10 



The Florists^ Review 



Skptkmbbs 25^1918. 



APPBOFBIATE TO HIS CALLINO. 



Florists are continually met with the 

 demand for freak funeral pieces, and, 

 more often than not, the occupation 

 of the deceased is the subject to be 

 symbolized. To design something 

 novel that will answer the demand is 

 often a tax on the ingenuity of the 

 florist. While no florist who has the 

 true appreciation for the appropriate 

 uses of flowers ever encourages the 

 use of freak designs, still they often 

 must be made when called for or the 

 order will be lost. One of the latest 

 pieces of this character is the design 

 shown in the accompanying illustra- 

 tion, which was made by Louis B. 

 Westholder, of Evanston, Wyo., for the 

 funeral of a foreman of the Union 

 Pacific tie camp. The picture scarcely 

 does it justice, as the photograph was 

 taken when the piece had stood for 

 twenty-four hours in the open air, and, 

 in addition, the colors, which made 

 the original much more distinct, are 

 not reproduced. 



The design represented a block of 

 wood standing on one end-, the mass 

 of white carnations representing the 

 newly chopped part, leaving the lower 

 part untouched, in which the ax is 

 lodged. The handle of the ax is also 

 of white carnations, but the head, 

 which showed far more effectively in 

 the original than it does in the illus- 

 tration, was of dark pink carnations. 

 The cluster across the center is com- 

 posed of white carnations, against 

 which the name of Palner appeared in 

 lavender sweet peas, which are indis- 

 tinct in the reproduction, as the sweet 

 peas wilted before the photograph was 

 taken. The block of wood which served 

 as a base was padded with smilax, and 

 arches of heavy wire fastened to each 

 side served as handles. The completed 

 piece was four feet square and took 

 700 roses and carnations besides the 

 sweet peas forming the name. 



WILL SOME ELK ANSWER? 



In a portion of the Elks' ritual they 

 are required to use a "sprig of ama- 

 ranth with clinging ivy. ' ' Would you 

 please inform me what variety of 

 amaranth is usually used for this, also 

 what ivy? H. A. Hyde. 



BEGONIAS LOSING FOLIAGE. 



T have about 100 tuberous-rooted be- 

 gonias, both single and double, under 

 glass and they are constantly damping 

 off. They started to make good, strong 

 growths, but the leaves damp off as 

 fast as new ones begin to form. The 

 watering has been attended to care- 

 fully, as I have been looking after 

 them myself for the last three weeks, 

 but, no matter how dry I keep them, 

 both at the root and the foliage, they 

 seem to act the same way. They are 

 potted in a good, light loam, with de- 

 cayed cow manure and sand, and are 

 growing under partial shade in a tem- 

 perature of 55 to 60 degrees. This is 

 the first time I have had such trouble 

 and I have tried every means to stop 

 it, but so far I have been unsuccessful. 

 F.L. 



Your tuberous begonias would have 

 done better after the middle of August 

 if given full sunshine. You would have 

 had fewer decaying leaves than where 

 the plants were kept in shade. It !■ 

 not easy, however, to keep tuberous be- 

 gonias in presentable condition after 



the middle of September, as the plants 

 after that date have a natural ten- 

 dency to cast their leaves and go to 

 rest. A dry, airy, sunny house, kept 

 about 50 degrees at night, suits them 

 best in late summer. C. W. 



BELATION OF GLASS TO LIGHT. 



What Influences Greenhouse Lighting. 



George E. Stone, whose research work 

 at Amherst has made him widely 

 known among those of the trade, has 

 added to his service to them in a 

 bulletin iBsued by the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, on 

 "The Relation of Light to Greenhouse 

 Culture." In this pamphlet he notes 

 the various ways in which light affects 

 the growth, strength and general con- 

 dition of plants in greenhouses and 

 treats of the different influences that 

 bear upon greenhouse lighting, giving 

 the results of numerous light-measuring 

 experiments. The method used in these 

 experiments was to expose tubes of uni- 

 form size and quality of glass, filled 

 with chemical solutions sensitive to 

 light. The solutions change color in 

 proportion to the length of the ex- 

 posure. By titration, i.e., measuring 

 the quantity of a liquid required to 

 produce a chemical change, such as 

 precipitation, in the solution, the com- 

 parative amount of light is determined. 



Different Qualities of Glass. 



Among the most interesting points 

 upon which he touched is that of the 

 different kinds and qualities of glass. 

 Although only a few types, those main- 

 ly used in greenhouses, were tested, 

 the variation was found to be great. 



* ' The experiments, ' ' states Mr. Stone 

 in his pamphlet, "were made outdoors, 

 and the exposed tubes were placed in 

 boxes two and one-half inches from 

 the glarfs which we wished to test. The 

 records shown in the table are averages 

 of four different experiments in which 



the exposures ranged from two to two 

 and one-half hours. In all the tests 

 16x28 inch glass was used. No. 1 

 was double French, first quality; No. 2, 

 double French, second quality, and 

 No. 3, American, third quality. The 

 fluted glass was one-eighth inch thick, 

 with rather fine flutings and a general 

 appearance of opaque glass. The No. 2 

 French, double thick, is used extensive- 

 ly in greenhouse construction in the 

 east, and the No. 3 American in other 

 sections of the country. The fluted 

 glass is not nsed fo? greenhouses, al- 

 thougb^itLjnM valuable for dispersing 



light. .r ^^y, 



Experiments Show Marked Variation, 



* ' The difference in the quality of the 

 glass tested was sufficient to enable 

 one, with" '^w^Ty^vious knowledge of 

 how they wei»-^?aced, to pick out each 

 sample at a distance of six rods. The 

 results of" the te*ts given in the table 

 show that the differences in the quality 

 or light-transmitting, properties of the 

 glass are marked. The No. 2 gave 

 seventeen per cent less light than No. 1, 

 and No. 3, thirty-two per cent less 

 than No. 1, whil^ the fluted glass was 

 practically as good as No. 3, although 

 from its opaque appearance it could 

 hardly be thought to compare with any 

 of the others. The relatively high 

 records given by this glass are ex- 

 plained by the fact that the flutings 

 act as lenses, and it is evident that 

 the rays of light in our experiments 

 Avere concentrated upon the recording 

 tubes, which were only about two and 

 one-half inches from the glass, and 

 the readings obtained from this glass 

 are probably somewhat misleading." 



The following table shows the results 

 obtained from the different kinds and 

 qualities of glass: 



Percentage 

 of decreased 

 light value. 

 100 

 82 

 67 

 66 



Readings. 



First quality glass 188 



Second quality glass. ...'.... 155 



Third quality glass 126 



Fluted gla.ss 123 



A Freak Funeral Piece Designed by a Wyoming Floriit. 



