

14 



The Florists' Review 



February 3, 1916. 



away in cells the purpose of whose ex- 

 istence is to serve as repositories for 

 reserve material, pending the time when 

 the plant will have use for it. 



During August, September and Octo- 

 ber the percentage of sunlight is high. 

 Day in and day out the leaf cells work 

 incessantly, creating compounds out of 

 raw material, transporting as much as 

 is required to points where growth is 

 going on and transporting the balance 

 to the reserve or repository cells. 



Using Beserve Energy. 



Then comes November, bleak, cold 

 November, with its shortening days, 

 cloudy skies and cold atmosphere. Sun- 

 light is decreased to a point inadequate 

 to meet the current requireinents of 

 growth, and, according to the system 

 under which cell extension is conducted, 

 the plants should pass into a semi- 

 comatose condition. This will happen 

 and should happen if the plants lacked 

 sufficient leaf area during August, Sep- 

 tember and October to permit provident 

 provision against such an exigency. 



Plants whose growth during those 

 months of maximum sunlight was suffi- 

 cient to permit the manufacturing and 

 storing away of reserve building mate- 

 rials are now able to continue expansion 



is more j)revalent than was the case in 

 November and December. This fact in 

 itself seems to sustain the theory that 

 growth during the first two months of 

 the discussed period is able to go for- 

 ward without perceptible retardation, 

 through the utilization of the building 

 materials manufactured and stored 

 away during August, September and 

 October, and that growth during the 

 last two months of the dark-weather 

 period is only extended in proportion 

 to the building materials manufactured 

 in the leaf cells during the hours of 

 sunlight occurring in these two months, 

 January and February. 



Will Electricity Solve the Problem? 



The big proposition to be solved by 

 the constituents of rosedom, in order 

 to obviate this ostensible cause of an- 

 nual January and February rose dearth, 

 is the substitution of artificial light for 

 solar light during the dark weather in 

 November and December. 



Electricity would solve the problem. 

 But would the cost of the installation 

 and operation of the necessary appa- 

 ratus, augmented by the cost of current, 

 be reasonable enough to afford a small 

 margin of profit from the sale of in- 

 creased production? 



Better still, could not electricity be 



modes of circumvention now within his 

 reach. Keep all sashbars, supports and 

 structural work immaculately clean. 

 Paint them with aluminum bronze. Be- 

 move as much as possible of the shadow- 

 producing material. Try to produce as 

 much leaf growth as possible on your 

 plants during the summer and early fall. 

 At all times bear in mind that it is the 

 province of the leaves to absorb the 

 colored rays of the sun, and the condi- 

 tion of the structural work should be 

 such as to permit its reflecting the rays 

 that fall upon its surface downward 

 onto the leaves of the plants. 



To see that all these admonitions are 

 heeded will result in at least a small 

 increase in productivity. 



AMEBIOAN CABNATION SOCIETY. 



The Banquet. . 



The twenty-fifth anniversary meeting 

 of the American Carnation Society, re- 

 ported in full in The Review for Jan- 

 uary 27, closed with a banquet at the 

 Planters' hotel, a fine affair in which 

 150 guests and local florists partici- 

 pated. Mrs. David Scott Gfeddis dis- 

 tinguished herself by singing several 

 selections with the excellent orchestra 

 that furnished music through the eve- 



Banquet of American Caraation Society at the Planiers' Hotel, St. Louii, January 27. 



without perceptible hindrance. Chem- 

 ical action withdraws, as needed, the 

 reserve materials from the storage cells 

 and conveys them to the parts where 

 growth is going on. 



When the Beserve is Exhausted. 



Observation and theory, based partly 

 on scientific knowledge and partly on 

 conjecture, seem to indicate that the 

 supply of stored up nutrients is only 

 sufficient to properly mature December 

 growth, or, in trade parlance, Christ- 

 mas crops. 



As soon as this growth is severed 

 from the plants, a recurrence of activ- 

 ity in cell expansion is markedly slow. 

 The plants seem to stand still and do 

 not begin to produce satisfactorily 

 again until around the middle of Feb- 

 ruary. Sunlight during the interval 



generated in the power plant of every 

 greenhouse at a small advance over the 

 average cost of steam generation? 

 Some day some of our geniuses will get 

 their heads together and this dream 

 will be transformed into an actuality. 

 Fancy the sight some of our large 

 tose establishments would present on a 

 cloudy November day! Myriads of arc 

 lights over the roofs of the houses, ra- 

 diating a golden glow and imparting 

 energy to the plants within, causing 

 them to perform an honest day's toil 

 in payment of the heat expended on 

 them, and eliminating the rose growers ' 

 bugaboo, low January and February 

 production! 



Present Possibilities. 



Until such a boon is possible it will 

 behoove the rosarian to utilize the 



ning. The tables were handsomely dec- 

 orated with carnations from the exhibi- 

 tion hall. After cigars had been passed 

 President-elect J. F. Ammann. the toast- 

 master, praised the heads of the local 

 committees for the great work they ac- 

 complished and gave them full credit 

 for the success of the meeting. He 

 then called upon George Asmus, of Chi- 

 cago, chairman of the National Flower 

 Show committee. Mr. Asmus spoke in 

 glowing terms of the show to be held 

 in Philadelphia next month and urged 

 all to attend. 



President Joseph Hill spoke of this 

 year's meeting as the best the society 

 has ever held and said, from the com- 

 ments of the other members, St. Louis 

 can have the meeting whenever it wants 

 it. \ 



Vice-president-elect W. J. Yesey, Jr., 



\ 



^ J 



