244 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



FEBRL'ARY 1, WW. 



ing the nearest approach to the col- 

 lege color, they were the most popular 

 flower; we hear that some of the stu- 

 dents tried to corner the market and 

 that the local florists in that town had 

 to combine to defeat the scheme, which 

 they appear to have done successfully. 

 Robert Crawford, of Philadelphia, is 

 the first to adopt the automobile for 

 delivery of flowers. These vehicles are 



admirably suited for florists' work, 

 because they don't shake the flowers 

 so much, b>it we were just thinking 

 what would some of our florists be 

 without their retinue of colored folks, 

 even if slavery be a thing of the past 

 (which we are inclined to doubtl. It 

 looks influential to have lots of ne- 

 groes on top of your wagon. 



IVERA. 



There is always a noticeable short- 

 ening of work during the month of 

 February in establishments where 

 there is a general collection grown. 

 January has cleaned up what shifting 

 can be done in midwinter, and the 

 moving and preparation of our pros- 

 pective Easter crops is largely the 

 work. In some seasons of the year, 

 notably spring, a walk through the 

 houses brings to view fifty Jobs that 

 are imperative. "By golly, we must 

 get at that." "But look here, boss; 

 this stuff wants it worse." "Yes, I 

 know, but did you do so-and-so yester- 

 day? No? Oh, Lord! you will have to 

 get at that." 



A man that does not fret and stew 

 a little and can look complacently on 

 and see a batch of stuff spoiling, with 

 the excuse that "we really had not 

 time," is to be envied for his physical 

 and mental comfort; but such a dispo- 

 sition is apt to be sluggish and sleepy, 

 and under the sway of such a mind 

 too manv things are neglected. The 

 other extreme, and the writer inclines 

 to the latter, is the man who sees the 

 ten imperative jobs at once, and in his 

 mind is doing them all at once. That 

 state of mind will soon bring on 

 paresis, or worse. Do the most neces- 

 sary first and, when completed, it will 

 be one off the programme, and don t, 

 if possible tret and stew about any 

 job till you can get at it. All of which 

 is easier to preach than to practice, 

 and just now you will have the time 

 to attend to things that don't cry aloud 

 for help, but that are necessary all the 

 same. 



Palms. 

 It is a good time to go over all your 

 palms and thoroughly clean them 

 Mealy bug. brown and white scale will 

 kppear. A sponge and the kerosene 

 emulsion, or. if you don t want to 

 bother with the emulsion, warm water. 

 A good addition of soft soap and some 

 Nikoteen; the latter, not more than 

 one part to 200 parts of ^'at"-//" 

 take off every pest if faithfully 



sponged. This takes time, but if you 

 will look at it in the business way it is 

 but a trifle of expense on each plant- 

 so trifling that you have added to the 

 health and appearance of the plant 

 four times the cost of the labor. 



Young palms can be shifted now. 

 when thev .actually need it. Most 

 palms thrive in comparatively small 

 pots, but fast growing young stock 

 will require a shift, which never 

 should be a large one. A good loam 

 with a fourth of well-rotted animal 

 manure and some bone meal (a pound 

 to a bushel of soil will do well) is a 

 good mixture. Pot firmly and be care- 

 ful not to put the base of the stem be- 

 low the surface of the soil. I have 

 seen grievous mistakes made by put- 

 ting the stems of young palms down 

 in the soil an inch or so; this is par- 

 ticularly true of the most valuable of 

 all palms, the Kentias. 



Palms that you are using for deco- 

 rations, either large or medium, can 

 be cleaned and sponged, but don't 

 disturb their roots; after winter fes- 

 tivities are over will do for them. 



Orchids. 



If you grow any of the commercial 

 orchids, now is a good time to give 

 them a good overhauling. If carefully 

 (lone, cleaning and surfacing can be 

 done at any time, as you do not rob 

 them of any roots, but merely supply 

 fresher and cleaner material as a me- 

 dium for their roots to rest on or 

 among. The ideal time to resurface an 

 orchid would be during its resting 

 time just before it starts to grow; 

 hence Cattleya labiata would now be 

 in just that condition; but C. Trianae 

 or any of this tribe can also now be 

 done. " C. Mossiae would be better at- 

 tended to in the early fall. Laelia 

 anceps should also be now cleaned and 



Good fibrous peat and fresh live 

 sphagnum are the materials. It is a 

 pretty good rule that when the sphag- 

 num is seen to be fresh and green on 



the surface of our orchid pots that the 

 roots also will be thriving. When 

 handling the cattleyas for resurfacing 

 look out for the small white scale that 

 is so troublesome on the base of the 

 bulbs. The white filmy covering at 

 bottom of bulb is a favorite place for 

 the scale to make a settlement; re- 

 move it and thoroughly clean off all 

 scales. Some growers use a solution 

 of fir tree oil and some good growers 

 use simply warm water. The scales 

 stick tightly, but must be removed or 

 the ravages of the scale will destroy 

 the bulb, it first turning yellow and 

 then black. 



When resting, those orchids that 

 have thick bulbs should be kept on 

 the dry side, but by no means shriv- 

 eled up; and when they start to grow 

 increase the moisture. Above all, 

 cleanliness has much to do with the 

 successful cultivation of these magnifi- 

 cent plants. No decayed growths or 

 rotten or decayed moss should ever be 

 allowed on them. A good, pure at- 

 mosphere is a great essential, but ven- 

 tilation in our northern greenhouses is 

 almost out of the question, perhaps for 

 weeks at a time; and light is also a 

 great factor. Orchids, except perhaps 

 the odontoglossums. do not want a 

 dark north side house. The cattleyas 

 and laelias would thrive almost un- 

 der the glare of our July suns if the 

 glass were of the quality that would 

 not burn. 



That pretty low-growing orchid, the 

 coelogyne, is now coming into flower. 

 They are very durable and if removed 

 to a cool house and the bulbs lightly 

 sprayed occasionally, the flower will 

 last five or six weeks. After they are 

 done flowering is the best time to 

 shift or divide the masses of bulbs. 

 They soon get very crowded. Be care- 

 ful of drip or spraying of water on 

 the flowers or it will spot them. 



That florist's orchid, subdued and 

 modest as are the colors, Cypripedium 

 insigne, will soon be growing. See 

 that they have good, clean, live sphag- 

 num on the surface, a temperature of 

 55 to 60 degrees, and at present the 

 fullest light. 



We are in too small a way with 

 these fantastic but gorgeous fiowers to 

 say much about the profitableness of 

 them, but can say that with a few 

 dozen spikes a week our supply has 

 been much behind the demand. When 

 once a person gets into the way of 

 buying orchids, he sticks to it and 

 constantly asks for them. In a looal 

 pictorial paper a fine picture of Joe 

 Chamberlain shows him with eyeglass 

 (he is shortsighted in the right eye), 

 and in his coat the habitual orchid, 

 which looks like Odontoglossum crisp- 

 um. His friend. Oom Paul, don't pa- 

 tronize orchids; he wears a spray of 

 Erica Cavendishii Spionkopii. 



WM. SCOTT. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN THE 



SOUTH. 



The accompanying picture illustrates 



the way in which Mr. Chris Hoist 



grows chrysanthemums which are the 



