Mat S. 1902. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



845 



A Beautiful Group of Ferns. 



hymenodium are not quite so large as 

 the sterile ones, but are also very singu- 

 lar from the fact that the under side of 

 the frond is completely covered with a 

 thick brown coating of spores. 



Right behind the hymenodium are 

 seen the long and graceful fronds of 

 Adiantum peruvianum, the large light 

 green pinnce of which look white in the 

 picture. This is one of the very best 

 of the large growing adiantums for ex- 

 hibition purposes, is a warm house 

 s]iecies, and created quite a sensation 

 among fern growers at the time of its 

 introduction some twenty-five or thirty 

 years ago. 



Somewhat indistinctly, and to the left 

 of the hymenodium, we see some fronds 

 of a rather rare adiantum, namely A. 

 curvatuni, a very handsome species but 

 one that is somewhat particular in its 

 requiremcTits, one of those requirements 

 lieing that it shall be well shaded, and 

 another that the soil in which it is 

 yruwu shall be rather coarse and open 

 and largelj' composed of peat. 



Still further to the left we find a sin- 

 gular looking tall plant that at the first 

 glance does not remind us of the con- 

 ventional idea of a fern, but a second 

 look shows that it is a Japanese climb- 

 ing fern, Lygodium seandens, trained 

 on a conical trellis. This species and 

 also another member of the same genus, 

 Ij. volnbile, may be grown into quite 

 attractive specimens by this method. 



In the background is seen a stump 

 nn which various small growing ferns 

 arc planted, a natural and effective 

 method of displaying them, for in their 

 native places many ferns are found 

 growing on the trunks and branches of 

 trees. 



The stag's horn ferns are also a 

 prominent feature of the background, 

 and from their singular form and the 

 great distinction between the fertile and 

 sterile fronds never fail to attract atten- 

 tion. Of these stag's horn ferns there 

 are several species shown in the picture, 

 that on the left being Platycerium a?thi- 

 opicum, the one in the center and at the 

 rear being one of the forms of P. alci- 

 corne, and below that is seen a large 

 specimen of P. Willinckii, a very hand- 

 some fern and one that has the peculi- 

 arity of producing its fertile fronds 

 in threes, while on the extreme right and 

 next to the tree fern is shown a good 

 plant of P. grande, the latter species 

 being one of the finest of this very 

 interesting genus. 



W. H. Taplin. 



ST. LOUIS. 



The Market. 



The cut-tlower trade last week con- 

 tinued dull, though some were fortunate 

 enough to have quite a lot of funeral 

 work. The weather has been unusually 

 warm and it feels more like July than 

 May, and spring flowers of all kinds 

 are in full bloom. Yesterday (Sunday) 

 we had a young cyclone and a good deal 

 of hail with the hard rain storm. It 

 was the hardest rainfall we have had 

 since the great cyclone in May, 1896. 

 No damage from hail has as yet been 

 reported by the florists. 



The glut in carnations and roses is 

 still with us, and never before were 

 they sold so cheap down town as last 

 week. All the wholesale houses are 



loaded down with all kinds of good 

 stock and the fakir can get all his stock 

 in St. Louis now and doesn't have to 

 send to Chicago for cheap stock, where 

 he claims plenty of stock can be had 

 at all times and at prices to suit him- 

 self. Some of the down town florists 

 are trying to compete with the street 

 fakir. In this I think they make a 

 great mistake and they will find it out 

 sooner or later. Perhaps they haven't 

 heard of the old saying, ' ' Give a fool 

 rope enough and he'll hang himself." 



Prices are still very low. Some select 

 stuff in Brides, Maids and Meteors went 

 from $5 to $6, but nothing else brought 

 over $3, and from that down to $1, 

 with plenty of stock on hand to fill 

 the biggest order. 



Carnations are most plentiful and of 

 good quality, also very cheap. About 

 $.5 per 1,000 is a fair estimate on what 

 they sold for and $1 and $1.50 in 100 

 lots. All kinds went at these prices, and 

 first-class stock at that. Flora Hill. 

 Triumph, Joost and White Cloud are 

 among the best in the market just now. 



Good long sweet p6as are selling well, 

 especially pink and white. The price 

 on these runs from 25 cents to $1 per 

 100. They are quite plentiful but are 

 not a glut as yet, though there is no 

 telling what will happen before the end 

 of the week. Harrisiis are having a 

 fair demand at 4 cents for shorts and 

 6 and 8 cents for long; callas go at $6 

 per 100. 



Notes. 



Wm. Trillow, of Chicago, came in on 

 Sunday to call on his many friends in 

 the trade. 



