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December 7, 1016. 



The Florists' Review 



21 



trouble. Now, we florists, here in the 

 Twin Cities, might form a union and 

 get them all — growers, wholesalers, re- 

 tailers and so on — to join and make 

 every member take the pledge not to 

 sell to department stores, unless he can 

 .get the right prices. 



Let me tell you, Mr. Editor, it 

 wouldn't do us a bit of good. There 

 are hundreds of growers in the country 

 towns who are too willing to ship car- 

 loads of stock any minute. The whole- 

 sale houses in other cities, when over- 

 stocked, will sell flowers at any price, 

 roses as well as rat-tails, as long as 



there is money in sight. I do not want 

 to ventilate this most serious ^question 

 any farther. I just say this much: It 

 is a shame that roses must be sold at 

 prices as low as 15, 20 and 25 cents per 

 dozen. It is not the money we lose 

 every day, oh no! What bothers me 

 most is the cheap opinion the public, 

 especially the women of the less affluent 

 classes, have about flowers. They talk 

 about roses, carnations, mums and 

 other stock as if flowers were on a par 

 with weeds and as easy to grow as 

 weeds. 

 Twenty years ago rose growers grew 



long-stemmed, first-class flowers and re- 

 ceived a good price for them. Today 

 seventy to eighty per cent of the stock 

 Is short-stemmed, weak-iecked, inferior 

 looking and it is this stock that the 

 department and cut-rate flower stores 

 do business with. These stores ruin 

 prices and make the people think noth- 

 ing more of flowers than they do of a 

 bushel of potatoes. 



If every grower would make it a 

 principle to grow long-stemmed, good 

 flowers, all complaints about this dis- 

 loyal trade would vanish in air. 



C. Bussjaeger. 



TESTING CANNAS IN TENNESSEE. 



[This is the second of four articles containing 

 a record of the results of canna tests conducted 

 near Nashville, Tenn. The first article was pub- 

 lished In The Review of November 9. The re- 

 maining two articles will appear in early issues 

 of the paper.] 



The first of this series of articles 

 treated of white and variegated cannas. 

 This article is devoted principally to 

 pink varieties, but closes with a refer- 

 ence to one canna that is excellent 

 when used as a foliage plant. 



A few ye^es ago there were no good 

 pink cannas, and it was deemed almost 

 impossible tMt any would be produced. 

 Now there ^ no color that is better 

 represented'^'^y first-class varieties, and 

 they are ffecoming more and more 

 prominent .^jfery year. 



Among the Pink Varieties. 



Hungaria was one of the first really 

 high-class pink cannas, and many like 

 it the best of all even yet. We have 

 grown several thousand roots this year, 

 and can say that it is good in every 

 way. But it is not pure pink, beinjj 

 bordered and more or less mottled with 

 cream. No one can go wrong on this 

 variety. 



Maid of Orleans is somewhat similar 

 to Hungaria in size and color, being a 

 purer pink where it is pink, but also 

 having more of the cream. It has one 

 point of superiority over Hungaria, and 

 in fact over almost all other green- 

 leaved cannas; namely, its matchless 

 foliage. It will become one of the most 

 popular of its color when generally 

 known. 



The variety Mrs. Alfred Conard has 

 always appealed to us as the best pink 

 until this year. It is just as good as 

 it ever was, but its descendant, City 

 of Portland, beats it. 



Excels Its Parent. 



City of Portland was introduced this 

 year. We have grown 500 or 600 roots, 

 and unhesitatingly pronounce it the 



best pink canna on the market today. 

 It has a solid color of a better shade of 

 pink than either Hungaria or its own 

 parent, Mrs. Alfred Conard. And it is 

 a stronger grower and a freer bloomer, 

 with better foliage than either. 



Rosea gigantea continues to be the 

 best canna of its color, a deep rose-pink. 

 It cannot be said to be a pure pink, for 

 it is too nearly red, but it is a great 

 canna and will long be one of those 

 that give satisfaction to all buyers. 



Arc-en-ciel, a new foreign variety, is 

 the only rival to Canna rosea gigantea, 

 which it most nearly resembles in color, 

 though it has a yellowish cast. This 

 would be a great canna were not C. 

 rosea gigantea better. 



True to Their Indian Najnes. 



In Pocahontas we have the perfection 

 of a large, free-flowered pink canna, 

 with an abundance of good bronze 

 foliage. This year it developed, along 

 with the pink, a delightful, tawny, In- 

 dian shade which it did not show last 

 year. This adds greatly to its beauty. 

 When this is cheaper it will be one of 

 the best dozen commercial cannas, we 

 believe. 



About the variety Wabash we would 

 repeat all that we said a year ago. It 

 is a bigger and better C. rosea gigantea, 

 on good bronze foliage. What more 

 could be asked for it? 



]\Iinnehaha is a variety that appeals 

 to us strongly, having almost a white 

 ground, clouded and shaded with pink, 

 creamy copper and all of the shades 

 that we usually associate with Indian 

 coloring. It will never be a popular 

 bedder, even though it has excellent 

 bronze foliage, for the reason that it is 

 not "loud" enough, but to those who 

 grow flowers for their quiet beauty it 

 will fill a large place. 



Yes, there are plenty more pinks, and 

 good ones, too — some so decidedly good 

 that they would be highly praised were 

 it not that those already mentioned are 



the best, and there is not space enough 

 to tell of them all. We have a seedling 

 of our own that is hard to beat, but a 

 pink canna, to merit introduction at 

 this time, must be * ' some ' ' canna. An- 

 other year will tell whether ours is one 

 of that sort. 



Effective as a Foliage Plant. 



A second year with the canna named 

 Greenback only convinces us more 

 fully of its wonderful merits as a foli- 

 age plant. Where tropical effects are 

 desired, such as are usually sought by 

 the use of bananas, there is no other 

 plant we have ever seen that can com- 

 pare with it. The plant resembles a 

 banana so far as the leaves go, and it 

 produces four times as many of them. 

 The plant multiplies as rapiiliy as most 

 kinds and grows to a height of fully 

 eight feet, with good cultivation. We 

 have never had a bloom on it. 



Floyd Bralliar. 



Owosso, Mich.— M. A. Herrick, pro- 

 prietor of the Sunnyside Greenhouses, 

 has completed the erection of a house 

 50x100, which will be planted to 

 Ophelia roses. Another addition, 20x 

 50, will be used for violets. 



White Marsh, Md.— Richard Vincent, 

 .Tr., has liad a busy lecture season, which 

 he closes for 1016, December 9, before 

 the students of the Sparks high school 

 of Baltimore county. November 29 he 

 lectured before the students and faculty 

 of the Maryland Agricultural College 

 and Experiment Station. 



Hamburg, N. Y.— C. T. Guenther has 

 a pure white sport of Chrysanthemum 

 Maud Dean with which he has been ex- 

 tremely successful for several seasons. 

 The variety is of special interest be- 

 cause it can be had in bloom in Decem- 

 ber, or even in January. Mr. Guenther 

 has made arrangements with the Wm. 

 F. Kasting Co., of Buffalo, to distribute 

 the variety next spring. 



