the 

 alleys last Monday evening: 



1st. 2nd. 3d. 4th. Av. 



Bums 141 114 14S 133 134 



Leuly 103 154 14S 122 131 



Hatner 126 147 126 125 130 



Donlan 120 124 122 



Traendlv 120 113 107 130 117 



Penman US 99 107 123 111 



The return match with the Flatbush 

 team will be played on the Flatbush al- 

 leys Thursday, April G, at 7:30 p. m. 



IVEKA. 



BOSTON, 



The Market. 



Owing to most growers holding most 

 of their stuff back for Easter, there 

 has been rather a scarcity of good 

 flowers all the week. This is especial- 

 ly true of carnations. Bulb stock has 

 been more in evidence than anything 

 else and sold well all the week at the 

 usual prices. 



