26 



The Florists^ Review 



Mat 19, 1021 



with Kentia Forsteriana and Bel- 

 moreana, Aspidistra lurida variegata, 

 Dractena Tricolor, a striking novelty, 

 and the golden sansevieria, Laurentii. 

 They are growing finely. Outside I have 

 17,000 dracffinas. Henry C. Geiger 

 helped saw up the dracsena canes, 

 while James McClain put them in the 

 ground. They are cut in pieces about 

 ten inches long and stuck in the soil as 

 we do California privet here. They root 

 with ease and grow lik-e weeds. I have 

 no buildings on the farm, just two tents. 

 Fred Pennock has been growing some 

 dracffinas, and an orange grower has a 

 lot of kentias; so you see horticulture is 

 only just starting in Porto Eico. I hope 

 to go down again in August. I enjoy 

 the life and find the work interesting. 



GETTINa MONEY TO BUILD. 



Topeka, Kan., is a town with a popu- 

 lation of about 50,000 and supplies a 

 surrounding territory which has about 

 350,000 inhabitants. Yet this popu- 

 lous area depends almost entirely on 

 outside sources for its flower supply. 



Arlo Hubbard has been actively en- 

 gaged in the seed, flower and nursery 

 business all his lif^. He has worked 

 in his father's store, at Topeka; at the 

 seed store of the W. W. Barnard Co., 

 Chicago, and has graduated from the 

 Kansas State Agricultural College. He 

 saw the need for a grower in the vicin- 

 ity of Topeka and he knew that he was 

 capable of operating the establishment 

 which he had in mind. But he didn't 

 have the necessary capital. He didn't 

 want to begin on a small scale and 

 .grow, but he wanted to start right in to 

 supply this greenhouse-poor market. 



Those two things explain an adver 

 tisement that • covered almost a full 



page in the Topeka Daily Capital for 

 May 11. The advertisement told about 

 the wonderful market for greenhouse 

 products that there was around Topeka, 

 told how well equipped Arlo Hubbard 

 was to operate the greenhouse range, 

 told about the location of the new 

 range, and, in fact, told everything in 

 connection with building the range. It 

 also told about some seven per cent,, 

 tax exempt, cumulative preferred stock 

 certificates which were to be sold for 

 the purpose of capitalizing the Hub- 

 bard Gardens Co., of Topeka, Kan. 



There is a news note and a moral to 

 this tale. The news note is that Arlo 

 Hubbard will soon build three green- 

 houses, 36x250 feet each, and a properly 

 equipped service building, 36x50 feet. 



The moral is that if you want a new 

 or an enlarged greenhouse you don't 

 have to refrain from erecting it because 

 there is not enough cash on the credit 

 side of the bank account. You can sell 

 stock in the enterprise just as was done 

 in Topeka. • 



MANITBE ON LIIJXJM CANDIDUM. 



For two years my Lilium candidum 

 did beautifully, but this year about 

 two-thirds of them are coming blind. 

 Would lack of water after blooming 

 affect them? Is it advisable to give 

 them well rotted cow manure? Can 

 well rotted cow manure be used with 

 lilies, such as candidum, tigrinum, etc.? 



H. A. H.— Cal. 



Your experience with this beautiful 

 lily is not at all unusual. Occasionally 

 it can be found in some old cottage 

 garden in the east blooming beautifully 

 year after year for a decade or more; 

 then it will gradually deteriorate, due 



to the bulbs becoming OTercrowded. 

 When replanted in new soil or in a new 

 location; to be more correct, as soon as 

 the growths have died down, this lily 

 usually improves gradually. I prefer 

 to cover the bulbs about four inches 

 deep and plant in August or September. 

 Lack of water after blooming would 

 certainly hurt the plants. 



Regarding the use of cow manure, if 

 it is extremely old and will crumble in 

 the hands, I consider it beneficial to 

 candidum, tigrinum, speciosum, au- 

 ratum, Harrisii and Henryi. The new 

 and beautiful L. regale, or L. myrio- 

 phyllum, however, seems to resent ma- 

 nure in any form, either in the soil or 

 as a top-dressing or mulch. I have more 

 faith in a mulch of well decayed ma- 

 nure for candidums to help conserve 

 moisture and feed the plants than in 

 placing it near the bulbs in the soil. 



I consider L. candidum the finest of 

 all garden lilies when well grown. Un- 

 fortunately, a disease often attacks it 

 about the time the flower buds appear. 

 Grown in pots and tubs with cool green- 

 house culture, no disease ever affects 

 it, and spikes six feet high, carrying 

 as many as ten to fifteen buds per spike 

 with foliage right to pot, are the rule. 

 Pots eight to twelve inches in diameter 

 and tubs ten to fifteen inches across 

 grow candidums admirably, and I do 

 not know of any more inspiring sight 

 than one of these plants carrying ten 

 to twelve spikes of immaculate flowers. 



C. W. 



TO GROW BEGONIAS. 



What is the best method of culture 

 of Begonia Chatelaine and Begonia 

 Rex? F. P. H.— Can. 



Begonia Chatelaine needs a light, 

 sunny house and a light, rich soil, 

 avoiding the use of chemicals and 

 fresh animal manure. The plants should 

 not need any spraying with nicotine 

 and even spraying from the hose should 

 be unnecessary. Cut out any dead or 

 blind wood. The plants can often be 

 much improved if cut back quite hard 

 and allowed to start up from just above 

 the soil. 



A shelf, even if shaded, is not a good 

 place for Begonia Rex. Place the 

 plants on the bench, where they are less 

 liable to dry out and where they get 

 shade. The finest begonias imaginable 

 of this type can be grown below green- 

 house benches, where they may be fre- 

 quently soaked with the hose. This 

 begonia enjoys syringing orerhead and 

 a similar soil to the one advised for 

 Chatelaine. C. W. 



Robert Craig. 



(At "4 Years of A(fe Actively UodertaklDi? a New Business Enterprise In Porto Rico.) 



TOBACCO-STEM FX7MIGATI0N. 



Is there danger of burning the fo- 

 liage of tomatoes, salvias, petunias, 

 ageratums, etc., by using tobacco-stem 

 smoke for green licet 



We have used tobacco-stem smoke 

 successfully for five years, but it never 

 before caused the leaves to burn and 

 dry- up as it did the last two times. 

 Could the trouble be caused by some- 

 thing in the stems? J. F. B. — 0. 



I have not used tobacco stems as a 

 fumigant for many years. They are 

 still used by many growers, but the 

 number steadily decreases. There is 

 greater danger of injury to plants from 

 their use than from any other form of 

 nicotine fumigation. Tobacco stems 



