OCTOBER 13, 1898. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



509 



many is disseminated and spread by 

 moisture. There is no cure for the 

 "spot," but pick otf every leaf affected. 

 It can be discovered by close scrutiny 

 long before It has developed into the 

 white bleached spot, some eighth of an 

 inch across. It iirst appears as a little 

 black speck. The white spot is the 

 dead tissue of the leaf. If your violets 

 are healthy and free of spider water 

 the beds, wetting the foliage as little 

 as possible. 



Fancy Caladiums. 

 I was asked recently by one of your 

 subscribers how to treat these in win- 

 ter. They are usually in good condi- 

 tion the middle of this month, when 

 they will show signs of going to sleep 

 for the winter by a cessation of growth 

 and a drooping of the leaves. Don't 

 withhold water suddenly, but by de- 

 grees lessen the supply till the leaves 

 are about gone; then store under a 

 bench where they will get no water 

 during the winter, and as they are na- 

 tives of tropical America it should be 

 where the temperature does not go be- 

 low 50 degrees. Keep them in the pots 

 and soil in which they were growing 

 and they will winter all the better. 



Dracaena Indivisa. 



Some florists find this a very useful 

 plant in the spring for various uses, 

 but for its value it is an expensive 

 plant to keep during the long months 

 of winter. I am informed that this 

 plant, whose proper name is cordyline, 

 is hardy where the temperature does 

 not go below 15 degrees. So you can 

 keep them in the coolest house and 

 bring their leaves up compact by ty- 

 ing. With a reduced temperature they 

 must be kept decidedly dry. 



Early Bulbs. 



The earliest planted Romans and pa- 

 per white narcissus should be brought 

 in at intervals. The Romans especial- 

 ly you will have use for. A good guide 

 to tell you whether they may be forced 

 or brought into flower is by seeing 

 whether the roots are through the bot- 

 tom of the flat in which they are plant- 

 ed. If so, you can give them heat with- 

 out danger of failure. While on the 

 subject of bulbs let me remind you 

 once more to examine your boxes of 

 early tulips, narcissus, etc., and see 

 that the soil in the flat is decidedly 

 moist. If it is not, water the whole 

 bed. Rains do not always penetrate 

 deep enough to answer the purpose of 

 this artificial culture. 



Soil. 



Experience prompts me to remind 

 the average florist how necessary it is 

 to lay in his .stock of potting soil be- 

 fore a wet or drizzling time sets in. 

 Large growers have this down to a 

 system, and if I may be allowed to 

 refer to one of our most worthy crafts- 

 men, Harry Dale, of Brantford. Ont., 

 has an immense shed something like 

 the sheds you see in floral districts in 



close proximity to the "meetin' house" 

 where the honest tmorc or less) farm- 

 er puts his team while brother Willdo- 

 Better exhorts on ancient and modern 

 mythology. Such sheds you can find 

 at Hinsdale, 111., Chestnut Hill. Pa., 

 or Natick, Mass., but the general flor- 

 ist often sadly neglects the most im- 

 portant ingredient of his industry, 

 which is Mother Earth. Under a bench 

 is no place for potting soil, unhandy, 



untidy and all round the wrong place. 

 A part of your shed is the proper place 

 or a detached shed where the rain 

 does not reach it will do. Wherever 

 it is stored it should be got in before 

 it is wet and sticky. Remember that 

 soil once handled wet can never be re- 

 stored to a proper workable condition 

 except by one agency — frost. 



WILLIAM SCOTT. 



Let's talk about odds and ends this 

 week, perhaps some beginner may 

 want to know about them. How about 

 paper cut flower boxes; fashion does 

 a great deal in the way of boxes 

 these days, and then too many, in fact 

 most of our leading artists strive to 

 be original in their boxes. Only 

 quite recently if one saw a box at a 

 distance he could immediately tell 

 where it was from. This was because 

 each tried to have a different color. 

 This jamboree of colors in boxes was 

 usually very loud at funerals, and was 

 entirely out of place. Now nearly all 

 the boxes used by ^ew York florists 

 are white and they make the hand- 

 somest ones. 



Thorley's are white and silver: 

 Brower's, light blue and silver; 

 Small's, white moire and silver; 

 Fleischmann's, white moire and gold; 

 Scallen's, yellow and purple; Dards' 

 and the Rosary Flower Co., white 

 satin with fleur de lis and gold edge 

 and lettering. This we consider 

 makes the prettiest box. 



Fancy boxes covered witli wall pa- 

 per in rose and violet design are seen 

 once in a while but are very awk- 

 ward in wet weather, and for this ami 

 many other reasons they are going out 

 of favor. The sizes have not changed 

 very much but the old time square 

 ones are seldom seen. Violet boxes 

 are nearly all some shade of purple, 

 ana are usually in two sizes, 10-7-5 

 and 8-5-4; boutenniere boxes are 5-4-3; 

 cut flower and rose boxes used are 

 14-8-4, 24-8-4, 28-9-5, 30-11-6; 36-9-6; 

 then there are the specimen rose 

 boxes, which are 18-6-4 and 36-6-4. 



Bouquet and wreath boxes are 

 scarcely ever used; for shipping out 

 of town either use a light wooden box 

 or better still get a round flat hamper 



made with your name on oil-cloth on 

 the lid and put on your return express 

 tag. There are lots of sizes in wire, 

 but any store can get along with two 

 of them, 35 and 21, and use just as lit- 

 tle of it as you can. I mean of course 

 don't put wires on small bunches, or 

 large ones either if you can arrange 

 them without. There are two good 

 bouquet twines, one is the strong grey 

 flax, the other the green silkaline. 

 Grey sphagnum moss is only used in 

 stores which do a large funeral trade, 

 even then it is doubtful if it pays to 

 use it. Green moss is better and does 

 not require so much smilax or other 

 expensive greens to cover it up. 



Manilla papers are out of date. 

 White tissue paper makes your flowers 

 look prettier and white wrapping pa- 

 per will match your boxes better. We 

 I find it more preferable to have our 

 wrapping paper in rolls, as we can 

 cut off any length required and be- 

 sides it occupies less room and can 

 be kept cleaner. Wax paper is good 

 for shipping purposes but you can get 

 along without it; some florists here 

 use violet tissue paper for violets. 

 Violet tin foil is used for violets, but 

 the odor of it injures, or rather kills, 

 the scent of the violets. Violet 

 headed corsage pins are best to use. 



White enameled paper-fiber cut 

 flower vases are about the best and 

 cheapest vase for the store. They 

 harmonize with any color and can 

 be. thrown around. They can be ob- 

 tained in any size. 



Kid bouquet holders are no longer 

 in style; twist your bouquet handles 

 with ribbon same color as the bow. 

 The old lace paper holders are only 

 used now for Dutch picnics or mas- 

 querade balls. 



Keep your wire designs out of sight. 



