574 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



March 20, 1902. 



is every facility for doing a methodical 

 business and the facilities are grasped. 

 Hospitality was there in abundance, 

 and then a pair of high steppers and a 

 lofty break conveyed us to the station 

 at Joliet. The $3,00U team went through 

 the mud so fast that a very expensive 

 overcoat, the only good piece of clothing 

 I tlo own, was covered thick with the 

 yellow mud of what in the summer 

 months is doubtless a beautiful road. 

 We never caught a glimpse of the big 

 l)enitentiary, but we saw a Chicago alder- 

 man, so we were satisfied, and we were 

 Considerably wiser and better for our 

 visit to the energetic Mr. Hartshorne. 

 William Scott. 



NEW BEGONIAS. 



AVr present in this issue engravings 

 from photographs of two new begonias 

 raised by V. Lemoine & Sons, Nancy, 

 France. The great commercial value of 

 the Gloire de Lorraine, originated and 



the same standpoint that I did, and per- 

 haps ydu'. did' not have the same thoughts 

 that passed through my mind. So i will 

 give you a few impressions that came to 

 me during the convention and since then. 

 While I was walking around the hall, 

 looking at vase after vase full of grand 

 blooms of the leading newer varieties, I 

 noticed here and there a bunch of some 

 old-time favorite, and my thoughts were 

 led to a comparison of the varieties we 

 are growing to-day with those of ten 

 years ago. That wius about the time Wm. 

 Scott came out aud among the leaders 

 were Daybreak, iicCiowan, Silver Spray, 

 Portia, Garfield, Hector, Grace Wilder and 

 Tidal Wave. Where would they be along- 

 side Mrs. Lawson, Prosperity, Marquis, 

 Lorna, Norway, Crane, America, Estelle, 

 Crocker and many other varieties we have 

 to-day, to say nothing of what we are to' 

 have inside of a year or twof Not only 

 have these varieties nearly all gone prac- 

 tically out of cultivation, but many others 

 have come and gone since to make room 



New Begonia Peile Lorraine (Lemoine). 



sent out by this firm, naturally excites 

 considerable interest in their further in- 

 troductions. Should either of these two 

 new ones equal (iloire de Lorraine in 

 value to American florists they will cer- 

 tainlv be very welcome. 



THE NATIONAL CARNATiON 

 EXHIBITION. 



By A. F.J. Baur. 



[Read before the Society of In(liau<a Florists at 

 Indianapolis. March 4.] 



Mr. President and Gentlemen: I was 

 a.sked to read a paper this evening on the 

 carnation e.xhibitioii held last month in 

 connection with the annual meeting of 

 the American Caru.-ttiou Society. That 

 would not be a very difficult task if it 

 were not for the fact that every member 

 here saw the show aud there was little 

 if anything there that you could not see 

 just as well as I. Naturally you decided 

 for yourself which were tTie most promis- 

 ing varieties, and so I will not say any- 

 thing about that part of the show". But 

 perhaps you did not look at it all from 



for better varieties that were offered 

 from lime to lime. 



It is something wonderful when one 

 stops to think of it, this great improve- 

 ment in the carnation. When we look at 

 a bunch of those fine large blooms we are 

 apt to think as most people do, that the 

 greatest improvement has been made in 

 the size of the bloom. But do you know- 

 that there has been less added to the size 

 of the bloom than there has to one or two 

 other qualities? We had blooms three 

 and one-half inches in diameter and 

 more, ten years ago, and that is consid- 

 ered a very fair-sized bloom to-day. But 

 get out your old trade papers and look 

 up the photogra]ihs of the first few exhi- 

 bitions and notice how the blooms hung 

 over the side of the jars and nearly 

 touched the table, and then look how our 

 blooms to-day are supported two feet 

 above the vases. I think that the great- 

 est improvement has been made in the 

 stem. 



Naturally with the numerous seed- 

 lings came great improvements and great 

 varietv of color. There is much room 



for improvement in that line yet, al- 

 though there seem to be a few ideal col- 

 ored varieties in sight now. We need a 

 scarlet like Adonis badly and we need a 

 good, pure pink that does not fade or 

 turn blue. The calyx is also a part that 

 needs improving. We have a few varie- 

 ties that it is" just about impossible to 

 make burst, but oh, how many of 

 our best varieties are inclined to burst a 

 large percent, of their calyxes. Think of 

 what a gem Mr. Witterstaetter would 

 have in his Enquirer if it only had a calyx 

 like old Albertini! But I believe we are 

 working out that point, too, as we do no; 

 think of keeping a seedling that is in- 

 clined to burst its calyx. 



Would it pay us to grow such blooms 

 for the market ? That is a question we 

 must decide each for himself after study- 

 ing his market carefully. It certainly 

 ought to pay every retailer to have on 

 hand at least a few of these fine blooms, 

 even if his trade calls for a medium 

 grade of stock. Many a person who vis- 

 ited the show last month will ask you 

 why they are unable to buy sueli fine 

 blooms at the stores or greenhouses, and 

 you should be aljle to offer them the same 

 high-grade blooms, providing they arc 

 willing to pay a fair price for them. You 

 can educate your customers up to a high 

 plane if you go about it right. 



I am sure it pays us wholesalers to 

 grow just as fine a bloom as we can, pro- 

 viding we do not sacrifice too much in the 

 way of quantity. It is a well-known 

 fact that in all lines of stock the best 

 grades are always disposed of first, and 

 if fliere is anything left over it is invari- 

 alily the lower grade. The high grade 

 will always find a buyer at some price, 

 even if it be only the cost of production, 

 while the lower grades, if the market be 

 glutted, are a total loss. No grower 

 ever got rich or famous by producing a 

 low grade of stock, but it is always the 

 grower of the highest grades that has 

 more customers than he can supply, and 

 if there is any money made, he is the one 

 who makes it. 



But with air this striving after qual- 

 ity we must not forget that necessary 

 adjunct, quantity. You can greatly in- 

 crease the quality of your blooms by rob- 

 bing the plants of about one-half of the 

 blooming shoots, but that would not pay 

 you, as there would be too few blooms, 

 even if you received a good price for 

 them, and in the same way you must not 

 plant varieties that produce only a i'ew 

 extra fine blooms, but rather try to get a 

 high grade of blooms front a prolific vari- 

 ety by giving your plants' high-grade cul- 

 ture. 



We find that in order to keep up with 

 the times we must test a good many of 

 the new varieties as they are introduced. 

 If we have reason to think tlmt a vari- 

 ety is going to become a popular favorite 

 we purchase enough stock to give us a 

 good start, but if we are doubtful about 

 a variety we go a little slower and try only 

 enough plants to test it with. Of course 

 we buy a good many varieties and grow 

 them only one season, as they do not come 

 up to the standard under our culture, but 

 we never fail to get at least one or two 

 varieties each season that are decided 

 acquisitions, and if we get only one good 

 one out of a dozen we are not discour- 

 aged. The fault is more often our ow.u 

 rather than the fault of the variety. It 

 pays to get a few plants the first season, 

 as you can then work up a stock at much 

 smaller expense than if you wait a year 

 or two and find the variety in great de- 

 mand, and you have the advantage of 



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