The Weekly Florists' Review* 



1083 



Seasonable Hints. 



As the season for propagating ap- 

 proaches every preparation should ba 

 made so that nothing may be wanting 

 to ensure complete success. The piping 

 in the propagating house should be 

 looked over, tested and any defects made 

 good. The benches should be overhauled 

 and put into good repair, so that no ac- 

 cident may occur after the cuttings are 

 in. Ventilators should be readjusted and 

 put into good working order and a lib- 

 eral supply of sand or other propagating 

 medium secured. Having all these requi- 

 sites, materially facilitates the real work 

 of propagating. The stock should now 

 be looked over and all the mixtures prom- 

 inently tagged so that the mixture may 

 not be perpetuated. 



In houses containing Brides or Brides- 

 maids, if the varieties chance to get 

 mixed, it is impossible to distinguish 

 them unless they are in bloom, they so 

 closely resemble each other in habit and 

 foliage, so that if we want them true to 

 name we must label them when they are 

 in bloom. All young stock should be 

 true to name so that we may know ex- 

 actly what we are planting and if we 

 have surplus stock for sale how much 

 more satisfactory to both buyer and 

 seller if this is the case. 



Such varieties as are wanted for sum- 

 mer blooming should be propagated now. 

 There is usually an abundance of good 

 propagating wood at this season, which 

 roots easily, and if handled properly will 

 make nice thrifty plants for benching 

 in February, which will give them ample 

 time to get into flowering condition by 

 Memorial day. 



The soil for this planting should now 

 be under cover so that it may be in good 

 condition at that time and so give the 

 young stock a fair chance to start well. 

 If the soil is left outside it has every 

 chance to be too wet at that season and 

 if in that condition the young stock will 

 get a cheek from which it takes them 

 a long time to recover, checking their 

 vigor and curtailing the growing season. 



Kaiserin, Golden Gate, Ivory, Libertv 

 and Chatenay are among the best varie- 

 ties for this purpose, Ivory being reallv 

 the finest of all the summer blooming 

 whites, keeping up size and purity of 

 color even during the hottest spells. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET. 



It is usual to hear growers complain 

 of dull trade, but we think that during 

 the past few weeks the ' ' grumble ' ' has 

 been quite justified, says the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, London. At closing time a 

 few mornings ago many of the stands 

 were still filled with pot plants, and cut 

 flowers were as plentiful. Among pot 

 plants chrysanthemums were those most 

 in demand. It is remarkable that really 

 good stuff should be confined to so few 

 stands. One grower, who does Soleil 

 d'Octobre well, was making from 2s 6d 

 to 3s 6d each for his best plants; 12s to 

 18s per dozen for useful plants appeared 

 to be the average prices ; of course there 

 was a good deal of ordinary stuff sold at 

 considerably less. 



Begonia Gloire de Lorraine on several 

 stands, some of the finest plants I have 

 ever seen, were making ISs per dozen ; 

 but it is yet too early for this to go free- 

 ly; 8s to 10s per dozen was asked for 

 good plants in 48 's, but there were a good 

 many remaining unsold. Of heaths, gra- 



cilis is the only variety yet in in quan- 

 tity. Cyclamen and primulas are com- 

 ing in, but they do not appear to be 

 much in demand. The same may be said 

 of bouvardias and marguerites. There 

 will be little improvement in the plant 

 trade until frost has cleared off outdoor 

 flowers. 



In cut flowers chrysanthemums are the 

 most conspicuous, and there has been a 

 fair trade for these; the blooms of mid- 

 dle size command the greatest amount of 

 attention. The early varieties that were 

 disbudded made good prices. One 

 grower, Mr. Shawyer, who has been 

 sending about 300 blooms to market 

 daily, tells mo that they have made from 

 Is to 2s 6d per dozen blooms. I may 

 mention that these were chiefly new va- 

 rieties of his own raising. Elaine is 

 still a favorite with the growers for mar- 

 ket, and though generally coming in later, 

 some good blooms have already been on 

 sale. Goacher 'a Crimson seems likely to 

 take the first place in its class; and 

 Horace Martin is one of the best of the 

 yellows. A. Hemslet. 



A WESTERN GARDENER'S NOTES. 



II. 



Continuing my travels as recounted in 

 my recent notes, I visited Fairmount 

 park, Philadelphia, where the grounds 

 are extensive and the Horticultural hall 

 immense. They have many grand old 

 plants, which, however, show a lack of 

 care. Mr. Smith, the foreman, has but 

 eight men for outside and inside work, 

 while, in my opinion, he should have that 

 many for the inside alone. 



P. A. B. Widener, of Ogontz, has a 

 large range of glass and grows every- 

 thing for home use. One house is devoted 

 to or'chids and several to chrysanthe- 

 mums. Two small Italian gardens near 

 his residence are filled with palms, bay 

 trees, etc. 



The commercial establishment of H. A. 

 Dreer, Eiverton, N. J., is devoted for the 

 most part to palms, stove plants and aza- 

 leas. The palms vary in size from those 

 in 2-ineh pots to those requiring tubs. 

 They also have a fine assortment of water 

 lilies, worthy a visit from anyone who is 

 interested in their growth. Mr. Eisele, 

 the manager, extended me every possible 

 courtesy. 



The beds of fine crotons and fancy- 

 leaved caladiums at Girard College, which 

 I had the privilege of seeing under the 

 guidance of Superintendent Huster, 

 proved very interesting. 



At South Orange, N. J., I found Mr. 

 Manda and Mr. Macrorie very busy hous- 

 ing their plants in the newly completed 

 buildings. After dining with Mr. Manda 

 we walked through his beautiful 

 grounds. He carries a fine line of nur- 

 sery stock and is doing much landscape 

 work. In all his houses he suspends 

 orchids from the roof, between the other 

 plants. He is certainly a champion in 

 growing Dendrobium Wardianum. Al- 

 though it was raining heavily, Mr. 

 Manda drove with me to the home of H. 

 Graves, whose gardener, Mr. Thomas, 

 makes a specialty of orchids. Several 

 houses of these beautiful flowers bear 

 evidence of scientific care. 



Messrs. Lager & Hurrell received me 

 very kindly at their place in Summit, N. 

 J., and showed me through what seems 

 to be a model orchid growing establish- 

 ment. Their plants are all healthy and 

 are made up of eattleyas and every other 

 leading variety. Some very scarce va- 

 rieties are also to be found there. 



At Madison, N. J., I had the pleasure 

 of meeting Mr. Herrington, superin- 

 tendent of the Twombly place, and of 

 taking dinner with him. He grows 

 grapes, chrysanthemums and orchids for 

 sale, and has some four or five houses 

 in eattleyas. The latter are i" ^-<skets 

 attached to the roof. In the middle of 

 each li.mse is a rail running from end to 

 end; from this rail and on wheels is a 

 sort of step-ladder which the men can 

 move from place to place while water- 

 ing the plants. One large house is de- 

 voted to cypripediums and another to 

 chrysanthemums. Mr. Herrington has 

 a new yellow carnation, not yet named, 

 which will be a standard. There are two 

 houses for Adiantum Farleyense; his 

 N irniiuMi azaleas are from six to eight 

 feet in diameter, with stems as thick as 

 one's arm. Bare conifers, Cedrus ja- 

 ponica, and the finest bay trees in the 

 world are seen here. The landscape at 

 the home of Mr. Twombly is wonderful, 

 the house is exceptionally fine and the 

 view over the valley charming. 



Mr. Duekham showed me the premises 

 of D. Willis James, for whom he is gar- 

 dener. They have orchids in all varieties, 

 stove plants, new crotons and grapes in 

 fine condition, and Mr. Duekham has a 

 beautiful pink chrysanthemum which will 

 come out under his name. 



Julius Eoehrs, of Butherford, N. J., 

 has twenty-six houses in orchids. I 

 found him very busv because of the 



floods that had" filled his no 11 Mr. 



Koehrs has been doing some experiment- 

 ing with Belgian leaf mold. He told me 

 that with Dendrobium Phalaenonsis in 

 fern roots he had no success, but that 

 those now in leaf mold are exceptionally 

 fine. I can see no advantage in the use 

 n f i n ~t ~,ni,i -with eattleyas. While here 

 I saw two houses of Ardisia crenulata 

 that have reached a degree of perfection 

 not to be surpassed here or abroad. 



Mr. Schlegel, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, 

 has a collection of eattleyas which his 

 gardener claims to be the largest in the 

 country. His several houses of plants 

 are in splendid condition. One house is 

 filled with all kinds of phalaenopsis. All 

 of his flowers are for market. The es- 

 tate of Hicks Arnold. 84 Central Park, 

 New York, has the finest lot of cypri- 

 pediums that I have ever seen. 



The Bronx Botanical Garden has a 

 fine range of glass, and the plants are 

 fair. A good start has been given them, 

 and with continual care this should be- 

 come one of the finest botanical gardens 

 in the country. They have here a very 

 fine museum with microscopes for the 

 use of students. 



Lenox, Mass., presents the finest land- 

 scape planting and scenery with hill sur- 

 roundings that I saw while away. I vis- 

 ited several places, among them that of 

 Mrs. Westinghouse, Mr. Norman, gar- 

 dener. She has two houses of cypripe- 

 diums. Her place is like Versailles, with 

 fountains, etc. ,and an attractive drive, 

 as hard as rock, through an avenue of 

 pine trees. At Mr. Cook's place, Mr. 

 Thompson, gardener, they have some 

 choice orchids and cut flowers, and grow 

 fine peaches under glass. The piazza of 

 the mansion is beautifully decorated 

 with palms and flowering plants, for 

 which an immense reserve supply is al- 

 ways under cultivation. With two sym- 

 metrical Italian gardens, about 100 bay 

 trees in all shapes, and carpet beds here 

 and there, the place must present a beau- 

 tiful scene in season. The large num- 

 ber of greenhouses belonging to J. Sloan 

 n me by Mr. Loveless, the gar- 



