E^BRDABr 10. 1916.. 



The Florists^ Review 



19 



basket plants, as they have a natural 

 drooping tendency. Leave a hollowed 

 out space for water at the top of each 

 basket, as fuchsias are thirsty subjects 

 as well as active feeders. 



Hydrangeas for Easter. 



The new French hydrangeas are fine 

 for Easter, especially the pink and 

 white varieties. They force much more 

 easily than the old Otaksa. They are 

 somewhat more tender, however, and 

 if they are not treated carefully 

 mildew is liable to disfigure the foliage 

 and cripple them. Start them in a 

 temperature of 50 degrees. With a 

 late Easter, such as we shall have this 

 year, the plants should easily flower on 

 time in this temperature. Feed freely 

 when the flower heads show, discontinu- 

 ing this as the heads begin to show 

 color. From early started plants a 

 batch of cuttings should now be taken 

 and put in the propagating bench. Se- 

 lect shoots which are not flowering; 

 these are sometimes hard to find on 

 the French hydrangeas. 



Miscellaneous Basket Plants. 



Seeds of Maurandia Barclayana, both 

 the purple and white forms, should now 

 be sown; also seeds of Thunbergia 

 alata» Each of these makes an excel- 

 lent basket, vase or window-box plant. 

 (Lantanas are. not usiually grown in 

 baskets, but make splendid plants for 

 this purpose and, if only kept well fed 

 and watered, flower through the en- 

 tire summer. Linaria Cymbalaria, the 

 well known Kenilworth ivy, is another 

 valuable plant for hanging purposes, of 

 which a good stock should be worked 

 up. Glechoma variegata, the ground 

 ivy, can now be divided and potted. 

 These will grow fast in a carnation 

 temperature and can be propagated in 

 quantity before the spring sales start. 



Variegated Vinca. 



That indispensable basket plant, 

 Vinca variegata, is rarely overdone. 

 While some people may prefer the 

 green-leaved variety, the variegated 

 form has a large call. The larger and 

 stronger your plants are, the better 

 your customers will like them. Prob- 

 ably you have them standing along the 

 edges of the benches. They dry out 

 rapidly when the pots are matted with 

 roots; keep them well fed and watered. 

 A pinch of bone meal on the top of 

 each pot will soon be devoured by the 

 roots. Select some of the young shoots 

 starting from the base and put them 

 in the cutting bench. These soft cut- 

 tings will root easily now and, if 

 planted outdoors, will make nice stock 

 to pot up in the fall. 



Double Cornflowers. 



The fine cornfiowers seen in the mar- 

 kets at this season and earlier are pro- 

 duced from plants which, in many 

 ••ases, were field-grown and lifted in 

 September. Others are started in flats 

 and potted oflP, but the finest I have 

 seen were from lifted plants. For a 

 spring crop, seeds sown now will flower 

 within ten weeks and continue to bloom 

 until hot weather. The prices are not 

 ■'ligh when these flower, but if you have 

 i local call for them it would pay to 

 levote a portion of a bench to them. 

 Tf sown in rows, let the rows be twenty- 

 1 our inches apart, and if you want good 

 flowers thin them out to eight or nine 

 inches apart. These may look like 

 wide distances when the plants are 



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I WHO'S WHO SilSL AND WHY I 



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B. A. McPHEBON. 



DID you ever visit Litchfield, down in Illinois? No! Then you have yet to 

 know one of the finest little cities in the corn belt — midway between Spring- 

 field and St. Louis. But perhaps you already know McPheron? He is every- 

 where! No gathering of florists anywhere within a night's ride but what near 

 the top of the first page of the register you find "K. A. McPheron, Litchfield," 

 and the Cottage Greenhouses know him not until the festivities are done. He 

 may not look the part, but McPheron is a type of the country florists who form 

 the backbone of the trade. Looking after the growing himself, with the assist- 

 ance of his wife in the selling, there never has been a year he has not made 

 money and enjoyed life. 



small, but you will be surprised to see 

 how quickly the spaces will be filled. 

 A temperature of 48 to 50 degrees at 

 night suits cornflowers. The double 

 blue variety is the best seller. 



Jerusalem Cherries. 



Have you remembered to sow seeds 

 of Jerusalem cherries, the valuable 

 Christmas berried plants? If not, do so 

 without delay. Cuttings may also be 

 rooted and will give lower-headed 

 plants which will ripen their fruits ear- 

 lier, but they never make nice, bushy 

 plants like seedlings. Plant the seed- 

 lings out in May, pot them about the 

 last of August, when the berries are 

 all well set, keep them shaded and 

 sprayed until well established and you 

 will get plants which cannot fail to do 

 you credit. 



Cinerarias. 



The increasing power of the sun 

 makes it necessary to give cinerarias 

 some shade, or they will wilt badly. A 



spraying on all bright days will also 

 help to keep the leaves fresh and 

 plump. Give all well rooted plants ap- 

 plications of liquid manure once a 

 week unlil the flowers start to open, 

 when it is best to discontinue it, as it 

 is liable to take some of the color away 

 from the flowers. A cool, airy house 

 is what cinerarias like; 40 to 45 de- 

 grees at night is better than 50 de- 

 grees. It would not be wise to try to 

 hold any of the large-flowered type for 

 Easter, owing to its late date, but the 

 stellata type, which flowers a little 

 later, can be held easily in a cold house. 



Jackson, Midi. — A fire started by 

 crossed wires in the store of Henry M. 

 Burt completely ruined the fixtures and 

 contents of the establishment. Mr. 

 Burt estimated his loss at $2,000, which 

 he said was partially covered by in- 

 surance. Before the flames were ex- 

 tinguished Mr. Burt opened a store in 

 the Otsago building. 



