Fbbbuaky 15, 1917. 



The Florists' Review 



17 



SEASONABLE NOTES. 



Baising Cattleya Seedlings. 



February and March are suitable 

 months in which to make sowings of 

 seeds of cattleyas and other orchids. 

 Only a few specialists are as yet doing 

 this work and they are in the main de- 

 voting their energies to raising hybrids. 

 We have a bewildering multiplicity of 

 these already and the end is not nearly 

 in sight. What we need, however, is 

 that one or two growers break away 

 from the work of cross breeding and 

 raise seedlings in quantities of the 

 standard cattleyas, especially C. labiata, 

 which becomes scarcer and smaller each 

 year. 



To raise orchid seedlings successfully, 

 a warm, moist house is needed. A glass 

 case or cases must be provided, in which 

 pots containing fern fiber on which to 

 sow the seeds are to be placed. Do not 

 use any moss; it makes too much growth 

 and smothers the seedlings. Coarse bath 

 toweling or burlap stretched across the 

 inside of the cases I have found good for 

 seedling raising; also, pots filled with 

 fern fiber and the tops covered with bur- 

 lap, tucked in well to make a firm, 

 smooth and well. rounded surface. The 

 burlap should be moistened with a fine 

 sprayer before the seed is sown. 



Germinating the Seeds. 



A close atmosphere and fine sprayings 

 are necessary. Sprayings may be need- 

 ed once or twice a day, according to the 

 weather. Admit air sparingly at first, 

 but do not keep the atmosphere too 

 close, as that would promote a slimy 

 growth on the seeded surfaces. Shade 

 from all sunshine. As the tiny seedlings 

 appear, a little air can be left on all 

 night. To prevent damage from snails 

 and other pests, all pots should be ele- 

 vated on other pots, which stand in 

 trays of water. The raising of orchid 

 seedlings is fussy but interesting work 

 and will some day become a consider- 

 able industry in America. Let us, how- 

 ever, have more seedlings of good com- 

 mercial varieties of proven value and 

 less of the bigeneric hybrids whose 

 names and numbers are becoming be- 

 wildering. 



Cattleya Schroederse now has its 

 sheaths well made up and while it proves 

 less popular on the markets than C. 

 labiata and C. Trianse, it fills in a gap 

 nicely until C. Mossiae and C. Mendellii 

 come in season. Give all these spring 

 and early summer cattleyas a light posi- 

 tion, so that the growths will be well 

 ripened. You can shade heavily in win- 

 ter and get plants of a rich, dark green 



color, but they will invariably flower 

 disappointingly. If you are buying any 

 freshly imported cattleyas, place your 

 orders early. Supplies this season are 

 more or less uncertain and, the demand 

 being strong, all will not secure the 

 plants they need. 



A VALUABLE TEIAN.ffi PLANT. 



Just figure it for yourself. Sev- 

 enty-nine blooms, all on one Cattleya 

 Trian8B plant! Seventy-nine blooms, 

 each worth — Hold on there! We are 

 going too fast. If you intend to fig- 

 ure it for yourself, you must place your 

 own valuation on the blooms. What 

 would they probably be worth in your 

 market? In the florists' business there 

 are many uncertainties — enough of 

 them, one would think, to make a gam- 

 bler feel at home in the trade — and 

 among these uncertainties the prices 

 must be included. Still, at any reason- 

 able, average appraisement, a Trianse 

 plant with seventy-nine blooms would 

 not be wasting space in the greenhouse. 

 It would not be merely cumbering the 

 ground, like the fruitless fig tree in 

 sacred writ. 



The 79-flowered Trianse was grown at 

 the Dale Estate, at Brampton, Ont., and 

 W. G. Peacock, of that establishment, 

 supplied the photograph from which the 

 illustration was made. Of course so 

 small a snapshot could not do full jus- 

 tice to the original, though the plant 

 was tilted toward the camera at an an- 

 gle that brought as many of the blooms 

 as possible into view. Mr. Peacock is 



authority for the number of blooms. 

 He remarks that the plant was a mag- 

 nificent specimen, though only 4 years 

 old. The grower of it says that in his 

 thirty years of experience he has never 

 seen a better sample of Cattleya Trianse. 

 The grower does not say anything 

 about his cultural methods; that might 

 be a long story. At any rate, though 

 two cooks use the same recipe and the 

 same materials, one may concoct a dish 

 so delicious as to deserve the name of 

 angels' food, while the other may hand 

 out a conglomeration so unpalatable or 

 indigestible as to " drive a man to 

 drink." And there is as much difference 

 in growers as in cooks. 



AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY. 



Executive Committee Meeting. 



The executive committee of the Amer- 

 ican Eose Society met in Philadelphia 

 February 8 to take up matters pertain- 

 ing to the coming show. A list of names 

 for judges was presented, and those on 

 the list will be communicated with, re- 

 questing their services as judges at the 

 spring exhibition. 



The premium list is growing by the 

 addition of special premiums, and the 

 interest that is being taken to make this 

 a great show certainly warrants the be- 

 lief that there will be nothing lacking 

 for a great, popular exhibition. The re- 

 turns from the call for fifty per cent 

 of the guarantee fund have been most 

 satisfactory. Application was made for 

 the registration of four new roses, which 

 was submitted to the committee for re- 

 port. 



The Portland rose test garden, which 

 has been receiving careful attention for 

 several months, was brought forward 

 the discussion showing that January 11 

 at Portland, representatives of ninety- 

 nine different organizations met, includ 

 ing members of the Royal Rosarians, 

 Portland Rose Society, Portland Cham 

 ber of Commerce, Portland Floral So 

 ciety, Rotary Club, Research Club 

 American Institute of Architects, Par 

 ents' and Teachers' Association, etc 

 who organized themselves into the Port- 

 land Association National Rose Test 

 Garden. 



Portland Site of Test Garden. 



This organization was promised the 

 cooperation of the city government of 



Cattleya Trianae Flowered at Dale Estate^ with Seventy-nine Blooms. 



