W' 



July 17, 1919. 



The Florists^ Review 



13 



and mention made that Fred A. Dan- 

 ]<c>r is operating his business upon a 

 cooperative plan, so to speak, by giving 

 his two boys space in the greenhouse to 

 grow plants, with the privilege of dis- 

 posing of them in his store. The young- 

 sters have taken up the idea with vim 

 and already created a bank account and 

 acquired invaluable knowledge. 



W. C. Gloeckner mentioned three re- 

 cent instances when, during time that 

 local business was practically dead, 

 telegraphic orders were received that 

 niade all concerned "F-ly T-hose 

 Pays." 



Fred Goldriug referred to the recent 

 comments upon the shortage of efficient 

 help 80 aptly put in The Review and 

 urged those present who have sons to 

 make the profession interesting to the 

 hoys, demonstrating the wisdom of this 



by his own youngster being encouraged 

 to delve in the soil. 



W. W. Hannell, of Watervliet, and 

 J. E. Barrett, of Troy,* followed along 

 the same lines, each being fortunate in 

 the possession of sturdy scions in whose 

 hands the success of their several in- 

 terests are assured. 



In the absence of President William 

 Newport, who was detained by a ter- 

 rific thunder storm, which, by the way, 

 was gladly welcomed, following a hot, 

 dry spell, Thomas Tracey, of the Al- 

 bany Cut Flower Exchange, proposed a 

 vote of thanks to our host and hostess, 

 the latter furnishing an unlimited sup- 

 ply of home-made root beer, freely par- 

 taken of by both the young and older 

 members, accompanied by an occasional 

 winking of the eye. W. M. 



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HOW SCIENCE HELPS 



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DOCTOBINO SICE FIANTS. 



[This is tlie second Installment of tbe article 

 by E. A. White, professor of floriculture at Cor- 

 nell University, Ithaca, N. Y , on "How Science 

 Aids Florists," which began in last week's issue 

 of The Beview.] 



Vegetable pathology has an intimate 

 relation to the healthfulness of plant 

 tissue. Study in this science by such 

 men as De Barry, Walker, Tubeuf, lin- 

 ger, Hallier and others, has revealed the 

 character of many plant parasites, and 

 these men have given suggestions for 

 exterminating and avoiding them. Prob- 

 ably the most valuable suggestions 

 which have come from scientific plant 

 pathologists in recent years are those 

 which have shown practical growers the 

 importance of proper sanitary condi- 

 tions in greenhouses if a healthy and 

 vigorous growth is to be maintained. 

 Since the pathologists have shown car- 

 nation growers that stem-rot is induced 

 by deep and careless planting, and that 

 rose mildew is the result of sudden and 

 pronounced atmospheric changes, there 

 has been as marked a decrease in these 

 diseases as if special directions for their 

 eradication had been given. 



Competiti(m for Soil Food. 



It has been necessary for men of 

 science to demonstrate to practical 

 flower growers that proper environmen- 

 tal conditions are as essential for 

 healthy plants as they are for human 

 individuals in the home. In an excel- 

 Ifnt paper which he read before the 

 ^>w York Federation of Floral Clubs 

 during farmers' week, Professor Fippin 

 considered the relationship of sanitary 

 conditions in the soil to healthy plant 

 growth. In this paper Professor Fippin 

 ■states: 



It should always be known that the crop pro- 

 "'"'"'d is competing with many other plants in 

 t'le soil. We well recognize the importance of 

 Keeping down weeds which will compete with 

 j''p main plant for food and moisture, but we 

 niiyp not given so much attention to the compe- 

 yitlon of the crop with the microscopic plants 

 "1 the soil, the bacteria and the fungi. Instead 

 <>r being a dead mass, the soil is teeming with 

 ire. In every grain of soil there may be mll- 

 jions of l)Rcteria and many kinds of fungi and 

 molds. Tliese require the same food elements 

 fiat the higher plants use. and it may frequently 

 "appen that the soil conditions are as well, or 

 nf .?''* * •'"'* better, suited to the development 

 "j these microscopic plants than to our higher 

 nA" ""^ *^^^^ ™'' tf**" **** ascendancy and 



ThT **"* plant food designed for the crop. 



inis Idea, too. is one of the recent develop- 



ments In soil fertility. In England, Russell and 

 Hutchinson have developed many facts showing 

 that In their soil, and especially in soils known 

 to be sewer-sick, and In greenhouse soils that 

 have come into a so-called sick condition, there 

 may be the development of excessive numbers 

 of tbe simplest animals, protosoa, which com- 

 pete with the plants' roots and with beneficial 

 forms of bacteria. They have developed facts 

 which Indicate that any treatment which kills 

 or reduces the number of these competing organ- 

 isms tends to promote the growth of higher 

 plants, and In general ^o create a better state 

 of fertility. It should be pointed out that in the 

 greenhouses, where conditions are continually 

 favorable for their growth, such difllcultles may 

 become more acute than in the field, where the 

 variations In climatic conditions and tlie changes 

 in season, including freezing in winter, tend 

 to bold such processes in clieck. 



Desire for New Varieties. 

 During the earlier periods of plant 

 culture, the dealers in novelties were de- 

 pendent on material introduced from 

 foreign countries. These plants are 

 still interesting many dealers. Within 

 recent years, however, native haunts of 

 ornamental plants have been so thor- 

 oughly gone over by the collectors that 

 there are now fewer new species of 

 value. Since this is true, plant-growers 



and the introducers of novelties have 

 come to lay marked emphasis on the 

 study of genetics and this somewhat 

 new subject has influenced the charac- 

 ter of plant products to a marked de- 

 gree. This influence has, however, been 

 more pronounced in the changes of spe- 

 cial characters because of changed en- 

 vironmental conditions, so that new va- 

 rieties have interested our plant cultur- 

 ists. While some work in scientific 

 plant breeding was done by Linnaeus, 

 Koelreuter in the latter part of the 

 eighteenth century laid the first real 

 foundation of our scientific knowledge 

 of the subject. Later, such names as 

 Knight, Gartner, Darwin, Focke, De 

 Vries, Mendel, Bateson and others stand 

 out prominently in scientific literature 

 relating to plant breeding. 



Science Provides Principles. 

 In their recent book on this subject, 

 Bailey and Gilbert state as follows: 



One of the "signs of the times" in North 

 America is the attention that is being given to 

 practical breeding of cultivated' plants. Until 

 within a comparatively few years, however, 

 breeding work has been unscientific in the ex- 

 treme. Much of this has been because there 

 have been few scientific principles which were 

 tangible. Scientific experiments are rapidly accu- 

 mulating results with many kinds of plants, and 

 eventually there will probably be formulated 

 definite statements as to how to proceed to secure 

 desired results. However, there Is no hope that 

 plant breeding can ever produce forthwith the 

 things that we desire. In the way In which the 

 mechanic devises new machines, notwithstanding 

 all the suggestions of persons who write with 

 such self-assurance. For all that we can now 

 see, plant breeding will always be an experi- 

 mental process. 



It is then for men of science to for- 

 mulate, through experimentation, the 

 laws which govern heredity in plants so 

 that practical growers may apply them 

 in so far as possible in bringing out new 

 and improved varieties. 



Present-day scientific breeders of 

 plants are, therefore, not now working 

 to produce new varieties so much as 

 they are to discover, if possible, the 

 laws which govern hereditary charac- 

 ters. Definite color and form inherit- 

 ance, which may be expected by cross- 

 ing different plants, is of far more im- 

 portance to the scientific mind than is 

 the production of some commercial va- 

 riety of plant which excels those now in 

 existence. 



[To be continued.] 



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SHOULD SLOGAN BE ALTERED? 



I noticed in an answer which appeared 

 in The Review recently in response to 

 a query regarding the use of the slo- 

 gan, "Say It with Flowers," that it 

 was stated that there is no copyright 

 and that one could go as far as he liked 

 in using it. That is legally the fact, 

 but I do not think florists should use 

 the slogan coupled with their names, 

 such as ' ' Say It with Smith 's Flowers. ' ' 

 Such a form of the slogan appears in one 

 of the newspapers of a large city near 

 here, in the advertising of one of the 

 leading florists. This newspaper goes to 

 practically every town in this state, to 

 at least half of an adjoining state and 

 to part of four neighboring states. Is 

 it fair to all the florists in this territory 



to have this advertisement come into 

 their towns in connection with the na- 

 tional slogan, which belongs to every 

 florist to use to make all sales better, 

 but not to any one man? I wish that no 

 man had a right to print the slogan as 

 "Say It with Brown's Flowers," or 

 "Say It with Smith's Flowers." Let 

 it be "Say It with Flowers," and let 

 the public get that expression into their 

 minds, and not connect it with any one 

 person or place. ' H. 



A NUTMEG FOE THE BLUE HEN. 



That report in The Review of July 3 

 regarding the subscriptions to the 

 florists' publicity campaign is most in- 

 teresting. 



I have only got to Page 1 as yet, but 



