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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



December, !), 1811* 



Al. J. Bauer, of the Mound City Cut 

 Flower Company, had an exciting adven- 

 ture with a large mastiff dog who was steal- 

 ing his chickens at his home, 5S29 Cates 

 avenue, last week. Al. was aroused l)y his 

 wife, who heard the noise. He grabbed 

 his pistol, and clad only in his night robe, 

 ventured out in the cold night and shot 

 the dog, at least he thought so, not know- 

 ing what a good shot he was until the 

 next morning, when he found the animal 

 dead on the back porch. Al. is now going 

 to join the St. Louis Gun Club. 



Last Saturday night Mr. C. \V. Wors 

 gave the trade an opening at his new 

 location. Some thirty florists were pres- 

 ent and found everything they wanted 

 to eat, drink, and smoke. The company 

 was entertained by John Morris and 

 Charles Richards, two of Mr. Wors' em- 

 ployes, with songs and dances. Songs 

 and' humorous stories were contriljuted 

 by Fillmore, F. Ellis, Beneke, and others. 

 Mr. Charles Thoenle presented Mr. Wors 

 with a verv handsome basket made of all 

 kinds of vegetables. The crowed stayed 

 until the small hours in the morning. Be- 

 fore they left Mr. Wors thanked them all 

 for their entertainment. We had a great 

 time and everybody went home happy. 



'J'he Bowling Club on Monday rolled its 

 usual three games. The boys all seemeil 

 in good trim and feeling happy to think 

 that they will have another chance to 

 meet their enemy, the Chicagos. Charlie 

 Kuehn especially covered himself with 

 glory in the three games; he rolled 671. 

 His high single scores were 216, 246 and 

 209. Emil Schray was second, 57S; his 

 high single score was 257; and C. C. 

 Sanders third, 521; high single .score 237. 

 After the rolling a committee was ap- 

 pointed to make arrangements to enter- 

 tain the Chicago Florists' Bowling Club, 

 who will be here Sunday, Dec. 12th, to 

 spend the day with us. The committee 

 was ordered to do everything in their 

 power to entertain them, but don't let 

 them beat you on your own allevs. 



J. J. B. 



BED OF BEGONIA ERFURTAE. 



The bed in the central foreground of 

 the accompanying engraving is filled 

 with Begonia Erfurtie bordered with Al- 

 ternanthera latifolia. The begonias are 

 considerably taller in the center of the 

 bed but this is purely the result of acci- 

 dent. Mr. Stromback thinks that in 

 making up the bed the best soil was 

 thrown in the center and not afterward 

 distributed throughout the bed. The ac- 

 cident certainly adds to the effectiveness 

 of the bed. 



This begonia is grown from seed which 

 is sown the latter part of February or 

 early in March in a very light soil com- 

 posed of leaf mold and sand. The seed is 

 very fine, and after the surface of the 

 soil is smoothed the seed is sown very 

 lightly and thinly, then pressed into the 

 soil and very lightly covered. The soil 

 should be moderately damp before sow- 

 ing and afterward lightly sprinkled with 

 a Scollay sprinkler. Water from the rose 

 of an ordinary watering can woi. Id wash 

 all the seed to one side. A pane of glass 

 should then be placed over the lux, rest- 



ing right on the box, and the box placed 

 in a temperature of 65 degrees. F'or the 

 first few days it nmst be shaded from the 

 sun; a newspaper laid over the glass will 

 answer. When the seedlings appear the 

 glass should be raised and air given, be- 

 ing still shaded from the sun during the 

 middle of the day. As growth advances 

 more light should' gradually be given. 



About three weeks after sowing they 

 should be pricked out in a flat of soil such 

 as they were sown in, in rows about half 

 an inch apart and about a quarter inch 

 apart in the rows. They will be too small 

 to handle with the fingers. Use a goose 

 quill cut like an old-fashioned pen, but 

 with a V shaped opening in the end to 

 admit the stem of the liny plant. Pre- 

 pare your flat of soil, smooth the surface 

 and draw the furrows a half an inch 

 apart with a penknife against a straight 

 edge Then with the goose quill lift the 

 seedlings out of the seed box and place in 

 the furrows about a quarter inch apart. 

 When a few rows are in position water 

 with a Scollay sprinkler, which will 

 settle the soil 'around the little plants. 

 Glass should still be kept over them, but 

 raised a half inch on one side to admit 

 air. Give same temperature and light as 

 before, and give partial shade in middle 

 of the day when sun is strong. As growth 

 advances give more air, less shade, and 

 eventually remove glass entirely. If soil 

 should become green or crusted it should 

 be loosened to admit air. 



When the plants have four or five 

 leaves they should be shifted into thumb 

 pots, placed on a bench, in same tempera- 

 ture as before and watered moderately. 

 When well rooted in these they should be 

 shifted into a 2;<-inch and later into a 3- 

 inch or 4-inch, using same soil. It is a 

 fine rooted plant and requires soil named 

 to do well. 



They can be bedded out early in June 

 and planted about 10 inches apart. An 

 even moisture' must be maintained in the 

 soil. Water in the morning so the foliage 

 can dry off before night. The plant is 

 a continuous bloomer and very satisfac- 

 tory' as a bedding plant. The flowers 

 vary from light pink to nearly white. 



The border is Alternanthera latifolia, 

 one of the tallest growing alternantheras, 

 and is a very suitable height for border- 

 ing a bed of these begonias. The foliage 

 is dark brown with a little rose color. It 

 is propagated the same as Alternanthera 

 paronychioides major. 



At the left is seen a bed of the semi- 

 double red geranium Bruantii. It is a 

 strong grower and good bloomer. There is 

 a double border, the inner one of rose 

 geraniums and the outer one of santolina. 

 The contrast in size and color between 

 the two makes a very pleasing effect. 



BED OF BEGONIA SCHMIDTII. 



The accompanying engraving is from a 

 photograph taken last September of a bed 

 of Begonia Schmidtii in Lincoln Park, 

 Chicago. Mr. Stromback, the head gard- 

 ener, considers this decidedly the best 

 bedding begonia, and is very much pleased 

 with it. It ijlooins continuously and with 

 great freedom all summer, clear up to 

 frost. It is also one of the freest bloom- 



ing begonias inside in winter. When 

 bedded out the plants grow to a height of 

 a foot to a foot and a half. Grown inside 

 the flowers are a light pink and foliage 

 light green, but when bedded out the 

 flowers are much darker and the foliage 

 turns a reddish brown and becomes very 

 glossy. 



For bedding plants it is propagated in 

 February by cuttings taken from shoots 

 of the younger growth from the bottom, 

 with an eye on. Cuttings mu.st not be 

 taken from the top shoots, as they go all 

 to flowers and do not make a plant. The 

 cuttings are put in sand in a temperature 

 of 60 degrees, and a little bottom heat will 

 make them root quicker. Water sparing- 

 ly, and in fifteen to twenty days they will 

 be rooted, when they should be potted 

 in 2'4-i"ch pots, using the same soil as 

 mentioned for Erfurt;e. When well root- 

 ed in these shift into 3-inch, and later into 

 4-inch. The plant is bushier than Er- 

 furtae, making a larger cluster at the bot- 

 tom, and should be bedded fifteen inches 

 apart. Water same as prescribed for Er- 

 furt ae. 



Mr. Stromback's experience is that this 

 variety does not come trvie from seed, but 

 it propagates so readily from cuttings 

 that this is the most economical way of 

 producing plants. 



BUFFALO. 



Business nmst be called decidedly quiet 

 the past week. No buds, no splices, no 

 "notings." The calm has begun before 

 the storm, and the storm I hope will be 

 a cyclone of orders and good business 

 for Christmas. Greens and holly are now 

 discussed where florists do congregate. 

 The former is likely to be good and plen- 

 tiful. HoUv, we are assured by a South- 

 ern shipper, will not be consigned to the 

 Northern commission markets this year. 

 We hope not; for the past few years it 

 came in by the carload and everj-bod}' 

 handled it.' One man says in his letter 

 of solicitation for trade that his boxes 

 are made of clear pine lumber, surfaced 

 on both sides, and substantially made. 

 Possibly these extra trimmings make up 

 for lack of berries. 



The President's message is in this even- 

 ing's press (Monday). He is in favor of 

 annexing the Sandwich Islands (so much 

 easier to pronounce than Hawaii). I 

 trust there will be enough sensible men 

 in Congress to prevent this Jingo un- 

 American policy. Think of the conse- 

 quences. They would flood the countrj' 

 with poinsettias, orchids, passifloras, and 

 a general assortment of epiphytes, and 

 some Smart Aleck would go over there 

 and start a palm garden and shut up our 

 large Eastern growers. Let them remain 

 as they are, happ}- in the cultivation of 

 sugar cane and fig leaves and other tex- 

 tile fabrics which the climate demands. 



There are plenty of flowers. Carna- 

 tions good, roses fine, especially those 

 that waft their way over the Niagara 

 gorge. Violets are scarce, but I object to 

 the remarks of a correspondent of a con- 

 temporary that Corfu is a desert ; not by 

 a jug-full. I will take that large blonde 

 one some day and convince him that 

 there is an occasional oasis in the desert. 



