446 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



SEPTEMBER IS, ViOO. 



PRIMULA FORBESII. 



I have much trouble in growing 

 Primula For'oesii. Will you please teil 

 me what soil is best for forcing them? 

 Every time I transplant them I lose 

 a number. 1 use a light soil as for 

 most plants. J. K- 



Providing the seed is good and we 

 can get them up there is no difficulty 

 in growing the P. Forbesii. We find 

 the compost that suits the Chinese 

 primulas does very well — three-fourths 

 loam and one-fourth thoroughly rotted 

 manure. 



We found that Forbesii wanted 

 plenty of light. In fact, we had it 

 on a bench, and having to remove the 

 glass it had the full air and light dur- 

 ing the month of August, and they 

 grew stout and thrifty. You must not 

 coddle it up with shade and heat. 

 Plunged out of doors in a frame, with 

 the means of protecting it from heavy 

 rains, will suit it finely during July, 

 August and September. Give it air 

 and light. WM. SCOTT. 



BUFFALO. 



Business Conditions. 



So much has happened since my last 

 notes I hardly know where to begin. 



We can scarcely say that business is 

 rushing, but all hands have had their 

 share of funeral work. 



A sad accident by drowning in Mus- 

 koko caused the death of one of our 

 young married women and called for 

 the use of many flowers. The Comp- 

 troller of New York state, Col. Mor- 

 gan, died at Albany and his funeral 

 was held here on Sunday last. Both 

 Albany and Buffalo florists had large 

 orders for elaborate designs. 



One large piece, a "Rock of Ages," 

 5 feet high, with a 4 foot base was 

 especially fine. It was ordered by his 

 associates at Albany but made here. 

 I am in hopes of sending you a photo 

 of it later. 



A Visit to Toronto. 



We paid a visit to Toronto last 

 week. It is a mammoth fair indejd. 

 The exhibit in the horticultural line 

 was about as usual, which means that 

 there was a very fine lot of plants and 

 fruit. Perhaps the inspiration I am 

 receiving from the lofty and beautiful 

 buildings of the Pan-Am. and its fine 

 landscape features has raised my 

 ideas of exhibition grounds, and this 

 year I was not so well pleased with 

 Toronto. Two years ago I remarked 

 to some of my friends there that the 

 amusement and refreshment feature 

 was beginning to be too prominent, 

 and this year it is still more so. I 

 know I am allowed to say this because 

 the Toronto press have said it and 

 very strongly. 



One of the neatest exhibits on the 

 grounds was the tent of the Pan- 

 American, and thousands visited the 



same. The general remark was after 

 looking around: "Well, if this is an 

 indication of what you are going to 

 do in Buffalo in 1901 you are all 

 right." 



By honesty and perseverance and 

 enterprise this Industrial Fair of To- 

 ronto has grown from a very small af- 

 fair 25 years ago to be the largest fair 

 on this continent, and long may it 

 flourish. 



Those Bowling Trophies. 



We got home from New York strag- 

 gling as we went, and don't forget to 

 tell the stay-at-homes that they 

 missed it sadly. The trophies, both 

 for teams and individuals, arrived 

 promptly and are on display at the 

 emporium of W. F. Kasting, V. P. S. 

 A. P. and O. H., M. B. P. B., etc., etc. 

 If John Westcott should be passing 

 through to the west and have a little 

 time to spare he can get a look at ths 

 cups and return to the depot inside of 

 half an hour. 



The writer was elected president of 

 the National F^lorists' Bowling League 

 and has not yet committed an official 

 act, but we heartily indorse the reso- 

 lution passed at our meeting in New 

 York, not to accept any trophy that 

 cannot be won right out at one con- 

 vention. It is the right thing all 

 around. 



Various Items. 



I have no hopes of remembering all 

 the visitors of the past three weeks, 

 they have been too numerous and 

 more or less illustrious. Mr. P. R. 

 Pierson was here, delighted with the 

 Pan-Am. prospects, and will be a very 

 large exhibitor. Mr. Mills, of Rose 

 Hill, N. Y., also a large exhibitor. Mr. 

 Berkowitz. of Philadelphia; W. Mott. 

 of the country at large: Mr. Harry 

 May, of N. J., on his road to Paines- 

 ville. Mr. May is an unusually fine 

 young man and will surely make his 

 mark. He has the good looks of his 

 father, in fhort, his Napoleonic se- 

 verity. 



Mr. Valentine spent a day here on 

 his way to his Rocky mountain home, 

 and well pleased we were to see him. 



When in Toronto I corralled Charles 

 Scrim, of Ottawa, and Joseph Ben- 

 nett, of Montreal. We crossed the 

 raging Ontario and then alighted at 

 Lewiston, traveled the portage to the 

 navigable waters of the Niagara and 

 thence to Buffalo. This route used to 

 be traveled by the famous Seneca 

 chief, "Wah Wah," or "Young Man 

 Not Afraid of His Wife." There were 

 brave Indians in those days. Mr. 

 Scrim was amazed at the growth of 

 Buffalo and Mr. Bennett was delighted 

 with our beautiful city, and beautiful 

 it is just now. Thousands of althcas 

 from pure white to deep purple adorn 

 our lawns and hundreds of verandas 

 are a canopy of beauty with immense 

 veils of Clematis paniculata. How 

 I plebeian and 30-cent like a bed of ger- 



aniums appear by the side of these 

 beautiful hardy plants. 



There is another gap in our park 

 board. David F. Day was long an ac- 

 tive member. An eminent lawyer by 

 profession his hobby was botany and 

 he was considered as good a field bo- 

 tanist as we have in this state. His 

 last work in his loved field was com- 

 piling a catalogue of the flora of the 

 Niagara Reservation for the State 

 Commission. 



We have had good showers at in- 

 tervals and are not kicking, but we 

 nearly beat the country one day last 

 week — 89 degrees at 8 p. m. — but that 

 only happens here once in a century. 



Pan-American Fxposition. 



Since my last notes great progress 

 has been made in every department. 

 The rains of last month have had a 

 very beneficial effect on grass, trees 

 and shrubs. A large area that was, 

 even in July, the most formidable clay 

 banks, is now finely graded and cov- 

 ered with grass as green and smooth 

 as the proverbial billiard table. The 

 nymphaeas planted in numerous pools 

 in July are making a fine growth and 

 many of them are flowering. Mr. Ul- 

 rich, the landscape gardener, is now 

 busy placing groups of herbaceous 

 plants on the margins of the shrub- 

 bery borders. Properly, he is not mix- 

 ing up indiscriminately a great many 

 species but is putting groups of one 

 species and variety here and there. 

 This is as our hardy plants grow in 

 the temperate zone, in colonies, and 

 not a hundred species in a few square 

 yards, as we find in the tropics. Mr. 

 Ulrich has over 200,000 of these herba- 

 ceous plants, and they must add im- 

 mensely to the appearance of the 

 grounds next summer. 



The Horticultural building is in 

 course of erection. The two conser- 

 vatories leading on the north and 

 south to the Forestry and Mines and 

 Graphic Arts are already completed 

 and will be heated so that they can be 

 utilized by New Year's. Although not 

 modern constructed conservatories, 

 they have all the requisites to the 

 growth and welfare of any plants and 

 will be seen and used by every one. 

 Many of the fine beds in the Grand 

 Court and the Sunken Gardens are 

 now assuming shape. The grading is 

 practically done in the Esplanade and 

 the Fore Court and on the banks of 

 the Cascades. The United States 

 building will soon be roofed in. This 

 is a most beautiful and imposing 

 structure. 



At the rear of the Government 

 building, just across the canal, the 

 Agricultural Department, under the 

 direction of Prof. J. Lamson Scribner, 

 and executed by Mr. Ball of Washing- 

 ton, has made an exhibit of all the 

 useful grasses of the United States. 

 The plot covers one acre and a half 

 and every kind of grass used in the 

 states and territories, even to sand 



