MakiH -^4. lilll-1. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



897 



Home of Luther Burbank, the leader of American Plant Breeders, at Santa Rosa, Cal. 



sister in the north bestows on a palm 

 that here would grow luxuriously in fhe 

 o|ien ground with hardly any care at 

 all. And so it goes this worM around; 

 we always tliinli that we want something 

 that wf do not have and spend our time 

 and strength in trying to secure it. 



But do I hear you say that this has 

 nothing to do with violets? You are 

 right ; still I think if here you would 

 be glad to ' ' wander, ' ' much as you may 

 be interested in them. For instance, 

 yesterday a party of three friends and 

 myself started out in the morning in a 

 nice launch O'l l^'kc Griffin: with our 

 lunch and oranges in the locker.=. we ' ' put 

 out to sea. ' ' so to speak, with no idea of 

 seeking our homes till night. With the 

 balmy air, our light summer clothes, in 

 shirt waists and' straw hats, it was 

 hard to realize that you are tied up in 

 snow at home. We went as far as Es- 

 meralda on the Ocklawaha river, ;ind 

 there went ashore and under the shade of 

 the cabbage palms we made a fire of the 

 old dead palm leaves ami stalks and 

 made a cup of tea to oo wi h our renast. 

 In additon we went into a grove a little 

 way up the shore and filled our i)ockets 

 ■with sour oranges and made "orange- 

 ade. ' ' 



If you could have seen the picture 

 that was spread before us; the innumer- 

 able shades of green, from the glossy 

 deep green of the magnolias to the yellow 

 and orange of the new "Jack" oaks; 

 the pea greens on the live and water 

 oaks; the cypress, with its delicate, misty 

 tracings of green, and through and over 

 it all the draping of Spanish moss, all of 

 this touched up here and il^ere l^ith the 

 dash of red from swamp maples. And 

 then looking down the river and out 

 over the lake in the warm, hazy distance, 

 being able to see the round tops of the 

 cabbage palms towering above the dim 

 coast line like sentinels. Well, you 

 would be perfectly satisfied to lie down 

 and dream and forget there was such 

 a thing as violets. 



There is certainly a fascination about 

 the south that there is not in the north, 

 and I do not wonder that the southerner 

 'ihinks that there is ro place like home, 

 with its mocking birds, cardinals, tow- 

 hees, etc., etc. It takes hold of you and 

 iiereases in:,tead of (l?<reas:s. ai.d it is 

 this indefinable something that seems to 

 have hold of me and will not come down 

 to raising flowers (violets) for money. 

 Why do we have to do it? 



Still T shall have to awaken 

 ill a few days and hie me to 

 the north and help the boys, and 

 of course one of the first things 

 will be to look the new stock over thor- 

 I ughly to see that it is in good condi- 

 tion, to see that there is sufficient for 

 all demands, both for home planting, for 

 the houses, inaide and out, and for what- 

 ever orders we ha\e for stock from our 

 customers. If you find yourself still 

 short of stock it is time that you has- 

 tened to take off what yon have in good 

 shape. As it gets warmer and you begin 

 to get busy with spring work do not 

 neglect your stock and let the plants get 

 I rowded. drawn no. soft, lose snni" 

 Haves and then I esi'i to rot, etc. The 

 first thing you know you wake up to the 

 fact that your sto-k i= pptIv worthless, 

 ju.st for the lack of a little care and at- 

 tention. 



Whili^ you '^■an use n'oro wr. ter from 

 row on. still it should le r'rlied with 

 judgment, as does also the airing, 

 which should be all that you can give 

 them, keeping them hqrdy and stocky 

 and in every way thrifty. Don't for- 

 get, too. that aphis, getting a little foot- 

 hold now, will work great injury to the 

 •:tock, not only for the time he'i-e but it 

 hurts them for rest Feasor, to say noth- 

 ing about the extra labor involved in 

 thoroughly eradicating tlieni when once 

 they get a good start. 



In pricking out or potting the stock 

 that hap yet to come out of the propa- 

 gating bed, do not be afraid to reject 

 those that have not struck properly and 



look woody and are not Al. It is time 

 and labor saved to discard them at 

 once, even though you hate to do it. 

 E. E. SmjPHBi/r. 



CUTTING AND HANDLING STOCK. 



[Road by J. A. Rleman. of Indianapolis, before 

 the State Society of Indiana Florists. March 1, 

 904 ) 



I have been in the florists' business 

 all my life, part of the time growing and 

 part of the time in the retail cut flower 

 business. I have handleil a good many 

 kinds of flowers, some good, some bad 

 and some indiffeient. I have had quite 

 an experience in handling cut flowers in 

 all stages. Xow. to illustrate to you, I 

 have brought some flowers with me cut in 

 different stages. If a man does not un- 

 derstand his business he will lose out 

 when he handles them. Flowers cut at 

 the proper time and given proper tem- 

 |ierature and care are a pleasure to the 

 retailer and a ciedit to the grower. 



Here are some under-done carnation 

 ■ looms. I want to ask if a flower cut 

 in this stage will keep and develop to 

 I)crfection in water. Jly experience is 

 that it will not under any treatment. 

 That bloom is only fit for immediate use, 

 sny for a funeral bunch, where they are 

 to be used at once. If you keep a 

 tiouer like that over night it will be a 

 button the next morning, or, in other 

 words, a sleeper. Now, here is a bloom 

 jes; the opposite. This bloom has been 

 left on the plant too long, and it will 

 do just the same as the other one. Xow, 

 this is generally the kind you get Christ- 

 mas. That 's when the store man gets 

 rich. That 's the kind you pay 6 and 8 

 cents for and when you sell them you 

 don 't want a Christian behind the coun- 

 ter. Here, in my estimation, is an ideal 

 cprnation bloom, cut at the proper time 

 and in a stage where it will keep. You 

 need not be ashamed to sell that bloom 

 and the grower can feel proud of it. 



T don 't believe in keeping carnations 

 in the ice box. I believe that carnations 



