The Weekly Florists' Review, 



NOVEMBER 30. 1S99. 



to get the other fellow's customer at 

 the grower's expense. 



The fakir also comes in for his share 

 in recent discussions. He now stands 

 side by side with the aristocratic buy- 

 er at the commission man's counter. 

 As he is apparently here to stay he 

 must be recognized. As the grower's 

 stock varies from good to bad through- 

 out the season he at all times expects 

 the commission man to look out for 

 his interests and the only recourse is 

 the fakir when the stock is off. While 

 the fakir consumes an enormous lot of 

 stock which probably would otherwise 

 be lost, still he ought to be kept in 

 his place. The wholesaler should 

 keep him where he belongs by only 

 selling him such stock as no respect- 

 able dealer would sell. In this way 

 it would leave an argument for the 

 florist to his customers in the differ- 

 ence of his stock and the fakirs' 

 should it be necessary. If we give the 

 fakir an equal chance with the. aris- 

 tocratic buyer, then soon everything 

 will be Greek to us. The assumption 

 that the world owes us a living may 

 contain some truth, but with the pres- 

 ent state of affairs we'll be owing the 

 world to live. 



CHARLIE'S UNCLE. 



ROSE NOTES. 



There is one thing connected with 

 cutting that I neglected to mention in 

 my last; it is the implement with 

 which the operation is performed. 

 Some growers prefer a knife, others 

 shears. I am partial to a pair of small 

 shears, as I think the bloom can be 

 severed from the plant without the 

 amount of pulling that will occur with 

 a knife unless great care be taken. 

 There are a number of kinds of shears 

 in the market that hold the bloom 

 after cutting. I have tried some of 

 them, but have not found any 

 thoroughly successful. Whatever is 

 used, knife or shears, see that it is 

 very keen and keep it so at all times. 



The next thing to be considered is a 

 suitable place to keep the cut blooms 

 until they are marketed. The best 

 place to keep the cut blooms is a cool, 

 clean, well ventilated cellar where 

 nothing else save flowers is kept. Of 

 course on the large pla-jes there should 

 be an ice house with regular cooling 

 rooms, and these, with the ordinary 

 cellar of the small place, should be 

 fitted up so the work of caring for the 

 blooms can be properly done. There 

 should be a room attached where the 

 sorting and packing is done. In it 

 should be a commodious table on 

 which to grade up the blooms, with 

 waste boxes for the reception of all 

 bad petals and leaves that may be 

 picked off, drawers for keeping various 

 articles required in packing, plenty of 

 boxes of the proper shape and sizes for 

 the different stock to be shipped, rolls 

 of paper of convenient size as experi- 

 ence shows is best suited to your 

 needs. 



The cellar should be kept scrur-u- 

 lously clean and be supplied with 

 water and perfect drainage. An abun- 



dance of vases of various sizes should 

 always be at hand, and these should be 

 given a thorough washing frequently 

 as they soon become slimy. The water 

 should be changed every day. In set- 

 ting the vases of flowers in the cellar 

 arrange them so those that have to be 

 taken out first are in the front so 

 there will be no brushing against those 

 that are to remain longer. A. O. T. 



THRIPS ON ROSES. 



How can I rid my roses of thrips? 

 They disfigure the buds so they are 

 unfit to sell. When the buds open I 

 find from one to a dozen of these in- 

 sects in each. W. H. W. 



If W. H. W. will fumigate every 

 night for a couple of weeks I think 

 he will rid his houges of thrips. Fumi- 

 gate one night with tobacco stems and 

 the next night with ground red pep- 

 per. A handful of the red pepper 

 sprinkled over a shovelful of red hot 

 coals will be enough for a house 100 

 to-l.')0 feet long and 25 feet wide. 



The shovel should be carried behind 

 you through the house to avoid in- 

 haling the fumes. A. O. T. 



ART AT FLOWER SHOWS. 



Editor Florists' Review: In your 

 current issue we note with interest 

 and amusement some of the observa- 

 tions by Ivera upon "art at flower 

 shows." Your correspondent has di- 

 lated with his usual eloquence upon 

 several well timed topics, subjects that 

 deserve our earnest consideration. Re- 

 garding the grouping of plants at 

 flower shows your correspondent 

 speaks very ably, but right here I 

 would like to say somewhat in defense 

 of the exhibitor. 



The cone-shaped mound has become 

 a stereotyped figure, but is this entire- 

 ly the fault of the exhibitor? We have 

 attended a good many flower shows 

 and have also erected mounds at sev- 

 eral, but that was not always our fault. 

 On entering the show room with our 

 plants we have, without exception, 

 been shown the circle, or semi-circle, 

 in which we had to artistically arrange 

 our exhibit. Now, sir, it may be pos- 

 sible to artistically dress a pig, but 

 really when one has to arrange plants 

 — which in themselves are five or six 

 feet high — in a circle, how is it possi- 

 ble to do this so that each flower can 

 be seen if they be not somewhat ele- 

 vated in the center? 



By the by, artistic arrangement is 

 very seldom called for where a group 

 of chrysanthemums are concerned, the 

 reading of the schedule visually being: 

 "For best group of chrysanthemums 

 to cover so many feet." We therefore 

 arrange our groups so that the best 

 side of the flower will catch the judge's 

 eye; this is the growers' lookout; qual- 

 ity in flower, stem and foliage being 

 all that is usually called for, and with 

 all due deference to Ivera I think it is 

 the grower and not the artist that is 

 the best judge in this case. But I 

 would like to see reform and 1 think 



societies are wrong in confining exhib- 

 itors to circles and semi-circles; ex- 

 hibitors ought to be allowed to choose 

 the form that suits their tastes. 



Regarding "the carriage house re- 

 hearsal," we can with wonderful accu- 

 racy read between the Hues, and in our 

 several attempts at mound building, 

 though we may have gained little of 

 artistic knowledge, we have learned at 

 least one thing: to try the thing at 

 home first. We very vividly recall a 

 ride of thirty miles on a very cold 

 morning some time ago, on a wagon 

 containing the material for a mound 

 which had not previously been re- 

 hearsed, and to our dismay we found 

 before we were finished that all our 

 artistic skill could not stretch our 

 quantity to cover the desired space. It 

 is a very simple arithmetical problem 

 to tell the quantity of square bricks 

 that are required for a certain number 

 of feet, but when we are dealing with 

 a miscellaneous collection of 6, 7, S and 

 9-inch pots, with one, two or three 

 flowers each, the case is somewhat dif- 

 ferent, and I say again, with some ex- 

 perience and former vexation: "Let us 

 rehearse by all means. In the carriage 

 house, if need be." 



THE NOVICE. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY OF 

 AMERICA. 



As has been announced, Saturday 

 was the last date for regular meetings 

 of the C. S. A. committees. To provide 

 for late seedlings it has been the cus- 

 tom to meet on Saturdays when re- 

 quested. Those having late blooms 

 to show can arrange for a special 

 meeting by addressing the chairmen 

 of the committees, as follows: 



A. H. Fewkes, Newton Highlands, 

 Mass. 



Eugene Dailledouze, Flatbush, L. I., 

 N. Y. 



A. B. Cartledge, 1514 Chestnut St., 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



R. Witterstaetter. Sedamsville, 0. 



.Tas. Hartshorne, Joliet. 111. 



Notice should be given the chairman 

 at least two days before they are 

 shown. 



Work of the Committees, Nov. 28, J 899. 



NEW YORK.— Nathan Smith & Son, 

 Adrian, Mich., exhibited the following 

 three varieties: Stellata, a rich yellow 

 .lapanese variety, scored both scales 95 

 points. White Bonnaffon. a white In- 

 curved, scored commercial scale S9 

 points. Pluma, a light pink hairy Inc. 

 Jap., scored commercial scale 80 points. 



BOSTON.— The following three vari- 

 eties were exhibited by Nathan' Smith 

 & Son: Pluma, scored exhibition scale 

 86 points. Lavender Queen, a deep 

 lavender pink variety of the .Tap. Ref. 

 type, scored commercial scale 92, exhi- 

 bition scale 95 points. Intensity, a 

 crimson Japanese variety, scored com- 

 mercial scale 94, exhibition scale 90 

 points. 



PHILADELPHIA. — Edward Salyer. 

 Wilkes Barre. Pa., exhibited Mrs. Ed- 

 ward Sayler, a white Jap. Incurved, 



