916 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



-MAY 12. IV.IS. 



Iirst interests to hold prices on deco- 

 lations at a point where there was a 

 |)rofit in it. and not so frequently do 

 llie worli at a loss with the idea that 

 ether benefits might accrue and whiidi 

 are rarely realized. 



He liked the rhapis as a palm for 

 decorating, and admired Pandanus 

 \'eitchii in a decoration, though it is 

 too often injured to malve it a profit- 

 able plant to so use, unless an ade- 

 quate price is obtained. Crotons are 

 pretty, but too costly to use. 



Last year he found it difllcult to sell 

 palms of large size. This year more 

 large ones had been sold, though the 

 prices had not been as high as they 

 should have been. Kcntia Belmore- 

 ana seems to be the favorite house 

 plant. They give the customer satis- 

 faction for a long period and where 

 a failure occurs it is generally found 

 that the plant had been permitted to 

 become practically dried up for want 

 of water. 



The average customer expects the 

 llorist to supply a new plant gratis if 

 the first one has quickly suffered dam- 

 age, and it is .generally impossible to 

 convince such customers that they are 

 to blame in the premises. It is an ag- 

 gravating condition to deal with, but 

 he believed it wiser to suffer some lit- 

 tle loss in this way than to have a cus- 

 tomer dissatisfied. So long as a cus- 

 tomer's trade is worth having at all 

 it is worth something to hold it, and 

 it is cheaper to hold it by making 

 some concessions of this sort than to 

 secure new customers during these 

 days of sharp competition. He found 

 that buyers do not fully appreciate the 

 value of a palm until they have had 

 one a year or so; then they begin to 

 understand why a palm is an expen- 

 sive plant and to appreciate it at its 

 true worth. 



Pcojile seemed to like the ilecorative 

 effect of the latania better than that 

 of other palms, but the edges of the 

 leaves were apt to soon turn b;own 

 and the plant be condemned on that 

 account. He had tried Livistona ro- 

 tundifolia, but it did not give satisfac- 

 tion in the hands of customers. Cocos 

 Weddelliana seemed to give excellent 

 satisfaction. He had also tried a quan- 

 iity of Areca Bauerii, but it lasted no 

 better than a seaforthia when used as 

 a house plant. In his opinion Pan- 

 danus utilis is an excellent house 

 plant, and Pandanus Veitchii will give 

 satisfaction if the customer under- 

 stands how to care for it. 



In ferns, Nephrolepis exaltata Bos- 

 toniensis had given splendid satisfac- 

 tion to his customers. He asked: 

 "Why is exaltata generally infested 

 with scale, while Bostoniensis is en- 

 tirely free from them? That has been 

 my experience. I have handled about 

 ■J,7(><> plants of Bostoniensis and have 

 never seen a scale on one." 



Polypodium aureum has given satis- 

 faction so far as he has tried it. He 

 noted that the demand for fern dishes 

 had very largely increased of late 



years, and believed the demand would 

 continue to grow. People that cannot 

 afford a regular supply of cut flowers 

 will buy the fern dishes. But he be- 

 lieved that they lost the florist many 

 sales of cut flowers. 



For fern dishes he found the pleris 

 varieties the most lasting. He noted 

 the lack of a good variegated plant 

 suitable to mix in with the ferns to 

 relieve the monotony of all green foli- 

 age. He has as yet found nothing of 

 the sort that will last well. He felt 

 that the sales of ferns by the growai s 

 during the last two years must have 

 been very greatly increased. 



Mr. A. McAdams next spoke and 

 called attention to Cyrtomium falca- 

 tum. which he considered the most 

 lasting of all sorts to use in fern 

 dishes. He found that where this fern 

 had been used it was always the last 

 to succumb to adverse conditions. It 

 will stand dry heat better than any 

 other fern, but is subject to scale. He 

 had also found Pteris raagnifica a very 

 useful fern. 



He noted that ilr. \Vienhoel)er had 

 not mentioned the phoenix among his 

 palms. He considered it th-^ mcs; las - 

 ing palm for the house, and thought 

 P. rupicola. when character well 

 shown, a very beautiful plant. He had 

 sold many and they gave satisfac ion. 



Mr. Wienhoeber replied that he had 

 sold a quantity of Phoenix canarien- 

 sis. but customers had generally 

 brought them back, complaining that 

 the plant was too stiff in appearance. 

 He had tried a few plants of Cycas 

 Siamensis. and it had given very good 

 satisfaction as a house plant. 



Mr. .T. T. Anthony thought there 

 was an excellent opening in Chicago 

 for a grower of palms, ferns and other 

 decorative plants. He said there was 

 never enough stock of suitable sizes 

 and that the great bulk of the plants 

 used had to be brought from eastern 

 cities. He had found the growing of 

 Pandanus Veitchii very profitable. He 

 had retailed plants at $2 each that 



were only twelve weeks from the cut- 

 ting, but the cutting was a strong one. 

 In the summer time he found no diffi- 

 culty in rooting the cuttings in a palm 

 house. He potted the cutting right into 

 the soil. He thought there was room 

 for many more rubbers, and that thi'y 

 should be produced by local growers. 

 He held that Chicago is now the great- 

 est shipping point for cut flowers in 

 the world, but that the production of 

 cut flowers is being overdone. That 

 some of the glass could be more profit- 

 ably devoted to plants for which there 

 is al-ready a steady and reliable de- 

 mand. 



He noted that small ferns were near- 

 ly always cheap in the fall, but from 

 January to May there was generally a 

 shortage. The cause of the surplus in 

 fall was due to the fact that the large 

 eastern growers produced large quan- 

 tities in summer, carried till fall in 

 frames covered with canvas or other 

 shading. He believed it was just as 

 easy to have ferns of suitable size 

 ready for December to April as ear ier, 

 and that good prices could always be 

 obtained for them. He believed there 

 was more money in growing ferns 

 than palms. 



There was quite a discussion as to 

 the amount of capital required to start 

 in the business of growing palms. Mr. 

 Wienhoeber felt he would not like to 

 start such an establishment with a 

 capital of less 4han $."iii.("Hi. Mr. An- 

 thony held that an extra outlay of 

 .f."i(M> would be sufficient to start a flor- 

 ist who already had suitable glass. He 

 told of the way the eastern growers 

 put growth on their palms during the 

 summer months by giving bottom 

 heat at night. The plants are kept 

 quite moist, but never syringed late in 

 the afternoon. Often the pots are 

 plunged in some material retentive of 

 moisture. Mr. Anthony believed the 

 returns from palms would be as quick 

 as from roses. Init others seemed to 

 feel that he was over sanguine as to 

 this. 



FIELDWORK CULTIVATING. 



Cultivating, to work and keep the 

 soil in a condition to insure the best 

 results, is the flrst work to attend to, 

 and should not be neglected, for on it 

 depends to a large extent the retention 

 of moisture for the summer's hot and 

 dry days. This work has to be kept 

 up from now on until the plants are 

 again housed. As in every other work. 



pertaining to carnation culture, there 

 are principles, rules that should never 

 be set aside, rules that will apply In 

 the same way to the culture of every 

 other plant, being universal, and still 

 they are sometimes neglected. 



In our summer culture we are de- 

 pendent en the werther. Contnued co- 

 pious rains will render the soil un- 

 tillable. and if the land has no natu- 

 ral drainage, it certainly should have 

 been provided for in the preparation 

 of the ground. But in cultivating we 

 touch the opposite, as it is desirable 



