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May 11, 1922 



The Florists^ Rcvkw 



35 



Such Prize WindowBoxes as These, with Vincas Trailing Ten Feet, Arc Good Advertisements for a Florist. 



my customers personally and have ob- 

 served that no two florists use the same 

 quantity of plumosus with the same 

 quantity of flowers. I have several re- 

 tail florists on my shipping list and find 

 some of these using as high as six times 

 as much plumosus as others doing the 

 same volume of business. It has oc- 

 curred to me that the problem of the 

 plumosus grower as the supply increases 

 is to educate the florists in the proper 

 and most fitting use of plumosus. Don't 

 tell the florist that he is not using suffi- 

 cient plumosus, but show him how he 

 can better please his customers and give 

 them a better showing for their money. 

 That will help both his business and 

 our own. 



The plumosus growers of the state 

 could get together and publish albums 

 of designs, corsages, etc., showing how 

 a little additional plumosus will add 

 materially to the appearance of the 

 florist 's products. This method of ad- 

 vertising is being effectively used by 

 the manufacturers of artificial flowers 

 and could be similarly used in increas 

 ing the use of plumosus. In many of 

 the smaller establishments floral albums 

 are constantly used by florists to copy 

 from or obtain ideas. Why not, instead 

 of letting them copy designs and sprays 

 that show no plumosus at all, supply 

 them with albums showing its effective 

 usef 



We are not far enough advanced yet 

 in the business to take action on the 

 suggestions that I have made, but it is 

 well to look ahead so as to know how to 

 prepare for a situation which is in- 

 evitable under the present rate of in- 

 crease in production. 



It is hardly possible to consider a 

 marketing organization among the grow- 

 ers, as no two ferneries produce the 

 same quality of plumosus. When neces- 

 sity calls, however, they can cooperate 

 in advertising, not plumosus, but how to 

 use it. 



AWABD WHITE MEDAL. 



At a meeting of the board of trustees 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety, held May 8, it was unanimously 

 voted to award the George Robert White 



medal of honor for eminent services ren- 

 dered to horticulture in 1922, to Albert 

 C. Burrage. The recipient of this honor 

 is serving hisfs^ond term as president 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety, and May 6 was reelected presi- 

 dent of the American Orchid Society. 

 He has made many notable displays of 

 orchids at the Boston shows from his 

 wonderful collection at Beverly Farms 

 and has helped to make Boston the 

 orchid center of America. The beauti- 

 ful show of native orchids staged by 

 him at great cost in 1921, attracted 

 25,000 visitors, and the still more strik- 

 ing and extensive show of native ferns 

 and orchids, which opened May 3 and 

 will not close until May 14, promises 

 at least to treble that attendance. Mr. 

 Burrage has proved himself to be a gen- 

 erous patron of horticulture and has 

 done much to interest the masses of our 

 population in the care, preservation and 

 perpetuation of our native flora. The 

 .•iward is a well merited one. 



W. N. C. 



VINCAS IN WINDOW BOXES. 



The vinca is a plant of various uses. 

 It is particularly well adapted for use 

 outdoors as a permanent ground cover 

 and for covering bare, rocky places and 

 steep banks, while it also forms a dense 

 carpet under shade trees, where it is 

 almost impossible to induce grass to 

 grow, as in cemeteries or where the 

 overhead foliage excludes the sunlight. 

 When this hanging or trailing vine is 

 interspersed with geraniums, petunias, 

 torenias and other plants, it makes a 

 decorative foliage and flower combina- 

 tion which is excellent for window 

 boxes. 



The accompanying illustration, show- 

 ing the flower store and apartment 

 house of O. B. Stevens, Shenandoah, la., 

 gives an excellent idea of how a 

 decorative combination of the kind 

 mentioned above can enhance the 

 beauty of an already attractive place. 

 In this illustration it will be noted that 

 the artistic sense of Mrs. Stevens has 

 been given full play. The vinca vines 

 have attained a length of almost ten 

 feet. The boxes in which they grew 



were filled with a loamy soil, which was 

 mixed well with a double portion of 

 bone meal, and the plants were set out 

 about May 10, last year. The vincas, 

 Asparagus Sprengeri and geraniums, 

 which were large, strong 4-inch plants, 

 were set deep in the soil and the tore- 

 nias and white petunias, from 2-inch 

 pots, were placed between the larger 

 plants to fill in. They were watered 

 only when necessary after planted, but 

 the boxes soon became filled with roots 

 and it was found necessary to water 

 them every morning. The growth of 

 these plants was luxuriant and they 

 kept their color and foliage exceedingly 

 well during the summer months, when 

 the sun's rays were the hottest, and 

 even after the cool nights came these 

 plants remained in good color until they 

 were taken in about December 1. The 

 building faces the north; so the plants 

 were not exposed to the direct rays of 

 the sun. The boxes, being of the Illinois 

 self-watering type, made watering easy, 

 simply a matter of turning a faucet that 

 connected the city main with a pipe 

 feeding the boxes. 



SNAPDRAGONS UNNAMABLE. 



I have sent by parcel post two snap- 

 dr.igons of different shades. Will you 

 give US the names of them? One is said 

 to he Ramsburg's Golden Pink Queen. 



H. 6.— Colo. 



The snapdragons came much dried 

 after their long journey, and I regret 

 that I cannot name them for you. I 

 should suggest sowing seed of bright 

 pink, intermediate snapdragons or such 

 other colors as prove the best sellers 

 with you and try them out in lieu of 

 cuttings. You will find them more vig- 

 orous and disease-proof than plants 

 grown from cuttings, and in well se- 

 lected strains of seed a small proportion 

 fail to come true to color or name. 

 C. W. 



Barksdale, S. C. — Mrs. E. C. Simpson, 

 who had a greenhouse constructed last 

 summer, has found business so satisfac- 

 tory that she has decided to build a 

 larger house. 



