16 



The Florists^ Review 



August 14, 1919. 



organizing of a proposed Dominion Ee- 

 tail Florists' Association. The ques- 

 tions, which formed the basis of this dis- 

 cussion covered more than merely the 

 proposed organization, some of them in- 

 dicating matters of policy which would 

 be the field of the organization's work. 

 The queries of the latter sort put in the 

 questionnaire were: 



Plase state if you are a retailer, grower,- or 

 both. 



If you carry on botlj lines of business, have 

 you a retail store away from your greenhouses? 



DoNyou sell retail at your greenhouses? 



If/you sell retail at your greenhouses, do you 

 protect the retailer by getting retail prices? 



Do you carry on any other line of business in 

 connection with the selling of flowers? 



If so, what other lines do you sell? 



Have you refused to fill orders for retailers 

 whose credit you know nothing about? 



Have you ever lost money on orders filled for 

 other florists in the Dominion of Canada? 



Are you willing to allow twenty per cent dis- 

 count on Interchange of orders? 



Are you in favor of cooperative advertising and 

 publicity ? 



NEW YORK. 



The Market. 



The light demand experienced through 

 the whole of last week was, in the opin- 

 ion of wholesalers, extraordinary. Of 

 course, business in August is never ex- 

 pected to have much vim, but it did 

 seem as though this year's business 

 was almost dormant. Many reasons are 

 advanced for the condition. Probably 

 never before were so many people mak- 

 ing temporary sojourns in the country 

 and at the seashore. One has only to 

 experience the congestion at the railroad 

 stations every evening to realize this. 

 The high cost of living is blamed by 

 some, but this theory is not considered 

 seriously. New York is a city of apart- 

 ment-dwellers, who form the great body 

 of flower buyers, and who, during the 

 war, have deprived themselves of vaca- 

 tions and therefore are taking advan- 

 tage of the more prosperous times. A 

 large number evidently have selected 

 August, as may be supposed when it is 

 known that hardly a coast steamship 

 line will make stateroom reservations 

 less than ten days ahead of sailing time. 



Asters and gladioli are dominating 

 the market. Arrivals are immense in 

 volume. Much stock goes to waste and 

 prices are almost unquotable. Boys on 

 the street are selling asters of fair qual- 

 ity at 5 cents per bunch and less. 



American Beauty roses are abundant 

 and the demand for them is poor. 

 Specials on Saturday sold as low as $6 

 per hundred and the quality was pass- 

 able. As high as $40 is asked for the 

 best, but it is doubtful whether any 

 sales are recorded at this figure. Hy- 

 brid teas are not in particularly heavy 

 supply, except in varieties such as 

 Ophelia and Columbia. The quality of 

 arrivals is fairly good, although mildew 

 is giving the growers considerable 

 trouble with some varieties. Prices are 

 anywhere and quotations are only pos- 

 sible for really fine stock. The weather 

 is pleasant and cool, favoring rose ship- 

 ments. 



Carnations are practically out of the 

 market and those that do arrive hardly 

 attract attention. 



Orchids are scarce and command 

 rather high prices. It is a matter now 

 of hunting for cattleyas when one wants 

 them. Lilies are also scarce, except 

 rubrums and auratums, which fail to 

 find quick movement. A little lily of 

 the valley is coming and brings $12 per 

 hundred when good. 



Tkere is a large quantity of her- 



baceous material available, and there is 

 a fair demand for it for window use. 

 The demand for it otherwise is poor. 



Late asters are not yet in evidence, 

 but among the early varieties coming 

 in avalanches are some fine flowers 

 which bring as high as $2 per hundred, 

 but they are few in quantity. Gladioli 

 can be had at 50 cents to $2 per hun- 

 dred. 



Various Notes. 



Eoman J. Irwin has left the city to 

 attend the convention in Toronto of 

 the Canadian Horticultural Association. 



F. A. Danker, of Albany, was in town 

 last week. He is an ardent supporter 

 of the publicity campaign and leaves a 

 line of thought regarding it wherever 

 he goes. 



Oscar Boehler, of Hoboken, N. J., 

 will join the New York party to Detroit. 



Charles Weber, of Lynbrook, and 

 Henry Weston, of Hempstead, with 

 their wives, are making a motor trip 

 to Bar Harbor, Me. 



Wm. F. Ekas, of Leo Niessen Co., 

 Baltimore, was a visitor last week. 



The transportation committee of the 

 New York Florists ' Club had a meeting 

 at the club's oflices August 4, when all 

 arrangements for the journey of the 

 club's delegation to the convention were 

 completed. It appears now that the 

 party will travel in a special train in- 

 stead of special cars and will have a 

 club car attached to the train. Special 



cars are also to be engaged for a trip 

 from Buffalo to Niagara Falls, Monday, 

 August 18, returning to Buffalo in time 

 for the night boat to Detroit. J. H. P. 



S. H. Calamaras, one of the proprie- 

 tors of the Boston Florist, is touring 

 the White mountains and Canada with 

 his family. He is expected to return 

 about September 15. 



The annual exhibition of gladioli, by 

 the Horticultural Society of New York, 

 will occur in the Museum building, 

 Bronx park, August 23 and 24. There 

 are thirteen classes, seven of which are 

 open to the trade. The autumn exhibi- 

 tion of the society is set for the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History, Octo- 

 ber 30 to November 2. Schedules are 

 ready and may be had by addressing 

 Geo. V. Nash, secretary, Bronx park. 



TO EXTEND QUARANTINE. 



The Federal Horticultural Board pro- 

 poses to restrict or prohibit the ship- 

 ment in Massachusetts or New Hamp- 

 shire of entire plants of geraniums, all 

 herbaceous plants and cut flowers of 

 dahlias, gladioli and chrysanthemums 

 as a means of checking the spread of the 

 corn borer. 



A hearing has been called for 10:30 

 a. m., August 15, at the State House, 

 Boston, in order that any person in- 

 terested may be heard before the pres- 

 ent quarantine is extended. 



TO KILL WHITE ANTS. 



Can you tell us how to get rid of 

 white ants? We have some in a 

 solid bench where chrysanthemums are 

 planted. They burrow into the stems 

 and in a short time the plants are ruined. 



G. V. B.— Mich. 



The best way to get rid of ants is to 

 drop carbon bisulphide in their nests and 

 then plug up the hole. The gas works 

 through the burrows and smothers them. 

 This is the best way I know of killing 

 white ants. C. H. Totty. 



SOIL ANALYSIS. 



I am mailing under separate cover 

 samples of my soil from chrysanthemum 

 benches. The flowers have been fine un- 

 til the last three or four days, but are 

 now dying rapidly. Can you inform 

 me what the trouble is? 



C. C. M.— Ky. 



In itself the soil appears to be of a 

 good grade for chrysanthemums, but it 

 does not seem to possess any of the ele- 

 ments that would encourage good plant 

 growth. Some lighter soil and well 

 rotted manure would improve the soil 

 greatly. I am of the opinion that the 

 water does not pass freely through it 

 and unless extra care is taken with the 

 watering the lower portion will remain 

 dry and a wet crust will form on the sur- 

 face. I cannot find anything in its na- 

 ture that would lead me to believe that 



the soil is the cause of the chrysanthe- 

 mum plants' dying. My conclusion is 

 that there is some grub working on the 

 roots of the plants or that the trouble 

 can be traced to careless watering. 

 M. P. 



INFESTED MUM PLANTS. 



I am sending you by express a chrys- 

 anthemum plant with soil. All my 

 plants seemed diseased, especially the 

 white ones, which are the best. The 

 leaves look healthy and green and then 

 suddenly begin to turn a lighter green. 

 The plants hang their heads, as though 

 the sun was too hot for them, and they 

 look scalded, even after the rain. I have 

 lost nearly all of my stock. 



Please let me know what to do for 

 them. I bought several hundred plants 

 this year, but have only a few left. 



P. R. I.— La. 



All the spraying that you might do 

 would not help these plants. The trou- 

 ble is due to the condition of the soil. 

 The specimen plant you sent plainly 

 shows that the roots were rotted from 

 the base up. This indicates that when 

 the plant was lifted out of the soil all 

 of its parts underground were on the 

 road to decay. 



The fact, as inquirer states, that the 

 plants hang their heads and the leaves 

 turn a lighter green, is a sure sign of 

 sourness and stagnation of the soil at 

 the roots. The best measure that I can 

 advise you to try, is to loosen up the 

 surface soil of the bed and keep it open 



