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HORTICULTURE 



December 11, 1909 



Some Holiday Essentials 



The illustrations on this page were 

 taken at the plant-growing establish- 

 ment of the Robert Craig .Company, 

 Philadelphia. In addition to those 

 shown here we have others which will 

 appear later. The poinsettia, not- 

 withstanding the avalanche of gaudy 

 cloth imitations with which the coun- 

 try has been flooded for several years 

 past, continues to hold its own as a 

 Christmas favorite. One plausible 

 reason for the acceptance of the arti- 

 ficial poinsettias for some purposes is 

 found in the softness and proneness 

 to wilt which the natural material 

 has sometimes been guilty of. But 

 this is not the fault of the plant but 

 of the grower. Poinsettias are not 

 the only subjects that have suffered 

 severely in reputation because of in- 

 discreet and unreasonable forcing. 

 Craig's is one of the places where 

 these unnatural methods are not 

 employed, and if we had more 

 Craigs we should see fewer artificial 

 poinsettias. The picture shows the 

 method of growing in pots for win- 

 dow decoration, and in low pans of 

 small plants for use on the table. 

 The other illustration gives some idea 

 of the vast quantity handled by this 

 establishment. The dwarfs in four- 

 Inch are very popular and house after 

 house is devoted to this size. They are 

 bought mainly tor making up in basket 

 and design work and anyone who 

 knows anything of our ninety million 

 country can imagine the immense de- 

 mand. 



There is a dwarf pot (or tall pan) — 

 a compromise between a pot and a 

 pan — for which we have not yet found 

 an appropriate name — I suppose a 

 "deep pan" would express the mean- 

 ing—anyhow, these, filled in eight- 

 Inch with poinsettias surrounded by 

 ferns or asparagus are fine specimens 

 for window plants. The ten-inch flat 

 pans have shorter plants, mixed with 

 foliage, giving a broad or flat effect, 

 such as is necessary for table decora- 

 tions. Many houses are devoted to this 

 size and an immense business is done 

 in same. 



Madame Pedrick Azalea, according to 

 Mr. Craig, is far and away the best 

 Christmas variety extant. This stands 

 in the same class as Vervaeneana does 

 for Easter. Another favorite azalea for 

 Christmas seen here in fine shape and 

 in quantity is Hexe, a miniature or 

 dwarf form, brilliant crimson which 

 was popularized by Sander under the 

 name of Firefly. 



Crotons — or more properly Codiae- 

 ums — are the subject of the remain- 

 ing illustration. These richly colored 

 plants have long been a leading spe- 

 cialty with Mr. Craig, who has un- 

 doubtedly done more to popularize 

 them than any other man in America. 

 The first and third specimens shown 

 are the new variety Edwin Lonsdale, 

 one of the most beautiful, sturdy and 

 free-growing varieties ever introduced. 

 The second in the picture Is Fascia- 

 tus, the best yellow foliaged sort, and 

 the last is Delicatissima. We would 

 refer our readers to the excellent ar- 

 ticle on the culture of Codiaeums by 

 that expert grower, George P. Stew- 

 art, which appeared in our issue of 

 November 27. 



Crotons (Codiaeums). 



Different For.ms of Poinsettias. 



House of Poinsettias, at Craig's. 



