538 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



i i "I'i i|:i:i: x jv n i. 



always sell all he had at a good price 

 h<-; might tell a different story. The 

 grower laughs in his sleeve when 

 things go his way, and the buyer does 

 likewise when he can dictate the price. 

 But the man that handles the stock 

 must get it thrown into him either 

 way, therefore the opening remark, 

 that it is the hardest of all commercial 

 lines. CHARLEY'S AUNT. 



COMMERCIAL VIOLET CULTURE. 



Commercial Violet Culture. By Pro- 

 fessor B. T. Galloway, Chief of Divi- 

 sion of Vegetable Physiology and Pa- 

 thology, United States Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 224 pp., 

 small octavo, in flexible covers of 

 royal purple cloth and gold. Publish- 

 ers A. T. De La Mare Printing and 

 Publishing Co., Ltd., New York. Price 

 $1.50. 



In a general way the needs of the vi- 

 olet, as a commercial flower, have been 

 dealt with in gardening papers as well 

 as in books treating upon the subject 

 of management of greenhouses, but we 

 believe Professor Galloway offers to 

 the reading public the first work fully 

 exhaustive and comprehensive in its 

 nature, devoted solely to the commer- 

 cial culture of that very popular flow- 

 er — a treatise on the growing and mar- 

 keting of violets for profit. 



In the preface to his most interest- 

 ing and instructive book the author re- 

 marks that more people have embark- 

 ed in the business of growing violets 

 and failed than is the case with any 

 other crop, and "for this reason we be- 

 lieve that it is one of the most prom- 

 ising fields for the young, energetic, 

 and intelligent man to enter. Who- 

 ever enters it, however, must recognize 

 at the start that there are many diffi- 

 culties and that to be successful means 

 much labor, patience and determination 

 to overcome all obstacles. . . . Read- 

 ing will help but without the ability 

 to apply what is learned by reading 

 little progress can be made." He then 

 goes on to state that the information 

 imparted is the result of practical ex- 

 perience in many cases dearly bought. 



Without much ado Professor Gallo- 

 way at once dives into the work in 

 hand, furnishing a list and description 

 of the more important varieties of vio- 

 lets now grown in America with a 

 brief history of each and compares the 

 methods of culture past and present. 

 The very important item of soil is 

 then thoroughly gone into, giving de- 

 tails of handling, mixing, amount to 

 use, etc. Chapter III is one of the 

 most valuable in the entire volume. It 

 treats on the construction of houses 

 and frames, providing a detailed state- 

 ment in regard to the points to be con- 

 sidered in the erection, heating, ven- 

 tilating, etc.. of what he believes the 

 house best adapted to the needs of the 

 violet — the even span, running north 

 and south. Numerous illustrations 

 from life assist the reader in clearly 

 grasping the context. The approx- 

 imate cost of a 100-foot house, 12 feet 

 wide and 7 seven feet to ridge, with a 

 20-inch opening on sides, is also fur- 

 nished, together with much valuable 



information relative to frames and 

 sashes. A chapter on water supply is 

 followed by one on the propagating, 

 selecting, cleaning and watering the 

 plants, planting, feeding, etc. The all- 

 important matters of temperature and 

 ventilation then receive attention, and 

 in tabulated form are presented tem- 

 perature records of a violet house for 

 five months of the winter period, made 

 for the author by the well-known vio- 

 let grower, Wm. George Saltford. Then 

 follows a very useful chapter on 

 "Handling and Marketing the Crop," 

 which contains some excellent advice. 



The subject of bunching is then very 

 fully gone into as well as that of pack- 

 ing the flowers. A chapter that proves 

 of extraordinary interest is the one de- 

 voted to diseases and insect enemies 

 and their treatment. No man has given 

 more attention to these perplexing 

 questions than the author, and the in- 

 formation which he furnishes relative 

 thereto is worth many times the price 

 of the book. Every known disease and 

 insect attacking the violet, and there 

 are quite a number, comes in for its 

 due share of consideration, and is 

 treated in a manner that only one of 

 Professor Galloway's attainments can 

 handle it. The numerous illustrations 

 from living subjects will be found of 

 great assistance to the grower in diag- 

 nosing the various troubles. 



The final chapter deals with cost and 

 profit. The following are the author's 

 conclusions on this very interesting 

 subject: 



"On the whole, it may be said that 

 the income from 10,000 plants grown 

 in houses, and handled properly, 

 should, year in and year out, average 

 $5,600, while the total expenses should 

 not exceed $1,500. This means an av- 

 erage yield of 75 flowers per plant and 

 an average price of 75c. per 10O flow- 

 ers. 



"Violets can be grown in frames 

 cheaper than they can in houses. With 

 good care the total cost per plant will 

 not exceed 5c, or 10c. per 100 for the 

 flowers, reckoning that the average 

 yield of the latter is 50 flowers per 

 plant. Such flowers ought to net the 

 grower 50c. per 1O0, leaving a profit 

 over all expenses of 40c. per 100, or 

 approximately $4 per sash. Finally, it 

 must be remembered that while these 

 figures are fair averages and are based 

 on actual experience, they cannot be 

 approximated without strict attention 

 to every detail." 



The book is elegantly printed, hand- 

 somely bound, and contains superb il- 

 lustrations, embracing 60 plates, plans, 

 diagrams, working drawings of model 

 violet houses, etc., and is one we can 

 confidently recommend as being in the 

 front rank of practical hand books of 

 modern times. It should be in the pos- 

 session of everybody interested in vio- 

 lets. 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS. 



NEW YORK.— The Grand Central 

 Palace has been selected by the com- 

 mittee for the next convention of the 

 Society of American Florists. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



There is a large supply of flowers 

 in the market and an unusually large 

 amount of poor grade stock, especially 

 roses. The plants of many growers 

 seem to have suffered severely from 

 the hot weather, the temperature last 

 Monday reaching 82 degrees, accord- 

 ing to the thermometer of the weather 

 bureau, and 90 degrees in the shade 

 by the thermometers of several flor- 

 ists. 



As the result of these conditions the 

 commission man has had to do a great 

 deal of sorting to get out a sufficient 

 supply of shipping stock, and he has 

 found life somewhat unpleasant in 

 consequence. Some growers seem to 

 have suffered much less than others 

 from weather conditions, and report 

 stock fully up to the average for the 

 season, but these seem to be excep- 

 tional cases. 



Chrysanthemums are in fairly good 

 supply, but they are generally late all 

 around. Some report their mums as 

 fully two weeks later than last year. 

 Mums in the market are moving well 

 at fair prices. 



Reinberg Bros, grew a few houses of 

 mums this year and are now cutting 

 some excellent blooms. This is their 

 first venture in the chrysanthemum 

 field. Their Meteor roses are produc- 

 ing some unusually fine blooms, and 

 their Triumph carnations are extra 

 good for the season. 



Bassett & Washburn report a splen- 

 did demand for fancy carnations, es- 

 pecially for G. H. Crane, America, 

 White Cloud, Gold Nugget, Frances 

 Joost and Cerise Queen. They think 

 a good deal of Frances Joost and be- 

 lieve it will prove the very best of the 

 pink carnations. 



Kennicott Bros. Co. have completed 

 the changes in their big cold storage 

 room, and it certainly is admirably ar- 

 ranged. 



McKellar & Winterson are receiving 

 some large consignments of very fine 

 cattleyas and other orchids. They are 

 also handling wintergreen, which 

 makes up into veTy pretty wreaths, 

 the foliage being very attractive and 

 the berries holding on well. 



Violet sales picked up with the ad- 

 vent of the cool weather last week, 

 but there was a relapse with the 

 change to hot weather again. Qual- 

 ity has held up very well. 



Club Meeting. 



At the annual meeting of the Flor- 

 ists' Club, held last Friday evening, 

 officers for the ensuing year were 

 elected as follows: James Harts- 

 horne, Pres.; F. F. Benthey, Vlce- 

 Pres.; C. W. McKellar, Rec. Sec'y; 

 John Degnan, Fin. Sec'y; Edgar Sand- 

 ers, Treas. The new trustees are: J. 

 B. Deamud, A. L. Vaughan, Chas. 

 Dickinson, E. F. Winterson, A. Hen- 

 derson. 



The officers-elect were appointed a 



