SEPTEMBER 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



393 



ing an especial feature of the paper 

 white narcissus. Besides their large 

 wholesale trade, they enjoy an excel- 

 lent local trade, which often makes 

 them extensive buyers as well as sell- 

 ers. P. 



OUR PRIZE COMPETITION. 



Following is a third batch of entries 

 ia our prize competition in labor-sav- 

 ing or valuable device useful to flor- 



to the hose. The pipe has two rows 

 of small holes drilled in the under 

 side. The holes are drilled at the right- 

 angles, so that when the pipe is shoved 

 between two rows of plants there will 

 be a row of jets of water thrown on 

 each row of plants. With a little care 

 no water need be thrown on the foli- 

 age. The photo explains itself. C. 



No. 9 is a device for screening soil 

 or sand that can be made at a cost of 

 about 15 cents. A piece of wire cloth 



L(.ng Handl.-.l Hand W't 



No. 7 is a modification of the hand- 

 weeders sold in the stores. It differs 

 from them in being made of machin- 

 ery steel, forged to shape and welded 

 on to a one-fourth inch gas pipe han- 

 dle. This handle is three to four feet 

 long, in short lengths screwed together 

 with pipe sockets, so that it can be 

 lengthened or shortened a.s desired. 

 The long handle allows one to reach 

 any part of a bed or greenhouse bench 

 without breaking his back or stretch- 

 ing his arms more than a foot longer 

 than their usual length. It can be 

 made by any blacksmith, and the cost 

 is slight. C. 



No. 8. Hose Nozzle. 



No. S shows a device for applying 

 water to the roots of plants when it is 

 desirable to avoid wetting the foliage. 

 It is a piece of gas pipe long enough 

 to reach across the bench. It is closed 

 at one end and fitted with a globe 

 valve at the other, which is attached 



of the required mesh is put on the 

 bottom of any old box, the top and 

 bottom having first been removed. The 

 wire is attached with small staples. 

 Now take a piece of scantling about 

 four feet long, shave off one end for a 

 handle, and nail two pieces of boanl 

 on each side about two and one-half 

 feet from the end left rough. Set the 

 box with the wire bottom on these two 

 boards and nail one side to the scant- 

 ling. To use the screen, place the 

 rough end of the scantling on the 

 ground and let your helper shovel into 

 the screen while you move the handle 

 back and forth. The photo shows the 

 affair. This device will screen about 

 four times as fast as a man can with 

 an ordinary hand screen. C. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



Business Conditions. 



It would be pleasant to relate how 

 the market had gained strength with 

 the advent of fall, but, unfortunately, 

 it has done nothing of the kind. The 

 weather has been so intolerably hot 

 during these first days of September, 

 that cut flower business simply could 

 not improve. The quality of the stock 

 fell away a little and the demand was 

 only moderate. 



The retailers are looking forward to 

 more activity by the middle of tihe 

 month. The English cricketers will 

 be here then. Their visits are sure to 

 bring some entertainments at the 

 suburban clubs and country houses. 

 It is also likely that the return of the 

 City Troop and Battery A, from Porto 

 Rico, which is expected at the end of 

 the present week, will enliven the so- 

 cial world. These two crack military 

 organizations number among their 

 members many of our most apprecia- 

 tive flower lovers. 



Holland Bulbs. 

 Some anxiety was caused early in 

 August by the am-ival. in tliis city, of 

 a notice from the Holland bulb grow- 

 ers that much of their stock was in- 

 ferior this year, especially the hya- 

 cinths. Some of the growers ans- 

 wered promptly, directing the firms 



with whom they deal on no account to 

 ship any but first class stock. Tlie re- 

 plies just received are encouraging. 

 The stock will be here this week. The 

 seedsmen have much of theirs already. 



Notes. 



I have always had a profound con- 

 tempt for a man who recommends his 

 fellow florists to use a certain thing 

 and under like conditions uses some- 

 thing else himself. A friend has writ- 

 ten me: "Did you not recommend In- 

 durine?" This spring I was looking 

 for the best shading for a house for 

 Pandanus Veitohii and was much 

 pleased with the shade produced by a 

 cold water paint called Indurine. It 

 was a good deal of trouble to mix, 

 but when on the effect was ideal. I 

 experimented a little, then bought 200 

 pounds of Indurine and covered two 

 houses with the solution. The heavy 



No 



rains in the end of July washed some 

 of it off, this was carefully replaced. 

 A very heavy downpour early in Aug- 

 ust just cleared those roofs as neatly 

 as possible. So now I have returned 

 to my old love, benzine and white lead, 

 and no longer recommend Indurine for 

 shading. 



A word of explanation seems neces- 

 sary about the article "Among Phila- 

 delphia Growers" just concluded in 

 The Review. This account was con- 

 fined to those places having 30,000 

 square feet of glass or more. The great 

 majority of places in and near this 

 city have between 10,000 and 30,000 

 feet of glass. To include all these 

 places in such an article would be 

 wearisome. Yet it must be distinctly 

 understood that many of ttiese places 

 produce very fine stock and are cer- 

 tainly prosperous. J. W. Y. 



