10 



The Florists^ Review 



Jim; 2S, 1917. 



Weill "t ImhI." 'l'li;it "s w li;it t lie (it Iht 1\'1- 

 lows said and ai'f still sayiiiL;. WC arc 

 <,M((\viii^' llu'iri lific ill (|iiaiiti1\- at Kii 

 rcka ; in (itlicr wurds. t'nlldw i ii^; I'.di- 

 son "s ad\icc and ddiiii; wiiat tlir ntlnT 

 t'cildws say caniint lie done 



' ' I Inw did we lind it (Hit .' .1 ll-t li\- 

 acciii'Mit. A ( 'li list mas a/aica was 

 lM)ii;iiit from l''iaiii\ I'tdicaiio. ol' San 

 I'rancisco. Another was imridiascd t'ldni 

 the Ai't I'loial ('o., ot' tiic same city. 

 Jiotli were taken to l-;ni(d\a. Tliey ke]it 

 on iiloomiiiy till Mai(di and were tlicn 

 ]ilante(l out in a lied of pansies and for- 

 jidtteii. The next .laniiary many fat 

 luids were iioteil on tliese plants. They 

 were dn^, ]iotte(| up ainl taken inside. 

 Jn a short time they were a mass of 

 Idoonis, e\('ii lari^cr blooms than they 

 carried when we lioiiLiiit them in San 

 |-'ra iicisco. 



■'<)nr curiosity aidiise(|, we ordered 

 l"ii a/aleas t'roin the ,a>t, jiotted them 

 and kept them under a --lat house, where 

 they were sprayed and waterecj. In tlu- 

 I'al! they were a mass (d' Id^, t'at loids. 

 They were t'(irce(| alongside imjiortiMl 

 sto( k. were in Idoom niiodi sooner than 

 the imported iiiie-^ and were sold out lie- 

 fore one ol' the others t'oiiiid a pnr- 

 (dia-er. 



Masses of Native Azaleas. 



"This seems to dispose ot' the <pies- 



tioii of liiiddiiiL;-. Iiiit, it' it does not, we 

 lia\(' other proot's galore. 



' ' i'rom l-air(d\a northward all the liills 

 faciii;^' the sea are a mass ot' natix'e aza- 

 leas. These are annually coxcred witli 

 slieets of immense Idooins; soiiielimes a 

 seedling plant a foot hi;^h liears a fini' 

 head of Idoom. 'J'he hills in tin' next 

 raiiLic li(diin(l are co\cre(| with natixc 

 rlKKJodeiolrons. 'i'hey iie\cr fail to 

 Idoom jiidt'iistdy. llxciy female lodly 

 jdant is t'ully lierried t-\ rvy vear. The 

 toyoii is a mass (d' Sea rhd . ( 'ot oiieasters 

 hear crops ot' lierides that are the envy 

 of nonresidents. St la \\ lierries, cur- 

 rants, lasplieiries and other small fruits 

 liear two and three f(dd the averat^o 

 eastern crops. The tact is, this (dimate 

 all'ords ideal conditions t'or see(| pro(luc- 

 tion, and luiddin;^ is the first steji tu- 

 \\ ar(| seecl |0(H|iict ion. " ' 



Vigorous Growth of Plants. 



<•. <i. X'andeii Alieide, superintendent 

 of the a/.alea depai'tmeiit of the < 'ot 

 taj^c <iar(|eiis Niirseiies, says a/ahas 

 jj^idw miodi faster there than in ImI 

 yinin, aii'l he thinks he can pi'oiluce as 

 odod plants in three years at l']urtd\a as 

 the l!id;^ians can turn out in four \ears. 

 In fact, he s;i\s that any sort of jilant 

 \vlii(di is suited to a c(im|iarat i\ idx' cool 

 (dimate ^rows with remarkalde free<|om 



at l-liiitdva. ''The rapidity of plant 

 growth in this locality,'" he states, 

 ''caniKd lie a|ipri'ciate(l till one starts 

 work here.'' He adds that, as a con- 

 seipieiice ot' this xiyor of t;idwtli, tlie 

 i;ur(d\a a/.aleas hear plumper huds and 

 lar;4cr llowers than are usually seen on 

 the ini|iorte<| stocdv. 



The Stock for Grafting. 



One of .Mr. Ward's first endeavors 

 at l'air(d\a was to improxc the a/.alea 



Mr. Ward at Eureka. 



st()(d< for ii'raftin;; hy s(dectiny the 

 stroii^^est, most \igorous see(|lin;4s for 

 sto(d<s. He now has a seedlin^r whiidi, 

 lu' helieves, has exce]itional merit t'or 

 this purpose. .\s in(|icate(l h\' the two 

 hd't hand jdaiits in the uiijier pi(diire 

 on the prece(|in^ Jin^^f, this seelliii^ 

 seems to ludain the lower leaxes miodi 

 longer after j;raftiiin than does the or 

 diiiaiy stock used for yraftiiiy in Pxd 

 ^iiini. -Mr. N'andeii .Xheide finds that 

 yraftin^ the a/.ah'a in the lMir(d\a idi 

 mate is not at all diflicult. He re 

 marks that at the end of the first year 

 the ^raft"(l plants at the Cottauc (iar 

 (lens Xui'series have li imdi to S iiodi 

 he;ii|s and some \arieties even measure 

 nine to \v\\ iiodies in diameter. 



One of the most notieeal)le character- 

 istics (d' Mr. Ward's method of azalea 

 culture is the (•om])r(diensive ami dis- 

 criminati\e use that lie makes of the 

 dilTerent forms of structure — frame, 

 slat house and greenhouse — accordiiij^ 

 to the season or the ]ihints' stage of 

 de\ tdopment. 



"Ward's Azalea Range. 



More than t()(i,(M)(l of the ])laiits can 

 Ik- wintered in liis present group of slat 

 houses, which occujiy tliree acres. The 

 slat housi's are heated, when necessary, 

 hy a huge oil hurning holler, connected 

 with steam jiipes under the gutters, but 

 the artificial heat is needed only when 

 dangerous frosts occui, say ten or a 

 dozen times during the winter. In addi- 

 tion to these slat hoiist's, the azalea 

 range comprises a stetdframe house 

 whi(di covers one fourth (d' an acre and 

 holds :!."), iMiii |dants. There are also 

 two acres cd' speidal frames, fitted with 

 slatted co\ers for use in sunny summer 

 days; these frames will shelter l2r)0,000 

 plants. Two acres min-e of greenhouses, 

 especially designed for azalea culture, 

 are now under construcfion and will 

 |nd\ ide room for nearly .'liid.iMliI ])lants. 



''.\ll this,'" says Mr. Ward, "means 

 ahoiit a million azaleas under culture 

 and an annual oiitjnit n\' a (jiiartei' of u 

 million salalde plants.'" 



GORLY'S GLORIOUS GLADIATORS? 



Several wd(d\s ago it was reported 

 that I'rank (ioily, of (iriinni cV <lorly, 

 St. Louis, was tra|iesing around among 

 the florists of Ids home and nearhy 

 states organizing a s(|uad, or company, 

 or regiment, or whatever military divi- 

 sion he could get enough members to 

 fill. Mr. (iorly's ai-tivity was the in 

 centive for the following, whi(di was 

 suggested as the first \-eise of a liattle 

 hymn for fighting florists: 



Kforist- warridrs hold ;oi- wc 



.\ii(| our tr.idc is (iriuiin A (iordl.v, 



rc:icc tind (|(iict suit lis iiol ; 



W«' WMlit \v;ir. .•iml we u;ilil il lint I 



Having this mindi as a starter, per- 

 haps the ]Hiets in the trade will siipjdy 

 (dlier \-erses. '^'oii try ami let's lia\f 

 the result. 



VARIEGATED ASPIDISTRAS. 



We ha\e some as[)idistras (»f the 

 \ariegated type that are in a goo<l, 

 healthy condition, but they all have 

 turned green. Is tiiere any remedy for 

 this, or is there any treatment that will 

 make t hem come strijied .' 



J. t\ Z.— Tex. 



It is necessary to de|>end upon selec- 

 tion in order to [(ei[ietuate the varie- 



lli.ooH \/;iU;i (,i:.l|s All.T '1 u ■ ' M-ntl:-. 'J.->.ii Id .\/;il.;i Mm.. I'.Ol.-U. nun i;...l. I up K.i <.|..uii. 



Glimpses of Azalea Propagation in the Greenhouses of the Cottage Gardens Nurseries at Eureka, Cal. 



