26 



The Rorists^ Review 



Mabcb 3, 1921 



sure against the iliseasefl of fruit trees 

 anil ngrii-ultiiral |»Iaiit3. A. C. Baker 

 aii(] M. L. Moica in tlie proceedings of 

 tlie Entomological Society's meeting at 

 ■Washington, in May, 1920, state that. 

 Aleurodos azalesB is not abundant on the 

 food plant and that it does not seem, 

 80 far, to be injurious. W. R. Walton in 

 the Review of Applied Entomology, 

 volume VIII, states that the Euro|)ean 

 corn borer, or Pyraustea nubilalis, 

 gained access to America in th^ grain 

 of broom corn, which came from Venice. 

 Broom corn is not at all cultivated in 

 Belgium, the climate of this country 

 being much too cold for the plant. The 

 florists here put to themselves the 

 question why certain kinds of plants 

 on which no injurious insects have ever 

 been detected, either in America or in 

 Belgium, such as araucarias, must not 

 be imported into America. 



Azalea Cultoire. 



The soil in which azaleas are grown is 

 totally artificial. The natural soil of 

 the Ghent district is sandy, poor, light 

 and permeable. The^orists divide the 

 land devoted to the culture of azaleas 

 into beds of one and one-fifth meters 

 width. The beds are excavated to a 

 depth of from ten to twenty-five centi- 

 meters, according to the size of the ball 

 of the plant. That space is then filled 

 with leaf soil, chiefly leaves of oak, 

 beech and chestnut, in which the plants 

 are grown. That leaf soil is found in 

 woods situated in the north of Belgium, 

 »-where some persons make a business of 

 raking the top layer of the old mattress 

 covering the ground in the wood. These 

 sweet, undecomposed leaves are then 

 loaded on railway trucks,, brought to the 

 nurseries and used at once. It is nearly 

 impossible for any insect to live in that 

 thin, loose layer of soil, fully exposed 

 to the air and flooded every day dur- 

 ing the warm weather, as the azalea re- 

 quires an extraordinary amount of water 

 during the summer. During the winter, 

 when the plants are housed, the leaf soil 

 is drawn in heaps towards the center of 

 the bed so as to permit the atmospheric 

 agents to exercise their favorable in- 

 fluence. \ 



Postwar Handicaps. 



The high cost of labor, the scarcity 

 and high cost of coal, the low rate of 

 exchange and poverty of Germany and 

 Austria, which make.it nearly impos- 

 sible for these countries to buy plants 

 from Belgium, the chaotic situation in 

 Russia — all these factors together with 

 the American embargo have given a 

 deadly blow to our noble national in- 

 dustry. 



More than 200 florists' establishments 

 in the vicinity of Ghent have been de- 

 molished or have been sold at public 

 auction. Many greenhouses have been 

 bought by Dutchmen. Owing to the 

 favorable rate of exchange, they get 

 them for next to nothing. Other flo- 

 rists have abandoned their cultures, but 

 their greenhouses are still standing and 

 crying for better times. Many employ- 

 ers have been compelled to seek a liv- 

 ing in other occupations, often incom- 

 patible with their inclinations. Others, 

 already of advanced age, have gone 

 abroad, seeking fortune in another coun- 

 try. Not less unhappy are the work- 

 men, many of whom are too old to learn 

 another trade and are heartbroken to 

 leave the vocation they loved so much. 

 Another serious consequence is that no 

 young men desirous of studying horti- 



culture dare engage themselves in that 

 line, and in the future, when better con- 

 ditionrf will reign in the various coun- 

 tries, Belgian horticulturists will face 

 a serious handicap by not having the 

 skilled labor necessary for doing such 

 delicate work as propagation, watering 

 or packing, which are more of a ra- 

 tional than of a mechanical nature. It 

 is unnecessary to mention that first- 

 class labor must be trained to the work 

 from early youth. 



Present Conditions. 



Under the stress of the war, many 

 florists grew vegetables, but there was 

 such an abuiulanco of greens that they 

 were sold at too low prices. They some- 

 times did not pay the cost of carriage 

 from the producing spot to the market. 

 The florists who are still working have 

 all reduced to a minimum the extension 

 of their cultures in order to save fuel. 

 They have only saved those plants 

 which are most in demand, neglecting 

 others, perhaps more interesting, but 

 of a smaller commercial value. For 

 some plants, such as azaleas, the growers 

 have used no heat this year. How could 

 theyt At a recent public auction sale 

 2,000 Azalea Hexe were sold for 24 

 francs. The growers simply cover the 

 greenhouses with reed mats at night and 

 place sheets of thick brown paper di- 

 rectly over the plants in case of heavy 

 frost. The number of empty green- 

 houses is considerable and it may be 

 stated without fear of exaggeration that 



the culture of certain kinds of plants, 

 such as azaleas and rhododendrons, is 

 reduced to oue-fifth of what it was in 

 1914. 



STYLE SHOW DECORATIONS. 



An event at which the Benning Flower 

 Shop was able to demonstrate its ability 

 in floral decorating was a style show 

 recently held at St. Joseph, Mich., by 

 the Shepard & Benning Co. This firm 

 handles ladies' ready-to-wear garments, 

 and the event was staged in their spa- 

 cious show rooms. A mammoth platform, 

 12x140 feet, was erected through the 

 middle of the store. This was sur- 

 rounded by ferns, palms, cinerarias, 

 baskets of jonquils. Paper Whites and 

 tulip's. The front of the platform was 

 banked with ferns and palms, inter- 

 spersed with Easter lilies, callas and 

 hyacinths. The panels and wall cases 

 of the store were decorated with south- 

 ern smilax, which also made an effec- 

 tive decoration for an overhead elec- 

 tric group lighting. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



W. & S., Ohio. — The shoot was com- 

 pletely dried up on receipt, but seemed 

 to be a heath, probably Erica melan- 

 thera. 



A, & S., Miss. — Amelanchier canaden- 

 sis, or shad bush. 



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njJNOIS STATE CONVENTION. 



Program Announced. 



The sixteenth annual convention of 

 the Illinois State Florists' Association 

 will be held at the Floricultural build- 

 ing, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111., 

 March 8 and 9. Headquarters will be 

 at the Inman hotel, Champaign, 111. 

 Preceding the convention a meeting 

 of the executive committee will be held 

 at 8 p. m., March 7. The program will 

 be as follows: 



MARCH 8. 9:00 A. M. 



Welcome addri'BH, by Prof. J. C. Blair, head of 

 the department of horticulture, University of 

 Illinois. 



Re-<pon8e. by .To<ieph Kohout. LlhertyvlUe. 



rrcsldent'a addresB, by W. J. Ilembrelker, 

 Springfield. 



Treasurpr'g report, by F. L. Washburn, of 

 Bloomlngton. 



Secretary's report, by Albert T. Hey, of 

 May wood. 



"The Golden Rule of Wholeaale Cut Flower 

 Distribution." by J. E. Pollworth. of ChicaRo. 



"The Orowers' A»'>o<latlon: Its Alma and 

 Objects." by J. F. Ammnnn, secretary of the 

 National Flower Orowers' Association. 

 MARCH 8. 2:00 P. M. 



"The AdTnnt^iKea of a Sctentlflc Tralnlne In 

 Floriculture from a Student Viewpoint." by J. I). 

 Smith, student from Long Island. N. Y. 



"What Our Fertiliser Studies Have Taught 

 Us." by Pr. P. A. Ijehenbnuer. of t'rhana. 



niicusfdon on "What Lines of Exper'mental 

 Work Will Be of Greatest Interest to the Flo- 

 rlHt?" Jed by Dr. P. A. I>>henbauer and followed 

 by a general discussion by the members. 



I'nflnlslied buoiness and new business. 



Election of officers. 



MARCH 8. 7:30 P. M. 



"Wonderland J'nder Oliss." motion pictures 

 of the American Greenhouse Mfg. Co. 



F. T. D. advertising slides, courtesy of Penn 

 the Florist, Poston, Mass. 



"The Flower Shop." a play produced by the 

 students. 



Sp4»ol«l display of students' work In artistic 

 designing on ••xMbitlon during the afternoon. 



Wednesday morning, March 9, at 9:30 



a. m., those florists who care to stay 

 will inspect the greenhouses at the uni- 

 versity, which will be open to all. An 

 open forum on topics of vital interest 

 to all growers will be conducted by Prof. 

 H. B. Dorner and Dr. P. A. Lehenbauer. 



Hotels and Accommodations. 



The hotel rates and accommodations 

 are given below. Tuesday, March 8, 

 lunch can be had on the grounds, either 

 at the university or at the Illinois cafe- 

 teria, BO that it will not be necessary 

 for members to return to their hotels 

 for this purpose. 



INMAN HOTEL. 



Single room without bath $1.50 to $1.75 



Double room without bath ,1.00 



Single room with bath 2.25 to 4 00 



Double room with buth 4.00 to 7.00 



BEARDSLT HOTEL 

 Room without bath, per person.... $1 50 



Room with bath, per person $2.50 to 3.00 



Two morning trains leave Chicago for 

 Champaign, at 7:20 and 8:45, respec- 

 tively. In the evening trains leave at 

 4:50, 6:15 and 8:15. 



MICHIGAN MEETINO. 



Chairman Fred Goetz, of the publicity 

 committee for the convention of the 

 Michigan State Florists' Association, 

 reports that Saginaw 's welcome is ready 

 to be extended to all. All committees 

 have reported that everything is in 

 order for March 8 and 9 and a large 

 turnout of state florists is expected. 

 Arrangements will be ample and what 

 is expected to be the best meeting in 

 the history of the state is looked for- 

 ward to by those in charge. 



