532 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



OCTOBER 20, 1898. 



mand the admiration of our custom- 

 ers and admiration leads to purchase 

 and purchase to realization of profits. 

 It is true there has not been the de- 

 mand for Dutch bulbs these past few 

 years, and there has been less demand 

 for other varieties of cut flowers, ow- 

 ing to the general depression of all 

 trades and general scarcity of cash 

 among our patrons. With a return of 

 general prosperity I do not see why 

 Dutch bulbs should not soon be grown 

 with profit by the wholesaler. There 

 will, however, always be a fair mar- 

 gin for profit in a moderate quantity 

 grown by the retailer. 



Some may rea.?on that if there is no 

 profit to the wholesaler there is also 

 none to the retailer, as there should 

 be a profit for the greenhouse and a 

 profit for the store or else there is no 

 real profit. In answer to that I would 

 say that there are more ways than one 

 in which they are profitable in the 

 store, and that is in window displays. 

 There are no other flowers that will 



give the variety of form and coloring 

 that help to brighten the florists' win- 

 dows through the winter months. By 

 their cheapness they can be more ex- 

 tensively used than other flowers at 

 that season, and an attractive window 

 is a large item in a successful busi- 

 ness, so that what is lost in making 

 the display is really gained in adver- 

 tisement, and consequently increased 

 trade. 



Make your window attractive with 

 Dutch bulbs, and if customers do not 

 want to buy them they may help to 

 attract them to those fine large carna- 

 tions at a dollar or more per djozen, or 

 American Beauty roses at $12 to $18 

 per dozen in which there may or may 

 not be greater profits. My advice would 

 be to study the requirements of your 

 trade, grow the majority in white and 

 prevailing selling colors, grow in mod- 

 eration, but enough to supply your 

 trade, and provide a bright display for 

 your window, and Dutch bulbs can be 

 grown by the retailer to pay. 



Summer Flowering Carnations. 

 The retail florist is often asked for 

 carnations in the soring and would be 

 oftener if a satisfactory plant could be 

 supplied. The plant that has flowered 

 all winter, and then lifted, say in 

 April, from the bench, and sold in 

 May, is not the thing; that sort of 

 plant will give you good results if 

 severely cut down and lifted with a 

 good lump of soil and expertly han- 

 dled. If cuttings are put in at once 

 from plants left in the field or from 

 those planted inside, you can by next 

 May have good little plants in ZV2 or 

 4-inch pots. Of course they must be 

 kept growing during winter and 

 stopped at least once and kept in a 

 light house where the night tempei'a- 

 ture is about 45 degrees. Some may 

 remark that it would hardly pay to 

 grow them all winter, but it does. You 

 can get quite as much per dozen as 

 you can for 4-inch geraniums, and 

 they have certainly not taken up more 

 room; in fact, considerably less. 



Another way is to lift some of your 

 field plants, the smallest are the best 

 for the purpose, and that is what you 

 will have after your houses are filled. 

 Pot them firmly in 4 or 5-inch pots 

 and plunge in a cold frame. All flower- 

 ing shoots and even long growths 

 should be pinched off. The better the 



frame is protected from frost the bet- 

 ter the plants will winter. Air should 

 be given on all days when the temper- 

 ature is above freezing, and even 

 when it is below, if the sun is shining 

 brightly. Hard freezing does the 

 plants no harm unless they have been 

 induced to make a tender growth by 

 keeping the frame close. These plants 

 will be in flower by middle of May 

 and if properly handled be very satis- 

 factory for summer flowering. 



We often hear complaints from our 

 patrons of carnations dying in the 

 garden. The cause is the continual and 

 senseless use of the hose, and some of 

 our commercial florists have not gotten 

 over it yet. The geraniums and coleus 

 struggle along in a half-hearted way 

 under this daily drizzle administered 

 by the hired man, but the carnation 

 succumbs. And just here let me say 

 that a worthy friend and ex-alderman 

 of Ottawa, Canada, tossed his chin and 

 pooh-poohed a few years ago at a re- 

 mark of mine that "Carnations should 

 never be watered artificially." This 

 past season has more than demon- 

 strated this fact that all our large 

 growers knew years ago. For just 

 twelve weeks, June, July and August, 

 we did not have a shower that pene- 

 trated one inch, yet with constant stir- 

 ring of the soil the carnations kept 



growing. One of the most discourag- 

 ing things to the plant man is that 

 when he sells the plants either for the 

 flower bed, border or room, the poor 

 things are left to the tender but igno- 

 rant mercy of the purchaser, and that 

 is why it is far more satisfactory to 

 sell a dozen American Beauties for 

 four dollars, or a hundred violets for 

 half the amount. The intelligence of 

 the purchaser or recipient extends to 

 their ultimate fate (the ash barrel). 



Ampelopsis Veitchii. 

 This plant belongs to the nursery- 

 man, but florists handle it largely. We 

 raise a thousand or two every spring 

 from seed and they make strong 

 plants by fall. Spring is the best sea- 

 son to plant them, but how to winter 

 them is the question just now. We sow 

 them in February and when bench is 

 not so valuable grow them along dur- 

 ing summer in 4-inch pots. This per- 

 fectly hardy plant is easily misman- 

 aged when in pots and the writer has 

 had several experiences by losing hun- 

 dreds during winter. Hardy as it is, it 

 should have been standing outside for 

 several weeks, and no protection re- 

 ceived till end of November, when they 

 should be placed in a cold frame and 

 the pots surrounded with tan bark, 

 spent hops, ashes, or some such mate- 

 rial, and the frame covered with glass 

 till end of next March, when it should 

 be removed for fear of the plants start- 

 ing into growth. They should be plant- 

 ed as soon as the ground is dry in the 

 spring and always dormant. If forced 

 into leaf under glass and then planted 

 and a late frost occurs, you will have 

 to replace them or lose your customer. 



Chrysanthemums. 

 Before these lines are in type there 

 will be some spaces on the bench 

 where early "mums" have already been 

 cut. If they are of desirable sorts and 

 you wish to continue the stock, lift the 

 desired quantity of plants from the 

 bench and plant in flats with 4 inches 

 of soil and give them a place in a cool 

 house. Another plan is to select a few 

 of the strongest cuttings at once and 

 grow them along, later planting them 

 on a bench from which many cuttings 

 can be procured. I mention this now 

 because it is average human nature to 

 give little time or attention to a crop 

 after you have reaped tlie benefit of its 

 product. The successful florist has one 

 eye and thought fixed on the present 

 and his best half of vision and mind on 

 plans and preparations for the future. 



Azaleas. 



There will be some florist who has 

 not yet potted his newly arrived aza- 

 leas, rhododendrons and metrosideros. 

 The most important point is, don't pot 

 them before you have soaked the ball 

 a few seconds in a tub of water, and 

 when you pot let the soil be firmly 

 rammed round the old ball or the 

 water will pass readily through the 

 new sod and leave the ball where only 

 the roots are that sustain the plant. 



