' OCTOBKB 12, 1916. 



The Florists' Review 



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Lath Frames and Slat Homes for Azaleas. Ten Thousand Azaleas In a Blgr Slat House. 



Azalea Indica is Practically Hardy in the Climate of Eureka^ but for Best Results is Grown Under Lattice. 



While Mr. Ward believes that he can 

 compete with the delivered prices of the 

 Belgian stock, he feels certain that 

 here, too, if necessary, the plants will 

 command a premium, first because they 

 are native and can be delivered in bet- 

 ter shape than those that suffer the 

 vicissittides of a fortnight in a steam- 

 er's hold, but also because they can be 

 delivered earlier and can easily be 

 brought in for Christmas. 



A Million Imported. 



The importance of the matter to the 

 trade at large may be illustrated by 

 the statement that Poehlmann Bros. 

 Co., Chicago, this year is importing 18,- 

 000 Belgian azaleas and that !^ank 

 Oechslin, another Chicago grower, is 

 importing 10,000 plants. If these can 

 be obtained in America without the 

 risks of such losses as occurred to near- 

 ly everyone who imported azaleas last 

 season, the man who shows the way will 

 be regarded as a benefactor of the trade 

 rather than as a man seeking profits. 



A considerable number of azaleas in 

 small lots have been placed with forcers 

 this season. Every man to whom the 

 proposition has been presented has been 

 interested and anxious to try the Amer- 

 ican stock. Its behavior will be closely 

 watched. It is estimated that the aver- 

 age annual importations have amounted 

 to 1,200,000 plants. 



A Oeneral View. 



Perhaps nothing will give a better 

 idea of the magnitude of Mr. Ward's 

 undertaking than an examination of the 

 general view of the nursery, shown on 



the first page of this article. This is 

 three photographs taken from the same 

 point and patched together. It shows 

 about two-thirds of the nursery and 

 there are more than two million plants 

 in the view. At the left is the rhodo- 

 dendron field, with a reservoir in the 

 background with a capacity of seven 

 million gallons of rain water. Mr. Ward 

 built this reservoir to insure an unlim- 

 ited supply of pure water for all prop- 

 agating and growing departments. One 

 year before this photograph was made 

 the rhododendron field was covered with 

 huge redwood stumps. When it is con- 

 sidered that the trees were from 2,000 

 to 3,000 years old the task of rooting 

 them out and clearing the land may be 

 imagined. 



In the center there are blocks that 

 contain approximately 300,000 ornamen- 

 tal nursery and forcing plants. Two 

 million more are growing in the propa- 

 gating department at the right. 



Slat Houses for Azaleas. 



The giant slat bouses are used for 

 azaleas. The lath frames are for the 

 small azalea plants and eventually these 

 latticed frames will cover the area of 

 two city blocks. Nine acres of azalea 

 houses are under construction. They 

 can be seen in the upper part of the 

 view. 



While Mr. Ward has been developing 

 his plant factory he has by no means 

 forgotten his old love for cut flower 

 production. One of his special de- 

 lights is the way that sweet peas grow 

 in this climate. The portrait on the 

 first page of this article shows him be- 



side a row of King White planted in 

 the shelter of a high board fence. The 

 seed was planted November 29, 1915^ 

 and the photograph was made Septem- 

 ber 1, 1916. The vines were twelve feet 

 high and a perfect mass of bloom. 



Back of the office building that can 

 be seen in the right end of the general 

 view there is a big Lord & Burnham 

 iron-frame greenhouse like the ones Mr. 

 Ward used to build in the east, and thi» 

 is being used for the same purpose. He 

 has filled it with carnations, merely be- 

 cause the carnation still is his hobby; 

 he cannot resist the desire to grow and 

 cross-fertilize the flower. 



Location, Soil, Climate. 



The Eden nursery comprises sixty-six 

 acres on the outskirts of Eureka, which 

 is about 200 miles north of San Fran- 

 cisco. It may be reached by the North- 

 western Pacific railroad or by the pas- 

 senger steamers that sail twice weekly 

 from San Francisco. But the finest 

 way to reach the spot is by automobile^ 

 for the road takes one through the 

 world-renowned giant redwoods district 

 of the Eel river basin. From the mo- 

 ment the automobile tourist leaves 

 Sausalito, his way leads through con- 

 tinuous and ever-recurring vistas of the 

 most enchanting scenery. 



The climatic conditions at Eureka 

 are the most equable of any known sec- 

 tion on this continent. Frosts seldom 

 occur and are so light that tbey do prac- 

 tically no damage. The summer tem- 

 perature seldom exceeds 72 degrees, and 

 the night temperature usually falls to 

 50 degrees. The rainfall is about forty- 



Field of 10,000 Boxwoods of VariooB Shapes. Field of 20,000 3year-oId Rhododendrons. 



Heretofore Practically all tfie Boxwoods and Forcing Rhododendrons Have Come from HolIan<I. 



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