Febuiaky 15, litlT. 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



SEASONABLE NOTES. 



Raising Cattleya Seedlings. 



February ami March are suitable 

 uiouths iu which to inal<e sdwiuf^s of 

 seeds of catth\vas and otlior or(diids. 

 Only a few specialists are as yet doiug 

 tliis work anil they are in the main de- 

 \oting their enerjjies to raising hybrids. 

 Wo have a bewildering niultii)licity of 

 those already and tlie end is not nearly 

 ill sigiit. Wiiat wo need, liowever, is 

 that one or two growers break away 

 from the work of cross breeding and 

 raise seedlings in quantities of the 

 standard cattleyas, esjiecially C. labiata, 

 wliicli becomes scarcer and smaller each 

 year. 



To raise orchid seedlings successfully, 

 a warm, moist house is needed. A glass 

 case or cases must be jiro\ided, in which 

 ]iots containing fern liber on whidi to 

 sow the seeds are to be jdaced. Do not 

 use any moss; it makes too much growth 

 Tiid siniithers the secillings. Coarse batii 

 tiiw(ding or burl:i]i sti'ctclied across tlie 

 insid(> of the cases 1 ha\e found good for 

 si'cdling raising; also, jjots Idled witli 

 fern fiber and the tops covered with bur- 

 lap, tucked in well to make a firm, 

 smooth and well rounded surface. The 

 iiurlap should be moistened with a line 

 ■^lirayor before tlu; seed is sown. 



Germinating the Seeds. 



A close atmosphere and fine sprayings 

 are necessary. tSprayings may be need- 

 *'d once or twice a day, according to the 

 weather. Admit air sparingly at first, 

 but do not kee[) the atmosphere too 

 'lose, as that would promote a slimy 

 .growth on the seciled surfaces. Shade 

 .'roin all sunsiiine. As the tiny seedlings 

 ■|p['e;ir, a little air can be left on all 

 'light. To jirevent d.amage from snails 

 irid other pests, all pots should be ele- 

 ' ated on other jiots, whi(di stand in 

 Trays of water. The raising of orchid 

 ;-'edHngs is fussy but interesting work 

 and will some day become a consider- 

 able industry iji America. Let us, how- 

 ever, have more seedlings of good com- 

 mercial varieties of proven value and 

 iess of the bigeneric hybrids whoso 

 •lami's jind nund)ers are becoming be- 

 >\ iiilering. 



Cattleya Schroedera" now has its 

 sheaths well made up and while it proves 

 less popular on the markets than C. 

 labiata and C. Triana', it fills in a gap 

 nicely until C. Mossia> and C. Mendellii 

 come in season. Give all these spring 

 and early summer cattleyas a light posi- 

 tion, 80 that the growths will be well 

 ripened. You can shade In^ivily in win- 

 ter and get plants of a ri(di, dark green 



color, but t]H\v will invariably llower 

 disapiiointingly. If you are buying any 

 freshly im])orted cattleyas, ]dace your 

 orders early. Su])plies this season are 

 more or less uncertain and, th.e demand 

 being strong, all will not secure the 

 jdaiits they need. 



A VALUABLE TRIANA PLANT. 



.lust figure it for yourself. Sev- 

 enty-nine blooms, all on one Cattleya 

 Triaiui' i)lant! Se\ cnty-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 \aluation on the blooms. What 

 would they probaldy 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 uncertninti(>s the prices 

 must be iiuluded. Still, at any n>ason- 

 able, aver.age ai>itraiscmeiit, ;i Triamin 

 jilant with seventy nine blooms would 

 iidt be wasting space in the gn-enlmuse. 

 It would not be merely cumlK'ring the 

 ground, like the friiitleNS fig tree in 

 sacred writ. 



The TiMloNvered Triaiue was gmwu at 

 llie l>ale I'^state, at 1 '.ramptoii. Out., and 

 W. (i. I'eacoidv, ef that e>tal)lisliment, 

 '^n|iplie(| the plod ii;^raidi frmn wliicdi the 

 illustiatiiin was made. Of course 80 

 small a snajishot could not do full Jus- 

 tice to the original, tli(>ui:h ihe plant 

 was tilteil toward the camera at an an- 

 gle that brought as many of tlie blooms 

 as possible into view. Mr. I'eacock is 



autlioritv I'oi' the niiinber o l' idoonis. 

 Jle remaiks. tliat tlo' plant was a, mag- 

 nilieent speejnieii, tlioagli only 1 vears 

 old. The grower of it says that in Ids 

 thirty xcais ol' ('\|ieri' 'irr lie has nevi.T 

 sei II a liet ter sa 111 pie ol ' at t leya Ti'ia luc. 

 The i^rouer ijors lo'l say anything 

 about his cultural methods; that might 

 be a long story. At :iny rate, tlimigh 

 two cooks use the saiiii' recijie and the 

 same materials, one iiia\- eoncoc-i a dish 



so delicious as to (h'seiAc Ihe name of 

 angels" foo(l, while thi- otiii-r iiia\' hand 

 out a congloiiii'i at iiui so uii|ia lat.aiile or 

 indigestilile as to ' ' d i i \ e a niaii to 

 drink."" And there is ;,- nnicli dilTeiriico 

 in gr(M\i'rs as in cooks. 



AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY. 



Executive Committee Meeting. 



The execnti\e comiiiittee ot' the Amer- 

 ican Jfose Societ\' met in I'hiladtdphia 

 I'ehruary 8 to take up matters pertain- 

 ing to the coming show. A list of names 

 for Judges was [iresiait eil, and those oil 

 the list will be cominiinicati'd \\ith, re- 

 "piesting tludr ser\ices as Judges at the 

 spring exhibition. 



The jircmium list is growing by the 

 .addition of spe(d;d premiums, ami the 

 interest that is being taken to make this 

 ;i great show certainly w.arrants the be- 

 lief that there will be nothing lacdving 

 for a great, jiopul.ar exhibition. The re- 

 turns from the call for lit'ty jier cent 

 (d" the giiarantc^e fund lia\i.' been most 

 s.atisfa(dory. Ap|dication \v,as made t'nr 

 the registration ol' fonr new roses, \\ hich 

 was submitted to the committee for re- 

 port. 



The rorfland rose test garden, \vhi<di 

 has been recei\ing caret'ul attention I'or 

 se\eral months, was brought forward, 

 the discussion showing that .Ianiiar\- 11, 

 at i'ortl.'ind, repri'seii t at i \ es ot' ninety- 

 nine dilferi-nt or^ani/at ions inet. includ- 

 ing meniber< ot' the K'oyal Kosariaiis, 

 Portland b'os,. Society, I'ortland rh;im- 

 ber ol' ('oinmerci', I'ortland l'b.r;il So- 

 ciety, b'otar\- Club, b'esc-i i ,h <'lub, 

 Anieiiian Institute ol" Arejiiti'cts, Par- 

 ents" a:el Teaidiers' Assnciat ion. etc., 

 who oli;aili/ed ! hill|si'l\ rs into the Port- 

 land Assnciat ioii National Po-c Test 

 (.aid. 11. 



Portland Site of Test Garden. 



This oigani/atioii w.as priuni-.-.l the 

 coiiperatiuu of the city gos crumeiit of 



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



