550 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



OCTOBKR IS. 19(X\ 



The custom of having: the girls re- 

 move their hats in the;uers may soon 

 result in a more general adoption of 

 the pretty custom of wearing natural 

 flowers in the hair. Just a rose with 

 very little foliage will do much to off- 

 set the hideous cluster of combs some 

 girls wear, and it will add beauty to 

 the most beautiful and even make the 

 uglv attractive. We would rather en- 

 courage the girls to wear flowers in 

 their hair than have politicians wear 

 them in their coats. Of course both 

 are desirable, but the former is most 

 preferable. 



Apropos of tie latter we are glad 

 to note that the New York florists in- 

 tend to furnish the Republican pa- 

 radera in New York on Nov. 3rd with 

 pink carnations. It is expected that 

 50,000 carnations will be used as 

 boutonnieres on this occasion. The 

 flowers are to be given free by the 

 growers and wholesalers. Many may 

 doubt the wisdom of this act It wiU 

 of course make carnations scarce for 

 a week before the parade, and no 

 monev will be made out of the parade. 

 If the Kepublicans win the election 

 carnations may get a great boost, but 

 it would not be fair to ignore 

 the fact that what McKinley likes 

 does not represent all the flower 

 buvers. It would be a se- 

 rious matter if Democrats stopped 

 buving carnations because it was 

 made a Republican emblem. Some of 

 the leading florists on Broadway, for 

 instance, are members of the New 

 York Democratic Club and it would 

 not be wise for them to be too prom- 

 inent in a free distribution of flowers 

 to Republican paraders. 



Our New York contemporary makes 

 a mistake when it says, "this will 

 be the first time flowers have been 

 used as a party emblem," for in 1S96 

 there were several thousand yellow 

 chrysanthemums worn in the sound 

 money parade, and they were sold, not 

 given' away. With the millions at the 

 disposal of both great parties, espe- 

 cially the one we mention, it is a pity 

 that some of it could not be got for 

 the purchase of flowers. All honor to 

 those who are struggling to more gen- 

 erally popularize flowers of any kind. 

 We believe florists should ignore 

 party, the same as other trades do. 

 when it comes down to a matter of 

 business. Republicans as a rule are 

 not partial to the wearing of pink 

 carnations. Only a man with a good 

 deal of indifference will wear that 

 color. White is a more generally worn 

 color because it agrees better with 

 either a red nose or a white shirt. 



Pink carnations constitute a large 

 part of the flowers used in all man- 

 ner of decorations, and only the in- 

 difference of the Democratic party 

 would prevent that flower being turn- 

 ed down on many an important occa- 

 sion should the 'Color be generally 

 adopted. In times agone there was a 

 "War of Roses," but the flght was 

 over the color not the rose, and if 

 we are to see this "War of Carna- 



tions" it is unfortunate that it cannot 

 be also made a question of color, no: 

 of flower. Chrysanthemum growers 

 ought to get up some scheme to dis- 

 pose of the ••Frowsey Heads" on elec- 

 tion day, but there's nothing in it if 

 you have to give 'em away. If you 

 are inclined to be charitable visit the 

 hospitals. 



Notes. 



Dahlias are now very fine, and the 

 cactus varieties are being much used 

 in vase and table work. Some of the 

 colors or combinations of color are 

 grand, and no table is too good for 

 them, if well arranged. One color is 

 best for table decoration, a mixture is 

 more excusable elsewhere. 



Good colored autumn foliage is 

 scarce this year because the season 

 was so dry: many trees have dropped 

 their foliage without the usual bril- 

 liancy of coloring. Oaks, maples and 

 sumach are yet green unless in a few 

 patches along some water front. 



The condition of the retail business 

 will not be much better until after 

 election. Pick up whatever you can 

 and stop grumbling. There is nothing 

 you can do but keep posted on who 

 has the best stock and be always 

 ready. 



We see a new thing in pocket bas- 

 kets in some of the stores. The idea 

 and the material comes from Hono- 

 lulu. It consists of a Sabal palm leaf 

 dried and in natural color: the leaf 

 is plaited to form a pocket basket and 

 the stem of the leaf is left straight 

 to hang it by. It is a pretty feature 

 for the window or store and could bo 

 made a novel and charming item in 

 extensive decorations. As they are 

 constructed you would need to use 

 wire netting it vases and water are 

 put in them. They are only fit for 

 holding loose shower bunches and this 

 style of decoration is very beautiful 

 when properly done. 



We forgot to mention in last week's 

 note on evergreens the scarcity of 

 specimen plants of Thuya pyramidalis. 

 New York florists could use plenty of 

 them were ihey obtainable at a fair 

 price in nearby nurseries. 



IVERA. 



THE BOSTON FERN. 



There is an ever increasing demand 

 for well grown Boston ferns, though 

 drawn, weak and straggling plants are 

 not wanted. To have graceful and 

 compact plants one must pay a little 

 attention to detail in culture and try 

 to emphasize those qualities tor which 

 the Boston fern is so admired. 



Early in the season take from your 

 bench nice strong plants and pot ac- 

 cording to size (2^4. 3 and 4-inch1. 

 using a good, porous soil. Piunge into 

 sphagnum and give room to develop, 

 shading the house moderately. As 

 these need repotting add more manure 

 to the soil until the final shift when 

 they can stand the pure article if well 



rotted hotbed or cow manure. At no 

 time should they suffer from lack of 

 water or light syringing, but a stag- 

 nant atmosphere should always be 

 avoidetl. Plenty of room is essential 

 (or development. 



The azalea pot suits them admira- 

 bly and perfect specimens are obtained 

 by suspending the pots from the root 

 as you would a hanging basket. Yoti 

 then lose the runners that form when 

 plunged in sphagnum, but this is more 

 than offset bv the saving of room in 

 the house. " JOSEPH llEEVE. 



ARRANGEMENT OF ORCHIDS AND 

 FOLIAGE. 



We present herewith an engraving 

 from a photograph of an arrangement 

 of orchids and foliage that shows the 

 possibtlity of variety in the work of 

 the florist and that very pleasing ef- 

 fects can be secured by the use of 

 material not ordiuaril.v employed. The 

 picture shows an arrangement by Mr. 

 W. A. Mauda. some years ago. It will 

 we believe be very suggestive to many 

 of our readers. 



THE LIBERTY ROSE. 



Best Treatment. 



Editor Florists' Review: Your favor 

 of the 10th inst. to hand and I hasten 

 to answer. 1 was sorry to hear that 

 my Western colleagues are not suc- 

 cessftil with the growing of the Liberty 

 rose, but I believe some of the Eastern 

 men also have failed to obtain good 

 results, whereas others have done fine- 

 ly. I myself, have this year planted I'Z 

 houses with them, about double of 

 what I had last year, and with the 

 exception of one house, they are all 

 in the pink of condition, three to four 

 feet in height. The one house, 

 through a little neglect got a bad dose 

 of black spot, which seems hard to 

 check, I will give you herewith the 

 methods I use and under which Lib- 

 erty has so- far given me the most 

 excellent results. 



I plant them in good rich loam, or 

 rather sod, mixed with about one-third 

 of good old cow manure, giving them 

 at all times a liberal amount of water. 

 Keep all young buds, ; s soon as they 

 are about the size of small peas, well 

 nipped out, but be sure, wheu nipping 

 out the buds, to nip them with about 

 two or three leaves, according to the 

 thickness of shoots. Liberty is a per- 

 sistent bloomer, and it you. only nip 

 the bud alone, it will throw other 

 small btids, instead of good flowering 

 shoots. The consequence is. you will 

 not get any wood, but only small buds 

 without any stem. By nipping them 

 two or three eyes lower, you will avoid 

 that and get good flowering wood. 



By no means allow your plauts to 

 get checked or hard. Do not allow 

 them to fiower before they have ob- 

 tained a good height, say three or four 



