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26 



The Florists^ Review 



Decbhbbb 12. 1918. 



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SHIP FLOWERS BY AJSPUHTE. 



In these days of reconstruction I 

 would like to suggest the use of air- 

 planes in getting out shipments of flow- 

 ers to the big markets in record time. 

 Flower shipments at the holidays are 

 valuable and perishable, but not heavy. 

 Flowers worth $1,000 could easily be 

 rushed into Chicago in an airplane in 

 less time than otherwise. In the case 

 of places where transportation facilities 

 are not adequate, airplanes would be a 

 great help. Harry A. Dubuis. 



HOLIDAT PSIOES. 



Prospects for Christmas look rosy to 

 me if I can only get all the stock I 

 need and prices are not inflated too 

 much. If they are it will only hurt the 

 trade, instead of boosting it. We want 

 more flower buyers. Keep the prices 

 so that there will be only a legitimate 

 profit and we can make more customers 

 — the more, the merrier. I would sooner 

 make my money out of a thousand 

 customers than out of a few, even if 

 I did the same amount of business. Pub- 

 licity is what I want, and the more 

 customers I have, the more I get talked 

 about; and that means more business. 

 There is a great future for the live 

 florists if they will only pull together 

 and fill every order they get, large or 

 small. They mean more orders later, if 

 they are filled satisfactorily. A satis- 

 fied customer is the florist's best asset. 

 A happy Christmas to all. 



A. B. King. 



CHAYOTE. 



I am trying out a vine new to most 

 florists. Last spring I saw chayote 

 vine seeds advertised at 30 cents each. 

 I sent for one and planted it according 

 to directions. Later I shifted it into 

 a 50-pound tub and when it commenced 

 to send out shoots I built a trellis six 

 feet high and three feet wide at the 

 top for it. It soon covered the trellis 

 with vines and then I cut it back. In 

 September it commenced to blossom and 

 to set fruit and now I am getting 10 

 cents apiece for the fruit. The plant 

 is unusually prolific. It is claimed for 

 it that in the second year it will bear 

 fruit by the hundred, and I believe it. 

 I have moved the tub into the green- 

 house and it is still setting fruit. We 

 fried the fruit like eggplant and find it 

 delicious. It does not taste like egg- 

 plant and cucumbers are not in the 

 same class with it. I do not see any 

 bugs on the vine. Chayote is an item 

 that is going to be a big paying propo- 

 sition for the greenhousemen. Once 

 eaten, it will always be wanted. It 

 is a food for the epicure. 



H. W. Peterson. 



UNDERSELLING NOT POPULAR. 



We have had a great deal of funeral 

 work in the last two months, but other 

 business does not amount to much. We 

 think The Eeview is doing a good work 



in urging the florists to increase the 

 pricesj or flowers. How can a retailer 

 make anything when one of the largest 

 flower stores in a nearby city sends out 

 circular matter for Thanksgiving ad- 

 vertising choice carnations at $1.50 per 

 dozen, while wholesalers in the same 

 place are asking the florists $8 and $10 

 per hundred for the same flowers the 

 same day! We have also to pay express 

 on shipments, stand breakage, pay pack- 

 ing charges, put the flowers in a cut- 

 flower box, with ferns and wax paper, 

 and deliver them, after procuring the 

 stock in the first place. 



Another trouble is the competition of 

 the department stores. The 5 and 10- 

 cent stores are selling Paper White 

 narcissus bulbs of good size at two for 

 5 cents. We have to pay 2 cents for 

 them and then do the handling, wrap- 

 ping, etc., on a margin of 6 cents a 

 dozen. 



We hope you will keep after the 

 florists who are always trying to under- 

 sell their competitors, not considering 

 whether or not they make anything. 

 Charles H. Gelven. 



TR0X7BLES OF SMALL GROWERS. 



We are at the end of the mum season 

 and prices have been good, the demand 

 having been excellent because of the 

 number of deaths from influenza and 

 the consequent call for funeral work. 

 We have had much trouble with red 

 spider on Seidewitz chrysanthemums. I 

 was taken unawares, as I had never 

 seen red spider to know it before. How- 

 ever, I am aware now that we had them 

 for several years and did not know it. 

 We lost some plants several seasons ago 

 and blamed the spraying with nico- 

 tine, which apparently burned them. 



This year I quit the nicotine when the 

 buds showed, but the same trouble ap- 

 peared. Then I discovered the spider. 

 We commenced to spray with water, 

 but it did little good. Seeing that the 

 plants would be destroyed anyway, we 

 began using Black Leaf 40, one tea- 

 spoonful to one gallon of water, direct- 

 ly on the half open blooms. While it did 

 not kill all the spiders, it seemed to 

 check them somewhat. The only variety 

 badly affected was Seidewitz. Marigold 

 and Bonnaffon were in the same house, 

 but were troubled little. Is Seide- 

 witz more troubled with spider than 

 other varieties? What is the best meth-- 

 od of keeping them away, or destroying 

 them after they are present? 



Our plants also have been troubled 

 with what I believe is called aster 

 * * yellows. ' ' -The buds come damaged and 

 do not develop into good blooms. In one 

 lot, started early in the greenhouse, 

 nearly three-fourths were lost, running 

 into several thousand flowers. The 

 later ones were not so much affected, 

 but we lost nearly one-half our crop 

 during the season. I have r«ad in The 

 Eeview at some time that greenhouse- 

 grown are more affected than outdopr- 

 grown plants, and it seems so in our 

 case. What is the trouble and what 

 can we do to remedy itf 



What are the best white and yellow 

 mums to come in with Seidewitz? 



I am planning to grow some early 

 mums outdoors next year. This is my 

 plan: I have several hotbeds, heated 

 by hot water. I use these in the spring 

 for vegetable plants and for flowers. I 

 plan to fill them with mums and when 

 they are coming into bud put up a tem- 

 porary frame three feet high, or less, 

 and use the regular sashes to cover, then 

 to close the sides with muslin when 

 cold weather comes and heat if neces- 

 sary. I think Bonnaffon, Chieftain, 

 White Chieftain and some other early 

 dwarf varieties would grow well this 

 way. 



Chrysolora with the crown bud dis- 

 carded and the terminal bud taken was 

 grand with me, but with the crown bud 

 left they were almost worthless. 



E. Bushyager. 



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BUCKEYE BULL'S-EYES 



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A JX7BILEE CONTENTION. 



It was suggested by J. F. Ammann, 

 president-elect of the Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists, that, as the January meet- 

 ing of the American Carnation Society 

 in Cleveland would be the first national 

 assemblage of florists after the cessation 

 of hostilities, it would be an excellent 

 plan to make it an occasion for the gen- 

 eral expression of joy throughout the 

 trade. This is a capital idea, into the 

 spirit of which every red-blooded trade- 

 member will enter heartily. Sixth City 

 florists are a unit for it and already 

 are making preparations in their well- 

 known enthusiastic manner for a record- 

 breaking gathering. 



Although carnations have been de- 

 cidedly low in production during Octo- 

 ber and November, due to late benching 

 and the enforced conservation of fuel, 

 there is now a general awakening, evi- 



denced in quality as well as quantity, 

 and there is reasonable certainty that 

 the stock will be in prime condition for 

 showing by the latter part of January. 

 Undoubtedly, express service will be 

 bad, as at present, but the society has 

 evolved a plan that will offset effect- 

 ively this unfavorable condition. Pre- 

 vailing higher prices will prove no detri- 

 ment, but will serve to enliven the 

 interest of growers and increase their 

 desire to exhibit. And as the better 

 values can best be maintained by offer- 

 ing the public a distinctly high grade 

 of flowers, perhaps never before were 

 introductions of superior merit more 

 worthy of earnest consideration. 



The war, with its multitudinous priva- 

 tions, is over and a new business era 

 is dawning. The boys will soon be 

 home to take up the arts of peace with 

 the same energy with which they em- 



