Fedkuakv 12. 1!)03 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



439 



. surprise at seeing us. '-Well, jump in, 

 you are just in time to see the Queen; 

 my boy and Pearee. junior, from Water- 

 town, are waiting for this rig to go out 

 to Goddard's place to see it growing.'' 

 We had often heard Mr. Nicholson speak 

 of his boy. On seeing the latter almost 

 the first question we asked him was: 

 "How much do you weigh?" "210." 

 was his reply. He looked it, and not 

 an ounce of superfluous flesh. We were 

 soon at Goddard's, where the carnations 

 are in fine shape. "The Queen" is a 

 pure white of good size and looks like 



doubtedly well named. It looks to be 

 a fine market variety, though not as 

 fine a flower as Wolcott. 



On our way home we could not retrain 

 from stopping at BufTalo to chat with 

 that man who knows everything per- 

 taining to our business, but still eager 

 to listen to the opinion of others — 

 William Scott. We were lucky to catch 

 him at his city place busy preparing for 

 the expected Xmas rush. We noticed a 

 lot of poinsettias, three in a pan with 

 the variegated Abutilon Souv. de Bonn 

 mixed between them. This should make 



Fig. 3. A Good Fire. 



a good commercial variety, as it is quite 

 free. 



Nicholson's whole stock was as good 

 as any we saw on our trip. Pros- 

 perity was extra fine, as was also Gov. 

 Wolcott, which Mr. Nicholson thinks a 

 great deal of. A bench of mignonette 

 was also well done. Several strains 

 were grown in separate benches, all 

 given the same treatment, but the Dail- 

 Ifcdouze strain showed a marked im- 

 provement over others. 



Mr. Nicholson, very kindly took us in 

 hand the next day. I say very kindly, 

 for it required almost a martyr to 

 travel with us as he did in such a bliz- 

 zard, with trains running at "any old 

 time" but the right. It was the worst 

 snow storm and coldest weather that 

 had struck the "Hub" in many years. 

 However, we managed to reach Patten's 

 at Tewkesbury and Fisher's at Ellis. 



The former's is a very neat, compact 

 range of houses, practically all carna- 

 tions. Here you can see all the best 

 varieties grown at their best, as well 

 as a few novelties that did not come up 

 to expectations. A Ijench of Harry Fenn 

 was to our minds the most striking lot 

 of plants on the place. It would do C. 

 W. W.'s heart good to see them. Mr. 

 Patten, like everybody else, has a prom- 

 ising lot of seedlings, as well as a few 

 novelties on trial — Fisher's Mrs. Patten 

 and Nelson Fisher, and the Chicago 

 Carnation Co.'s Her Majesty. He speaks 

 very highly of Her Majesty and will 

 grow it in quantity next season. Al- 

 though Mr. Patten doesn't smoke, he 

 keeps the finest brand of cigars on hand 

 that can be found around the "Hub." 



At Peter Fisher's, of course Enchant- 

 ress was the magnet. You have heard 

 and seen so much of this variety that 

 there is nothing for its to add further 

 than to say Mr. Fisher spoke the truth 

 when he said it was farther ahead of 

 the present standard varieties than was 

 I^wson in its heyday, providing we can 

 all do it as well as we have the latter 

 variety. His Boston Market is un- 



a superb Xmas seller when well done. 

 The idea is one of the junior Scott's. 

 We were particularly struck with the 

 decoration of the store. Black and 

 trimmed with gold, which harmonizes 

 first rate with the green foliage of the 

 plants arranged tastily here and there. 

 Billy Kasting was out on the .street 

 looking after a big shipment of Xmas 

 greens which had just arrived. It be- 

 ing a chilly day he was dressed for all 

 the world like a sea-faring man. He 

 was almost too busy to talk to us, so 



and no such names as Mrs. Lawson, 

 Wm. Scott, Mrs. Bradt, etc., to keep the 

 ties of friendship cemented together. 

 We take this opportunity to thank one 

 and all for the courtesies extended to 

 us on this trip and hope some day to 

 return the same in kind. 



James Haetshorne. 



REMOVING ASPHALT PAINT. 



In a recent issue of the Review Mr. P. 

 requests information as to the best 

 method of removing asj)ha!t paint from 

 heating pipes. This fall we had quite 

 an experience along this line and from 

 our results neither scrubbing nor "fir- 

 ing to beat the band" will rid one of 

 the trouble — at least, on a hot water 

 system. On cold nights when the wind 

 came across the prairie at sixty miles 

 an hour or better it was necessary to 

 "beat the band'' firing, and the fumes 

 came otr in volumes, but apparently for 

 an endless period of time. After ex- 

 perimenting with all "Borts of chemical 

 and mechanical devices we finally tried 

 caustic potash, using a 10-pound can 

 of the crystals to five gallons of water. 

 This was sprayed on the pipes and 

 proved quite effective. It should be 

 applied as a fine mist, and the chemical 

 is most active if applied when the pipes 

 ■are hot. In twenty-four hours the pipes 

 became white and coated with a sapona- 

 ceous film, caused by the chemical reac- 

 tion. This film can be washed off with 

 a hose and the pipes are ready for a 

 second spraying. On some of the pipes 

 two heavy coats of asphalt were entirely 

 cut oflf by the second application of 

 spraj', and about four applications made 

 a fairly thorough job on all of them. 



Caustic potash has strong corrosive 

 action on the skin and must be handled 

 with extreme care. A candv bucket, a 

 small bucket spray pump with brass lin- 

 ing, and leather or — better — rubber 

 gloves, if available, make a convenient 

 spraying outfit. 



It is needless to add that gas from 

 asphalt and related coal tar compounds 



Fig. 4. Coke Firing with Soft Coal. 



you can imagine the shekels "Billy" 

 must have handled during the holidays. 

 We met Al. Baur, of Erie, here, also a 

 number of other florists who live adja- 

 cent to Buffalo. A conversation regard- 

 ing "pickling" stock was started, which 

 did not end imtil Mr. Baur alighted 

 from the train at Erie, at 12 midnight. 

 In our reveries of our trip we could 

 not help but wonder at the kindness and 

 hospitality of the florist craft in gen- 

 eial and wondered if all tradesmen were 

 the same. We do not think so, as there 

 is not so much in common among them 



is very destructive to plant life, though 

 each year some grower discovers this 

 too late and is seriously perplexed as to 

 how to get rid of the stuff. 



In our case it was first planned to 

 have the pipes painted with the old-time 

 mixture of lamp black and oil. The 

 painter, who was an up-to-date fellow, 

 recommended a new paint compound of 

 graphite ground in oil. As graphite is 

 an inert substance and very durable it 

 would be "just the thing." As it is 

 the province of the Experiment Station 

 to be one of the first to touch unknown 



