Oc-Tor.Kit 8. lC'fiC. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



791 



House of New White Carnations at F. Dorner & Sons Co.'s, La Fayette, Ind.' 



tions are quoted from 75 cents for low 

 grade to $4 for novelties. If the differ- 

 ence in price is but one-quarter of a 

 cent between the lowest grade of rose 

 and carnation, why the wide difference 

 (100 per cent) between the highest grade 

 of the same flowers? 



From the time a carnation cutting is 

 rooted to the time salable blooms can be 

 cut, I venture the statement that more 

 labor has been expended than in the 

 period required to bring roses to the 

 productive point, while the earlier use of 

 fuel required for roses is offset by earlier 

 returns. 



Since it takes the same amount of 

 space, soil, coal and practically the same 

 time to grow inferior stock as it does 

 high grade, there is no good reason why 

 such quantities of inferior carnations 

 should appear on the market, only to 

 lower the flower in the estimation of the 

 public, and herein lies the solution of the 

 problem. Grow the highest grade possi- 

 ble and those who strive to see how low 

 a grade can be produced will soon alter 

 their methods. 



Had the wages of greenhouse help in- 

 creased in proportion to those in other 

 lines of trade, much less low grade 

 stock would have reached the market. 

 However, this is a matter which will pre- 

 sent itself for solution in the near future 

 as the demand for more experienced 

 help is on the increase, which must re- 

 sult in higher wages, higher grade of 

 [production and prices consistent with 

 increased cost of the same. 



George S. Osborn. 



NEW CARNATIONS. 



The accompanying illustration shows a 

 carnation house at the establishment of 

 Fred Dorner & Sons Co., Lafayette, Ind. 

 The varieties are their new whites, de- 

 scribed in our issue of July 30, 1903. 

 On the first bench is Ladv Bountiful, 

 on the further bench The Belle. The 

 house was planted July 28, 1903, and 

 photographed September 14. Both vari- 

 eties are to be distributed this winter. 



TROUBLE WITH FERNS. 

 In the Review of September 24 I note 

 Mr. Altoona's trouble with ferns. We 

 had the same difficulty for years. It is 

 the thrips that make the leaves look as 

 though burned or scalded. They are the 

 little black bugs that crawl on the under 



side of the leaves. They like ferns and 

 rubbers better than palms or any other 

 plant we know. We now use Thripscide 

 once a week and our ferns are in fine 

 condition. This was the only remedv 

 we found to be successful and it is so 

 easy to use that we now keep our stock 

 clean and nice. If you will give Mr. 

 Altoona this advice he will soon be over 

 his trouble. R. Hoffman. 



PACIFIC COAST. 



Mexlo Park, Cal. — A trip through 

 Sidney Clack's establishment, shows he 

 has lost none of his skill as a rose and 

 carnation grower. The stock all looks 

 well and so does Mr. Clack himself. At 

 Mr. Lynch 's establishment a field of 

 60,000 chrysanthemums, of which about 

 half are Bonnaffon, is an interesting 

 sight, as is also his field of smilax. 

 Both 'mums and smilax are in the open, 

 except for some spreading old oak trees. 



PLANT NOTES. 



September has been, this year as well 

 ;i- lasl, one of our brightest months. 

 We had considerable cool, cloudy weathi i 

 in mid-summer and, although the days 

 .He getting shorter and the nights longer, 

 everything in the greenhouses is still 

 growing in good shape. Outside our 

 asters are about gone and chrysanthe- 

 mums are about beginning to make them- 

 selves known. Dahlias are just a little 

 past their prime, but we will have good 

 blossoms, although on somewhat shorter 

 stems, until the frost comes. Roman 

 hyacinths have arrived this week. The 

 bulbs are a little above the average in 

 size and give promise of doing all that 

 i- required of them. 



Violets of the Princess of Wales vari- 

 ety are beginning to show blooms, but 

 the weather is too warm at present and 

 they are weak and flabby and until we 

 get our first showers, generally about 

 the first of November, we will not have 

 much assistance from our violets. By 

 the way, I do not think that in the 

 neighborhood of San Francisco there 

 were over half a dozen growers last sea- 

 son that had really first class violets. Of 

 course, they are grown entirely out of 

 doors here and cultivated much the same 



as any vegetable. The fault seemed to 

 be that growers used the same ground 

 for several seasons, but experience has 

 taught us that violets want new soil every 

 wai to be up to the mark. A great 

 many more acres have been planted this 

 year than ever and we hope to see plenty 

 of good flowers later on. 



Sweet peas are getting short of stem 

 as the nights get longer and we will not 

 see much of them after a couple of 

 weeks. There are a few sheltered lo- 

 calities where sweet peas can be grown 

 successfully the year around by system- 

 atic planting, but they are not in' much 

 demand out of season and are only used 

 because flowers happen to be scarce. 



Our fall crop of outside roses was not 

 "l 1 to the usual standard this season, 

 and but little use was made of them by 

 the florists. Between the very drv season 

 and an unusual supply of "green lady- 

 birds we did not cut many perfect flow- 

 ers. ■ G . 



CALIFORNIA CARNATIONS. 

 Hanna Hobart, the remarkable deep 

 pink carnation that originated with John 

 H. Sievers & Co., San Francisco, may be 

 disseminated next year. It has so' far 

 been retained by Messrs. Sievers & Co., 

 who have felt it was too important to 

 them to have exclusive sale of the flowers 

 at their store to allow the stock to go 

 out. But there is a probabiliy that a 

 program is imminent. 



seen growing at 

 a gem. The flow- 



Hanna Hobart. 

 their establishment, 

 ers are immense in size, color 

 similar to Lawson and the growth strong 

 and vigorous. It will be a great acquisi- 

 tion if disseminated. For years Sievers 

 & Co. have received regula'rlv the vear 

 around double the price obtained for'any 

 other carnation blooms. By the wav, 

 tic; aow have a red sport from Hobart 

 which gives them a new color in this 

 type of carnation. 



A. B. Spreckels, their new scarlet, has 

 much the same habit as Hobart, very 

 erect and spikey foliage, and evidently 

 belongs in the same class. Both varie- 

 ties are now a sea of buds and show 

 their superiority to the standard sorts 

 also grown on the place. 



Tuberous begonias are grown here and 

 the cut flowers are largely used in de- 

 sign work. They find them very useful, 

 the flowers coming at a time of the year 

 when other blooms are not plentiful. 

 The plants are non passing out of bloom. 



Ferns are largely grown here and a 

 considerable number of Adiantum Wil- 

 liamsii was noted. He likes it better 

 than Farleyense associated with orchids. 

 And the writer agrees with him that it 

 is more graceful and better adapted to 

 the purpose. The orchids, by the way, 

 are in prime condition and promise a 

 splendid crop of flowers later. Cattlevas 

 predominate in the stock, though other 

 genera are grown. 



BURLINGAME, CAL. 



Quite a large new cut flower growing 

 establishment is being built here bv the 

 GJenwood Nursery Co., of which Philip 

 C. Meyer is the head. Thomas W. Breen 

 is the manager in charge and he has 

 been making things move. Though build- 

 ing operations were not begun until Julv. 

 ten houses, each 25x150, are almost com- 

 pleted. Two have been planted some 

 time to chrysanthemums and the stock 

 looks remarkably well considering the 

 amount of building that has demanded 

 the manager's constant attention. Six 



