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The Weekly Florists* Review. 



SEPTEMBER 20. 1900. 



Of New York. The large growers in- 

 vite the crowd out to their own places 

 and sell off the poorest or "stagers" 

 of their stock, but in almost all cases 

 some fine stock is offered and can be 

 got cheaply. As we have stated be- 

 fore those having greenhouses can 

 often pick up bargains at these early- 

 fall auctions, but we have seldom 

 seen good results come from them to 

 the average storekeeper. Don't throw 

 away money on cheaply grown stock; 

 better for you to be particular in se- 

 lection and in quality; the people are 

 becoming more critical, and it is with 

 plants as with flowers, get the best 

 you can. To be sure there are cases 

 where competition compels attention 

 and perhaps it is necessary to handle 

 cheap stock, but even in such cases it 

 is best to display both grades and 

 you will find the best wins most of 

 the time. 



Tall kentias are scarce and conse- 

 quently are away up in price. The 

 small and medium sizes are plentiful, 

 but big prices will be asked tor them 

 when cold weather sets in. It w.U 

 be wise for you to do some "shop- 

 ping" before finally placing your or- 

 der for plants. "Made up" plants will 

 be popular again this season. It is 

 better to have your grower do those 

 intended for special customers, and 

 the matter should be attended to at 

 once in order that they may become 

 somewhat established before they are 

 required. Have the plants furnished 

 well down to the pots. People are be- 

 ginning to ask about their "boarded 

 plants." See that they are well 

 cleaned before you send them back. 



Pot grown ivy will be an important 

 item for many in the near future. You 

 are apt to find them not over plen- 

 tiful, but they are worth going to con- 

 siderable trouble to get in preference 

 to the field grown. In like manner, 

 and in many other ways too, pot 

 grown Euonymus radicans and the 

 variegated form could often be used 

 to great advantage for boxes and 

 vases. The trouble with much of our 

 business is that a thing is never 

 thought of until it is wanted and then 

 it is most often too late. The busi- 

 ness is one continuous round of prep- 

 aration. 



There has not been much seen in 

 the way of window decoration so far. 

 One store is making a specialty of 

 porcelain swans; they may be in de- 

 mand again this winter. 



Seasonable Flowers. 



The principal flowers seen are the 

 aquatics, tritomas, gladiolus and hy- 

 drangeas. During the convention we 

 were surprised to learn from many 

 of the western delegates that Hydran- 

 gea paniculata grandiflora, that is 

 good large trusses, were scarce out 

 there. Here we have a great abun- 

 dance of them. They can often be 

 bought for from 50 cents to ?1.00 per 

 hundred and good work can be made 

 of them. It pays to grow them at al- 



most any price for nothing beyond 

 pruning and ground is necessary for 

 their cultivation. Every florist should 

 grow some for they often help one 

 out of difliculties. The grower who 

 retails some or all of his stock should 

 endeavor to always have something in 

 bloom outdoors right up to wintry 

 days; a little care in selection of 

 flowers and shrubs will furnish him 

 with sources of pleasure and profit. 

 We ought to see more pompon chry- 

 santhemums grown. They will soon 

 be the one glory of the flower gar- 

 den. 



Campaign Flowers. 



We are oflicially informed that the 

 "Pink carnation" is to be the Repub- 

 lican party's flower during the pres- 

 ent campaign. We have yet to see to 

 what degree this will be done. They 

 say it is President McKinley's favorite 

 flower and that is the reason for its 

 selection. It would do our business 

 immense good to have the great polit- 

 ical parties choose natural flowers for 

 their emblems. It is the one evidence 

 to us of their good taste and common 

 sense. Encourage it, get the Demo- 

 crats to choose white or scarlet, and 

 we will make money out of the de- 

 ceivers. IVERA. 



CHINESE PRIMROSES. 



There are many strains of Chinese 

 primroses, each having their pecu- 

 liarities. From the giant strains we 

 get large flowers and heavy foliage 

 and a tendency to shy blooming. A 

 higher temperature is essential for 

 them. The best for sale purposes are 

 varieties with compact foliage and 

 free blooming, even if the flowers are 

 not so large, and these embrace our 

 best .colors. Foliage varieties have 

 beautifully colored and curled leaves 

 and though the flowers are very in- 

 ferior they are much admired and are 

 useful. 



Although the greater part of our 

 seed comes from England and Ger- 

 many, many fine strains are raised 

 in America, and I believe it will not 

 be long before we shall raise the bulk 

 of our own seed and still further im- 

 prove the strains we have obtained 

 from abroad. 



The primrose loves a cool, moist at- 

 mosphere, varying from 50 to 70 de- 

 grees, and flourishes best in a rather 

 heavy loam well opened by the addi- 

 tion of a liberal proportion of rotted 

 cow manure. For plants that are to 

 bloom at Thanksgiving we sow the 

 seed from the 1st to the 15th of June. 

 For early exhibition purposes, say 

 Nov. 5, we sow March to April. But 

 the best plants are obtained from .Tune 

 sowings and these can be brought in 

 in batches if kept in a cool, airy house 

 at 40 degrees until the end of Feb- 

 ruary. 



Sow in shallow boxes or pans filled 

 with clean, sweet, sandy loam or 

 good leaf mould, both liberally opened 

 with sand. Cover the seeds very 



lightly and shade moderately. After 

 the seed has germinated do not allow 

 the seedlings to dry much at any time 

 or they will rot off. Keep close to 

 the glass, air freely day and night and 

 on bright, hot days throw a news- 

 paper over them. Keep the hose go- 

 ing and sprinkle freely the paths and 

 benches. 



When the seedlings are large 

 enough transplant in trays, using the 

 same kind of soil and planting deep- 

 ly so as to avoid leggy plants. Keep 

 close to the glass and shade more 

 heavily for a few days, syringing fre- 

 quently but lightly over the foliage 

 and dampen the walks and benches. 

 Don't allow the plants to crowd each 

 other and become drawn and never 

 permit them to become dry and wilt. 



When large enough, shift into 2, 

 2%, or 3-inch pots, according to the 

 variety and the distance boxed off. 

 Now use a good loam, very open, to 

 which has been added rotted manure 

 or leaf mould. This is the hardest 

 shift of all and constant syringing and 

 shading are required to prevent the 

 plants from losing their foliage, it 

 being hot summer weather. 



As the plants become established, 

 dispense with shading as much as 

 possible, for although a plant will 

 grow finer when heavily shaded, yet 

 it will not flower so well and will not 

 form so compact a plant. Do not let 

 your plants remain pot bound long, 

 or they will become stunted, and 

 when once checked they can never re- 

 cover so as to be grown into speci- 

 mens. 



Pot into 3, 4 or 5-inch, as required, 

 using good, sweet loam, very open, 

 and with a good proportion of rotted 

 cow manure and a sprinkling of bone 

 meal. Pot low, but do not get the 

 crown beloF the soil. Use one crock 

 over the hole in the pot to Insure 

 good drainage. Keep the plants well 

 up to the light and dispense with 

 shading entirely as soon as the plants 

 can bear it. 



When well rooted in their flower- 

 ing pots, feed them once a week with 

 nitrate of soda, using a 4-inch potful 

 of the nitrate to forty gallons of 

 water, until the flowers are formed. 

 Then feed weak liquid cow manure 

 until the blooms are well out. If you 

 wish to keep your plants going for 

 some time, feed right along, increas- 

 ing the strength accordingly and final- 

 ly feeding twice a week. 'You will be 

 surprised to see how much nourish- 

 ment a primrose needs to keep it in 

 first class condition for a long time. 

 There would be less complaint about 

 the flowers getting small so soon it 

 the plants were properly fed. 



Brieflly, the main points in growing 

 fine primroses are: First, good, open, 

 loamy soil; second, deep planting; 

 third, watering and syringing; fourth, 

 shifting before becoming badly pot- 

 bound; fifth, keeping well up to the 

 glass; sixth, feeding liberally. 



JOSEPH REEVE. 



