24 



The Florists* Review 



July 21. 1921 



I final 



ill locafinarkets, being full of petals and 

 of a rich color, with extra long stems. 

 Petunia Balcony, white, shows reniark- 

 .•ible truth to typo, and is in full bloom, 

 but the California Giants, ruffled and 

 double types, are later and not at their 

 best. Enough flowers are open, though, 

 to show some exquisite varieties. 



Immense Blocks of Color. 



It is hard to find a fitting word to 

 •lescribe the great breadths of Orange 

 King and Lemon Queen calendulas. In 

 the mass, they show an immense block 

 of color, while a close survey shows 

 the wonderful petalage and excellent 

 stems that have made tliese so popular 

 everywhere. And so one might go on to 

 describe these great masses of bloom. 

 Delphinium Belladonna, a sea of light 

 blue backed up with the deeper tints of 

 the giant hybrids; annual larkspurs in 

 every imaginable shade; big blocks of 

 showy gaillardias; row after row of 

 cactus and collarette dahlias; hollyhocks 

 and the chaste Delphinium chinense 

 album, like a sheet of snow. 



It is unfortunate that many visitors 

 come here in the fall, when much of this 

 beauty is over, but then there will be 

 asters, miles of them, zinnias and others 

 of this firm's specialties that repay a 

 visit at any time. Just two more things 

 must be mentioned; these are the de- 

 lightful Kochia Childsii, a study in 

 acres of light greens, and an immense 

 block of Papaver glaucum, of the most 

 intense crimson. 



At Gaxdena. 



Besides the El Monte ranch, there are 

 large holdings at Gardena, Gal., where 

 the seed greenhouses and forwarding de- 

 partments are located. Here the sweet 

 peas are grown, and in the threshing and 

 harvesting season it is an interesting 



sight to watch the operations. Two in- 

 novations arc aspidistras, of which there 

 are several acres under lath, and Iris 

 tingitana, the bulbs of which are now 

 being lifted. These show a wonderful 

 increase over last year's bulbs, although 

 they are growing in soil inclined to be 

 a bit heavy. To maintain the soil on 

 these big ranches in good condition, 

 eight tractors are used, besides many 

 thousand dollars' worth of agricultural 

 machinery and a small army of men. 

 Outside of the actual work of the Bod- 

 gcr family, father and sons, most of the 

 labor is done by Mexicans who live on 

 the place year after year. H. R. K. 



TARIFF ON FOLIAGES. 



Adequate protection for prepared foli- 

 ages in the Fordney tariff bill, to cover 

 oak leaves, beech leaves, cycas leaves^ 

 lycopodium or ground pine and ruscus, 

 has been asked of the ways and means 

 committee by Andrew J. Hickey, of La- 

 porte, Ind. He pointed out that, if this 

 industry is to be continued in the United 

 States, action must be taken to provide 

 tariff protection, for there is no clause 

 now in the bill that will take care of the 

 products involved. 



Mr, Hickey told the committee that 

 there are about 400,000 pounds of oak 

 leaves used in this country annually. 

 During the war all of these were pre- 

 pared in the United States, but since 

 then imports have been brought in from 

 Germany and Italy, at a price about 

 fifty per cent less than they can be pro- 

 duced and sold for here at a living profit. 

 About 150,000 pounds of beech leaves 

 are similarly used and the same condi- 

 tion prevails. 



About 3,000,000 cycas leaves, which 

 originate on the island of Formosa, 

 .Tapaii, jire used every year in the United 





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States. Before the war the greater part 

 of the Formosan product was sent to Ger- 

 many to be prepared for florists' use and 

 from there distributed throughout the 

 world. War conditions diverted the 

 leaves to the United States to be pre- 

 pared for domestic use, but since the 

 armistice the German product has again 

 made an appearance, at prices from 

 thirty to fifty per cent less than the cost 

 of manufacturing and marketing here. 



The consumption of lycopodium, or 

 ground pine, totals about 300,000 pounds 

 annually. The growth in the colder sec- 

 tions of the United States is sufficient 

 to fill the domestic demand, but impor- 

 tations have been coming iii from 

 Europe and some small quantities from 

 Japan. 



Natural ruscus to the extent of 400,000 

 pounds, which, when prepared, weighs 

 from 500,000 to 600,000 pounds, is 

 brought in each year from Italy, Switz- 

 erland and some parts of France. Ger- 

 many is able to offer these goods at 

 from fifty to seventy-five per cent less 

 than the American producers can sell 

 them for. The American concerns han- 

 dling these products ask that natural 

 ruscus "be admitted free and that a duty 

 of from eighty to one hundred per cent 

 be provided for ruscus when dyed and 

 painted and prepared for marketing to 

 the trade. 



Congressman Hickey told the commit- 

 tee that at least 2,000 people are directly 

 employed in this new industry, which 

 has sprung up during the war. The at- 

 titude of the United States now is to 

 foster all of these industries, so that in 

 future, no matter what the nature of 

 the commodity may be, we shall not be 

 dependent on any foreign nations for 

 our supply. He wants a duty high 

 enough to equalize the difference in the 

 cost of preparing these foliages at home 

 and abroad and to take care of the dif- 

 ference in exchange, and has suggested 

 a rate of seventy per cent right through 

 the list. 



Many of the members of the ways and 

 means committee expressed themselves 

 as favoring Mr. Hickey 's proposal, al- 

 though they are noncommittal as to the 

 rate of duty they would agree to. 



T. N. S. 



Field of La France Stocks at EI Monte Seed Farm. 



NASSAU COUNTY, N. Y. 



A conference of the members of the 

 National Association of Gardeners who 

 are located in Nassau county, N. Y., 

 will be held Thursday afternoon, July 

 28, at 3 o'clock, at the Nassau County 

 Club house, located at Glen Cove, L. L, 

 for the purpose of considering the or- 

 ganization of a local branch of the asso- 

 ciation in Nassau county. The pur- 

 pose of this branch is to protect the 

 interests and general welfare of the 

 members of the gardening profession 

 against interlopers who profess to be 

 gardeners and also the so-called ex- 

 perts who offer their services in an ad- 

 visory capacity while possessing but 

 little more than rudimental knowledge 

 on what they propose to advise. This 

 protection will be as beneficial to 

 estate owners, many of whom, located 

 in Nassau county, are members of the 

 association, as it will be to the profes- 

 sional gardeners. It is the aim of the 

 promoters of thiiu- conference to give 

 wide publicity to the activities of the 

 local branch, so that the estate owners 

 may be kept informed of its doings 

 and their cooperation secured towards 



