HORTICULTURE 



VoL XXXI 



MAY 22, 1920 



No. 21 



THE TALK OF THE TRADE 



Flowering plants for late fall and 

 winter will again be good proi)erty the 

 coming season and it is time now to 

 lay your plans. I'rimiila ot)conica ia 

 always a good seller, and barring the 

 fact that it is poisonous in some cases, 

 it is an all around satisfactory plant. 

 There are, however, some florists who 

 will not handle Primula obconica at 

 all, and it is a question in my mind if 

 they are not justified. I have known 

 of several severe cases of obconica 

 poisoning, and in more than one in- 

 stance the florist found himself in quite 

 serious trouble with his customers. 

 Well grown obconica, however, is a 

 very pretty plant and the storeman 

 who handles them finds a ready sale 

 and feels reasonaly sure that he is 

 turning out a plant that will be satis- 

 factory in the house. If you are going 

 to grow this crop and haven't started 

 the seed up to this time, you should do 

 so at once. 



Cineraria is another plant which al- 

 ways gives satisfaction if grown cool 

 enough, and for early plants, seed may 

 be sown now. It will be wise to follow 

 along in spells of two to three week 

 intervals with successive sowings, but 

 above all when finishing this crop, use 

 tobacco freely so that it will go into 

 the hands of your customer absolutely 

 free from aphis. It is a very unsatis- 

 factory plant unless turned out clear 

 of this pest. 



This also applies to Calceolaria. This 

 plant is not so easily grown as the 

 cineraria or the primula, flowers much 

 later, and in fact I believe the best re- 

 sults are obtained from late sown seed. 

 Until the nights become a little cool 

 around the first of August, it is a 

 pretty hard job to handle the small 

 seedlings without losing a big percent- 

 age from damping off. The calceolaria 

 is by no means an easy plant to grow, 

 as it takes very careful watching from 

 the time the seeds are sown until they 

 are finished, but they are well worth 

 the trouble and will bring a price that 

 is proportionate. 



Of course in mentioning winter- 

 flowering plants, we must not forget 

 Primula chinensis. There is plenty of 

 time to start these yet. and unless you 



want extra large plants, 1 believe later 

 sowing will do every bit as well. Four 

 and five inch pot plants are desirable 

 sizes and find a more ready sale. 



I saw a ground bed of Peonies being 

 forced at Harold Ryan's Greenhouses, 

 opposite Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cam- 

 bridge, and while this may be a more 

 or less common practice, it is the first 

 time that I ever saw it done. It ap- 

 peals to me, however, as a crop that 

 can be made profitable. He had a fine, 

 heavy set of buds, and these blooms 

 should bring quite a fair price, coming 

 in as they will before the outside crop. 

 I am not ready to vouch for what the 

 profit will l)e from this crop, but I 

 can't help thinking it will be well 

 worthy of a trial. 



It is doubtful if there ever has been 

 a time in the history of our business 

 when so much trouble has been caused 

 by delayed shipments, not only express 

 but parcel post as well, and I think 

 that every shipper of plants and flow- 

 ers is having about all the trouble that 

 he can handle. A great deal of this 

 delay can prol)ably be laid to the fact 

 that there is such an accumulation of 

 stock held over from the time of the 

 express strike, but it is also a fact that 

 freight and express matter is so heavy 

 that the railroads are not equipped 

 and are not keeping up with their in- 

 crease of business. Speaking for the 

 shipper who has a lot of stock to move 

 and wants to get the stock out in good 



lime, I want the buyer to stop ami 

 think tor a minute, and if your stock 

 does not come to you as promptly as 

 you expected, it may be the fault of 

 the express company and not the firm 

 from whom you bought. 1 know of one 

 grower who packed a lot of plants for 

 shipment to Cleveland. Part of the 

 shipment went out in the evening, part 

 of it not being finished in time was 

 held over to go the next morning. 

 When that stock was taken to the ex- 

 press oflice, the grower was informed 

 that the embargo was on again. That 

 particular lot of plants had been held 

 up for nearly two weeks awaiting an 

 opportunity of shipment. The crates 

 were delivered to the express ofiBce, 

 the express company refused to take 

 them, and they were returned to the 

 greenhouses and stock unpacked. An- 

 other attempt was made to send out, 

 and after waiting a number of days 

 and switched back and forth with the 

 information that the stock could go 

 the plants were finally sent out. All 

 the time, the customer on the other end 

 was getting more impatient, and neith- 

 er the buyer or shipper was to blame. 

 Would advise any grower shipping 

 now to ship in open crates. Don't pack 

 solid as there is danger of the stock 

 being on the road so long that it will 

 become heated in transit, and that 

 would mean a ruined lot of plants. 



There seems to be good prospects of 

 a generous supply of feverfew, stocks, 

 candytuft and gladioli for Memorial 

 Day. Let us hope thatitwillmateiialize. 

 From what I have been able to observe 



Crotons in 4-iiich l*ot>. 



