May D, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



1259 



Range No. 2 at the Establishment of Wietor Bros., at Rogers Park, Chicago. 



very well in these boxes. A plant that 

 would not flower till September or whicli 

 flowers in June and then no more would 

 be a fraud if put' in as a flowering plant. 

 The color to paint the box is generally 

 decided by the o^^^ler. Sometimes they 

 are painted the color of the stone or 

 wood-work of ' the veranda. When that 

 is not the casi', then a deep green is the 

 color. William Scott. 



ROSES. 



What Varieties to Grow. 



[The following is an extract from n recent 

 address b.v Robert Simpson, of Clifton. N. .!.. 

 before the New York Florists' Clnb.] 



Along in the early spring the ques- 

 tion of what to propagate and how 

 many to plant has to be met and de- 

 cided upon. American Beauty, we be- 

 gin to reason, has sold poorly most of 

 the season, and has not paid ; Liberty 

 went to sleep just when it needed to be 

 wide awake, and has been a good deal 

 of a disappointment; Golden Gates fre- 

 quently have had to be put into the ice 

 box because they were left unsold ; Bride 

 has not brought as good prices as 

 Bridesmaid, hence was not as profitable. 

 Shall I then discard all the rest and 

 plant only Bridesmaid? If we all did 

 this there would be a good many flow- 

 ers of this variety next winter. 



As a general rule. I think soil and 

 environment must largely determine 

 what we should and should not grow, 

 particularly when catering to a market 

 like that of New York City. The man 

 who can grow superb American Beauty 

 should fill his houses with that variety. 

 He who has succeeded in producing 

 high-grade Liberty could hardly miss 

 his mark if he continues to 'grow it 

 in quantity; the same with Meteor, 

 Bridesmaid and the rest. It is far bet- 

 ter to grow one variety first-class and 

 get a name for growing it well, than 

 to grow half a dozen kinds, a few of 

 each, and grow them all indifferently. 



On the other hand, is it not a fact 

 that in our specializing we have nar- 

 rowed our growing down to about four 

 to six varieties, just about one variety 

 of each color? We frequently hear 

 European growers visiting this country 

 say. "Wliy do you grow so few varie- 



ties of roses for cut flowers in America 

 when you have such a list of good ones 

 to choose from?" Would not the public 

 who buy our flowers appreciate a 

 greater variety, and in many instances 

 purchase more liberally if they had 

 more choice? It is reasonable to sup- 

 pose they would. 



It has been charged against the buy- 

 ers for some of our large retail stores 

 that they are very loath to take up a 

 novelty and show it to their patrons, 

 lest they should get an order for it 

 some time, which it might be difficult 

 or impossible to fill. If this be true, I 

 think such buyers are injuring the 

 business of their house, as well as clos- 

 ing the door to some worthy aspirant 

 to popular favor. Presuming what I 

 have just said to be a fact that the 

 grower must reckon with, I believe it 

 is still to his interest, present and pros- 

 pective, to endeavor to furnish as great 

 a variety of choice and desirable roses 

 to the flower buying public as he has 

 it in his power to do. To this end he 

 should plant and experiment with all 

 the promising novelties and keep a cor- 

 rect account of sales from such for 

 future guidance. 



I am very glad to see so many new 

 and interesting varieties here for our 

 inspection to-night, and I compliment 

 the New York Florists' Club and its 

 present officers for what they have ac- 

 complished in bringing together these 

 various exhibits from distant points, 

 giving us growers a chance to inspect 

 them and find out their merits without 

 incurring much expense. and furnish- 

 ing the growers of these novelties the 

 opportunity to make a display the re- 

 sult of which must be both pleasing 

 and profitable. 



Chicago sends us Uncle John — a mon- 

 strous name, it seems to me. to give to 

 a lovely rose that its introducers con- 

 fidently expect will become a standard 

 variety for forcing purposes! It seems 

 to be identical with Golden Gate, of 

 which it is a sport, except that its color 

 is said to be as uniformly good as that 

 of Golden Gate at its very best. The 

 flowers of it I have seen were not 

 nearly as large as those of our best 

 Golden Gate; perhaps it will improve 

 in this particular after dissemination. 



Madame Abel Chatenay, also from 

 Chicago, needs no apology for its name, 

 which is pleasant to the ear; and its 

 color, stem and general make-up create 

 a very favorable impression. 



La Detroit you have all seen before, 

 both on exhibition and in the green- 

 house, and have no doubt already 

 formed your opinion as to its merits. 

 As shown at Philadelphia a year ago. 

 it was very fine, and some of our emi- 

 nent rose men got very enthusiastic 

 over it. 



Canadian Queen at its best is a very 

 chaste and beautiful flower; its one 

 drawback, as far as I have seen, is its 

 lack of uniformity of color. If it can 

 be fixed so that it will be permanent 

 in color and shape, we shall have a 

 really desirable variety. 



Killarney many of you are familiar 

 with: It is uncommon, though not 

 strictly new. It has shape and color 

 and seems to be popular with the best 

 class of buyers. The short-stemmed 

 blooms lack in character somewhat 

 and whether it would pay as well if 

 grown quite extensively, as it has done 

 (luring the present season, is a question 

 to be determined later. 



Ideal, a sport from La France, is a 

 very beautiful rose; its fragrance, form 

 and color are charming, and it is well 

 worth a trial. The other new varieties 

 here to-night I am not sufficiently ac- 

 quainted with to criticize either one 

 way or the other. 



For variety some of the old favorites 

 of a few years ago might very well 

 lx> resurrected and brought to the 

 front; some of them are so good that 

 if they were offered us under a new 

 name we would snap them up eagerly. 

 Among them I would mention Madame 

 de Watteville, Madame Hoste, Papa 

 Gontier and Bon Silene. A grower in 

 one of our western cities told me con- 

 fidentially last spring that Bon Silene 

 was one of the best selling and paying 

 varieties on their list. Meteor is still 

 a good all-the-year-round rose, and 

 many who discarded it for Liberty are 

 returning to their first love. If well 

 grown. La France would sell as well 

 now. comparatively, as it did fifteen 

 years ago. 



