J 58 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



JULY 



1900. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Siruts. 

 Manj' florists, where the division of 

 labor is not so finely drawn as it is in 

 our largest cities, are asked to do most 

 everytliing that pertains to horticul- 

 ture. They are asked to plant shrubs, 

 lay out lawns and plant hedges. You 

 may not have had an education in this 

 line in your youth, but it a man does 

 not sutler with the hardening of the 

 grey matter, which is next in affliction 

 to softening, it is never too late to 

 learn. 



Pruning. 



Just now pruning claims attention, 

 and to plant a hedge and then give It 

 no attention will bring you little cred- 

 it. People that are worth working for 

 are very willing to pay for the care 

 of their trees, shrubs and hedges. 

 Some witty fellow said the best time 

 to prune is "when your knife is sharp," 

 and as far as the health and growth is 

 concerned that is true, but careless or 

 indiscriminate pruning will deprive 

 many of the shrubs of their blooming 

 buds. 



There are many of our early flower- 

 ing shrubs that set their buds in early 

 autumn, and if you prune severely 

 during winter or spring you get no 

 flowers. The lilac, Philadeiphus, For- 

 sythia, magnolia, tamarix, Pyrus ja- 

 ponica and viburnum are samples of t 

 these. As soon as the flowers are fad- 

 ed is the time to prune. Then there 

 are the hydrangeas, altheas and the 

 hardy roses which should be pruned 

 hard back every winter because they i 

 make a good gi-owth before they flow- j 

 er and want no summer pruning. The 

 lilac that is most out for its blossoms 

 always bears the most flowers, because 

 being robbed of their flowers they 

 make a good summer's growth. 



Study the difference between those 

 shrubs that set their flower buds in 

 the fall and those that mature only a 

 leaf bud from the growth of which, if 

 strong enough, a flower will develop. 

 The former should be pruned as soon 

 as flowering is over; the latter can be 

 pruned in winter or spring. It is also 

 true with the latter that if you left all 

 the growth and did not prune in the 

 winter you would have a lot of feeble 

 growth and small flowers. 



Evergreen Hedges. 



Evergreen hedges, such as Norway 

 spruce, hemlock or arborvitae, can be 

 pruned in July; no better time. Es- 

 tablished hedges of any size can be 

 pruned with shears, but it gives them 

 a sheep sheared appearance. The knife 

 is much better and in newly estab- 



lished hedges by all means use only 

 the knife. If it is true about bringing 

 up the youth in the way he should go, 

 then it is doubly so with a hedge. In 

 fact, it is all in the first few years of 

 training. 



Deciduous Hedges. 



A deciduous hedge such as privet or 

 Spiraea Thunbergii, can be pruned in 

 midsummer and again in winter or 

 spring. The most ornamental hedge I 

 have ever seen was one of Pyrus ja- 

 ponica, as often called cydonia, and 

 well known as the Japan quince. It 

 makes a dense, thick foliage and is 

 brilliant in the early spring. As soon 

 as the flowers are gone is the time to 

 prune; chen they make their growth 

 and flowering wood for next year. 



Fair Treatment. 



I hear men who ought to know bet- 

 ter condemn hedges without any ex- 

 ception. This is foolish, and they 

 abuse them at the same time, not giv- 

 ing attention to those under their care 

 anything like a fair or sensible treat- 

 ment. To expect a hedge, either ever- 

 green or deciduous, to be six feet high 

 and of an equal thickness from top to 

 bottom is wrong. They should be tap- 

 ering, broad at the bottom and nar- 

 rowing to the top; then every twig gets 

 rain and light and air. 



The majority of our patrons are in 

 a hurry and want a hedge to be 4 feet 

 high the year after it is planted. In 

 the conversation you are reminded 

 that "life is short and they are pretty 

 old now," etc. It can't be done in a 

 hurry, and if a hedge is a necessity 

 anywhere it's a necessity to do it well; 

 that means a rather slow addition to 

 its size or height, and proper pruning. 



Flower Beds. 



It is also to your interest to see that 

 the flower beds that you planted for 

 your good customers are kept in good 

 shape. Planting a flower bed or a lot 

 of them is only a part of the job. The 

 care is quite as important as starting 

 with good plants. In some places 

 there is a real gardener, but those are 

 not our best custorners. It is where 

 there is a "yard man" kept or where 

 the coachman has to look after the 

 flower beds. 



It is your duty to take a trip around 

 and interview John Thomas and tell 

 him to keep the coleus pinched down, 

 the old geranium trusses picked off. 

 and tell him that he can soak the can- 

 na and caladium beds every night if he 

 has time, but with the geraniums and 



other flowering plants to give them a 

 soaking twice a week and hoe the next 

 day. It will pay you to see that your 

 plants make a good show. If neglect- 

 ed or abused you will get the blame 

 and next year they will try "Mr. Cut- 

 price." WM. SCOTT. 



NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



The New Conservatories. 



The accompanying engraving is 

 from a photograph of the New York 

 Botanical Gardens Conservatories in 

 Bronx Park, New York City, recently 

 erected by Hitchings & Co. The pho- 

 tograph hardly gives a proper idea of 

 the size of the various houses, as on 

 account of trees and other obstruc- 

 tions it was impossible to secure a 

 front view, the photograph being tak- 

 en from one end, which has the effect 

 of fore-shortening the houses. 



The entire length of the range is 

 about 525 feet. The central house is 

 100 feet in diameter and 87 feet high 

 and the corner houses are 85 feet, out- 

 aide dimensions, the connecting wings 

 being 120x30 feet. 



It surely is a noble structure and 

 one of which both the garden officials 

 and the builders may well feel proud. 



These conservatories and the park in 

 which they are situated will no doubt 

 be visited by many of our readers next 

 August. 



THE COAL QUESTION. 



Shaumburg, July 1. 1900. 



Tear Frient: It seems to me dot pome 

 off de growers around Chicago don't 

 know a goot ding when dey see it, or 

 else dey woot pay more addention to 

 de coal question wich is now being 

 atchidated. Dis is undoubtedly one off 

 de best dings wich has el'er happened 

 und shoult receive de subbort off efery 

 grower in dis vicinity. Don't lay pack 

 und let oders do all de work und den 

 exbect to receiie a share off de pene- 

 fits dis winter wen coal is way up out 

 off sighd. Blace yourself in commu- 

 nigation mit de gommittee und see 

 wat you can do for dem, or wat dey 

 can do for you. Get a move on you. 



I know de wetter is bretty warm to 

 ask anypody to move too fast, but 

 mark wat I tell you: de feller who 

 don't get in on de ground floor now 

 will wish dot he had done so dis win- 

 ter when de wint is plowing apoud a 

 mile a minute und de dermometer is 

 way down pelow Cairo und coal is cjO 

 high dat you can't reach it mit a bal- 

 loon. 



I remember some years ago when I 

 worked in a blace on de hill in de 

 hoopskirts of Cincinnati, we had a 

 wery cold spell und de wint fairly 

 howled around de blace. It was my 

 night to fire und de foreman came to 

 me und said: "Fritz, pe wery gareful 

 tonight und don't let de dermometer 

 get down too low in de houses; keep 



