664 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



APRII. 2«. 1900. 



very finely and after ;i'IcUng two gal- 

 lons more of water he used a 4-iiich 

 pot full of this solution to SO gallons 

 of water. He used this on his roses and 

 it made them jump. It was powerful 

 stuff, though, and should be u.sed care- 

 fully. Mr. Rudd observed chat t^ie lye 

 supplied potash, which wa.s :'.lso a val- 

 uable fertilizer. 



Mr, Rudd said he had been experi- 

 menting with dissolved rock phosphate 

 and had about made up his mind iliat 

 it was just as good as the bone n.eal 

 and a good deal cheaper. 



Mr. Broadbeck mentioned the valu- 

 able fertilizing properties ot tobacco 

 ashes and said he was always careful 

 to save the ashes when using tobacco 

 for fumigating. He scattered th.;m on 

 the surface of his carnation beds and 

 washed them in with th? hosa and 

 found that they were excellent to give 

 strength to the stems of the flowers. 



Mr. Rudd told of a house of plants 

 that didn't start away early and ui on 

 discovering that the soil ha^l ;)0t been 

 suitably enriched when put in he began 

 feeding much earlier than usual. The 

 plants made a fair growth, but when 

 lifted at the end of the season it v.'as 

 found that they had made hardly any 

 roots. His explanation was that the 

 food being delivered direct to the plant 

 it had no need to send out long roots. 

 The plants were, however, not as sat- 

 isfactory as those whicn iia'l been lirst 

 allowed to make a good lot of roots. 



Drainage was referred to and the 

 mention of coal ashes brought from 

 Mr. Rudd the statement that if the 

 ashes were well washed to remove the 

 traces of sulphuric acid ihat remained 

 in them they were admirable for mnny 

 uses. 



Mr. Broadbeck said he had used a 

 layer of coal ashes on a Ijench with a 

 layer of soil on top and i)lanLed rnses 

 in the soil with most excellent results 

 during the winter, but when warm 

 .spring weather arrived the bench re- 

 quired such an enormous amount of 

 water that it was a nuisance. 



Mr. Rudd said the finest bench of 

 adiantum ferns he had ever seen was 

 one where the terns were planted out 

 in a thin layer of soil on top of a 5- 

 inch thickne-ss of cinders. The cinders 

 had been well washed and a little lime 

 added to counteract the effect of any 

 sulphuric acid that might have re- 

 mained in them. 



Replying to an inquiry regarding 

 the use of lime, Mr, Rudd said that it 

 had very little direct value as a fer- 

 tilizer, but its chemical action was fre- 

 quently of very great value in setting 

 free fertilizing material in the soil 

 that had been insoluble. He had seen 

 it recommended to mix bone meal and 

 lime together for use as a lawu dress- 

 ing and said it was a very bad recom- 

 mendation, as the result would be that 

 the lime would liberate the ammonia 

 from the bone and thus one of the 

 most valuable constituents of the bone 

 would be lost. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



Easter Notes. 



The Easter stock of flowering plants 

 grown in and near Pluladelphia this 

 season was unsurpassed in quahty, 

 and in quantity the proportions far ex- 

 ceeded last year. The sales were enor- 

 mous and very satisfactory; the late 

 date bringing stock into bloom in good 

 time and the cool weather preventing 

 loss in handling, usually a serious 

 drawback to the profit of a late Easte.-. 

 Lilies were less numerous than 

 usual. Japan longiflorums were most 

 grown. The lilies of this variety were, 

 generally speaking, dwarf, with thres 

 to five rather small flowers on each 

 plant. There were, however, some 

 grand specimens, very tall, with ten 

 to fourteen large blooms on a single 

 plant. Some good Harrisii were to bs 

 seen and many Bermuda longiflorums. 

 The growers have some difficulty in 

 timing the Japan bulbs, which are 

 from three to six weeks slower than 

 the bulbs from Bermuda. 



Hydrangeas were grown to perfec- 

 tion'; the plants well shaped, bearing 

 large, beautifully colored flowers, hard 

 as nails. The large sizes were numer- 

 ous and in good demand. Formerly 

 the large sizes found a limited de- 

 mand. Otaksa and Monstera were the 

 varieties. Thomas Hogg is less seen 

 nowadays. 



Spiraea astilboides floribunda was 

 very fine. Robert Craig put four large 

 plants into a 16-inch pan. making 

 handsome specimens which were 

 quickly sold. Compacta was hardly as 

 uniformly flowered. Japonica was but 

 little grown. 



Azaleas were in large supply. Mme. 

 Van der Cruyssen still leads as the 

 most popular variety in all sizes. 



Bougalnvillea Sanderiana was the 

 novelty of the season. W. K. Harris 

 grew it superbly. He also had lilacs 

 and deutzias in good shape. Crimson 

 Ramblers from medium to extra large 

 plants were wonderfully well flowered 

 and sold at most satisfactory prices. 



Genistas, probably owing to their 

 poor keeping qnalitiej. were rather 

 scarce. So also lilies of the valley in 

 pots. Tulips in pans were plentiful, 

 but Von Sions were somewhat scarce. 

 There were many other blooming 

 plants, but the above list represents 

 nine-tenths of the stock offered this 

 Easter. 



The retailers found plants more in 

 demand than cut flowers. The supply 

 was fully equal to the demand in both 

 branches, although this might not be 

 true had all the late orders been filled. 

 The department stores and street men 

 sold an immense quantity of sto?k. 

 Prices generally were very good. 



G. ROWER. 



BUFFALO. 



Business has kept nicely going since 

 Easter and we have not felt that dull 

 thud which sometimes is felt after a 

 big event. Flowers seem now at their 

 very best. Bridesmaids have their 



most beautiful color and American 

 Beauties are plentiful and grand. Car- 

 nations have 30-inch stems and the 

 finest of flowers, violets from cold- 

 frames the richest of color and odor 

 and the size of a silver dollar even if 

 they only bring the hundredth part of 

 it. Sweet peas are here with 15-inch 

 stems, and how it adds to them when 

 they have a little of their own growth 

 with them. Sometimes the lateral 

 growth can be spared. 



1 hear now that all hands were well 

 pleased with Easter. Vases are filled 

 with pansies in Forest Lawn cemetery, 

 so that will give you an idea ot the 

 weather. When we do have spring we 

 do have it. Yesterday (Sunday) wa.s 

 so charming that Mr. Mott, of River- 

 ton, who was sojourning here, said he 

 enjoyed it more than the climate of 

 the Delaware Sands, and Mr. Harry 

 Balsley, also a visitor, enjoyed it 

 greatly. 



Twenty thousand people .visited the 

 Pan-American grounds. This is as it 

 should be. and a view of the activity 

 of the work going on will convince 

 Buffalo people of the immensity of the 

 undertaking and the glorious thing it 

 is going to be for Buffalo in 1901. 



1 am glad to tell you that Mr. James 

 Brown, an old Philadelphian. who laid 

 out anil planted the ground of the late 

 Mr. G. Fargo some thirty years ago, is 

 now with Professor Cowell at the Bot- 

 anical Gardens. This should be mu- 

 tually a very agreeable arrangement. 

 Mr, Joseph Rolker was in town last 

 Thursday and a very good way to pass 

 him along was to jump on the North 

 Main car and steer him out to the 

 farm of C. F. Christenson. particularly 

 as it was my first visit since Chris had 

 begun operations. He has a fine place 

 just one mile northeast of the city lim- 

 its, but a trolley by his door; four 

 acres of most excellent land. Material 

 is en the ground for a block of six de- 

 tached houses, each 125x20. All Lock- 

 land lumber and 16x24 glass. High 

 grade carnations will be one of his 

 specialties, but whatever he grows you 

 can depend upon it will be grown well, 

 for if he has had a rest for two years 

 he will soon catch up. for he is a gar- 

 dener born. What a beautiful spot to 

 visit when you have a leisure half day. 

 and what a genial host. 



Right across the road there is a re- 

 freshment stand wheie they have a 

 fine pool table, on which Chris badly 

 laid out Walter Mott, who in his old 

 age is learning thg seductive game. 

 And across the road in another direc- 

 tion (for the place is at the crossing of 

 the roads) is a summer garden and at- 

 tachments. Among the latter two 

 splendid bowling alleys, so differently 

 situated from most places. Surround- 

 ed as they are by fruit trees and lawn 

 and honeysuckle bower, they are sure 

 to be a resort for the city boys. We 

 never occupy your pages with bowling 

 scores of late, but we did play one 

 game, and having lately read the av- 

 erage of W. K. Harris we were deter- 

 mined to roll or break another leg. So 

 in the only game the score was: W. 



