Dbcbmbbr 26, 1918. 



The Florists^ Review 



13 



blizzard. As a result, the day before 

 the holiday — the day on which the 

 Christmas sales usually reach their 

 height — was a bad one for the shoppers. 

 The streets in Chicago were covered with 

 slush, while the wind and wet snow 

 made it decidedly uncomfortable for the 

 buyers to get about. The same condi- 

 tions, in greater or lesser degree, ob- 

 tained in the section of the United 

 States where the storm raged, the U. S. 

 Weather Forecaster at Chicago said. 



Despite the handicap of the weather, 

 business in Chicago was excellent. The 

 Christmas shoppers braved the storm 

 and the downtown district never before 

 ^aw such crowds, department store offi- 

 cials reported. Buying was heavy, or at 

 least the returns in cash were, because 

 •of the unusually high prices. Everyone 

 appeared to have money to spend and 

 :8pent it, and the retail stores of Chicago 

 were well cleaned up of everything sal- 

 Able in the cut flower, plant and supply 

 line. 



The weather, however, made deliveries 

 ■more difficult and it taxed the capacities 

 •of the delivery forces to get the orders 

 to their destinations on time. The trade 

 in the larger cities through the northern 

 and central sections of the country met 

 About the same conditions as prevailed 

 in Chicago, where more than four inches 

 •of snow fell before noon December 24. 



The forecast for Christmas day was 

 fair, with light snow flurries and a 

 temperature of about 12 degrees above 

 zero. 



WINTEEINO FOXGLOVES. 



Will you kindly give information as 

 to winter treatment of foxgloves? 

 Should the tops be cut off? My plants 

 are extremely heavy for young plants. 

 Xiast year all of them rotted. 



E. N. T.— 111. 



I presume j'ou are planning to winter 

 your foxgloves outdoors, in which case 

 there should be no covering until the 

 ground has frozen hard, when a coat- 

 ing of dry leaves, pine needles or 

 meadow hay can be given, just sufficient 

 to cover the foliage. The mulch must 

 be held in position and there is no 

 better way to do this than to apply 

 a scattering of rotted manure over it. 

 This is better than boards, brush or 

 cornstalks. Plants must be on well 

 drained ground to winter successfully 

 and the foliage should not be cut back 

 at all. If your climate is severe, it 

 would be better to lift the plants and^ 

 ■store them in coldframes, covering them' 

 with dry leaves, and later place tight 

 sashes over them. The leaves must be 

 kept dry and air given on all mild days 

 to prevent heating and sweating. Plants 

 thus protected should winter perfectly. 

 Foxgloves are more damaged by damp- 

 ness than by cold. Too much mulch, 

 when it becomes wet and is packed down 

 by snow, will ruin them more quickly 

 than anything else. C. W. 



INSECTICIDE BOARD'S WOBK. 



Greater food production having stim- 

 Tilated the manufacture of many new 

 insecticide and fungicide preparations, 

 the Insecticide and Fungicide Board, 

 IT. S. Department of Agriculture, has 

 been increasing its efforts to protect 

 the farmer, the fruit grower, the mar- 

 Itet gardener and the stock and poultry 

 farmer against fraud in connection with 

 such preparations. 



WHO'S WHO Kl_ AND WHY 



THOMAS McOEE. 



HEEEWITH is presented a portrait of Thomas McGee, of McGee & Davis, 

 proprietors of the Scottwood Greenhouses, Toledo, O., taken in Mr. McGee 's 

 favorite environment — his greenhouses. Mr. McGee has been in the florists' 

 business a great many years, starting when he was 19 years of age with Eobert 

 Craig, Philadelphia. Later he heeded Horace Greeley's advice to "go west, 

 young man," and went to L. L. May & Co., St. Paul. In 1893 Mr. McGee removed 

 to Toledo, where he acquired a piece of property 75x221 feet and built a green- 

 house. Later he took Mr. Davis into partnership and they purchased property 

 on either side of the original place and now have a modern range, which is a 

 most interesting place for any florist to visit, as it is filled with exceptionally 

 well grown stock. One of the features of the establishment is that not a pound of 

 ice is used, the cooling room being in the basement. Close attention to details 

 is Mr. McGee 's recipe for success. An idea of his personality may be gained 

 from the fact that he is widely known as "Uncle Tom." 



The record for the fiscal year ending 

 June 30, 1918, shows that 132 cases of 

 alleged violations of interstate law were 

 reported to the solicitor of the depart- 

 ment, with recommendations that the 

 facts be transmitted to the attorney 

 general in order to institute criminal 

 action or seizure proceedings. By cor- 

 respondence with the manufacturer 195 

 cases involving technical or non-flagrant 

 violations were disposed of. Action was 

 taken by the board also to place in 

 abeyance 726 samples of insecticides and 

 fungicides, which, upon examination and 

 test, were found not adulterated or 

 misbranded, or were from shipments of 

 the same goods made prior to shipments 

 for which the manufacturer had been 

 convicted, the manufacturer after cita- 

 tion conforming to the requirements 

 of the law. 



Fifty-five cases were awaiting pre- 



liminary hearings or before the board 

 for flnal action June 30, 1918; 217 were 

 held in temporary abeyance pending the 

 receipt of further information, the out- 

 come of prosecutions based on the same 

 product, or correspondence with the 

 manufacturers, and 325 samples were 

 undergoing analysis and test. The in- 

 spectors and sample collectors of the 

 board, operating throughout the United 

 States, collected 748 samples during the 

 year. 



Springfield, O. — Fire believed to have 

 originated from the explosion of a boiler 

 damaged the greenhouses of John 

 Graeber's Sons December 10 to an ex- 

 tent not yet estimated. The nearest 

 hydrant is a quarter of a mile distant 

 and the fire had gained considerable 

 headway before the firemen were able 

 to lay enough hose to combat it. 





