360 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JAMAKV 14, 1U04. 



double the money that McGowan will 

 make. I flou't know what you would 

 want with McGowan if Queen Louise does 

 ■well for you. We don 't consider the two 

 in the same class at all. No more than 

 we would Tidal Wave and Lawson. But 

 40 to 45 degrees is rather too cool to 

 grow carnations profitably; 4S to 52 

 degrees is much better. You will get 

 many p-.ore blooms and they will be iust 

 as goo5 in quality. A. F. J. Baur. 



A NEW SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION. 



C. W. Skinner, a large grower of veg- 

 etables at Troy, Ohio, has devised and 

 patented a system of irrigation whereby 

 he can make it rain when he wishes, where 

 he wishes and as often as he wishes. He 

 can make it rain Paris green, Bordeaux 

 mixture or fertilizers and on frosty nights 

 he makes it rain warm water to save his 

 plants. The Livingston Seed Compai" 

 installed this system of irrigation last 

 August and sav that it has given tnem 

 very good satisfaction, saving them a 

 great deal of stock which would otherwise 

 have been lost on account of the severe 

 drought. It is also used by a number of 

 nurserymen and merits the attention of 

 anyone who is in a position to need to 

 water his stock in the fields. 



The idea is shown in the accompanying 

 illustration. The field is piped with lines 

 of ordinarv water pipe, the size varying 

 according "to the length of the lines in- 

 tended to be used and a simple connection 

 with the citv water mains or with the 

 elevated tank nffords the necessary pres- 

 sure for watering. Mr. Skinner has him- 

 self used this device for several years in 

 waterino- an eleven-acre market gardo-\ 

 using runs of pipe 600 feet long. He 



side so as to throw to greater or less 

 distance. Not only can water be used, 

 but insecticides or fertilizers may be 

 pumped through the pipes with equal 

 facility. 



PITTSBURG CLUB MEETING. 



Tlie Pittsburg and Allegheny Florists' 

 and Gardeners' Club held its numtldy 

 meeting on Tuesday evening, January 'i. 

 and notwithstanding the arctic weatlicr 

 (15 degrees below zero that morning) 

 there was a good attendance. One new 

 member was elected and one proposed. 

 The committee appointed to attend to 

 the grievance of the retail florists against 

 the undertakers didn't report, because 

 the chairman who was chief kicker had 

 to stay home to mind the baby. He has 

 a little kicker himself now-; it arrived 

 a few davs ago. 



It was the night for nominations of 

 officers and every one of the present of- 

 ficers was renominated unanimously for 

 another vear and as the club is in a 

 healthy condition and has an excellent 

 secretary it increased his salary. 



It was rose night and we had a fine 

 program. John Cook, of Baltimore, sent 

 liis three new roses. No. 3, white; No. 

 l.SS. i.iiik, and No. 150, red. When thev 



arrived thev were pretty badly frozen, 

 but the Cut' Flower Co. put them in the 

 cellar and had them partly thawed out 

 before the meeting. Then we took out 

 the thawed out blooms and left the others 

 .in the box, covered <with paper, and 

 placed it outside in the vestibule. The 

 janitor, not knowing anything, came 

 along and finding a lot of broken boxes 

 and "papers, qnietlv piled the whole into 



a heap in the allev and set fire to them. 



Skinner's Patent System of Irrigation. 



has found it best to use iy--inch pipe 

 for one-third the length of the line !.<• 

 ginning at the feed pipe end, with the 

 next one-third in 1%-inch pipe; the next 

 100 feet in 1-inch pipe; then sixty feet 

 in %-inch and forty feet in V!>-ineh pine. 

 This gives him a uniform spray for the 

 entire length of the line. Smaller pipes 

 are, of course, used for shorter lines. 

 There are a great many ways in which 

 Jhe apparatus may be installed. The 

 pipes may be placed close to the ground 

 or elevated anv distance, as the circum- 

 stances seem to make advisable, and thev 

 may be arranged to turn from side to 



When we sent out for the remainder of 

 the Cook roses and found them the ashes 

 of a bonfire, great was the janitor's pain 

 and our consternation. But these roses 

 are very beautiful indeed. The white 

 ones were big, full, magnificent and on 

 stiff, leafv stems. The pink has beauti- 

 ful buds 'and is reported as being very 

 prolific. The red was looked upon with 

 much favor as a substitute for Meteor, 

 where Meteor cannot be grown suecess- 

 fullv. 



About frozen flowers: Mr. Langhans, 

 of the Cut Flower Co., advised that when 

 flowers come frozen they should not be 



unpacked and put into dishes oV sprinkled 

 over with water, but instead remo\e the 

 cover from the box, place paper over it 

 and put the whole into a cold, dark cel- 

 lar to thaw out gradually. 



Mr. Breitmeyer and some Canadian 

 people sent roses, but on account of the 

 delav on the railroad caused by the- 

 snowstorms, they did not arrive in time 

 for the club meeting. 



Our home-grown Bride and Bride«maid 

 roses were magnificent, the finest coining 

 from Fred Burki's place at Bakerst..wn. 

 Tom Ulam said more Bridesmaids were 

 used and sold in Pittsburg than, prob- 

 ably, all other kinds combined, and next 

 to it Brides. Mr. Burki went into detail 

 regarding manv new roses he had grown, 

 bu't Bridesmai'd, Bride and American 

 Beautv are his stand-bys. Cms Ludwig 

 corroborated the same as regards mar- 

 ket sorts, but they are getting some fine 

 roses of other sorts, as Sunrise and 

 Canadian Queen, from Canada, that sell 

 on sight. Randolph & McClements are 

 using La Detroit with esteemed ef^'ect 

 in aristocratic decorations. The Bhml 

 Brothers are growing fine Meteors. 



John Jones described how pot-grown 

 hvbrid perpetuals are grown at Phi pus 

 Conservatories and D. Fraser told how 

 he grows roses in winter in a private 

 greenhouse. 



Mr. Langhans gave us a very pertinent 

 lesson on how to pack cut flowers for 

 sending a long distance. He uses liffht 

 wooden lioxes and lines them witli mniiy 

 folds of common newspaper, then a Im- 

 iii.r of wax paper in the inside next the 

 flowers. Use lots of paper, in the winter 

 to keen the cold out and in summe- t- 

 keei) the heat out. Grade the roses. Lay 

 them in single rows of ten, heads close to- 

 aether, and alwavs pack the blossoms dry 

 snd never springle them over with water. 

 Over these flowers place a strip of wax 

 paper and pack again, layer after laver 

 from both ends. Here and there over 

 the flat steins of the packed roses put in 

 a one-half inch square cross cleat 

 wrapped around with tissue paper and 

 with a small nail-pin in each end to fasten 

 into tlie sides of the box. This keeps 

 evervthing snug and tight. Between the 

 several lavers of roses put sheets of pa- 

 per Never jam the blossoms up against 

 the' ends of the box. but rather leave an 

 inch or so of space and into this put 

 crumpled tissue paner. With three little 

 pieces of board deftl^■ nailed m the muh 

 die of the box at the too, make a trough 

 for ice. Lap all over with the paper from 

 the sides, nail down, address and tor- 

 ward The address label should be one 

 agreed upon with the express company; 

 further, thev put another label on each 

 box thev send out and on it is marked 

 the time when the parcel is delivered to 

 the express company. 



ANOPPORTUNITY. 

 Ed. Eeview:— We need, and must 

 have, a first-class florist here. We have 

 a State University city of 8,000 p«>ple, 

 and thousands of dollars' worth of cut 

 flowers and plants are brought here every 

 year. Can you and will you put us in 

 'line to find a good man? „ „ 



Iowa City, la. MiR.\ Troth. 



K.\L.\M.^7^, ^IicH.— W. C. Cook of 

 the Central Michigan Nursery, had an 

 article on the care of plants in the 

 dwelling in a local paper Deceniber - '• 

 which '-nill doubtless have considerable 

 fostering influence on the plant trade in 

 tliis citv. 



