DECEMBEn 24. 1003. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



229 



over ground than they begin to damp oflf. 

 This dani)iinf; off, as it is commonly 

 called, is tlie. work of a fungus. 



From my own experience and observa- 

 tions I am satisfied that the cause of 

 most of those fungous diseases can be 

 traced to the soil, and the experiments 

 of others in sterilizing, etc., have proved 

 that when the .soil is perfectly free from 

 the spores of fungus, with suitable eon- 

 ditious for the crop under cultivation 

 and ordinary care, these diseases seldom 

 make their appearance. Atmospheric 

 conditions have more to do with their de- 

 velopment than their origin. Overhead 

 watering and drip are often blamed for 

 certain diseases, but condensation from 

 a close and huniid atmosphere is more 

 suitable to their development. I am 

 never afraid to water such tender sub- 

 jects as lettuce overhead on bright days 

 when I am satisfied that the foliage will 

 be dry before time for shutting up the 

 house. The spores of fungi certainly 

 require moisture to develop, but being 

 minute bodies have little chance of re- 

 maining on the foliage when water is be- 

 ing applied in any quantity, whereas 

 when the foliage is merely moist, as it 

 would be from condensation, it affords 

 excellent conditions for their lodgment 

 and development. 



The whole Icttuee plant is edible and 

 any disease attacking its leaves, though 

 not killing it outright, will render it 

 unfit for market, while diseases in other 

 plants, such as tomatoes and cucumbers. 

 can be checked by spraying with fungi- 

 cides. Hence the necessity for proper 

 conditions and treatment and the exer- 

 cise of every possible means of preven- 

 tion for the successful growing of the 

 crop. W. S. Crotdon. 



CLEVELAND. 



The Market. 



Business in all lines has been almost at 

 a standstill, but as the cut of flowers has 

 been very light, nothing has gone to 

 waste, and as every grower in this 

 vicinity seems to be off crop, 

 prices hold up to previous quota- 

 tions. It is almost impossible to get a 

 quotation on carnations, with a promise 

 (o fill the order. There will be quite .-i 

 few- nnims ottered this week and prices 

 will be good on them. Paper Whites and 

 Romans are coming in more freely, and 

 will help out on funeral work. 



Notes. 



Frank Biley is back again with 8mith 

 & Fetters, having left E. J. Bolanz, of 

 Aki-on, when the new partnership of 

 Bolanz & Best was formed. Mr. Best is 

 one of our Cleveland boys, and we are 

 pleased to learn that he has left Chicago 

 and is getting nearer home, and wish 

 liim every success in Akron. E. 



THE COMMISSION MAN. 



Says a well-known English writer in 

 the Gardeners ' Chronicle : " I am aware 

 that there are many country growers who 

 send their goods to Covent Garden to be 

 sold on commission, and in many in- 

 stances it is when the supply much ex- 

 ceeds the demand that these extra con- 

 signments reach the commission men, and 

 when returns are made the senders are 

 sxirprised at their smallness; but, as one 

 of the large commission men explaineil 

 to me the other morning, they are 

 obliged to look after those first who send 



every day through the year, and 

 though consignments from casual senders 

 may be good, they of necessity get left 

 over until all the best trade is supplied. 

 The commission-man 's position is not al- 

 together a pleasant one, for though he 

 may conduct his business on the strictest 

 and most careful lines, he finds it im- 

 possible to satisfy all concerned. Yet I 

 am sure that the grumblers would not do 

 better if they acted as their own sales- 

 men." 



LOSS OF VIGOR IN PLANTS. 



In discussing the loss of vigor in 

 plants through propagation by cuttings, 

 A. Hemsley writes: 



"I think there is little doubt that some 

 species of plants ilcteriorate w-ith age. I 

 will take carnations as the first example. 

 While man}' varieties will retain their 

 vigor for an almost indefinite time, others 

 only last for a comparatively short 

 ]ieriod. The yellow varieties appear 

 to me to lose some of their 

 vitality sooner than any others. I 

 remember when first handling Pride 

 of Penshurst that I propagated sev- 

 eral thousands, and they all made 

 bushy, healthy plants — in fact, I never 

 knew any variety of carnation to do bet- 

 ter; yet the following season I could not 

 succeed so well, and year by year the stock 

 got worse, until I had to give it up alto- 

 gether; but before doing so I obtained a 

 stock from another grower. I had a 

 similar experience with Andalusia, a win- 

 ter-flowering carnation, a great favorite 

 twenty years ago, which is hardly ever 

 seen now. Some other varieties have also 

 dropped out of cultivation, but thei-e are 

 none better to take their places. My ex- 

 perience was gained in establishments 

 where plants were grown for sale, and it 

 may be that owing to the strongest and 

 best plants always being sold, and cut- 

 tings and layers from weak plants were 

 made use of, the s'toek deteriorated more 

 quickly than it otherwise would have 

 done. 



"I will now take Begonia Gloire de 

 Lorraine, which has always proved abor- 

 tive; in fact, it rarely produces female 

 flowers; and this variety, instead of de- 

 teriorating, appears to gain in strength 

 from year to year. There seems little 

 doubt that all plants which fail to ma- 

 ture seeds may be propagated from cut- 

 tings and a healthy stock kept up for a 

 much longer period than can be done with 

 such plants as seed freely; and yet it is 

 posiBible to grow many of the seed-bear- 

 ing plants for an indefinite period with- 

 out ill effects being apparent. I luive 

 often referred to the necessity of prop- 

 agating from strong, neaJthy stock and 

 I have noticed that with some species a 

 long time is required to make good 

 jilants from weak cuttings, and in some 

 instances it is impossible to do so. Take 

 Erica hyemalis, a species which must 

 have been in cultivation for at least half 

 a century ; it has always been raiser! 

 from cutting.s, and as grown at the pres- 

 ent time it is more robust than it was 

 twenty-five years ago; and the same may 

 be said of other ericas. I will refer to 

 one other subject, viz:, Asparagus plu- 

 mosus. I have found that all seedlings 

 will grow vigorously if potted on as they 

 require it, and otherwise treated liber- 

 ally ; but grown in poor soil and after 

 being divided several times the growth 

 gradually becomes weaker, till at last the 

 variety "nanus" is' evolved. It is much 

 the same with Aralia Veitchii and A. gra- 



cillima, which are usually cultivated in 

 light, ])eaty soil ; but potted in rich loam 

 and afforded good treatment they grow 

 quite out of character. It is not difficult 

 to get these into the vigorous growth, 

 but it takes some time ere the plants get 

 back to the thin gract-rnl habit. 



"There is one more point I may refer 

 to. viz.. the propagation of plants which 

 produce terminal inflorescences, such aS 

 Euphorbia pulcherrima (Poinsettia), the 

 plants raised from early cuttings of which 

 grow at the least three feet in height 

 before they come into flower ; but the 

 tops may be taken oft" and rooted, and 

 if treated properly, large heads of bracts 

 may be obtained on stems not more than 

 nine inches or a foot high. There are 

 other plants which may be treated sim- 

 ilarly, but it would not be safe to trust to 

 these late propagated plants for the next 

 season 's stock. There is much more in 

 the choice of stock plants and in the se- 

 lection of suitable cuttings than is gen- 

 erally supposed." — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



THE HAIL ASSOCIATION. 



The Florists' Hail .Association of 

 America has been org~anized over six- 

 teen years, during which time the mem- 

 bers of the association have paid thir- 

 teen assessments, including the one paid 

 upon joining. The association is a pure- 

 ly mutual organization, in which the 

 members place in the hands of the treas- 

 urer one advanced assessment in order 

 that losses may be paid promptly. The 

 present membership numbers over 1,200 

 located in nearly every state in the 

 Union and in Canada. Over nineteen 

 million square feet of glass is now in- 

 sured. Over $65,000 paid to members, 

 representing 740 losses, is the record 

 for the past sixteen years. .lohn G. 

 Esler, Saddle Eiver, N. J., is secretary. 



FROM OUR ENGLISH EXCHANGES. 



The Gardeniag World. 



Forcing Lilacs. — Like most hardy 

 plants and shrubs, the lilac resents hard 

 forcing; a temperature of .30 or 5.5 de- 

 grees will be ample for the first fort- 

 night after housing; afterwards a rise of 

 a. few degrees by sun heat may be accorded. 

 Those who have lofty stru<-tures may lift 

 one or two large bushes that have been 

 Iransplanted during the last year or two, 

 taking care to retain a. good ball of soil 

 to them. It is not absolutely necessary 

 to pot these; they may be stood upon 

 t)ie floor and the roots covered with old 

 potting or other soil. Abundance of 

 tepid water both at the roots and over- 

 head is essential until the blossoms begin 

 to open, when the overhead syringing 

 should cease. Excellent varieties for the 

 j>urpose are Charles X, single, Madame 

 Lemoine, Virginite, and Leon Lemoine, 

 double. 



Akebia Lobata. — The leaves of this 

 climber consist of three leaflets and the 

 fruit of an ornamental character, being 

 tiiree inches to four inches long, and 

 ]iurple in color. It belongs to the bar- 

 lierry family, and comes from .Ia)ian. A 

 plant was recently fruited in a Notting- 

 liamshire garden. The better known A. 

 quinata does not often fruit, although 

 it flowers freeh' enough, both under glass 

 and on an outside wall. 



Frankfort. Ind. — Emil Knabe has 

 bought the greenhouses of Mrs. Eliza- 

 beth Kuntz, in which he has been em- 

 ployed several years. 



