834 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



April 9, 1903. 



tliickly. If the seeds are good they come 

 up as thick as the proverbial "hair on 

 a dog's back." And if the weather is 

 dull and the atmosphere close they will 

 be carried oft' by the thousand in a 

 single night. If not the same fungus it 

 is one very similar to that which plays 

 such havoc in a warm cutting bed. 



As soon as the seedlings are well 

 above the surface they should be given 

 a light, airy place, and just as soon as 

 the character leaf begins to show they 

 should be transplanted into flats. Tliere 

 is often great ignorance displayed about 

 this little operation. If the seed leaves 

 are J to f inches above the soil an ama- 

 teur will put them in the flats with the 

 same amount of stem above the soil. 

 This is radically wrong. Make a deep 

 hole in the new soil and let the roots 

 and delicate stem down until the seed 

 leaf rests about on the surface. Then 

 again, even men who call themselves 

 gardeners I have seen squeeze the soil 

 tightly at the surface and leave the 

 roots hanging loose in the hole. The 

 watering will take care of the surface, 

 but get your dil)ble deep down and be 

 sure the soil is compact around the 

 roots. William Scott. 



CYCLAMEN. 



J. h. writes: "What is the best strain 

 of cyclamen, and what is the name of 

 same — red, white, and blue?" 



I have never seen a cyclamen that 

 could be called blue. There is a pure 

 white, through shades of pink to deep- 

 est red, and a very common coloring is 

 a combination of white and deep pink 

 in the same flower. If you want to 

 grow them under separate colors ask 

 your seedsman to send you six varieties. 

 Few growers keep track of the names of 

 'lie varieties. Forty years ago we onlv 

 knew this beautiful plant as Cyclamen 

 persicum, then a very small flower. 

 Then appeared C. p. giganteum with a 

 stout, hea^'y flower and long stem. 

 Then some of our seedsmen sent out 

 what they called C. persicum grandi- 

 florum, and my experience is tliat this 

 is the strain to grow. Tlie flower is 

 long, beautifully shaped, and very free 

 in flowering. ISut so much depends on 

 the growing, as in all other flowers. 



It is not my privilege to advertise any 

 firm, but don't send to any firm because 

 it is cheap. The best strain of any 

 flower seed is well worth paying for, 

 Thi§ is no season for sowing cyclamen ; 

 from September to New Year's is tlie 

 time. William Scott. 



BUILDING AND PIPING. 



I am going to build a greenhouse 45 

 feet wide and 114 feet long, short roof 

 construction, running east and west, 

 with walls and gutters 6i feet high. 

 I will heat with hot water, using 4-inch 

 flows and 3-inch returns, and would 

 like your opinion of how much pipe to 

 use and the best plan of piping for 

 growing principally roses and carna- 

 tions. 



I have an idea that if the pipe were 

 partially filled with wood in the cen- 

 ter that it would be a great sa\ing of 

 fuel and also cause a more rapid How 

 on account of not having so large a -. ol- 

 ume of water to heat and thus main- 

 taining a greater heat at a point nearer 

 the return to the boiler. I am of the 

 opinion that the wood once heated will 

 retain it longer than the same area 

 of water. I would like to hear your 

 opinion on this point. 



Would you advise butting glass? If 

 so what pitch should I give the sash 

 bars? I shall have glass on the south 

 side and both ends. 



Would you kindly give me a detail 

 of how to construct the gutters as I in- 

 tend to use wood in their construction. 

 I take it that the liouse should stand 

 level and the fall should be given */C 

 the gutters only. How much fall ohould 

 the gutters have? W. B. 



In reply to the inquiry of W. B.. as 

 we understand his inquiry, he proposes 

 to put a wooden core in his heating 

 pipes so supporting this core as to leave 

 a water space between it and the inner 

 circumference of the pipe. Tids would 

 certainly reduce the volume of water 

 to be heated materially and make the 

 system more immediately responsive to 

 the fire, but look out for "snags." The 

 wooden core not being indestructible, 

 and being subject to misplacement, 

 twisting and other contingencies whicli 

 would ultimately prevent perfect cir- 

 fuhition. therefore, such an arrangement 

 would te impracticable. 



Kc^arding the method of glazing, it 

 is much better to lap the roof glass, 

 the upper light overlapping the lower 

 aLout 5-16 of an inch. The glass on the 

 vt-.rtical ends or sides is better butted, 

 as in this way it is prevented from 

 dropping on account of its weight. 



Regarding the wooden gutters, tiiey 

 are most easily made as shown u. draw- 

 ing, and should have a fall in tlieir 



length (114 feet) of not less than from 

 3 to 6 inches. Do not attempt to grade 

 the gutters independent of the houses, 

 have the entire roofs fall in the direc- 

 tion of the water travel within the gut- 

 ters. 



For the heating of a house 45 feet 

 wide, 19 feet of radiation in the cross 

 section of the house would be necessary. 

 As to the arrangement of the heating 

 pipes, I can say nothing, your corre- 

 spondent giving no details as to the 

 benching and other arrangements with- 

 in the house. Henry W. Gibbons. 



New York. 



BUFFALO. 



How fortunate that our little April 

 winter is on us now. By the end of the 

 week there is ever\' probability that the 

 right change will have come. If so, 

 we will have no kick coming, for weather 

 permitting, business is bound to be 

 good. 



Our Main street stores are already 

 decked for an Easter display. Miss 

 Rachel Rebstock keeps always a hand- 

 some window, and now it's full of entic- 

 ing plants. Rachel does a great busi- 

 ness, for she and three young lady as- 

 sistants make it a very attractive store 

 for the bachelor class. 



J. H. Rebstock, a little lower down, is 

 gay with fine azaleas, cytisus, acacias, 

 and other plants. 



Then comes W. J. Palmer's branch 

 store, with its great expanse of plate 

 glass. Mr. Snell, the manager, always 

 has an attractive window — n ever 

 crowded — a background of handsome 



ferns, with here and there a specimen 

 plant, or vase of American Beauty. 

 Something distinctive and choice is the 

 motto of this elegant shop. 



Then comes S. A. Anderson, whose 

 window is alwaj'S gay with the best that 

 can be procured locally and the choice 

 productions of Cromwell, Conn. Any- 

 thing new or fancy "Savie" is bound to 

 have. 



W. J. Palmer & Son's main store at 

 Eagle and Main has been so long before 

 the public that it has become a landmark 

 of the city. It is always a shining 

 mark. No one can remember ever see- 

 ing this fine show window two days 

 alike. Tlie clever decorator, Arthur 

 Beyer, has a change for every day in the 

 year. He has ample material to work 

 with, 'tis true, but yet there are enter- 

 prise and fine taste shown. One day it 

 is Meteor roses used in many ways, 

 another day daffodils, the next all carna- , 

 tions, and so on. 



Retracing my steps (on a trolley), I 

 called in at what we may call our most 

 up-town stores. The first was Byrnes 

 & Slattery, who have a decidedly metro- 

 politan style about their spacious store 

 — no crowding, nothing but the best and 

 in the best of taste. 



C. Keitsch & Son have a gay window 

 of plants and flowers supplied from their 

 own houses on the East Side. 



These are a good many stores for a 

 few blocks and this is only Main street. 

 I think it would surprise some of us if 

 we knew the quantity of cut flowers 

 that are handled on what is known as 

 the East Side. Tliere is that good, 

 industrious young woman. Miss Rose 

 Reinhart, who has a fine business on 

 William street and has an army of 

 friends. And almost directly across the 

 street is the celebrated Mrs. Schoenhut, 

 who besides her store has two newly 

 built greenhouses. I am inclined to 

 think that this little lady, with the 

 assistance of husband, handles rather 

 more flowers than any one store in our 

 city. And there are a score of others, 

 all to take a nibble at the business and 

 I liope make a competence. 



The last few straggling Dutchmen have 

 come and gone. Mr. Beerhorst was one 

 of the last. He has dissolved partner- 

 ship with the tall Mr. Van Leeuwen, and 

 I think it's a good move, especially for 

 Mr. Beerhorst. His former partner is 

 the man who some years ago I went 

 twenty-five miles out into the country to 

 escape, but was followed. Then for a 

 further escape I went, with a few worms, 

 to Murder Creek fishing for shiners and 

 bullheads, but by mistake in signaling I 

 almost ran into him as he came up the 

 village street. Under a bed I felt safe 

 when I heard my son tell him what 

 under other circumstances we would call 

 a lie. You would think I did this be- 

 cause I owed him a bill — nothing, not a 

 penny — but his crocodile tears would 

 have brought out an order, and that's 

 what I did not want him to have. 



Mr. W. S. Murray called on us this 

 week. He is from London, and who 

 would think that a man by that name 

 was selling Dutch bulbs? But .so it 

 was, and Murray & Son are the owners 

 of a large bulb farm in Holland, at 

 Akerstoot. near Haarlem. Now, it's so 

 many years since I have affiliated or 

 heard genteel English, with the accent 

 attached that I was puzzled. We hear 

 plenty of the "bloast my bloomin eyes" 

 variety, and many other provincial dia- 

 lects that we readily recognize as Essex, 

 Devon. Somer.set. Yorkshire, Stafford- 

 shire, White Chapel, or Northumberland 



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