116 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



December 10, 1903. 



vorably with price and it is for our in- 

 terest to use our best efforts to proiln; 

 a grade of goods which will encourage 

 the custom and increase the use of tho 

 <livine ilowcr at holiday times . 

 V If your plants were housed early thrv 

 ^"{1 %fire no doubt firmly established and able 

 .-' to endure a little extra strain, but if for 

 any roiison the plants are not in the very 

 best condition, dismiss all thoughts of 

 their doing any extra work. 



It is of great advantage to have each 

 variety in a house In- itself, particularly 

 at this time, but as this is impossible with 

 some growers, sound judgment must be 

 exercised in selecting varieties to be 

 grown together, and it is at this time 

 of year that the results of keen observa- 

 tion should be .jotted down for refer- 

 ence at housing time next year. I have 

 always advocated the handling of stock 

 early in the season with an eye to the 

 future; that is, a substantial crop for 

 the holidays and in seasonable fall weath- 

 ■er the plan can bo successfully carried 

 ■out, but this fall has been so unusually 

 ■warm that the best of calculations have 

 been somewhat upset. 



In many cases conditions are such that 

 with continuous bright weather a large 



crop would be in, but it is safe to reckon 

 on several dark days, during which prog- 

 ress will be slow, and under these cir- 

 cumstances most growers will raise the 

 temperature a trifle, be the advice for or 

 against the practice, so it is well to look 

 into the effect produced upon the plants 

 and provide means whereby this effect 

 shall not be productive of bad results. 



A reasonable increase of temperature 

 accelerates growth, which in turn means 

 increased consumption of moisture, tin- 

 natural residt being a condition of soft- 

 ness in the stems and leaves, perhan,-; 

 barely pei'ceptible but nevertheless the 

 fact. To meet this condition apply a 

 light coat of air-slaked lime to the soil 

 several days previous to raising the tem- 

 perature. This will aid in preserving 

 the stiffness of stem, keep the soil sweii 

 and render more available the increase' 

 amount of plant food needed, for it must 

 be remembered that extra work calls for 

 extra food, and while this could be fur- 

 nished by the application of liquid man- 

 ure, I would not advise its use at this 

 time and under the circumstances; be- 

 sides, there should be suflicient food in 

 the soil that has come from the top dress- 

 ing advised last month. 



\ 



Two liberal applications of grape dust 

 about a week apart wiU act as a destroy- 

 er of lurking fungous disease germs, ap- 

 ply with a bellows, throwing it well over 

 the plants, choosing the warmest time of 

 the day. 



It will be obvious that the advance in 

 temperature should be gradual, also the 

 decline to normal. As a rule the same 

 relation of night and day temptvaturi- 

 should be maintained; that is, if you 

 raise one two degrees, carry the other 

 the same number of degrees higher, the 

 exception being during cloudy or storm v 

 weather, when at all times the day tem- 

 perature is held lower than on bright 

 days. The whole proceeding needs close 

 watching and a man of good judgmcn! 

 at the helm, else more harm than good 

 will be done. George S. Csborn. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



Otiheite Orange in gilt Basket, tied with orange 'Watered Ribbon. 



Varieties for Commercial Growers. 



There is some diversity of opinion as 

 to what really constitutes a good variety 

 for commercial use, but a grower who 

 grows to supply the wholesale market 

 must confine himself to sorts that pack 

 well, stand considerable knocking about 

 and yet retain their freshness. This 

 means that very many of the grandest 

 things are never seen in the florists ' stores 

 at all, saving with those florists who 

 have their own greenhouses, and are 

 snuirt enough to know that if they are 

 gromng varieties that the other fellows 

 haven 't got they will always get the best 

 trade. 



We find that our market (New York) 

 will take any color, almost, if the flower 

 is up to exhibition grade and received in 

 good condition. And I do not much 

 doubt but that most other markets could 

 easily be educated up to that point. The 

 Japanese varieties are not so easily 

 shipped as the close petalled, compact 

 kinds but more care taken in the packing 

 will be well repaid. If about two-thirds 

 (if those growers who are at present flood- 

 ing the market every year with wagon 

 loads of absolute rubbish could only be 

 induced to branch out into some other 

 line of business, things would take on a 

 much more healthy condition. I do not, 

 candidly, think it possible for the aver- 

 age commercial wholesale grower to make 

 any money at the quotations ruUng for 

 the last year or two, unless he grows 

 special stock and runs only on the new- 

 est varieties. 



My selection for the year would run .ns 

 follows: 



White: — Polly Rose, Alice BjTron, Rob- 

 inson. Eaton and Chadwick. 



Yellow:— Halliday, Mrs. T. W. Pock- 

 ctt, Appleton, Yellow Eaton. 



Pink: — Pacific, Lady Harriet, Coombes. 

 IMileham, W. Duckham, A. J. Balfour. 



Red and Bronze: — H. J. .Tones, Henry 

 B:irnes, Kate Broomhead. 



This list does not touch one of the new 

 things, with the exception of W. Duck- 

 ham. This variety is so easily first of the 

 ] links that it is certain of its place at 

 the head of the class. Some others among 

 the novelties will eventually, I think, 

 show up well as commercial kinds. Har- 

 rison Dick and Donald McLeod, in par- 

 ticular, but time will prove all things, 

 ilrs. T. W. Pockett, as a yellow, brought 

 in very profitable returns on a small 

 batch. It is a Japanese but seems to travel 

 well. Some growers are complaining that 

 the foliage was easily injured on this 

 variety, so one had better run easy on 



