504 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



February 4, 1904. 



less for his labor, and glass costs much 

 less there thau here, as labor is about 

 sixty-five per cent of the cost of the 

 glass. In Belgium tlie cost to<lay of a 

 box of 16x18 double is about $1.45, and 

 here about $3.25. The duty on a box 

 of foreign glass. 10x18. would bi .$1.30, 

 certainly a large protection to Ameri- 

 can labor, and the American woikmnn 

 takes all tbe advantage of it. 



It would appear, however, that I lie 

 day of great wages in this line of busi- 

 ness is drawing to a close. A machine, 

 as you know, has been invented. an<l is 

 being slowly perfected, to take the place 

 of the man blower and gatherer. It is 

 already turning out glass in considerable 

 quantities at several tanks, and it .seems 

 to be only a matter of time when it will 

 largely displace man power, and cer- 

 tainly decrease the cost of making glass, 

 but as long as the present tariff rates 

 are maintained, the manufacturer will 

 take advantage of them and no cheap 

 glass is in sight. 



The machine makes glass in cylin- 

 ders, by use of compressed air instead 

 of the breath of man, and there is good 

 reason to believe that it wili ultimately 

 be entirely successful. 



WATER AND SUN. 



Will it injure shrubbery or plants to 

 syringe during middle of the day in hot 

 weather? H. 



This question was pretty well thrashed 

 out a few years ago, G. P. Eawson, of 

 Elmira, N. Y.. contending that it was 

 wrong and injurious to plants to syringe 

 or wet their foliage when the sun was 

 sliining on thtm and Edwin Lonsdale 

 contending that it was not. I think the 

 writer had something to say on the sub- 

 ject and agreed with Mr. Lonsdale. It 

 is not pleasant or wise to set one's self 

 up as an oracle on any subject, or bo 

 too emphatic in opinion, but I scarcely 

 am afraid to be contradicted by any 

 competent authority when I say that it 

 will not injure, burn, nor is it" harmful 

 in any way, to syringe or wet the foliage 

 of any plant when the sun is sliining on 

 it. It happens continually both in nature 

 and in our gardening under glass. 



It should not be necessary to recall 

 the instances of this. We syringe roses 

 in May and June as late as ten or eleven 

 in the forenoon because we can't get 

 round to it before. Who ever saw the 

 leaves burn from it, or any other leaves? 

 Do you think that a drop of water on 

 a leaf of a palm, a begonia or a rose 

 is going to be so heated by the rays of 

 the sun that it will scald the leaf? Non- 

 sense! Rather would the drop of water 

 protect the leaf. I am not saying that 

 all plants need syringing at any time 

 and have mentioned the begonia," which. 

 of all our cultivated ornamental plants. 

 needs the least moisture on the foliage. 

 Neither are the hours from 10 a. m. to 

 4 p. m. the time you would syringe, for 

 you try to follow nature and if you 

 spray in the morning you have provided 

 the humidity that nature's dews would 

 give outside and your plants under glass 

 will then endure and thrive during the 

 hot hours of the day. 



Yet often do we sec, in May, .Tune and 

 July, a passing cloud that drops its re- 

 freshing tears on the maple, the apple, 

 the rose, the lowly little plants we call 

 weeds, the just and the unjust. The 

 cloud passes, the sun shines brightly, tlie 



robin sings for joy and all the plants 

 arc refreshed and no blade of grass, or 

 jietal, or leaf is anything but more per- 

 fect and beautiful." W. S. 



ROSES AT PITTSBURG. 



The following are the remarks of Da- 

 vid Fraser, before the Pittsburg and Al- 

 legheny Florists' and Gardeners' Club at 

 its rose night meeting, January 5: 



In Pittsburg roses must have a little 

 special treatment after the dark days of 

 December begin ; having no sun for weeks 

 the wood gets weak and the only remedy 

 we find for this is not to force them 

 much, giving a night • temperature of 

 about 55 degrees in cold weather. We 

 then get fairly good stems, and the plants 

 are less liable to mildew. 



We propagate our stock from flowering 

 wood about the eml of .January and plant 

 about .Tune 15. Our soil is rather heavy. 

 We make up our compost heap the end 

 of September, consisting of sods cut 

 about three inches thick, putting four 

 layers of sod to one of cow manure about 

 two inches thick, on this a good sprink- 

 ling of lime and bone meal. This is 

 what we grow our roses in and mostly 

 c\erything else we grow. 



When the old stock is taken out the 

 benches are thoroughly cleaned. The soil 

 is then put on the benches to a dentb 

 of five inches. We plant eighteen inches 

 apart in the rows and when planted we 

 go over the benches and pack the soil 

 quite firmly. The soil in the benches 

 will then be about four inches deep, wliich 

 is quite ample. We leave a hole around 

 each plant, to hold water, only watering 

 around the necks of the plants for the 

 first two weeks, after which the soil is 

 given a good watering. 



In the hot summer months there is lit- 

 tle to do, only keeping them tied up 

 and the hose going to keep red spider 

 down. About September 20 we begin to 

 cut. After the first big cut is over and 

 new growth started we begin to feed. 

 We mostly use liquid from cow manure, 

 giving it every time we water with clean 

 water. We don 't believe in mulching. 

 By having such a depth of soil they dry 

 out very seldom. In places where they 

 get more sunshine than in Pittsburg no 

 doubt a mulching would be good, but we 

 find that by watering often with manure 

 water we get better results. 



In regard to varieties, we grow Bride, 

 Bridesmaid, Ivory, Golden Gate and Sun- 

 rise. The last named is a poor keeper 

 when cut. The color, though, is very 

 much liked by our people. Golden Gate 

 and its white sport. Ivory, are our best 

 roses. They give us good stems, and they 

 are very free bloomers. We have given 

 Alice Roosevelt a trial this year, but 

 the buds do not open well. 



MISTLETOE LOSING IN FAVOR. 



For many years past there has been 

 little demand among the ui)por classes of 

 people for mistletoe at Yulitidc. snys the 

 Gardening World in its Christmas is- 

 sue, and at present the trade may be de- 

 scribed as nil from that quarter. For 

 some years past the mistletoe grown in 

 this country, being in very small quan- 

 tity, has been used locally. Covent Gar- 

 den market has been depending upon 

 Normandy and other parts of France ' 

 for its supply in recent yc;irs. During 

 the past summer we learned that mistle- 

 toe in the orchards of Normandv was be- 



ing destroyed wholesale. The failing de- 

 mand in the British market would no 

 doubt account for this, the people in 

 France finding that it is more profiUible 

 to glow apples rather than mistletoe up- 

 on their trees. The failing demand for 

 mistletoe is no doubt due in a large 

 measure to a change of custom .\mong 

 the people at Christmastide. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



There is little if any improTement in 

 city trade but out of town demand is 

 good, though rather spasmodic. The 

 tone of the market is changed but lit- 

 tle, weakness being the predominant 

 feature. 



Beauty crops are not increasing to 

 any marked degree. There are enough 

 long-stemmed to meet requirements, and 

 on these buds are generally pretty good, 

 but the shorter the stem the poorer the 

 quality averages. Brides and Maids are 

 showing an improvement in quality and 

 an increase in cut, but the shipping 

 trade takes up all receipts and there is 

 frequently a shortage on the shipping 

 grade while the small stock will not 

 move; it is only good for funeral work. 



There are a great many fancy carna- 

 tions about and prices arci low in com- 

 parison to quality. Fancy tulips are in 

 all the wholesale houses and selling very 

 slowly; $3 per 100 buys good La Reine, 

 and white can be bought in quantity 

 at $2. In fact, all bulb stock, except 

 goods callas and Harrisii, are going 

 much cheaper this j'car than ever be- 

 fore. Many of the local growers of 

 Campbell violets are reported to have 

 stopped picking altogether, so poor were 

 the returns, but now and then a Tuesday 

 sees a little sale for Campbell, for the 

 eastern growers do not ship Sunday, and 

 Tuesday sees no receipts from that 

 source. The best eastern goods are now 

 bringing 50 to 75 cents. 



"Green goods" are abundant except 

 bunches of asparagus. This green is 

 now very popular with the storekeepers 

 anel sells out well, but it must be the 

 tips of the shoots; the strings cannot be 

 cut up and bunched. 



Club Meetinsfs. 



The Chicago Florists' Club held its 

 second outsiele meeting at 856 North 

 California avenue last Thursday even- 

 ing, with a large attendance, although 

 Mr. Palinsky, who had the arrangements 

 in charge, was evidently disappointed 

 that the crowd was not greater than 

 at the Rose Hill meeting. M. G. Hold- 

 ing, who is known to all the local 

 greenhouse men, read a short paper on 

 glass making, which was foUoweel by a 

 discussion in which a number partici- 

 pated. Mr. Holding said, in answer to 

 •■i question, that he believes American 

 glass is, in cutting and every other re- 

 spect, fully as good as European glass. 

 He also commented on the increased use 

 of B grade for greenhouses and many 

 other purposes and said that to him it 

 was conclusive evidence of improvement 

 in quality, the B glass now being equal 

 to what was sold as A grade not so 

 very many years ago. John Zeck brought 

 up the matter of the color of window 

 glass and it was stated that the objec- 

 tionable green shade is caused by an 

 unusual proportion of iron in the sand 

 or by other influences not under good 

 contiol. It was said that the better 



