16 



The Florists' Review 



Ueckmbku 23, 1920 



ought to be considered from the stand- 

 point of the greatest good to the great- 

 est number. Looked at from that angle, 

 I believe the quarantine ought not to 

 be lifted. J. E. Benjamin. 



ODCN UETTEn^,/^ KEADEIijS) 



PAINT, NOT THRIPS. 



A short time ago I wrote you about 

 our crop of cyclamens in 4, 5 and 6-inch 

 pots. The earliest of them were show- 

 ing an abundance of buds, but as soon 

 as the buds appeared above the foliage 

 they became wrinkled and showed brown 

 and black decayed spots. When the 

 buds opened the petals soon faded and 

 looked as if they had been scorched. 

 .The foliage, however, was in as per- 

 fect condition as I have ever seen. We 

 were in doubt as to the cause and 

 thought thrips were possibly the cause. 



I have decided to write you and tell 

 you what I discovered to be the cause 

 of the damage to our cyclamens. A few 

 days after 1 sought your advice on the 

 subject,! was shocked to see every bloom 

 on a nice crop of Primula obconiea 

 suddenly withered, and also some snaj)- 

 dragon and geranium blooms in the ad- 

 joining section similarly affected. 



I could not believe that thrips worked 

 this fast against a weekly spraying of 

 diluted nicotine on the cyclamens. After 

 some investigation, I discovered that 

 the gas or fumes which had been rising 

 from the hot water pipes beneath the 

 bench upon which the cyclamens were 

 growing were doing the damage. The 

 pipes had been painted during "July, 

 while the bench was removed and later 

 replaced by a new one. It was evi- 

 dent that the wrong kind of paint was 

 used. 



We removed the cyclamens and primu- 

 las into another house, and now every 

 new bud opens into a perfect flower, but 

 only one-half the crop will be in bloom 

 for holiday sales. 



William Van Langcndon. 



OTHER SIDE OF QUESTION. 



I have received The Review for De- 

 cember 9 and notice that certain indi- 

 viduals are still working to do away 

 with Quarantine 37. I am a potato 

 fjrower, this year growing 5,000 bushels. 

 As you know, potatoes enter this coun- 

 try duty free. Last season, owing to 

 short crop, loss by rot and cold weather, 

 those fortunate enough to have a good 

 crop made money, in spite of the fact 

 that over 39,000,000 bushels were im- 

 ported during last season. 



This year we liavc a bumper crop, 

 grown with liigh-priced fertilizer and 

 insecticides and liighly paid help, so 

 that we have been offered from 75 cents 

 to $1.40 per bushel for selected No. 1 

 Long Island stock, with tlie market from 

 $1.15 to $1.25 since October 25, f. o. b. 

 loading station, with talk of a decline 

 after the holidays. Fertilizer for the 

 season of 1921 is no clicaper, and some 

 companies arc charging 25 to 50 cents 

 a ton more than in 1920. It costs from 

 $60 to $61 per ton, cash in advance, for 

 complete 5-8-4 mixed goods. 



According to good authority, potatoes 

 can be bought for 40 cents per bushel, 

 delivered at the vessel 's side, in various 

 ports in Europe. Many of the growers 

 who cannot grow a large crop per acre, 

 or have failure from rot, are growing 

 at a loss at $1.25. A movement is on 



foot again to put an import duty on 

 potatoes and thus help the growers. 



Now, as I see it, if Quarantine 37 is 

 removed it will place the American bulb 

 growers in the same boat as the potato 

 growers. 



I have nearly 1,000,000 planting stock 

 gladiolus bulbs and expect to plant 

 bulblets enough for 500,000 another 

 year. The other day one of the largest 

 growers on Long Island, N. Y., said 

 that present prices were none too high 

 to meet the cost of production and 

 marketing. Last July the largest grower 

 on the island was heard to remark that 

 the price of bulbs had to advance. 

 Three years ago a prominent gladiolus 

 grower said that No. 1 America gladioli 

 had been bought in Europe for $2 per 

 thousand. With the present rate of ex- 

 change and Europe looking for a mar- 

 ket, it seems to me that stock will come 

 down much below the cost of production. 



I realize the fact that much stock 

 cannot be grown here, at least not with- 

 out a large expenditure of time and 

 money. But, from what little I can 

 read, it seems to me that the question 



BEQONIAS FROM SEED. 



Can Chatelaine begonias be grown 

 from seed and, if so, what is the best 

 method for starting them? 



J. J. W.— 111. 



This useful begonia comes readily 

 from both seed and from cuttings. In 

 the case of seed, sow in pans well 

 drained and containing leaf-mold and 

 sand. Put the rough material over the 

 crocks and screen the upper surface 

 until it is quite fine. Water through a 

 fine rose and then sow the small seeds 

 evenly. Dust a little fine sand over 

 them, but do not water. Place in a 

 warm, moist house; put a sheet of glass 

 over the pans, and cover with paper to 

 protect them from the sun until the seed- 

 lings germinate. Be sure not to allow 

 the surface to dry out and always water 

 with extreme care, so as not to wash the 

 surface. C. W. 



Colorado Springs, Colo. — William Wal- 

 lace, for spme years connected with the 

 trade as an employee of various firms, 

 has a number of plants under sash and 

 is building a small house to care for 

 them. He will enter the retail trade 

 here. 



M^ws fran 



ro^ 



GHENT GROWERS FACE FAILURE. 



Quarantine 37 One Cause. 



In 1914 Ghent and its suburbs formed 

 one of the greatest horticultural centers 

 in the world. There were about 1,500 

 separate establishments, covering an 

 area of about 1,125 acres, with an esti- 

 mated property value of 55,000,000 

 francs, or $10,615,000, states Consul Gen- 

 eral Henry H. Morgan, at Brussels. 



Azaleas, rhododendrons, palms, or- 

 chids and other plants of a similar na- 

 ture were cultivated, nearly all for ex- 

 port. The value of this exportation 

 amounted to 14,000/}00 francs, $2,702,- 

 000, of which one-fifth was sent to the 

 United States. Besides the laborers 

 needed for building and repairing green- 

 houses and heating establishments, there 

 were 10,000 M'orknien employed. 



The industry owed its prosperity not 

 only to the work and zeal of the horticul- 

 turist, but also to the efforts of the Syn- 

 dicate of Belgian Horticulturists and the 

 aid of the Belgian government in pro- 

 tecting the interests of plant growers, 

 creating new markets and facilitating 

 exportation. 



The j)resent situation is most disas- 

 trous. During the five years of the war 

 tlierc was practically no exportation. 

 Many of the greculiouses were destroyed 

 by the German arm.v, and other estab- 

 lishments in the suburbs of Ghent were 

 badly damaged during the allied advance 

 preceding the armistice. Whereas be- 

 fore 1914 Germany had been the largest 

 buyer of plants, in 1919 this trade had 



been obliterated by the war and the sub- 

 sequent low purchasing value of the 

 German mark. 



Embargo Kills Hope. 



In spite of all these disasters, after the 

 armistice the horticulturists hoped to 

 build up their industry, but at the end 

 of 1918 a new disaster arose in the pass- 

 ing of the American law placing an em- 

 bargo on all plants coming into the 

 United States from Belgium. 



In spite of the fact that Belgian plant 

 shippers are willing to reinforce the 

 plant inspection at Ghent and even to 

 pay all expenses of a severe inspection 

 on the arrival of plants in New York, 

 Ihe embargo still stands. The latest dis- 

 aster was an embargo placed by France, 

 April, 1920, on the importation of all 

 live plants, fruits and flowers. Thanks 

 to the intervention of the Syndicate of 

 Belgian Horticulturists and the aid of 

 the government, this restriction was re- 

 moved May 19, 1920, but it had already 

 done great harm. 



Because of all this, it is not strange 

 that several establishments have been 

 sold. One auctioneer of Ghent has sold 

 155 establishments since the armistice. 

 Several of the best firms have been 

 obliged to stop business. In one case 

 a large installation in the suburb 

 was sold to a company manufacturing 

 electrical material, and another estab- 

 lishment was bought bj' an automobile 

 manufacturer. Unless there is a change 

 for the better soon, the horticultural in- 

 dustry of Ghent will disappear in large 

 part. 



