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The Florists' Review 



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JUNB 1, 1916. 



them to their high state of perfection. 

 Here, again, the advantage of the out- 

 door varieties is manifest, in that they 

 do not need this expert treatment as 

 the exhibition varieties do. If the 

 plants, when they are set out, are plant- 

 ed in good, rich, mellow, average gar- 

 den soil, they will get along satisfac- 

 torily. If the leaves on the plants are 

 not as large as they might be, a sprink- 

 ling of bone meal on the soil and sev- 

 eral inches of well decomposed stable 

 fertilizer, spaded in during the month 

 of August, will help wonderfully in fin- 

 ishing the crop. 



As a rule, in the early fall the plants 

 are getting all the moisture they need 

 from the rains and therefore liquid feed- 

 ing may be dispensed with. 



Winter Protection. 



After the plants have flowered, the 

 question of protecting them through 

 the winter is of paramount importance. 

 Mr. Bergen, whom I have previously 

 mentioned, says that by his method he 

 has carried his plants over for years 

 and has yet to lose a root. After the 

 plants have finished blooming, he cuts 

 them down to about eight inches above 

 the ground and permits the autumn 

 leaves to blow in and fill up the beds. 

 If enough leaves do not blow in natu- 

 rally, he gathers them and covers the 

 beds to a depth of six or eight inches, 

 and then lays pine branches over the 

 tops of the beds to prevent the leaves 

 from blowing away. So treated, the 

 plants will not suflEer from freezing and 

 thawing in February and early March, 

 which is the cause of the death of so 

 much perennial stock that is usually 

 classed as hardy. The plants, being 

 kept covered from the sun, stay frozen 

 all winter and no harm results. 



This method would not be so effective 

 in a position where the ground is low 

 and the plants are liable to stand in 

 water. I am convinced that a large 

 percentage of mums die in the win- 

 ter because they are affected with * ' wet 

 feet," but a well drained piece of 

 ground, covered in the manner de- 

 scribed, will bring through in good 

 shape any of the mums I have men- 

 tioned. 



Hardy mums, while not as showy as 

 a bed of delphiniums or other blazing 

 summer beauties, are wonderfully at- 

 tractive and useful after all other flow- 

 ers are cut down by frost, and will 

 return to the cultivator results alto- 

 gether out of proportion to the labor 

 bestowed. 



POISONED BAIT FOR OUTWOEMS. 



Cutworms usually begin to damage 

 crops about this time in spring. Be- 

 tween this date and late June or early 

 July they often prove disastrous. The 

 worm, however, so closely resembles 

 the color of the soil in which it rests 

 during the day that the cause of the 

 crop injury is not always apparent. In 

 such cases a careful examination of 

 the soil surrounding the damaged plant 

 will probably reveal the worm curled 

 up in a little ball. 



"When cutworms are abundant the 

 use of poisoned bait is recommended 

 by W. R. Walton and J, J. Davis, of 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

 The poisoned bait may be prepared by 

 mixing fifty pounds of wheat bran, two 

 pounds of Paris green, and six finely 

 chopped oranges or lemons. Low-grade 

 molasses is added until the whole mix- 

 ture attains the consistency of a stiff 



dough. Water also may be added if 

 necessary, and middlings or alfalfa 

 meal may be substituted for the bran. 

 This bait should be distributed over 

 the infested area in small lumps, and 

 sprinkled sparingly around each plant. 



MUST LET OUR MAILS ALONE. 



"Delays in receiving shipping docu- 

 ments have caused great loss and in- 

 convenience by preventing prompt de- 

 livery of goods. In the case of the 

 MacNiff Horticultural Co., of New 

 York, large shipments of plants and 

 bulbs from Holland were, I am in- 

 formed, frozen on the wharves because 

 possession could not be obtained in the 

 absence of documents relating to them 

 which had been removed from the 

 Nieuw Amsterdam, Oosterdyk and Rot- 

 terdam," says President Wilson to the 

 British. 



At last the government of the United 

 States has taken action in thei matter 

 of British interference with our mails, 

 which has been a cause of delay and 

 loss to many florists, seedsmen and 

 nurserymen ever since the British be- 

 gan removing for censoring the mails 

 on the Holland-America line boats. 

 In a note to the British and French 

 governments, made public May 26, 

 President Wilson calls on the allies to 

 cease at once their illegal acts. The 

 note says: 



"The government of the United 

 States, in view of the improper meth- 

 ods employed by the British and French 

 authorities in interrupting mails passing 

 between the United States and other 

 neutral countries and between the 

 United States and the enemies of Great 

 Britain, can no longer tolerate the 

 wrongs which citizens of the United 

 States have suffered and continue to 

 suffer through these methods. 



^^^' 



"To submit to a lawless practice of 

 this character would open the door to 

 repeated violations of international 

 law by the belligerent powers on the 

 ground of military necessity, of which 

 the violator would be the sole judge. 



"Manifestly, a neutral nation cannot 

 permit its rights on the high seas to be 

 determined by belligerents or the ex- 

 ercise of those rights to be permitted 

 or denied arbitrarily by the govern- 

 ment of a warring nation. 



"The rights of neutrals are as sacred 

 as the rights of belligerents and must 

 be as strictly observed." 



The President expresses confidence 

 that the allies will abandon their illegal 

 practices and then concludes the note 

 thus: 



"Only a radical change in the pres- 

 ent British and French policy, restolring 

 to the United States its full right 'as a 

 neutral power, will satisfy this govern- 

 ment." 



In just what manner the President 

 will manifest his intolerance if the 

 allies do not accede to his demand to 

 cease interfering with American mails 

 is a matter upon which administration 

 officials confess they have no informa- 

 tion. The President, it seems, has not 

 disclosed even to his closest advisers 

 whether he intends to back up his 

 strong words with equally strong ac- 

 tion, and, if so, what form that action 

 will take. 



BUSINESS EMBARRASSMENTS. 



Newark, N. J. — A voluntary petition 

 in bankruptcy has been filed in the Dis- 

 trict court on behalf of Harry Van 

 Ness, of 613 Mill street, Belleville. The 

 schedule fixes the liabilities at $871 and 

 the assets at $325. Of the latter, ex- 

 emption is claimed for $200 worth of 

 stock. 



Mlddlebury, Vt.— William L. Ford 

 has completed a large addition to his 

 greenhouses on North street. 



Northboro, Mass. — It is reported that 

 W. P. Marshall has been made one of 

 the members of R. E. Wadsworth & Co. 



Pittsfield, Mass. — A greenhouse, 25x 

 50 feet, has been erected by F. M. Had- 

 selle, of West street. It will be planted 

 to bedding stock. 



Waltham, Mass.— Elliott S. Filson, 

 salesman for Peirce Bros., was married 

 last month to Harriet May Carter, his 

 former schoolmate. 



New Bedford, Mass. — William J. 

 Smith and Joseph S. Brown, the city 

 gardeners, recently were featured in 

 the daily press as "the men who make 

 the city's flowers bloom." 



Watertown, Mass. — At the flower 

 show in Boston last month, Alfred M. 

 Davenport captured first prize of $100 

 for a display of Azalea Indica, a group 

 covering 200 square feet. He also won 

 prizes for a group of foliage and flower- 

 ing plants, four specimen azaleas and 

 a tree fern. 



Franklin, Mass.— W. H. T. Bock is 

 preparing to erect a greenhouse 20x100. 

 He was brought up in the florists' busi- 

 ness and later went into professional 

 life, but now returns to his first love. 



Farmington, Conn. — James E. Mal- 

 lette was in a hurry one day last month 

 and drove his auto through a lengthy 

 funeral procession. The following 

 morning his mail contained a surprise 

 in the form of a notice to appear in 

 court, to answer a charge of violating a 

 statute prohibiting anyone from inter- 

 secting a procession of mourners. The 

 fine was $5 and costs. A demurrer was 

 filed, but in vain. 



Brockton, Mass. — One of Brockton's 

 enterprising newspapers last month sup- 

 plied its readers with the following in- 

 formation concerning the origin of 

 Mothers' day: "Although the observ- 

 ance of Mothers' day in this country is 

 comparatively recent, the rites and cere- 

 monies of the day date back to two 

 centuries before Christ, when the day 

 was observed in ancient Greece." Won- 

 der what Miss Jarvis has to say to 

 thatt 



