SeptbhBkb 1. 1921 



The Florists^ Review 



25 



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HELP— WANTED AND GIVEN 



gWWWWHB^^i/AWAmwAm^ltfWn^^ 



WHO CAN TELL? 



We want some old-fashioned carna- 

 tion plants of the variety named Pros- 

 perity. Would you kindly tell us where 

 we could get some, if you know? 



J. T. N. Co.— Cal. 



BEADEBS PLEASE ANSWEB. 



I should like to know if any of The 

 Eeview readers have had experience 

 with concrete flower pots. Arc they 

 as satisfactory as clay pots for grow- 

 ing? T. E. G.— N. Y. 



PLEASE DO AS HE SAYS. 



We notice in our Convention Number, 

 "M. W. H., Miss.," answered by "C. 

 W.," about the perennial pea. We have 

 them in pure white, pink and rose and 

 find ready sale for them, but C. W. says 

 they are to be had in rose-striped, blue 

 and purple. Will you kindly tell us 

 where we can get these? Dreer has 

 the pure white, but if any one has the 

 other colors we wish they would just 

 put an ad in The Eeview. 



E. J. M.— Tex. 



HELP! HELP!! 



Some time ago I wrote to The Eeview 

 for information in regard to fine be- 

 gonias, hoping some florist would ad- 

 vise me where they can be procured. 

 No one has come to the rescue. I am 

 sure there must be florists who are 

 growers of fine decorative plants who 

 should advertise these begonias in The 

 Eeview. 



I am having trouble with small gray 

 spiders on Eex begonias. Will some 

 one advise me how to get rid of them 

 before the plants go into winter quar- 

 ters? I do hope someone will help me 

 at once. I have been a subscriber to 

 The Eeview for over fifteen years, but 

 have seen nothing of this gray spider 

 pest. J. F.— 111. 



MISSIONABY FLOBISTS. 



Taylor University, at Upland, Ind., 

 will place at the disposal of students 

 who wish to work their way through, 

 9,423 feet of ground space this fall, 

 and next year 17,240 feet more, for 

 general greenhouse work. In connec- 

 tion will be run three to five acres for 

 market gardening. Our aim is to fur- 

 nish employment for 200 students on 

 an average of two hours each day. We 

 are also planning to plant twenty-five 

 acres to nursery, stock. 



Taylor University stands for a high 

 standard of Christian life and is now 

 a life service school, sending out more 

 missionaries and preachers than all the 

 other schools in the state put together. 

 Altogether improvements planned reach 

 a half million dollars. Our aim is to 

 beautify the grounds at an expense of 

 $25,000 and make other improvements in 

 proportion. 



If this appeals to any florist or nurs- 

 eryman and he has any stock that we 

 can use, as a gift, we shall appreciate 

 it. We need 8,000 to 10,000 geraniums. 



1,000 to 2,000 carnations, 200 callas, 

 daffodils, hyacinths, narcissi, primulas, 

 ferns, snapdragon, etc. 



B. A, Atkinson. 



IT GOT THE BUGS, 



I had ten rows of asters. Next came 

 five rows of Augusta gladioli. The 

 asters began to bloom. Aster bugs 

 came. I got mad and I got Slug Shot. 

 Next day only three bugs on the asters 

 and three millions on Augusta gladioli. 

 No trouble since except an occasional 

 bug here and there. It seems to be 

 sufficient to dust all foliage and flower 

 stems thoroughly. Thought it was too 

 good to keep. John W. Saling. 



WATEB HYACINTHS AID SALES. 



Here is the way that I sell more bulbs 

 in the fall and also increase my sales 

 during August and September. I be- 

 lieve that every housewife would plant 



The Editor is pleased when 

 a Reader presents his ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



As experience is the best 

 teacher, so do we learn 

 fastest by an exchange of 

 experiences. Many valuable 

 points are brought out by 

 discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and 

 grammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WE SHALL BE GLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU 



more bulbs if she had something in 

 which to plant them. I start at the end 

 of the bedding plant season to sell 

 water hyacinths. They are good sellers, 

 and thus a supply of bulb bowls is cre- 

 ated in the homes. The water hyacinth 

 is only an annual and is thrown away 

 when cold weather comes, thus leaving 

 an empty bulb bowl. 



I also grow the hyacinths in soil. I 

 make a mixture of about one-third well 

 turned cow manure and two-thirds soil. 

 Then I fill several tubs about one-third 

 full of this mixture, the remainder of 

 the tubs being filled with water. Then 

 I crowd the tubs full of bulbs, and let 

 the bulbs grow for about three months 

 in the direct sunlight. At ^U time 

 there will be a round, hard stehl,*'with a 

 fan-like leaflet at the end. I tti^ pot 

 them into 5 or 6-inch pots, being care- 

 ful not to pack the soil in too hard. The 

 pots are kept in a saucer of water. The 

 plants produce much larger blooms than 

 when gr^fcrn in water, and find a ready 

 sale. 



I sell them at 75 cents retail, and also 



sell a bowl, thus paving the way for an- 

 other sale when the hyacinth dies. 



Frank Scott. 



BABY ICE MACHINES. 



In The Eeview for July 28 a sub- 

 scriber in Pennsylvania asked for in- 

 formation on the possibility of using 

 an ice machine to cool a florist's re- 

 frigerator where the cost of ice is only 

 $5 per week. The editor offered to 

 relay the information if any reader 

 could give the name and address of the 

 manufacturer of a reliable machine for 

 operating small display boxes in flower 

 stores. 



I will say I installed a machine in my 

 display refrigerator and find it is more 

 than one-half cheaper than ice. We 

 paid 60 cents per hundred pounds for 

 ice and used 100 pounds a day, making , 

 $4.20 per week. With the machine the 

 average cost of operation is only $2.40 

 per week. I have an Isko machine, 

 manufactured by the Isko Co., Chicago, 

 111., and distributed by the Hibbard Co., 

 Cleveland, O. If any florist cares to 

 write me about it I shall be glad to re- 

 ply. Wm. E. Penick. 



Wooster, O. 



OBCHIDS FBOM SEED. 



The excellent and timely article by 

 W. N. Craig in The Eeview for July 

 14 on the subject of raising seedling 

 orchids should be preserved by every- 

 one interested in this class of plants. 

 Not only are the cultural hints of great 

 value, but the little touch of orchid 

 history is of interest, especially to the 

 older race of orchid growers. While, 

 as Mr. Craig says, the cattleya will 

 probably always be the commercial 

 orchid of greatest importance in 

 America, it does seem a pity that the 

 demand for other and even more beauti- 

 ful species is not better. There is such 

 a sameness to cattleyas and such an 

 infinite variety in the orchid family 

 that it must be acknowledged by all that 

 we are missing some of the most beauti- 

 ful of nature's products when we leave 

 out the latter. 



This leads to a thought of which 

 cognizance should be taken. There are 

 many orchid species that are just as 

 well worth taking care of as hybrids. 

 Many years ago, when Cattleya labiata 

 was one of the rarest of orchids, several 

 British growers started to grow it from 

 seed, self-fertilized, of course. The re- 

 introduction of the species flooded the 

 market with plants some years later, 

 rendering the seedlings of little value 

 in money, though of great interest. 

 Again, the beautiful yellow Cypripedium 

 insigne Sandera?, which at that time 

 was worth somewhere around a guinea a 

 leaf, was grown in quantity by a friend 

 of the writer and one of the cleverest 

 of the British hybridists. There are 

 good varieties and species in American 

 collections that are well worth perpetu- 

 ating and the work should prove inter- 

 esting and profitable. 



H. E. Eichards. 



