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34 



The Florists^ Review 



Mabch 23. 1922 



following the war everybody had much 

 money to spend and little ambition to 

 work. No one wished to perspire over 

 a hoe who didn't have to. Consequent- 

 ly, the vacant city lots which were 

 models of horticulture a summer or 

 two before, were left again to the 

 weeds. The home gardens languished 

 and plantings about residential grounds 

 were mostly made by nurserymen or 

 landscape architects who were paid for 

 their work out of war profits. The 

 swing of the pendulum from this reac- 

 tion has been seen already this spring 

 in the agricultural communities, where 

 seed buying starts before it does in the 

 urban centers. Orders for garden seeds 

 are running larger than usual in the 

 mail order houses and the number be- 

 ing received is also above the ordinary. 



Customers to Be Made. 



These orders are from the farmer, 

 who begins to study his seed catalogue 

 when the snow shows signs of melting, 

 or they are from the garden enthusiast, 

 who spends his days indoors in planning 

 what he will do when he can spend 

 them outside. But there are many folks 

 on whom even the glamorous descrip- 

 tions of the most imaginative catalogue 

 writers are lost. They know not how 

 to select what they want and must de- 

 pend upon either the recommendation 

 of the man next door or the person who 

 sells him what he is to plant. These 

 inexperienced planters will form, if the 

 florist gives them a chance, his stanch- 

 est customers, for the advice which he 

 can give them is of such value that they 

 will come back again and again — some- 

 times to buy seeds, sometimes to give 

 orders for shrubs, and during the win- 

 ter months to leave orders for cut flow- 

 ers and house plants. 



One has only to notice, in small towns 

 and large cities, the large proportion 

 of homes which have little grass and 

 no flowers about them. A pound of 

 grass seed to each of these and a few 

 packets of flower seeds apiece would 

 lift the seed trade out of its deepest 

 depression. The turning of the owners 

 of these homes into garden enthusiasts 

 would boom the trade beyond its balm- 

 iest times. 



Works Wrong Way. 



Retail nurserymen, if anything, arc 

 fewer than retail seedsmoji. The aver- 

 age home owner who wants to plant 

 shrubs about his grounds has to go out 

 and hunt for them. Rarely are they 

 forced on his attention. This is a sad 

 situation. Shrubs and small trees can 

 be successfully planted by almost any 

 intelligent person if he will follow in- 

 structions given. The cost is not large 

 in comparison with the value received 

 as time passes by. Yet the public at 

 large does not realize this, merely be- 

 cause it has never ^jcen told. The ini- 

 tiative is on the part of the buyer, con- 

 trary to the usual case. Washing ma- 

 chines, vacuum cleaners, paints and 

 varnishes, home imyirovements of near- 

 ly every kind, arc flaunted before buy- 

 ers' eyes every day in magazines and 

 newspapers, in street cars and along the 

 highways. The cost of any of these 

 articles is, in most instances, far more 

 than the home improvement which could 

 be effected by the purchase of some 

 seeds and plants. These articles are not 

 necessities, though they may, through 

 advertising, be made to seem so. 



Plenty of people are riding in auto- 

 mobiles today who would be happier 



if they walked, freer from financial 

 worry and better in health. They ride 

 merely because they have read so much 

 about automobiles in every periodical 

 they pick up that they feel they must 

 have one, too. If home planting were 

 brought to the public with one-tenth 

 the force and emphasis that automo- 

 biles are at present, the horticultural 

 trades of this country would grow to a 

 size that would make our present status 

 seem puny. 



Spring Is Here. 



All this is to point out to florists that 

 spring is at hand, the time for the sale 

 of seeds, plants and nursery stock. It 

 is time to install a cabinet of seeds, 

 order a stock of insecticides and sprays, 

 carry a small collection of books on 

 garden subjects, and take steps to bring- 

 in the buyers. 



Some florists have already started on 

 their spring campaign for seed sales. 

 The illustration on the preceding page 

 shows hVjw the Charles C. Navlet Co. 

 aroused/'^the interest of the San Fran- 

 cisco^lpublic at its store at 423 to 427 

 ^^Market street. The Charles C. Navlet 

 Co. has a store in each of the three 

 cities of San Jose, Oakland and San 

 Francisco. The firm devotes its energies 

 not alone to the flower business, but 

 pushes the sale of seeds and nursery 

 stock as well. The window display they 

 have made at their San Francisco store to 

 interest the public in seeds can be made 

 effectively by the small florist and the 



large, no matter where he is located. 

 The illustration tells the story so well 

 that little need be added by way of ex- 

 planation. A Bass-Hueter bungalow, 

 the size of a small doll's house, was 

 the center of the window. Around it 

 were lawns, a vegetable garden and a 

 flower garden. Santolinas were used 

 for the borders and heather took the 

 place of trees. The interesting part of 

 the display is that the seeds were plant- 

 ed when the window was first designed, 

 some weeks ago. At this time vegeta- 

 bles, flowers and grass have attained a 

 growth that can be seen in the illus- 

 tration. Pedestrians on Market street 

 stop frequently and in numbers to see 

 what progress the growing things are 

 making. Signs which dot the grounds 

 about the bungalow call attention to 

 the firm's lawn seed, weed killer, fer- 

 tilizer, berry plants, bulbs, seeds and 

 plants. The rows of vegetables in the 

 window are marked with the seed en- 

 velope on a stick, in true home garden 

 style. 



Such exhibits as this have occupied 

 seedsmen's and florists' windows be- 

 fore, but it is believed that none has 

 been more successful in its appearance 

 and growth or more interesting than 

 the one of the Navlet store at San 

 Francisco. It has brought in many cus- 

 tomers for the various departments of 

 the store and will doubtless be a big 

 factor in making this spring's business 

 better for the company which in- 

 stalled it. 



GERANIUMS WITH WRINKLES. 



I have sent a few leaves from a ge- 

 ranium plant and I should appreciate 

 your telling me what causes them to 

 have the wrinkled appearance. I have 

 perhaps, a dozen plants that are so af- 

 fected. Is the trouble serious? 



W. B. v.— Mich. 



The leaves came frozen and pretty 

 well dried up, but they showed evident 

 signs of suffering from some fungoid 

 disease. This is not at all uncommon 

 on bedding geraniums, and may be 

 caused by too much humidity in the at- 

 mosphere, keeping the plants too damp 

 at the roots and too warm, and spraying 

 overhead. Plants in a soil containing 

 rather fresh animal manure are quite 

 liable to be attacked in this way. 



Keep the plants spaced well apart; 

 pick off the dead, decaying or affected 

 foliage; keep a dry, buoyant atmos- 

 phere; ventilate freely; give all pos- 

 sible sunshine; never spray overhead, 

 and never throw diseased leaves below 

 the benches or on the floor. Cleanliness 

 is one of the best antidotes. Run the 

 plants on the dry side rather than the 

 reverse. Dryness at the root is less 

 harmful to all soft-wooded plants than 

 an excess of water. Throw away any 

 badly diseased plants and, if the dis- 

 ease docs not abate, give a spraying of 

 copper sulphate or Bordeaux mixture at 



intervals of a week for three successive 

 weeks. c. W. 



DISEASED GERANIUMS. 



We are sending you some geranium 

 leaves that seem to be diseased. Can 

 you tell me what the trouble is and how 

 it can be checked? S. F. C. — 0. 



The geraniums are affected with a dis- 

 ease not at all uncommon. It may be 

 due to one of several probable causes, 

 such as too much overhead spraying, a 

 too humid atmosphere, or excess of ni- 

 trogenous food in the soil, which pro- 

 motes a soft, rank growth. Sometimes 

 the leaves are sunburned, giving them a 

 diseased-like appearance, but the ones 

 you sent do not have that appearance. 

 Now, as to remedial measures: Keep 

 your house well ventilated. Avoid a 

 close, moist atmosphere. Do not syringe 

 your plants overhead. Use a compost 

 which contains no fresh manure, but 

 some fine bone and a little pulverized 

 old manure. Give all possible sunlight. 

 Avoid overwatering, which causes a 

 soft growth. Keep plants well spaced 

 apart; pick off diseased leaves and 

 throw in the furnace, not on the floor 

 or below the benches. Badly diseased 

 plants would be better thrown away 

 and moderately affected ones placed by 

 themselves and given a spraying of 

 Bordeaux mixture. C. W. 



