FEBRUARY 



The Weekly Florists'" Review. 



431 



Simple Floral Arrangements. No. 3. 



-and yielding, if the flowers are to be 

 shipped, or placed where they are to 

 be seen and used by someone having 

 less taste and more clumsy fingers than 

 the florist, it will be well to use a more 

 rigid backing, or at least have the 

 leaves well supported by other mate- 

 rial. The ribbon used was No. 12, and 

 yellowish green, but white or cream- 

 white would be suitable, and for a clus- 

 ter of this size No. 16 would be bet- 

 ter. 



A photograph made as this was. at 

 ■close range and looking along the 

 length of the object, is naturally some- 

 what foreshortened, and the portion 

 Ivearest the camera is unduly enlarged. 

 This cluster was nearly thirty inches in 

 length and longer in proportion to its 

 width than it seems. The fine foli.-ige 

 •around the stems is Asparagus Spren- 

 gerii, which is very suitable for such 

 uses. W. T. BELL. 



Franklin, Pa. 



VIOLET NOTES. 



The continued cloudiness of Ihe sea- 

 son is something unusual and has made 

 it. and continues to make it. one of the 

 hardest winters we have seen to keep, 

 not alone violet houses, but all houses 

 in first class growing shape. The sea- 

 son has been dark since the first of No- 

 vember, with so few exceptions in 

 bright days, that practically we have 

 bad none. As a consequence, unless 



more than the usual amount of care has 

 been bestowed in keeping the plants 

 well cleaned up. they will not now be 

 in the condition that they should be. 

 They now begin, despite all this, to feel 

 the first whisper of spring by making 

 a growth that they will not at holiday 

 time, and if you wish to make your 

 crop a continued success till late in the 

 season, special care will have to be ex- 

 ercised in regard to the four essentials 

 of violet culture, viz.. ventilating, heat- 

 ing, watering and cleanliness. 



Don't make the mistake (because you 

 are busy) of thinking that the weather 

 is mild, and if you neglect the fire the 

 house will be all right today without 

 ventilating, etc. If you do, success will 

 not attend your efforts, for one of three 

 things will be sure to happen, either the 

 day will continue cloudy and the tem- 

 perature will be all right, but the air 

 all wrong, being stale and just right to 

 bring on a diseased condition (as it 

 would on yourself if you had to remain 

 in it), or the fire will be warmer than 

 you expected, so that the temperature 

 will be too high: or the sun will come 

 out for a short time, and cause the 

 same results, and so it goes day after 

 day. The price of good violets is 

 "eternal vigilance," and not relaxing 

 your care for even a day. 



They cannot get too much ventilation 

 judiciously applied, as fresh, brisk air 

 is absolutely necessary to thrifty, 

 stocky, healthy plants, and if the houses 



are close, with a heavy atmosphere, the 

 plants will inevitably get weak and 

 sickly, and ready to go into a decline 

 with the first disease that comes along. 

 We were in a house not long since 

 where we were not surprised at finding 

 the plants doing nothing. It was about 

 noon, outside temperature about 32 de- 

 grees, about one inch of ventilation on 

 in every twenty feet, steam on all but 

 one run of inch pipe on each side of the 

 house, and in addition to all this, the 

 sun came out for an hour or so. How 

 they could be expected to do anything 

 is more than I can understand, and 

 then, too, the houses were quite ex- 

 posed. I doubt if there was piping 

 enough to keep out the frost on a very 

 severe night, and violets will not flour- 

 ish well in such extremes of tempera- 

 ture. 



The owner of this house is a first- 

 class grower, but was away at the time, 

 and I take it his foreman is not a violet 

 grower. No violets have been picked 

 from that house yet. If it were mine, 

 I would sell what will be picked for a 

 year's subscription to The Review, and 

 I would have the best of the bargain. 



Watering is equally important with 

 ventilating, but W'ill have to lie taken 

 up next time. R. E. S. 



■VIOLET HOUSES. 



I am building some violet houses, 10 

 feel wide, with wall one foot high, to 

 plant in the summer and then put on 

 sash m the fall. Will you advise me 

 how to pipe same to the best advantage 

 tor the plants? J. H. L. 



J. H. L. has asked a question that 

 would be much easier to answer if 

 he had stated his outside temperatures, 

 height of houses, and whether the sys- 

 tem of heating was hot water, open 

 or under pressure, or steam. If persons 

 asking these questions will bear these 

 points in mind, we could answer much 

 more accurately. It should also be 

 stated whether the houses are open be- 

 tween, that is, under gutters, making 

 it all one house practically, also if they 

 run north and south or east and west; 

 many things are to be taken into con- 

 sideration. 



For this vicinity (twenty-five miles 

 southeast of Albany, N. Y.), supposing 

 the houses to run east and west, and 

 hot water under pressure to be the 

 heating system, we would run a 3-inch 

 main down the house under the ridge, 

 if the house was high enough; if not 

 high enough tor this, then two 2-inch 

 mains a little below and at each side of 

 the ridge, then branching each way at 

 the end of the house, with 2-inch pipe 

 running back, with two lines of 2-inch 

 pipe on each side of the house, one line 

 close to the eaves or gutter, the other 

 about a foot above this. Have a valve 

 in each run of pipe, so as to be able to 

 cut off each separately, according to 

 the weather. If the houses are in a very 

 exposed position, it would be well to 

 have an extra run on the north side for 

 use in severe spells. One of the great 

 secrets of success in heating is to have 



