JwVNUARY 22, 1920. 



The Florists^ Review 



19 



O^CN LETTEft^y^ DEADEIi6 



PLAN FOB SUMMER STOCK NOW. 



Now is the time to think about stock 

 for flowers for this summer, when funer- 

 al flowers will be scarce. Such stock as 

 begonias, feverfew, sweet alyssum, 

 gladioli, asters, buddleia, zinnias and 

 other stock may be grown to advantage 

 and many dollars ' . worth of funeral 

 work may be made up entirely with this 

 surplus stock. 



All of this stock may be best handled 

 in frames, so that proper attention as to 

 cultivating, weeding and watering may 

 be given. If the utmost care be taken 

 in the selection of stock, preparation of 

 soil and growing after planting, a small 

 space can be made to yield proportion- 

 ately with the expense and time taken, 

 as compared with field-grown plants, 

 where but little attention can be given 

 with little or no provision made for 

 watering. Growing roses in the field 

 with an overhead irrigation system is a 

 paying proposition if, the roses are prop- 

 erly fed and pruned, so as to obtain 

 roses with long enough stems to sell to 

 the box trade. 



The florists ^ the south should be 

 careful to have stock in the summer, as 

 stock is always scarce with them and, 

 as is often the case, the funeral occurs 

 so soon after death that they have not 

 enough time to order in any stock from 

 the wholesale market. The man who has 

 some stock grown on his own place that 

 he can always count on, even if he 

 loses some of it, can feel comfortable. 



Some will read this and say that it is 

 a good idea, and that will be the end of 

 it. Then, when the summer months come 

 and such a one runs short of stock, he 

 will say, "Why didn't I plant some 

 stock for funeral work? It would surely 

 come in handy now." But this is the 

 same as when some customers who see 

 a pretty tulip bed in full bloom run 

 over to the florist and call for tulip 

 bulbs. "Too late this year; call next 

 season." Some of us go from season to 

 season saying what we will have next 

 year without having anything that we 

 plan. 



The florists all over America should 

 push their yield to the limit, as there 

 will be no chance, for several years to 

 come, to flood the market as in former 

 years. Produce to reduce. 



Wallace B. Paterson. 



CASTING CONCBETE BENCHES. 



I was interested in the article in a 

 recent issue of The Eeview on the use 

 of concrete for walls and benches. I 

 use concrete wherever I can. I find 

 that a concrete composed of four parts 

 coal cinders, two parts sand and one 

 part cement makes a concrete sufficient- 

 ly strong for walls and is more nearly 

 frost-proof than if gr.avel or other hard 

 aggregate is used. 



I have a form for casting my benches 

 that is simple in construction and is set 

 without the aid of a single stake or 

 support. WTien ready for the concrete 

 to be poured it is strong enough so that 



one can wheel a wheelbarrow of con- 

 crete over it. 



Three men can take the form from 

 one bench, 5x150 feet, and erect it for 

 another in one day, and five men and a 

 mixer will cast the bench in one day. 

 Feet under surface, legs, cross supports, 

 bottom and sides are all cast at once. 



I have been growing carnations, vio- 

 lets, chrysanthemums, etc., in these 

 benches with good success for fo.ur years 

 and have had not a penny's expense 

 nor a minute's time for repairs. After 

 the first cost of the form is considered, 

 the benches cost less per running foot 

 than cypress benches. All who have 

 seen my benches and the stock growing 

 in them have pronounced them the best 

 they havQ seen. 



Fred W. Arnold. 



OBOUND VS. BAISED BENCHES. 



We have had such success in growing 

 carnations on solid benches that the 

 readers of The Review may be inter- 

 ested to hear about it in detail. 



The solid benches are level with the 

 surface of the ground and were made by 

 excavating for the walks about two and 

 a half feet deep and walling up the 

 sides with concrete. The house is 

 21 X 160 feet, with three benches and 

 two walks. The soil is just what lay on 

 the ground, ordinary farm land, stand- 

 ing as a vacant city lot. We dug 

 trenches for the walks and erected the 

 houses overhead with the eaves about 

 two feet from the level of the ground. 



The benches were heavily manured 

 with well rotted cow manure, which had 

 been well worked in during July and 

 August. The carnations were lifted and 

 planted in September and we began cut- 

 ting blooms in October. The tempera- 

 ture was generally low, usually about 

 45 and as low as 40 during the night 

 and 65 to 75 during the day. 



We usually cut blooms every other 



day. In a typical cut of 2,000, made 

 about March 1, a large proportion of 

 the stems averaged about twenty-four 

 inches long and some were thirty inches 

 in length. 



No other fertilizer was added during 

 the season and the watering was done 

 by sprinkling on the foliage, the water 

 coming from an artesian well piped 

 throughout the house. 



We have raised benches in other 

 houses, but we have never had a heavier 

 crop of flowers than those taken from 

 these solid benches; 



Weber Floral Co. 



FBED C. WEBER'S GBAVE. 



The accompanying photograph shows 

 the orchid blanket and some of the many 

 other tributes of affection and esteem 

 from members of the trade and personal 

 friends at the grave of Fred C. Weber, 

 whose body was buried in the family 

 lot in Bellefontaine cemetery, St. Louis, 

 Mo., Monday, January 12. Mr. Weber's 

 unexpected and greatly regretted death 

 January 9, after a wedk's illness with 

 pneumonia, was recorded in The Re- 

 view 's obituary column January 15. 



Many floral offerings were placed up- 

 on the grave and lot; they were among 

 the most beautiful designs which the 

 trade in St. Louis had seen for some 

 time. Many of them contained orchids, 

 valley and violets, while some were of 

 Beauties and the finest grades of roses. 

 The blanket was beautifully designed 

 of orchids and was sunk into the vault 

 with the casket. 



East Liberty, Pa.— William C. Mor- 

 ton, who has for the last six years been 

 selling bulbs, evergreens and roses, is 

 erecting a large greenhouse for the 

 growing of plants. 



Manitowoc, Wis.— The M. G. Madson 

 Seed Co. has purchased the entire stock 

 and fixtures from Henry A. Levenhagen 

 and is consolidating his business with 

 its own florists' business. This change 

 marks the dropping out of another old- 

 time florist, since Mr. Levenhagen has 

 been in the business all his life, having 

 succeeded his father, who founded the 

 business in 1871. For the present Mrs. 

 Levenhagen will assist in the new retail 

 store of the M. G. Madson Seed Co. 



Florists' Remembrances at the Grave of Fred C "Webtt, 



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