108 



The Florists^ Review 



July 18, 1022 



later, just before the selling season. 

 The fall tests are an absolute necessity 

 to intelligent buying. If certain carry- 

 over stock gives out unexpectedly, the 

 dealer must know in time to buy the 

 amount over and above what he may 

 have contracted for, and which should 

 have been enough to cover. This makes 

 it necessary to do the testing rather 

 early in the fall, which means that sev- 

 eral months may elapse between the 

 time of some of the testing and the 

 actual selling of that stock. These 

 months are the most favorable to seed 

 storage, of course; nevertheless, seeds 

 may lose more or less in germination 

 during that time, and occasionally 

 freakish and sudden drops are noted in 

 the germination. This seems impossible 

 to control. Onions are most likely to 

 drop suddenly. Storage of onion seeds 

 is important and the retention of vi- 

 tality depends directly on storage con- 

 ditions and the climate. In the south 

 onion seeds can be carried only six 

 months, and kept in tin containers at 

 that. In the Chicago region they will 

 normally carry three years, while in 

 California and other western states they 

 will safely carry four years. All these 

 facts must be known and guarded 

 against in a successful business. 



The ideal way, then, would be to test 

 the seeds twice a year, but can a seed 

 house afford to test twice a year? On 

 the present basis it cannot. The trained 

 help, the laboratory overhead, the rec- 

 ords necessary to handle the volume of 

 tests, and a large stock make testing 

 twice a year prohibitive. The minute 

 records kept of all stocks are consider- 

 able labor items in themselves, with- 

 out considering the actual retesting. 



Taking these things into considera- 

 tion, a reasonable leeway should be 

 given in checking up on stocks sold 

 several months after the tests have 

 been made. The sane and honest vegeta- 

 ble seed dealer takes all possible pre- 

 cautions to insure a high germination 

 on his stock. There is a middle road 

 that he must aim to follow. He cannot 

 be purely idealistic and not consider 

 the financial end at all; neither can he 

 be only a money-maker. He must sacri- 

 fice to idealism and accuracy, not only 

 for the sake of doing things right, but 

 for his reputation and his future. 



Storage Requirements. 



The vegetable seed work needs more 

 experimentation. We must have a cor- 

 rect germination in the shortest pos- 

 sible time. The soil test is, no doubt, 

 the fairest test, but blotter tests are 

 much more efficient and we must have 

 methods that will give results in a 

 short time without a loss of accuracy. 

 Chemicals may supply this need. There 

 also should bo a close checking up on 

 abnormal sprouts, by physiological in- 

 vestigation, backed by soil tests. This 

 should result in a cutting down of the 

 variation in personal judgment in pass- 

 ing on abnormal sprouts. The crux of 

 the situation rests on the harvesting 

 and storage of the seeds, and our big- 

 gest needs are more scientific methods 

 of harvesting, together with a really 

 scientific control of storage conditions. 

 If we work this out, the majority of our 

 problems will be solved. We have made 

 a start in this direction by running 

 storage experiments, and hope there 

 will be many more to check with ours. 



Parallel to the vegetable germination 

 is another group, not so universal and 



ZVOLANEK'S 



Winter 

 Orchid-Flowering 



Sweet Pea Seed 



1 oz. 



Zvolanek's Christinas Pink Orchid, bicolor SO.SO 



Zvolanek's Pink, more intense than Zvolanek's Bose.... 2.50 



Zvolanek's Rose, famous shell pink 2.00 



Miss Lottlse Gude, shell pink 60 



Mrs. SIcach, pink 40 



Mrs. Jos. Manda, dark pink 40 



Zvolanek's White, largest white-seeded white 2.00 



Bridal Veil, well known white-seeded 60 



Mrs. M. SpanoUs, black-seeded white 60 



Watchung Orchid, black- seeded while 60 



Ed. Zv<rfanek, largest lavender 2.00 



Mrs. Chas. Zvolanek, well known lavender 60 



Zvolanek's Blue, best blue 60 



Zvolanek's Pale Blue 40 



Zvolanek's Marquis, navy blue 50 



Zvolanek's Beauty, fiery dark rose 60 



Zvolanek's Orange, fiery scarlet orange 60 



Zvolanek's Red, largest and best red 60 



Zvolanek's Carmine, darker than Zvolanek's Beauty... .60 

 Zvolanek's Lilac 50 



These are a few of the best comtnercial varieties that will be ready for shipment about 

 July 6th. Many others will be ready August 1st. Send for a complete list of our many 

 other Winter-Flowering Sweet Peas. 



Ant. C. Zvolanek & Sons, Lompoc, California 



Mention Th« Bcrlew when you write. 



Woidland Park FlonI Co. 



SUMNER - ■ WASHINGTON 

 WhsUsmU Growers of 



Pot Plants and Cut Flowers 



Rahn & Herbert Co. 



CLACKAMAS, OREGON 



Whol9*td€ Grown of 



Pot Plants and Cut Flowera 



ERIC JAMES 



Wholesale Grower of 



Palms, Ferns and Flowering 

 Plants in Season 



8635 Pootbm BlvfL, OAKLAND, CALIF. 



not .so important to as great a number, 

 but extremely and painfully important 

 to those who have it; namely, flower 

 seed germination. This is a large field, 

 which covers many times as much ground 

 as the vegetable seed germination, and 

 cm which little experimental work has 

 been done so far. It is up to the com- 

 mercial house to develop its own meth- 

 ods of germination and to struggle with 

 its problems to the best of its ability. 

 A part of each year is set aside for 

 our experimental work on flower seed 

 germination. We try not only differ- 

 ences of temperature and moisture, but 



92.00 per 1000 



Seattle Fern & Moss Co., 



2135 Western Ave., SEATTLE, WASH. 



PhoiM H«nrttt 691 



NAS-ARTBASm WORKS, he. 



Hlffh- Grade Flower Baskets 



2001 E. FoartMntk St. 

 OAKLAND, CAL. 





Bedding Stock 



FRED G. EHLE 



WHOLB8AI.B GHOWBB 



224-236 Sanborn Ave, San Jom, CaUf. 



Write for less Prio* IA»t 



SEE OUR LARGE AD ON 



Seasonable Plants and Supplies 



la th« March 30 Imu« oi Th« RstUw. 



Wilson-Crout-Gehr Co. 



WhoUsaU PlorltU 

 East ttnd and Ankany Sts. Portland, Ora. 



also try various chemicals, oxygen 

 treatment and the like. At present we 

 are running experiments with an im- 

 ported chemical combination, which is 

 to act as a disinfectant as well as a 

 stimulant to the seed. The work at 



