438 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



SEPTEMBER 22, 189S. 



give him his choice of fifty as capable 

 managers as are to be found in the 

 l)usiness world; men, not only in every 

 way competent, but in every way de- 

 sirous to do all that can possibly be 

 done to make the place where they are 

 employed a paying one, provided, they 

 are properly paid, and treated in ac- 

 cordance with the position they hold. 

 How many of our best growers are 

 made the scape-goats of the ignorance 

 and unbusiness-like methods of those 

 who employ them. What remunera- 

 tion do those managers, foremen, and 

 under help receive in return for the 

 "intensive application, forethought, 

 careful management and perennial 

 labor," which, according to Mr. Raw- 

 son, are the requisites which a man 

 must possess in order to be a florist? 



Will Mr. Rawson kindly state what 

 varieties of chrysanthemums he raised 

 and which were introduced to the 

 trade (though not in his name) as ear- 

 ly as 187.5? I remember the variety 

 "Grove P. Rawson" being introduced 

 in (if I remember correctly) 1879 or 

 1880, but cannot say who raised or in- 

 troduced it, and there were (if I am 

 not mistaken) very few American 

 seedlings introduced before that time. 

 If Mr Rawson will give a list of the 

 seedlings he has raised and introduced 

 or has had introduced since ISSO, he 

 will confer a great favor upon a num- 

 ber of interested (average) florists in 

 this vicinity as well as upon your 

 humble servant. 



JOHN G. THOMSON. 



Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 



Tulips Narcissus. 



It you want early and good tulips 

 you should not delay in boxing a por- 

 tion of the early varieties soon after 

 they arrive. The sooner they are into 

 the flats the sooner they will make 

 roots, and with plenty of roots they 

 will force; without them they will not. 

 I have often remarked that tulips at 

 Christmas are not so essential, as there 

 are many other fine flowers at that 

 time which are in better condition and 

 of more favor at that season. Yet if 

 you want them then and in early Jan- 

 uary, make preparations at once. The 

 Due Von Thol are really the earliest, 

 but are poor little flowers. La Reine, 

 the white tliat under some conditions 

 assumes such a lovely shade of pink, 

 is one of the best tulips at all times, 

 particularly for the very earliest. Con- 

 trary to the opinion of some gi'owers, 

 I find Clirysolora the best yellow for 

 the earlist, and for scarlet there is 

 nothing equal to the Vermillion Bril- 

 liant. 



Some Von Sion narcissus should also 

 be boxed at once or you won't get them 

 good in January. There is no need of 

 a prolonged delay in getting any of 

 the forcing bulbs into the soil, but 

 with those you don't expect to get into 

 the house till February and Marcli 

 there is no hurry about and if they 

 are boxed in 3 or 4 weeks it will do. 



I have told the story of my plan of 

 handling tulips, etc., so often that it 

 assumes "the nut" form, yet thereare 

 always a few remaining that have not 

 either read or observed. One man 

 wrote last year that he had dug a 



trench 2 feet deep in which he placed 

 the flats covering with 2 feet of soil 

 and on top of that another 2 feet of 

 straw manure and worse than all he 

 had forgotten to water them at plant- 

 ing time. 



Briefly, then, use flats of uniform 

 size, 2 ft. by 1 ft. is a convenient size, 

 and 3 inches deep is enough for Ro- 

 mans, narcissus or tulips. A rich soil 

 is not at all necessary. The bulbs 

 have been prepared for flowering, you 

 only force the flower out by heat and 

 water. The soil should be of light 

 texture; that from a previous year's 

 carnation bed is excellent, or any light 

 loam. The bulbs when first planted 

 in the boxes want a thorough soak- 

 ing. There is no better place for the 

 boxes than out on the open ground. 

 Three inches of soil or some other ma- 

 terial is plenty for a covering till very 

 hard freezing comes, but during the 

 months of October and November we 

 often get weeks of fine dry weather 

 aJid if we do you should copiously 

 water the beds every week. Some 

 think that being covered with earth 

 little water is needed, but remember 

 that the board at the lK>ttom of the 

 box entirely stops the rise of moist- 

 ure to the bulbs, which in the case of 

 plants in the ground is what keeps 

 them alive and growing in long weeks 

 of drouth. 



Cyclamen. 



The cyclamen promises to be very 

 much in demand this winter, which its 

 many virtues deserve. For large plants 

 to be in flower at Christmas (1899) 

 they should be sown at once. Some 



growers sow early in this month, but 

 if you sow within 2 weeks you can 

 have fine plants in 12 months. Get 

 the best seed you can buy. The va- 

 riety or strain that makes a compact 

 plant with a great quantity of beauti- 

 ful flowers is known as C. persicum 

 grandiflorum. Don't cover the seeds 

 too deeply, but let them be just out of 

 sight and keep the soil at a uniform 

 degi-ee of moisture. Good cyclamen 

 seed is expensive and it pays to give 

 the seed attentive care. 



Boston Fern. 



If you planted out a lot of the Bos- 

 ton fern in June you will now be want- 

 ing to lift and pot it. It lifts from the 

 bench without losing a frond and you 

 cannot weil have too much of this 

 grand and u.seful fern. We found last 

 winter that a bench of only 20 feet 

 long and 3 feet wide was one of the 

 most useful bits of bench we had. These 

 were left to grow all winter and it was 

 a "cut and come again" crop continu- 

 ously. Yon may not see a direct profit 

 in it when using the fronds, but indi- 

 rectly it is for it adds to every bunch 

 of flowers you sell, whether they are 

 one or ten dollars' worth. From sev- 

 eral opportunities to test the hardi- 

 ness of this fern, it seems one of the 

 very best of plants to thrive under 

 the unfavorable conditions of a room 

 or store. Don't grow it sliady and hot, 

 rather moderately cool (about 55 de- 

 crees at night) and light. 



Calla Lilie.*;. 



Since so much disease has appeared 

 among our Bermuda lilies we think 

 more of the old favorite, the so-called 

 Calla lily, which is not a lily at all, 

 but still a beautiful flower. Bulbs that 

 have been resting all summer should 

 be started at once by shaking off ev- 

 ery particle of soil and repotting in 5- 

 inch pots or larger if they are of extra 

 size. I hope this has been done earlier. 

 If not, you will only be a little later in 

 getting your first flowers. We flnd a 

 moderately small pot does them till 

 February, and then they want a size 

 larger. We have not experienced that 

 starving thom for root room induced 

 them to flower freely, quite the re- 

 verse, for we have a vivid recollection 

 of some plants which existed 40 years' 

 ago that were starved both for soil 

 and heat, that were handled and 

 moved and watered and flowered only 

 every leap year. The richardia is a 

 tropical plant and wants light, heat 

 and root room, if you grow it at all. 

 You can buy the roots of these now 

 from California about as cheap as you 

 can potatoes, but I prefer the home- 

 grown and they are easily propagated. 

 When you shake off the soil from the 

 bulbs that have been resting all sum- 

 mer you will find on every tuber a 

 number of small, perfect tubers, or call 

 them bulblets. Instead of throwing 

 tliem away put tliem aside and when 

 time allows pot into 2-inch pots. I 

 have found under a light bench good 

 enough to grow them during winter. 

 In March give them a o-lnch. A very 



