Decembkr 14, 191t). 



The Florists^ Review 



35 



much greater, since the European plant 

 belongs to one genus, viscum, and the 

 American to another, phoradendron. 

 There are about eleven species of the 

 American form, widely scattered 

 through the south and southwest, and 

 occasionally growing as far north as 

 New Jersey and Ohio. Several species 

 have been reported from Missouri, al- 

 though it is rare. 



While ordinarily considered a para- 

 site, since it always grows upon some 

 tree, the mistletoe is not strictly such. 

 Its own leaves are capable of manufac- 

 turing food, and it is no^ entirely depend- 

 ent upon its host, as is the case in a 

 true parasite. The chief contribution 

 of the host to its unwelcome associate 

 seems to be water, with certain con- 

 tained salts, and while the mistletoe 

 does not directly kill the tree upon 

 which it is growing, it often dwarfs and 

 distorts the branch to which it is at- 

 tached, and may furnish the opportu- 

 nity for the admission of fungi which 

 ultimately destroy the tree itself. 



Attaching Itself to a Tree. 



The distribution of the mistletoe is 

 almost entirely by birds, the seeds 

 either being swallowed whole, or, be- 

 cause of their stickiness, adhering to the 

 beak or feet, to become dislodged later 

 on some favorable tree. Tradition lim- 

 ited this dissemination of the plant to 

 a single bird, the "mistletoe thrush" 

 or "misselbird," which was the mes- 

 senger of the gods. Hence the occur- 

 rence of mistletoe, particularly on the 

 oak, was held to be deeply significant. 

 Many other trees are infested by this 

 parasite, however; in the southwest the 

 hackberry, elm, mesquite and osage 

 orange are the most common hosts. 



After the seeds are deposited on the 

 branch of a tree, they usually begin to 

 germinate as soon as moisture and tem-' 

 perature conditions are favorable. 

 When the root-liive portion comes in con- 

 tact with the branch, it flattens out, 

 forming a sucker-like disk. Depending 

 upon circumstances, there may or may 

 not be produced from this disk during 

 the first year a process which penetrates 

 the bark of the host as far as the wood. 

 During the second year a single pair of 

 leaves may be formed, and the "roots," 

 by mechanical force and the secretion 

 of a digestive ferment, continue to ram- 

 ify the tissues of the tree upon which 

 the parasite is established. 



The mature plants are bushy in ap- 

 pearance and may reach a height of 

 three or four feet. The flowers are pro- 

 'luced in late summer or early fall, so 

 that the berries are well developed early 

 in December. Plants of the European 

 mistletoe have been found which were 

 •estimated to be 40 years of age, but 

 it seems probable that the American 

 variety does not normally attain an age 

 of more than half this number of years. 



WHERE EXTREMES MEET. 



Here we have a picture showing an- 

 cient and modern transportation. The 

 photograph was made at the establish- 

 ment of E. A, Beaven, Evergreen, Ala., 

 who is seen seated at the wheel in the 

 touring car. Note the load of holly is 

 drawn by a team consisting of a donkey 

 and an ox. 



The Extremes of Transportation Methods Employed in Holly Trade. 



has two objectives. First, he is after 

 bouquet green and, second, after deer 

 — but perhaps it should be stated the 

 other way around, for we have a photo- 

 graph of the deer and none of the bou- 

 quet green. It even is rumored that 



deer were more plentiful than green in 

 the Wisconsin woods this season, at 

 least the hunters found the lycopodium 

 hard to hit with any shot that resem- 

 bled the small change which once did 

 effective work. 



lliS4lt^l«aiii^l^(iSill^tiSi!l^:^l^l^!^t^'IiS^!^ 



SPHAGNUM IS SOARING 



r?wri«\^r?s\irysv^rrWh«\^r«\ir«vir)«vir)rsvirirs>rtrirsv^ 



EAST AND WEST BOTH SHORT. 



LYCOPODIUM DEAR. 



When C. C. Pollworth makes his an- 

 nual trip in the Wisconsin woods he 



Weather, Not War, This Time. 



On European battlefields they are us- 

 ing sphagnum moss for first aid dress- 

 ings for gunshot wounds, but this has 

 nothing to do with the jump in the price 

 of sphagnum to those in this country 

 who use it as first aid in making funeral 

 designs. 



The sudden tightening of the market 

 for sphagnum moss is due to the No- 

 vember cold snap. It has taken tVo or 

 three weeks for the word to work its 

 way through the trade, but jobbers in 

 vsphagnum practically all agree that this 

 is to bo a season of short supply. In- 

 deed, some of those who took advance 

 orders at rather low prices are having 

 thoir own troubles, to obtain the stock 

 at a price that will permit them to break 

 even. 



At the Western Source. 



City Point, Wis., is the western center 

 of the supply of sphagnum moss. The 

 average shipments from that locality are 

 about fifty carloads per year. It is im- 

 possible to obtain accurate information 

 as to how many cars have gone out this 

 season, but the season is practically over 

 and the quantity shipped is decidedly 

 less than usual In the beginning 

 weather conditions were unfavorable, 

 there being too much water. Then, 

 when the season opened, help was scarce 

 and wages much higher than heretofore. 

 The season closed much earlier than 

 usual this year because of the snow and 

 frost that filled the marshes at the time 

 of the nation-wide cold wave in No- 

 vember. 



Even before the short supply became 

 apparent the City Point shippers were 

 asking higher prices than usual for 

 sphagnum, basing their requirements, 

 first, on the cost of labor and, secondly. 



on the cost of burlap, which went up 

 on them from about 3 cents to about (3 

 cents per yard, forty-two inches in 

 width. 



A City Point shipper, who estimates 

 the local output at 20,000 bales, says he 

 will not be surprised to see moss $1 per 

 bale in car lots f. o. b. shipping station 

 by May I, 1917, which would be nearly 

 twice the usual price. 



At the Eastern Source. 



The eastern center for the supply of 

 sphagnum is the Barnegat district in 

 New Jersey. From one shipping point 

 that usually produces about 4,000 bales 

 (much larger than the Wisconsin bale) 

 the shipments this year have been about 

 normal, but the price has been higher 

 because of the increased cost of labor 

 and burlap. 



The sphagnum moss business always 

 has been a hand-to-mouth aflfair. When 

 the season ends because of the arrival of 

 winter there is nothing much doing until 

 spring, no stock of consequence being 

 carried by those who gather, bale and 

 ship. Damp moss cannot be stored in 

 bales, because it quickly heats and rots 

 the burlap. If it is stored in bulk, it 

 gathers moisture, becomes diflBcult to 

 bale and rots out the burlap during a 

 few days' journey in a freight car. 

 Consequently the trade now has in hand 

 nearly all the sphagnum it will get this 

 season, unless the shortage and conse- 

 quent high prices produce shipments 

 from some unexpected source. 



Grand Island, Neb.— E. M. Sage says 

 that the chrysanthemum season was one 

 of the best ever experienced at the Wil- 

 liams establishment, all stock having 

 been cleaned up. Carnations are a lit- 

 tle late in this section of the country, 

 due to the long continued dry weather 

 last summer. 



