26 



The Florists' Review 



MAltCil 3, 1021 



sure nj^jiiiist tin- ilisi'.-iscH of fr\iit tioos 

 ami ;i<;ri«iiltm;il |i|;iiits. A. (J, Hiikcr 

 aiiil M. I,. Mdlcs ill tlie jiroccciliiii^s of 

 tlie Kiit()iiiiil<i>,'ical Hocicty's iiit'ctin;; at 

 AVashiiijiton, in May, lit'l^O, statt- that 

 Ak'iirodt-s a/alca- is not abuiidaiit on the 

 fo(i(l plant ami that it docs not st'ciii, 

 8o far, to \>v iiijiirions. W. I{. Walton in 

 tlie Ri'\i(>\v of Applied Kiit oinolo^jy, 

 volunio VIII, states that the Kiii-opcan 

 corn hoier, or I'yranstea miliilalis, 

 pained access to America in the grain 

 of lirooiii corn, which came from Venice, 

 liroiim corn is not at all cultivated in 

 lU'l^jiuni, the climate of this country 

 l)ein<j much too cold for the plant. The 

 florists here |)Ut to thcinselxes the 

 question why certain kinds of [dants 

 ^ on which no injurious insects have e\er 

 been detected, either in America or in 

 l?eli;ium, such as araiicarias, mu.st not 

 be imjiorted into America. 



Azalea Culture. 



The soil in whi(di azaleas are prrown is 

 totally artificial. The natural soil of 

 the (ihent district is san ly, poor, light 

 and per(Meable. The florists divide the 

 land devoted to the culture of azaleas 

 into beds of one and onefifth meters 

 width. The beds iare e.\-c;i vat»'(l to a 

 dejith of from ten to twenty-five centi- 

 meters, according to the size of the ball 

 of the plant. That sjiaf'e is then filleil 

 with leaf soil, chiefly leaves of oak, 

 beech and chestnut, in which tlie plants 

 are grown. That leaf soil is found in 

 woods situated in the north of Belgium, 

 wliere some persons make a business of 

 raking the top layer of the old mattress 

 covering the ground in the wood. These 

 sweet, uiidecoinposed leaves are then 

 loaded on r;iilway trui'ks, brought to the 

 nurseries and used at once. It is nearly 

 impossible for any insect to live in that 

 thin, loose layer of scul, fully exposed 

 to the air and flooded every day dur- 

 ing tlie warm weather, as the azalea re- 

 quires an e.xtracrdinnry amount of water 

 during the summer. During the winter, 

 when thi> plants are hoiiS(>cI, the leaf soil 

 is drawn in heaps towards the center of 

 the bed so as to permit the atmos])heric 

 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 Oermany and 

 Aiistri.'i, whi(h 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 solil ;it 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 tiefter times. Many enij>loy- 

 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, nuiny 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 thenistdves in that 

 line, and in the future, when better con- 

 ditions will reign in the various coun- 

 tries, Hidgian hori icult urists will face 

 a serious handicap by not having the 

 skilled labor necessary for iloiiig such 

 delicate work as propagation, watering 

 or packing, wliicli are more of a ra- 

 tional th.'in of a mechanical nature. It 

 is unnecessary to mentiiui 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 abundance of greens that they 

 were s(dil !it too low ]irices. They sonie- 

 times did not [lay the cost of carriage 

 from the producing spot to the market. 

 The florists who are still working have 

 all re<liice(l to a ininiimim 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. Kor 

 some plants, such as azaleas, the growers 

 ha\e used no heat this year. How could 

 thev? At a recent public auction sale 

 2,000 Azalea Ilcxe were sold for 24 

 francs. The growers simply cover the 

 greenhouses with reed mats at night and 

 I>lace sheets of thick brown [laper di- 

 rectly over the plants in case of heavy 

 frost. The number of emjity 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 one-fiftli 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 8t. .Joseph, Mich., by 

 the Shepard & Benning Co. This firm 

 hanilles 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 ,joii(piils, Paper Whites and 

 tulijis. 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 sniila-\, 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 nielan- 

 thera. 



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

 sis, or shad bush. 



!:iy;is^i}y{i'> y{; >y{!M;^iy{jiy{iiy{;»yByj]} ^ 



i^ LAST CALL ^^ 



8rtri«virir»irirsrtr«tir)«ririrstir«viri«tiri«\itrsrtri«tirr^ 



ILLINOIS STATE CONVENTION. 



Program Announced. 



The sixteenth annual convention of 

 the Illinois State Florists' Association 

 will be held at the P'loricultiiral build- 

 ing, I'niversity of Illinois, Urbana, III., 

 March 8 and !). Headquarters will be 

 at th(> Inm.'in hotel. Champaign, 111. 

 Preceiling the convention a meeting 

 of the executive committee will bo held 

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

 be as follows: 



M.MICII 8. JtOO A .M 



Wplconif aildri'Hs, liy I'ri>f J. C. lllalr. lirail of 

 tlic ilcparliiiiiit of liorticultnrw, l,'nivtT>>ity of 

 lllinoiH. 



ItdlH.nsi' liy .To<Pi)li Kolioiit. I.,i*v>rtyvlll(" 



I'nsi'lciils :i(lilrcss. Iiv W J. liemlirelkpr 

 Spriii>:ti.'l,l 



I ri'ii-'iirvr's report, liy F I. Waslibiim. of 

 HIooiiiiiii;ton 



Sfi Titir.v's rc|"irt liy AlhtTt T ricy, of 

 Mnywrtofl 



"I'lif (;i.l<ion Itnlo of WliolPs.ili' ("mI KIowit 

 I)islrUiiili>iii." \>y .1 E rollworllL. of Cliicimo 



"'III'' (iriiwiTs' A'<«"-iiiiion In .\iins niul 

 OI)|<'(ts," liy .1 F Aiiiminn. ««'iTi>tiiry of tlic 

 .N'alioiial Flowor '".roworH' Assoriatlon, 

 MAKCH R. 12 00 IV M. 



"Tlio Advaiit iC'H of a Sripiitiflc Trilninc In 

 FlnricMlturo from n St'i(i>-ni Vicwixiint." hy ,T. 1) 

 Smith, stiiili'nt frmii T>piie Ishin<l. N Y. 



"Wliat (liir FirtiliziT Stmlliw Havi' -'Taiiiiht 

 Is" liy I>r r A I.'"lnnli:ni(r. of Irbann 



I)l-<-u-i'--i'>n on "Whiit I.inos of Kxpcr mpntal 

 Work WUl Re of <;r>'!itc><I IntproHt to tli.> Flo 

 rl-t'" led tiy Dr. I'. A I<<'lionli!iii<T :\nd followed 

 liv a ceneral disru'^slon l)y tlio nifinlnTs. 



rntini-^lied Itn^iiieNs and new biiBinesH. 



Election of otfleers. 



MAItCII S. 7:3« V. M. 



"Wonderland Inler Clis^." motion piptiiren 

 of the .\m(Ti<"in <!reenlio\mo Mf);. ("o 



F. T. I) adviTtisine slides, courtesy of I'enn 

 tlie Flori^il. I'o-'ton. MaxM. 



■•The Flower Shop." a play prodiieed by the 

 Rtiidents 



Siipilal display of stndentj* work In artistic 

 denienlnc on exhibition diirlni: tlip 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 tojiics 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, so that it will not be necessary 

 for members to return to their hotel's 

 for this purpose. 



I.NMA.V HOTEL. 



Sincle ro<.m without hath $1.50 to $1.7.". 



Double nw.m wiilio'it bath SIX) 



Single roi.ni with bath 2.2."> to 4 00 



Donblp room with bath t 00 to 7 00 



ItKAUDSI.Y HOTEL 

 Room without bath, per person .. . $1 ."0 



Uo..m with bath, per person $2 50 to 3.00 



Two morning trains leave Chicago for 

 Chanqiaign, at 7:20 and 8:4:'), respec- 

 tively. In the evening trains leave at 

 4:r)0, 0:15 and 8:15. 



MICHIGAN MEETING. 



thairman Fred Goetz,, of the publicity 

 committee for the convention of the 

 Michigan State Florists' Association, 

 rei)orts that Saginaw's welccne is ready 

 to be extended to all. AH committees 

 liave 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. 



