24 



The Florists^ Review 





NOTEMBEB 30, 1916. 



THE aOOSE FLOWER. 



Some species of plants, like many 

 human beings, have a strong propensity 

 toward the f reakiBh,^ the bizarre or the 

 sensational. We all know people of 

 that sort. In dress, in speech or in 

 general conduct they display a constant 

 inclination toward the grotesque. Some 

 of them possess a brilliant oddity of 

 inteUect that verges either on genius or 

 insanity; they are merely acting natu- 

 rajljr/ In -other cases the outrfi per- 

 formances are part of a persistent, 

 clever scheme of self-advertising. It 

 woijld'be easy, but dangerous, to cite a 

 few: welX-Jknowh examples of these 

 speeiacular self-boomers. And this 

 wea^j old world, satiated with the com- 

 monplace, welcomes or at leaM toler- 

 ates most of these queer specimens of 

 humanity.- '- ^. 



^toong plants there i^e few that are 

 more consistently^slfreaWish in their be- 

 havior than; the liristolochfes. Conse- 

 qu'ejotly many of them are cultivated 

 chi,elly on Account of the extraordinary 

 foriDs ©f their flowers and in spite of 

 their defects, such as the disagreeable 

 odrtr of some of them^an odor which 

 would not be called fragrance even by 

 the flowers' stanchest friends. 



A^ 18 wejl known, several species of 

 aristolochfa are named after oddly 

 shaped objects, animate or inanimate, 

 wl^h they resemble. Probably the 

 mtmi; familiar instance of this is Aristo- 

 lo<J|ia macrophylla or A. Sipho, the 

 Dutchman's pipe. This plant, how- 

 ever, really owes its popularity to its 

 genuine, unquestioned merits as a vine, 

 rather than to its flowers, which, though 

 curiously formed, are not especially 

 conspicuous. Other examples of the 

 fantastic among these plants are: 

 Aristolochia cymbifera, boat-shaped; 

 A, ornithocephala, bird's head, and A. 

 tricaudata, three-tailed. One variety 

 has even been named A. ridicula; 

 among its appendages are two long 

 lobes which are said to "remind one 

 of a donkey's ears." 



Perhaps the most striking of all the 

 aristolochias, however, is A. grandi- 

 flora Sturtevantii, the goose flower, a 

 good specimen of which is shown in the 

 illustration, reposing on a lady's arm 

 and looking, indeed, remarkably like a 

 pet bird with a sleepy disposition and 

 an absurdly long,' slender tail. The tail 

 reminds one of Euclid's definition of a 

 line, "length without breadth." The 

 goose flower has other common names, 

 such as swan flower, duck flower and 

 pelican flower. 



The vine which bore this particular 

 goose flower was grown in one of the 

 greenhouses of John P. Rupp, of Shire- 

 manstown, Pa. Mr. biipp states that 

 the vine had a fine crop of "geese" 

 in October and aroused a good deal of 

 interest, attracting many visitors to 

 the greenhouses and securing favorable 

 notices in the Harrisburg and 

 Mechanicsburg newspapers. The flower 

 when he photographed it, he says, was 

 eleven inches wide and seventeen inches 

 long, without the tail, which had a 

 length of eighteen inches. The lady in 

 the picture is a teacher in the school of 

 which Mr. Rupp has for many years 

 been one of the trustees, and her pupils 

 were among the most interested inves- 

 tigators of the goose flowers and the 

 greenhouses. 



The goose flower should be grown 

 under glass, and one writer naively sug- 

 gests that it is " most suitable for large 



structures," owing to its pronounced 

 odor. It is easily propagated by means 

 of cuttings taken from well matured 

 wood in early spring. It should be 

 planted in a bed of good soil, in a 

 warm house where it can be con- 

 veniently trained up pillars, rafters or 

 a trellis. It is not well adapted for 

 pot culture. 



OBITUARY 



SEEDLING PERENNIALS. 



I sowed seed of sweet williams, fox- 

 gloves, hollyhocks and delphiniums 

 about August 19. The hollyhocks and 

 delphiniums I have potted into 2%- 

 inch pots. The sweet williams and 

 foxgloves were pricked out into flats. 

 Vhey are all growing nicely. Will they 



Yoo Always Carry a Goose This Vay. 



flower next summer? What protection 

 shall I give them for winter? 



D. H.— 0. 



You sowed the perennials too late to 

 get a satisfactory crop of flowers next 

 season. The sweet williams and del- 

 phiniums will flower, but the foxgloves 

 and hollyhocks will hardly be of suffi- 

 cient size and strength to do so. To 

 carry these over winter successfully, 

 store them in a well built coldframe 

 and when freezing weather arrives 

 cover them with dry leaves, placing 

 sashes over these and board shutters 

 over the sashes, to prevent snow from 

 breaking the glass. Give some venti- 

 lation during mild weather, but be sure 

 to keep the leaves in a perfectly dry 

 condition; then each plant should win- 

 ter perfectly. 



Another season, if you want plants 

 of sufficient size and strength to flower 

 satisfactorily, sow foxgloves and sweet 

 williams early in June and hollyhocks 

 and delphiniums about July 1. 



C. W. 



Sallna, Kan. — Edward Lotz, who has 

 been in the seed business here for many 

 years under the name of the Western 

 Seed House, has leased one of the best 

 located stores in the downtown district 

 and opened a retail flower store, han- 

 dling bulbs and plants in addition to 

 cut flowers. 



8. J. Beuter. 



The death of S. J. Renter, one of the 

 pioneer florists of New England, took 

 place at his home at Westerly, R. I., 

 November 23, interment being Novem- 

 ber 26 in the presence of a large num- 

 ber of members of the trade from Bos- 

 ton, New York, Philadelphia and other 

 points. 



S. J. Renter was 65 years of age Oc- 

 tober 7, 1916, the family having re- 

 moved to Westerly from Norwich, 

 Conn., in 1880, in which year he started 

 a retail florists* business which grew 

 to large proportions. In the course of 

 time a greenhouse establishment was 

 started on the main road from Westerly 

 to the fashionable Watch Hill resort, 

 the glass being added to from year to 

 year until it became the largest ra,nge 

 in the vicinity, known far and wide. 

 The place always has been kept spick- 

 and-span, an advertisement for flo- 

 rists of inestimable value. A general 

 line of plants and cut flowers is grown, 

 for the retail stores opened at Norwich 

 and New London, Conn., in addition to 

 the one at Westerly, and for the whole- 

 sale markets of several large cities 

 within easy reach. 



Mr. Renter's son, Louis J. Renter, 

 grew up in the business, which was in- 

 corporated in 1907, the founder gradu- 

 ally relinquishing the active manage- 

 ment to the son, upon whose shoulders 

 the principal responsibility has rested 

 in recent years. 



Joseph Henry Cushing. 



Joseph Henry Cushing, one of the 

 most successful greenhousemen in 

 Rhode Island, died November 25 at his 

 home at Quidnick, R. I., following a 

 three weeks' illness. He was in his 

 sixty- sixth year. 



Although engaged at different pe- 

 riods of his active business life in 

 several lines of industry, the deced- 

 ent's greatest success was achieved in 

 connection with the Quidnick Green- 

 houses. The flowers grown therein were 

 shipped to Boston and New York, as 

 well as to the smaller cities of the 

 east. 



Mr. Cushing was born in Fiskeville, 

 R. I., in 1851, a son of Mr. and Mrs. 

 Chauncey Cushing. He received his 

 elementary education at a private 

 school at River Point, R. I., and later 

 was graduated from the East Green- 

 wich, R. I., Academy and a business 

 college of Providence. Upon complet- 

 ing his course at the latter institution 

 he established a grocery business at 

 Anthony, R. I., but this was not success- 

 ful. Later he opened a grocery at 

 Quidnick, which grew rapidly. After 

 fifteen years he disposed of the busi- 

 ness to his brother-in-law and a partner. 



Previous to disposing of his grocery 

 business Mr. Cushing developed a fond- 

 ness for plants and flowers, and after 

 the sale he invested his savings in 

 greenhouses. These were successful 

 from the start and soon covered sev- 

 eral acres, roses being one of the spe- 

 cialties. The range he continued until 

 about a year ago, when he sold his busi- 

 ness to other parties, who have con- 

 tinued the business under the style of 

 Quidnick Greenhouses, Inc. 



