572 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



Maech 5, 1903. 



exhibition of the Chrysanthemum Society 

 of America, to be held in New York 

 City: For 25 distinct varieties of cut 

 blooms, 1st prize, $15; 2nd prize, $10; 

 for 12 distinct varieties of cut blooms, 

 1st prize, $10: 2nd prize, $5. It was 

 recommended that all local societies be 

 asked to oflor similar prizes and to com- 

 pete for the same, and that the society 

 olTer a sweepstake prize to the local 

 society making the best exhibit in com- 

 petition for its own prizes, and those in 

 other exhibits from other societies not 

 to count in competition for such sweep- 

 stake prize. 



The following were proposed for ac- 

 tive memberhip: W. F. Connell, John 

 B. Sackett and George H. Martin. A 

 prize box of cigars will be given for the 

 best exhibit of flowers from bulbous stock 

 shown at the February meeting. Novem- 

 ber 5 and 6, 1903, was fixed for next an- 

 nual flower show. 



H. J. Rayner, Cor. Sec'y. 



PIPING. 



How many IJ-inch pipe will it take to 

 heat two houses, one house 24x150, the 

 other 20x150? Walls are 5 feet 6 in- 

 ches. Steam to be used. And what is 

 the best method for piping the same? 

 Temperature to be 52 when it is zero 

 weather. Will also have to use steam 

 trap, as I cannot lower boiler enough to 

 return into the .same. J. S. 



In reply to J. S. for the heating of the 

 two greenhouses, he describes, by steam, 

 he will require in the 24-foot house two 

 lines of 2-inch overhead mains grading 

 downhill from the boiler end. returning 

 through seven lines of IJ-inch pipes bo- 

 low the benches; in the 20-foot house 

 two lines of 2-inch overhead mains and 

 six lines of IJ-inch returns below the 

 benches. This is assuming that there is 

 no side glass, of which he makes no 

 mention. If there is glass on tlie side 

 walls, he should add one IJ-inch return 

 for about each 3 feet of glass. 



Hexry W. Gibboxs. 



New York. 



A CORRECTION. ^I^j:^ 



Mr. Editor: In a recent numl)or of 

 the Re:\'IEW I gave the formula for the 

 way I have used hydrocyanic acid gas. 

 but unfortunately I carelessly wrote "I 

 gallon of water and I gallon of sulphviric 

 acid to 5 ounces of cyanide." It should. 

 of course, read "quarts." not "gallons.'' 

 I have given this formula many times by 

 correspondence and hope I have never 

 made the same careless mistake. I think 

 not, for I have heard from a few good 

 gardeners that it did the work admir- 

 ably. WiixiAM Scott. 



Feanklix, Mass.— The Continental 

 Nurseries have been established here with 

 connections at Veendam. Holland. Mr. 

 A. Van Leeuwen, Jr., formerly with the 

 Crompton estate, Worcester, Mass., is 

 manager. The nurseries will import, 

 grow and deal in choice shade, fruit and 

 ornamental trees, shrubs, roses, conifers, 

 herbaceous plants and bulbs. 



Passaic, N. J. — The store of W. L. 

 Hundertmark. the florist, was destroyed 

 by fire Feb. 19. The loss is esti- 

 mated at $1,200. He carried insur- 

 ance amounting to $000. Mr. Hundert- 

 mark has the sympathy of many friends 

 in the loss he has sustained. 



I am delighted with the Review. — 

 Wm. C. Steele, Alvin, Tex. 



Seed Trade News. 



Philadelphia. — The mail branch of 

 the seed business has beeti very good. 

 Burpee and Moore & Simon have been 

 unusually busy. The latter firm reports 

 this branch of its trade over 100 per 

 cent ahead of last year. The increased 

 mail business seems to indicate that seed 

 planters are not patronizing the country 

 store as much as formerly. This mani- 

 festly benefits both the planter and the 

 seed store. The planter gets better seed 

 and the seed store better profits. Sugar 

 corn is the great perplexing problem : 

 to supply 5 per cent of the demand is out 

 of the question. Those who order by 

 mail are supplied with a pint or quart 

 instead of peeks or half bushels ordered. 

 Tlie customer is charged 40 cents for the 

 quart sent and the remainder of the re- 

 mittance is returned to sender. Sugar 

 corn is now selling for 50 cents per quart 

 over the counter and no one is sold 

 more tlian a quart of seed. All lines of 

 seed are going at good prices, even onion 

 seed, which' at the beginning of the sea- 

 son promised to be a drug. The help 

 question is also a very serious one; ex- 

 I)erienced and competent clerks are sim- 

 ply not to be had, no matter how large 

 the salary offered. The industrious and 

 persevering youth with an object in life 

 and willing to work seems to have be- 

 come almost extinct. The right kind of 

 material in this line does not seem to 

 I present itself to the seed trade to be 

 moulded into desirable help. 



LomsviLLE, Ky. — Wood, Stubbs & Co., 

 report that orders for seeds have been 

 good in all lines. Tlie garden seed trade, 

 owing to the backward season, has been 

 somewhat delayed, but demand is good, 

 and the business is ahead of last year. 

 Field seeds have been particularlj^ ac- 

 tive, and although prices on clover and 

 orchard grass have been considerably 

 higher than for years, there has been 

 equally as good a demand for clover and 

 a better trade for orchard grass than is 

 usually experienced. Onion sets have 

 been very low all the season. The lar- 

 gest crop in the history of Louisville 

 was harvested this year, and more sets 

 are grown in this neighlxjrhood than in 

 any other section of the United States. 

 The present price charged by dealers i^ 

 about 55e to 70c per bu. for yellows, and 

 $1.40 per bu. for whites. Yellow potato 

 onion sets $4.00 per 100 lbs. In the 

 vicinity of Louisville a large quantity 

 of onion seed is grown, and this seed is 

 preferred by growers to that grown at 

 any other point, because the sets keep 

 better than from California grown or 

 imported stock. The prices this year 

 on onion seed are very low. 



Dallas, Tex. — The seed trade in Texas 

 so far this season has been the very best 

 during our experience in the business, our 

 January trade being far ahead of any 

 previous year, and especially the cata- 

 logue trade. The demand for seed corn 

 is so great that it is next to impossible 

 to supply it. There is also a strong and 

 growing demand for alfalfa, which is be- 

 coming very generally used here. Owing 

 to the great number of truck growers' 

 associations being formed, there is an 

 unusually good demand for tomato and 

 melon seeds, and for seeds of such veg- 

 etables as can be canned and shipped. 

 On the whole, we would say that the 

 seed trade for the season is perfectly 



satisfactory, and prospects for a good 

 crop this year are bright. — Texas 

 Seed & Flobal Co. 



It has been dieeided by the United 

 States general appraisers at New York, 

 under date of February 10, 1903, that 

 the term "seed pease" in paragraph 250, 

 tariff act of 1897, and on which the rate 

 is 40 cents per bushel, does not apply to 

 the Canadian field pea sometimes called 

 "Canadian Beauty" pea, which is more 

 generally used for raising ensilage and 

 forage for cattle and manufacturing split 

 peas for soup, and that this Canadian 

 field pea when in a dried state is dutiable 

 at 30 cents per bushel as "pease, dried, 

 not specially provided for." 



New Haven, Conx. — Frank S. Piatt 

 says that some of the local growers of 

 sweet corn for seed who had their crops 

 contracted for, or delivered, early are 

 now breathing brimstone over the sys- 

 tem that holds them to their obligations. 

 The demand is such on a few short items 

 that dealers are also at their wits' ends 

 to satisfy large buyers on a general or- 

 der. Sutetitution will necessarily be 

 resorted to, as the seed sales for 1903 

 will undoubtedly be greater than those 

 of any recent year. The outlook for 

 trade, both present and future, is ex- 

 ceedingly bright for the farmer as well 

 as for the merchant. 



St. Paul. — Foreign shipments are 

 still arriving and will probably not 

 all get here before March 20 to 

 25. They are from three to six 

 weeks later than usual. The rail- 

 road congestion and scarcity of cars 

 are delaying shipments, causing an end- 

 less amount of worry and loss. E. M. 

 Parmelee, of the John H. Allan Seed Co., 

 was a recent caller on the trad>. 



Caliji. 0. — L. Templin & Sons report 

 that trade is opening up veiy satisfactor- 

 ily, averaging fully fifty per cent above 

 same date last season. This, however, 

 may partly be attributed to a special 

 discount they offer on early orders. From 

 present outlook they will not be able 

 to su])ply the demand, particularly on 

 sweet corn, cucumbers, and a few other 

 items which are difficult to procure. 



New Y'obk. — Henry Nungesser & Co. 

 are in receipt of two carloads of Tur- 

 kestan alfalfa, which they bought direct 

 from the growing districts in Asia. The 

 demand for this seed is growing rapidly 

 in America. 



Chicago seedsmen report good early 

 orders from the wholesale trade, and in- 

 dications favorable for heavv sales this 



The advance guard of the Holland 

 bulb salesmen have appeared. Some in- 

 tend to go as far west as California. 



.Judging from the advs. in the maga- 

 zines the fair sex is taking secure hold 

 of the seed business in Minneapolis. 



Mr. Arnold Ringier, representing W. 

 W. Barnard & Co., Chicago, is now on 

 the Pacific coast. 



Decatur, III. — The Suffern Seed Co. 

 annoimces that it has over 100,000 hush- 

 els of seed corn to offer to the trade, 



Chicago. — Edgar F. Ball, represent- 

 ing E. J. Bowen, San Francisco, was a 

 recent visitor. 



Mr. Henry, of Henry & Ix-e. New 

 York, visited Chicago this week. 



