156 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JUIvT 5, 1900. 



than the majority of variegated plants 

 and in most cases are just as effective. 

 A. Savitzii is a gem. and Soiiv. de 

 Bonn and Eclipse are useful niembeis 

 aso. Acalypha Godseffiana and A. 

 McArthurii are good for color. 



Begonia Rex will b? necessary in 

 many places and a few of the brightest 

 varieties will suffice. Ivy (and Irish 

 ivy, too, if you please, not English, 

 as it is generally called, we suppos? 

 on the principle that everything alive 

 is English) is indispensable; have it 

 pot grown if for use indoors next win- 

 ter. H. helix digitata and H. helix va- 

 riegata should be more geaer.illy 

 grown and used. 



Ferns. 



Ferns are of the utmost importance 

 to every retailer. Too few of the 

 larger specimens are iised even in win- 

 dow decorations, and it is too often 

 the case that a few of the commo.iest 

 varieties are ottered by large growers. 

 Every storekeeper knows the trouble 

 he has in procuring an equal propor- 

 tion of the best varieties which it is 

 absolutely necessary to have in order 

 to give customers satisfaction. For 

 fern dishes the following are good: 

 Adiantums bellum, Farlayeuse. macro- 

 phyllum, tetraphyllum. and cuneatum: 

 Aspidium tensimense. Blechnum oc- 

 cldentale. Cyrtomium falcatum, Gym- 

 nogramme chrysophylla and G. argyr- 

 ophylla. Pteris cretica albo-lineata, ser- 

 rulata, cristata. and Ourardii; Sela- 

 ginellas Emiliana, denticulata and 

 Martensii variegata. It is better to 

 grow selaginellas in small pots which 

 will not necessitate dividing the plant, 

 a custom resulting in much harm. 



Of the larger ferns of course Neph- 

 rolepsis exaltata Bostoniensis will al- 

 ways lead, and it is wise to have a 

 large stock in all sizes: it is useless 

 to wait until one plant furnishes up 

 ■into an immense specimen: put two or 

 three or more if necessary together in 

 pot or pan: they become salable quick- 

 er and last longer. We prefer this fern 

 in pans for two reasons — it is easier 

 to hide or cover pans, and they grow 

 better and last longer in them. Every 

 year there is a scarcity of good speci- 

 mens about Christmas or New Year's; 

 try to have sufficient to last all 

 through the season. N. davallioides 

 furcans is another valuable plant for 

 vase or hanging basket, and. by the 

 way. more ferns should be grown in 

 Ijaskets, tor they enable one to do finer 

 work in decorating. Pteris tremula is 

 an easily grown fern and very few can 

 surpass it for mantel adornment. Da- 

 vallia bullata in design form sel well 

 sometimes, but they are scarcely to bj 

 recommended for general houS3 cul- 

 ture. 



Ferns are like palms or any other 

 family of plants: there are many vari- 

 eties, scarce and beautiful, which 

 would sell readily or be used to great 

 advantage in unlimited quantities. We 

 have mentioned only those plants that 

 are easiest grown and give best re- 



sults, and whilst extended lists may in 

 some cases, such as conservatory fur- 

 nishing, etc.. be desirable, yet any 

 store trade, no matter how extensive, 

 can get along very well with the list 

 given above. The most important 

 thing is to have your stock in good 

 shape and well hardened off before it 

 is required. Large specimen ferns of 

 almost any graceful variety for use in 

 your window will enable you to save 

 money by purchasing less flowers, and 

 in most cases the window will look bet- 

 ter. 



Buying Stock. 



The country grower who also retails 

 should attend to his stock at once. The 

 city storekeeper with a small green- 

 house attached had better wait till 

 September or October when good bar- 

 gains can be got. but even if he has to 

 pay more than he would now. it would 

 be cheaper in the end than to buy and 

 bother with the limited stock he can 

 accommodate. It is customary to have 

 the cheaper grade of plants for loaning 

 or decorating purposes, and a rule to 

 keep your best and most perfect plants 

 in reserve, for possible outright sales 

 will be profitable to you as well as of 

 more satisfaction to your customer. 



The florist at the sea side or summer 

 resort will need a plentiful supply of 

 ferns and other decorative plants from 

 now on, and a great many of the 

 showy foliage kinds, such as fancy 

 leaved caladiums, etc.. will come in 

 useful. It would be very little trouble, 

 but a matter of much consequence, if 

 florists added the names and places of 

 discovery to the plants: this would 

 impart needed information and add 

 value to the plant. 



IVERA. 



KEEPING QUALITIES OF CARNA- 

 TIONS. 



And Keeping to Keep the Quality. 



In speaking of the keeping qualities 

 of cut blooms of different varieties of 

 carnations, it must be understood that 

 I speak from the standpoint of the 

 commission dealer who first knows the 

 flower when it reaches him, in what is 

 really its middle stage of life, and that 

 the conclusions formed are only from 

 my own experience, and may be truth- 

 fully at utter variance v/ith those of 

 others whose methods of handling are 

 entirely opposite. 



How long should such a flower keep? 

 We have absolutely no stsndard, and 

 from the very nature of the case we 

 never can have. Comparisons are im- 

 fair and unreliable in their results. 

 Final conclusions as to relative keep- 

 ing qualities can only be made where 

 each sort is represented at same time 

 and place by its best — that is, by flow- 

 ers produced under ideal conditions 

 for the variety concerned; each han- 

 dled, not uniformly, but according to 

 its requirements. Almost an impossi- 

 bility. 



Conditions and methods of growth. 



as well as the handling after cutting, 

 are all important essentials in deter- 

 mining the quality of bloom. Charac- 

 ter of soil, ventilation, watering, age. 

 nourishment, the need of each sup- 

 plied as the want appears— the variety 

 counts for little. 



It would perhaps interest growers if 

 they knew and realized that their 

 stock possessed an individuality. That 

 all varieties when grown by some are 

 found to be keepers, while on the oth- 

 er hand the reverse is true in other 

 cases. Every commission man has 

 shipments from growers that regular- 

 ly reach him in fine condition, stem, 

 foliage, size, color, shape, and even 

 fragrance, all that can be desired, and 

 he knows them to be strictly fresh, 

 but he knows, furthermore, first class 

 s'ock though they are, that he must 

 sell them to the best advantage he can, 

 and that with the least loss of time 

 possible, for they will not keep. There 

 is nothing in the appearance of stock 

 to indicate it. General knowledge of 

 siness does not teach one how 

 to detect it. Actual experience in 

 handling that particular grower's 

 stock, shipment after shipment, re- 

 shipping it, selling it locally to this 

 one and that one, having some remain 

 unsold for some little time, having it 

 one by complaints and 

 long observation, finally forces him to 

 realize it. 



On the other hand, there is the grow- 

 er whose stock always kpeps. whose 

 Scctts ship anywhere better than Tri- 

 umphs of other growers; whose stock 

 IS set away carefully to fill orders of 

 particular customers who pay a fair 

 l)rice for a good article and will have 

 it. His stock is not rushed off. but, in 

 fact, has every advantage, every turn 

 of the market is taken to his pocket's 

 benefit. Now, why is it? I do not 

 pretend to know. It would pay grow- 

 ers to find out. 



In a general way 1 will state that 

 varieties that are not "croppers" are 

 best keepers, those of slow growth, 

 maturing late, leading, but no general 

 rule can be deduced, as there are so 

 many exceptions that all definite prop- 

 ositions either fall short or overreach. 

 This is equally as true of the newer 

 .sorts as of the old. 



White Cloud is an ideal keeper dur- 

 ing the winter, while failing on the 

 first approach of summer. Flora Hill, 

 on the other hand, during the winter 

 is an indifferent keeper, but for the 

 rest of the year is up near the front. 

 Lizzie McGowan by many is given off- 

 handed as heading the list of good 

 keepers. I can not say I have found 

 this to be strictly true. Being a 

 white, the deterioration is not as no- 

 ticeable as it is in a colored variety, 

 and it is in condition for use after an 

 a.gF that in others would l)C out of 

 question on account of loss of color 

 The flower of a perfectly grown Tidal 

 Wave will at the end of four or five 

 days be in better condition than a Mc- 



