Deci:jibek 4, li»02. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



53 



New Range of Twenty-one Houses Just Erected by the Dale Estate, Brampton, Ont. 



Seed Trade News. 



Philadeuhia. — Henry F. Michell re- 

 ports that the crop of edible pea seed 

 will be fully 25 per cent short this sea- 

 son. Wax beans are likely to be 20 per 

 cent short, fjreen beans 30 per cent, 

 celery and lettuce 50 per cent, while 

 only 10 per cent of the orders for cucum- 

 ber seed are likely to be forthcominL'- 

 This shortage is due to the unusually 

 cold, wet summer, which proved most 

 disastrous to the ripening of the seed of 

 the above varieties. Advices from Euro- 

 pean seed growers promise no relief from 

 that quarter. Jlany orders are already 

 booked Ijv local houses for next season's 

 delivery. Indications point to high 

 prices with a probable scarcity in some 

 lines. 



St. Joseph, Mo. — The Chesmore-East- 

 lake Mer. Co. says: "There was quite a 

 large quantity of timothy shipped to 

 eastern markets from this city and mil- 

 let and c»ne are beginning to come in. 

 There are prospects of being a good sup- 

 ply of millet, cane and Kaffir. From 

 present indications millet will be dam- 

 aged to some extent on account of the 

 wet season through the fall. If there is 

 any bright seed on the market it has 

 not yet developed. Clover is very short 

 and there will be only a few small lots 

 offered for sale by the farmers. We 

 think that this market will have to be 

 supplied entirely by the east. At the 

 same time there are some chances for 

 later developments. Prospects for good 

 trade and prices in the garden seed line 

 are very good and we think there will be 

 a heavy spring business in all lines of 

 field and garden seeds." 



A New Fodder Plant. — Mr. S. H. 

 Downs, of the Downs Seed & Grain 

 Co., Topeka, Kan., believes the new 

 fodder plant, Pencillaria Zeaoides, will 

 take the place of all other fodder plants, 

 especially in western Kansas, on account 

 of its remarkable productiveness and 

 drought resisting qualities. It is of 

 the Pearl millet family, but far more 

 productive. Tlie fodder is much like 

 corn or Kaffir corn. Mr. Downs has 

 grown from two seeds a bunch of fodder 

 consisting of 35 stalks three feet long, 

 in sixty days, then a second crop thirty 

 inches long from the roots in twenty- 

 seven days, and a third crop five feet 

 long from the same roots, cut Septem- 

 l)er 15. He says that during the ex- 

 treme heat of July of last year it grew 



and flourished as though it had been 

 irrigated. This drought resistance will, 

 he thinks, make the plant invaluable in 

 many sections. 



Canakt Seed. — The U. S. Circuit 

 Court for the Southern District of New 

 York has decided that canary seed is 

 not entitled to free entry. In the case 

 decided, upon appeal, the collector had 

 assessed the canary seed for duty at 

 30 per cent ad valorem as "seeds not spe- 

 cially provided for." The importers 

 protested and the board of general ap- 

 praisers sustained the claim that ca- 

 nary seed was a grass seed and free 

 of dutj'. Judge Townsend held that 

 by omitting the word "canary" in para- 

 graph (351) of the last law it must be 

 assumed that congress intended that ca- 

 nary seed should be classified for duty. 



The final clean up of vine seed would 

 indicate an average yield of 15 per cent 

 of cucumbers, 25 to 50 per cent of musk- 

 melons and nearly a full crop of water- 

 melons. This is hard on the dealer, who 

 finds it impossible to bu}' more or fill 

 orders, but doubly hard on the grower 

 who has contracted his crop in advance 

 and gets no more per pound than in a 

 3'ear of plenty. 



The mExVSURe now pending in Con- 

 gress to supplant the present money or- 

 der system by what is known as the 

 Post Check system, which has already 

 been described in these columns, is com- 

 mended in an article in the .July nuniter 

 of the North American Keview, by Hon. 

 H. A. Castle, auditor for the'U. S. 

 P. 0. Department. 



Foreign seeds are very slow in mov- 

 ing forward this season, very few 

 importations of 1902 crop ha\'ing been 

 received. The delay is said to be due 

 to a cold, backward season making the 

 harvest late and to wet weather during 

 the threshing and curing period. 



There seems to be a plentitude of 

 Liliums Harrisii and longiflorum. The 

 representative of one Chicago house re- 

 eentlv offered 7 to 9 Harrisiis to Phila- 

 delphia florists at $25.00 per 1,000. 



Mr. J. CoMONT, representing James 

 Carter. Dunnett & Beale, recently passed 

 through Philadelphia on his way home. 

 This was his first trip as far west as 

 the Pacific coast. 



Hubbard Squash is a "short" item. 

 This old and valuable variety still seems 

 to be the leader in winter squashes. 



A BILL has been introduced in the House 

 of Representatives at Washington to es- 

 tablish a commission that shall investi- 

 gate all duties on imports and recom- 

 mend changes therein. Tlie commission 

 is to be vested with all the powers of a 

 U. S. district court to summon and con- 

 trol witnesses and to punish them for 

 contempt. 



The following Californians recently 

 registered at Philadelphia : D. L. 

 Sloan, Palo Alto; J. J. Fosgate and 

 Chas. R. Kimberlin, Santa Clara; J. B. 

 Kidd. representing the Cox Seed CJo., 

 San Francisco. 



iliciiiGAN and New York state bean 

 growers have again cut their estimate 

 of deliveries, much seed having rotted 

 in the pods and samples will be accord- 

 ingly poor. 



Early orders placed with German 

 flower seed growers are being filled only 

 in part on many sorts, owing to the 

 great shortage in the 1902 crop in that 

 country. 



St. Paul.— F. W. Creighton, of H. A. 

 Dreer, C. R. Kimberlin, W. J. Fosgate 

 and Lester Morse, of Santa Clara, Cal., 

 and Henry Nungesser, New Y'ork, were 

 recent callers on the trade. 



The mild weather has greatly facili- 

 tated the bedding out of Dutch bulbs 

 and generally speaking stocks are well 

 cleaned up. 



Lewiston, Me. — The George B. Has- 

 kell Co., seedsmen, have built a new two- 

 story warehouse 130x00 feet on Whipple 

 street. 



Buffalo, N. Y.- — It is reported that 

 A. C. Diggs and Percy Diggs, of Chester, 

 Va., V ■"" ■ ■■ " ' ■ 



here. 



On account of the advance in wages 

 California growers are all demanding 

 higher contract prices for next year's 

 product. 



Topeka, Kan. — A company is being 

 organized here to manufacture a new 

 seed cleaning machine. 



Charlevoix, Mich. — The Ferry seed 

 warehouse will take in 80,000 bushels of 

 seed peas this season. 



Monroe, Mich. — Greening Bros, are 

 no longer in the seed business, and are 

 doing a strictly retail nursery business. 



I always enjoy the Review, and no 

 part more than the Wm. Scott features. 

 ■ — Edwin Sexton, Delmar, N. Y. 



