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Fbbbuart 6. 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



33 



benches where the soil is wheeled in, as 

 the coating is so thin that it will all 

 crack. It is about thirty-five years since 

 I saw it used. Fred G. Lewis. 



C»CN LETTCI^^^ KEADED6 



PEBENNIAI.S FOB WINDOWS. 



Florists everywhere are seeking new 

 and odd ways to give their window 

 displays that touch of simplicity so 

 much required to attract attention. 

 Why not use a few perennials f 



Something new, odd and attractive 

 can be devised for the vidndow with the 

 help of these old-fashioned flowers. 

 Some of the early-flowering perennials 

 force quite easily. Mertensia virgini- 

 ca, Primula veris and Euphorbia epi- 

 thymoides will force without any 

 trouble in a house of 60 to 65 degrees. 

 With the primula and euphorbia, one 

 should, however, be careful to use only 

 well rooted and strong clumps or strong 

 pot-grown plants potted not earlier than 

 September. 



Euphorbia epithymoides should be 

 forced and sold along with our other 

 Easter-flowering plants. Its bloom is 

 a beautiful chrome yellow, with hardy 

 and bright foliage that will follow 

 along well to the top of each stem. 

 This plant was displayed in the Grand 

 Central Palace, New York city, among 

 a few rocks at the entrance of a rock 

 garden and daily held the attention of 

 many visitors, who inquired its name 

 and where it could be obtained. 



J. G. Tinger. 



CALL FOB ABBITBATION. 



Grow the stock and get the price; 

 don't get the price and deliver poor 

 stock. If I wish any plants, I confer 

 with myself and The Eeview and then 

 enclose check with my order, except to 

 firms where my credit is known. It 

 is then up to the sellers and I believe 

 that some of them take their own sweet 

 time. 



I bought some rooted cuttings of 

 geraniums last August. Delivery was 

 made in November and, believe me, I 

 had to use a pair of tweezers to hold 

 them while potting. Actually they 

 were not over one inch long, at $17.50 

 per thousand; they are still in 2-inch 

 pots. At the same time I ordered and 

 received geraniums from California, cut- 

 tings three inches to six inches long 

 and 100 per cent O. K. Most of these 

 are now fine plants in 5-inch pots. 



After over two months' wait, I re- 

 ceived my order of 300 pelargoniums 

 and I believe I shall have hardly 

 seventy-five living plants. They were 

 packed well and arrived safely, but 

 if the plants left the seller in the same 

 condition as they reached the buyer, it 

 seems to me like getting money under 

 false pretenses. 



Some firms say they will book your 

 orders for so-and-so, delivery three to 

 five months later, if you send one-third 

 cash. It is always cash. Why should 

 your money be working for someone 

 elset The seller should get the order 

 when stock is ready; notify buyer to 

 send cash for it and then fill the order 

 as advertised. 



Now the time is at hand when a per- 

 son wants the stock. The reports all 



over this country indicate the best 

 trade up to date, plenty of money and 

 more buyers. If there were an agree- 

 ment among all the florists to have cer- 

 tain men or firms (several in each 

 state), where a person could send a 

 sample of the shipment, for approval 

 or disapproval, all to abide by their de- 

 cision, then buyers would have greater 

 confidence and order more freely. 



W. M. Tiplady. 



CEMENT COATING FOB BENCHES. 



I was interested in the letter of L. 

 E. S. in The Review of January 15 re- 

 garding the coating of benches with 

 cement. My grandfather, E. B. Lewis, 

 who propagated the Niagara grape from 

 its early days, had all his benches cov- 

 ered with about half an inch of cement. 

 I have also used it myself. 



It should be mixed thin enough so 

 that it can be spread evenly with a 

 trowel. Before it sets hard, punch a 

 few holes in it where the cracks in the 

 boards come, in order to provide, 

 drainage. ^ 



I think it will double the life ht the 

 benches, but it cannot be used 



CANDYTUFT AND FEVEBFEW. 



Can you give me any information 

 about the proper time to sow seed of 

 candytuft and feverfew? Also, can you 

 tell me the best method of growing the 

 plants to get a crop of flowers for 

 Memorial dayt H. F. C. — Mass. 



Candytuft for flowering at Memorial 

 day should be sown at once. Buy the 

 mammoth spiral or as good a strain of 

 seed as possible, in order to secure large, 

 handsome spikes. Pot off the seedlings 

 in 2% -inch pots before planting out in 

 beds or benches. Any good soil which 

 will suit roses, mums or carnations wUl 

 suit candytuft, and a temperature of 45 

 to 50 degrees at night is needed. Higher 

 temperatures can be given as the season 

 advances if the plants seem at all late, it 

 being best to shade the glass a little 

 when doing this extra pushing. Place 

 the plants 10x10 or 9x12 inches apart, 

 in order to give them the needed space 

 for development. 



Feverfew from seed is undesirable, as 

 so large a proportion will come single 

 land only doubles have any market value. 

 I would suggest buying rooted cuttings 

 or plants from small pots and planting 

 them in benches before March 1. Grow 

 feverfew moderately cool; 45 degrees 

 at night is ample. A soil similar to that 

 used for candytuft will be found ideal. 



C. W. 



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"Cooperation in the selling of Dutch 

 bulbs has completely revolutionized 

 the business," observed R. H. Preenen, 

 of J. Schilpzand & Sons, Hillegom, Hol- 

 land. "True, we are as eager for the 

 American trade as ever we were, but, 

 having pooled our interests, we feel 

 much more independent and until the 

 purchaser gets into a similar boat it 

 will not be so easy sailing as formerly, 

 for, while he acts only as an individual, 

 we act collectively and consequently 

 have the stronger pull. It is in the 

 interests of every grower to produce 

 bulbs of as high quality as possible 

 and, judging from all reports, our cus- 

 tomers may look for as good a crop as 

 last year. The summer season will be 

 a deciding factor." 



• • • • 



O. E. Steinkamp, of Baur & Stein- 

 kamp, Indianapolis, Ind., expressed 

 the opinion that Euth Baur would 

 piove as good in every way to the 

 continentals as it was at home. Some 

 6,000 rooted cuttings have been pre- 

 pared for distribution in care of C. 

 Engelmann, of Saffron Walden, Eng- 

 land, who will undertake this benevo- 

 lent task. "While Euth Baur should 

 yield a golden harvest to everyone 

 who tries it, we have another carnation 

 which we believe will match it in popu- 

 larity. It is the result of a cross be- 

 tween Matchless and White Wonder 

 and possesses the habit of the former 

 and a bloom resembling the latter. 



We have named it Harvester and pro- 

 pose to send it out next year, realizing 

 that, in these times especially, one can- 

 not afford to hide such a find as we 

 believe this is. ' ' 



• • • • 



Homer Wiegand, of A. Wiegand's 

 Sons Co., Indianapolis, commented upon 

 the great popularity of the floral bas- 

 ket at funerals and attributes it to 

 the advanced development of taste. It 

 is highly welcome at this time of 

 scarcity, when every bloom is made to 

 show up to advantage. Adiantum is 

 freely used; it gives a graceful finish 

 and is worth the difference in cost. 

 George Wiegand is making a brief 

 sojourn in California and writes en- 

 thusiastically concerning the climate, 

 other conditions being somewhat similar 

 to those in the east. "If we had the 

 time," remarked Homer Wiegand, "we 

 might ship out our family of alligators, 

 which have been a big attraction; in 

 fact, our patrons seem as much inter- 

 ested in them as when we first received 

 them. They are really the only peace- 

 ful and contented subjects in the es- 

 tablishment. ' ' 



• • • • 



H. W. Bieman 's Sons, of Indianapolis, 

 are the fortunate owners of a begonia 

 which possesses the combined qualities 

 of Vernon, Erfordii and Lorraine. It 

 comes in color from deep red to white, 

 blooms almost the whole year around, 

 is propagated either from seed or from 

 cuttings, and will bear cutting back, 



