OCTOBEB 30, 1913. 



The Florists^ Review 



21 



requiring comparatively little care when 

 outdoors, and under ordinary conditions 

 the plants can remain outside until late 

 in September, When cool weather comes 

 the plants can be moved indoors and 

 still remain on duty as a part of the 

 indoor decorations. The florist who is 

 alive to his opportunities sees hundreds 

 of chances to advise the use of palms, 

 and build up a reputation and trade. 



Every florist in every town can han- 

 dle palms at a profit. The business is 

 not in the hands of one or two dealers, 

 nor do large firms attempt to control 

 the trade in their locality. It is a busi- 

 ness in which even the smallest florist 

 can engage and make good, clean money. 

 But he must carry good plants, and 

 have enough of then;^ to supply a call 

 on the shortest notice. Plants that are 

 rented for decorations must be hardy, 

 rugged and strong. They receive ex- 

 tremely hard usage and soon go to 

 pieces unless they are started right and 

 grown right from the seed to maturity. 



Mr. Heacock told me that several 

 years ago he began shipping palms in 

 small cedar tubs, and the florists liked 

 the plan so well that it was adopted for 

 all the large plants. The palms seem to 

 grow better than in pots, the tubs 

 won't break, are easily handled, and 

 the plant can be carried by the top 

 without danger of the tub dropping 

 off. The tubs are made of Virginia 

 cedar, well put together with three 

 wire hoops, and are painted a dark 

 green. They are not at all conspic- 

 uous, nor will they mar the finest dec- 

 oration, and for store display they are 

 more desirable than pots. 



But palms are not the only things 

 grown at Wyncote. There are two 

 large houses of the most beautiful or- 

 chids — hundreds and hundreds of 

 plants, with dainty blooms of the 

 purest white with throats of gold, to 

 great clusters of royal purple and glow- 

 ing scarlet. The orchids are grown 

 principally for cutting and thousands 

 are shipped to the Philadelphia and 

 New York markets. 



Some eighteen miles from Wyncote 

 is another place owned by the Joseph 

 Heacock Co. It is over in Bucks coun- 

 ty, at a little town called Roelofs. Here 

 is a greenhouse worth seeing. Imagine 

 almost an acre of land covered with 

 glass and you get a little idea of the 

 size of the structure, which is 72x600 

 feet. Almost an acre, isn't it? Fig- 

 ure it out. 



This house has a baby sister, too, 

 which is only fifty-five feet wide, but 

 it is just as long. Both of these big 

 houses are used for growing roses ex- 

 clusively, and all the leading commer- 

 cial varieties are found there. 



Both Wyncote and Roelofs are on 

 the Philadelphia & Reading railroad, 

 with a train service every half hour 

 out of Philadelphia, and almost every 

 I lay, I am told, finds visitors there, 

 who like myself enjoy spending an aft- 

 (rnoon in such surroundings, with a 

 fjenial guide to tell of the many inter- 

 •'sting things that happen to the plants 

 that grow in the glass houses at Wyn- 

 cote. E. F. Rowe. 



YES, INDEED. 



The function of a trade paper is to 



'lelp. If it is successful in helping its 



leaders it will then be helpful to its 



^advertisers, not before. Like this: 



rioase discontinue our claRslfled advertisement 

 f.f Kpraniums. ns we are sold out for the present. 

 '■* certainly helps when we advertise in a (food, 

 ' Pto-date paper like The Review. — Felsch BroB., 

 Mnjwood, 111., October 20, 1013. 



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Office of tfae Joseph Heacock Co., Wyncote, Pa. 



PAPER WHITE ROOTS ROTTING. 



Can you tell me what to do for my 

 Paper White grandiflora? They were 

 planted in flats and pans. They were 

 rooted finely when the roots began to 

 rot. Now the roots are all rotted, 

 though the bulbs are sound and solid. 

 They were planted in old hotbed com- 

 post, which is a black, sandy soil. I 

 think it was too rich, but my Roman 

 hyacinths are doing nicely in the same 

 soil, and I have them all in the green- 

 houses under the benches. What would 

 you advise me to do! W. O. 



The compost, I should say, would be 

 too rich for your Paper Whites, con- 

 taining, as it must have done, a large 

 proportion of old manure, but if Roman 

 hyacinths are doing well in it, some- 

 thing more than the soil must be at 

 fault. Perhaps you left your flats in 

 the open ground and they have been 

 too wet at the roots. The hyacinths 

 would be less likely to suffer from this 

 than the Paper Whites. Another sea- 

 son use loam as compost, adding one- 

 fourth old hotbed manure and sand. 

 Do not expose the bulbs to heavy rains 

 and you should have no further trouble. 



C. W. 



COVERING PANSY PLANTS. 



I have 7,000 pansy plants, but four 

 beds of these plants are from four to 

 six inches high and full of flowers. 

 Should I cover them with straw when 

 it is time, or should I make a frame 

 around the beds and put some wooden 

 strips on top of the frame so that 

 1 shall not break the stems when put- 

 ting on the straw? Which is the bet- 

 ter method of the two? F. S. 



Provided your pansies are on well 

 drained land where no water will stand, 

 they should winter all right if given 

 a covering of straw at the proper time, 

 which is after the ground is firmly 

 frozen. There should be no need of 

 placing any strips over the plants if 

 the straw is quite dry and is laid on 

 carefuUv. C. W. 



NEW YORK. 



The Market. 



The last week ended as it began, in 

 rain and gloom, thus completing one 

 of the most disheartening periods in 

 the fall's experience. Saturday was 

 completely spoiled by the constant 

 downpour. The market was over- 

 whelmed by tremendous shipments of 

 chrysanthemums; the wholesalers, with 

 ice-boxes and cellars alre&dy bulging, 

 found it impossible to clean up the ac- 

 cumulations at even half respectable 

 prices. The present week opened clear 

 and cooler, but remnants of Indian 

 summer are still in evidence, and it 

 will be Thanksgiving before our won- 

 derful autumn changes into the crisp, 

 cold temperature that means prosperity 

 for the cut flower trade. 



There .seems to be no limit this sea- 

 son to the mum supply and its begin- 

 ning only is with us. A good deal of 

 the mum stock is unattractive, but 

 there is an abundance, also, of choice 

 blooms, as fine as ever came to the 

 New York market, selling at less than 

 half the average of other years. Even 

 the exhibition blooms have shared in 

 the general depression. Two dollars 

 per dozen seemed to be the top Satur- 

 day for flowers such as I have seen 

 sell at $5 a dozen less than a year ago. 

 One good result, at any rate, is the 

 opportunity afforded every retail florist 

 in the city to have attractive windows 

 at low cost. 



Roses of all kinds are abundant, and 

 there has been no change in quotations 

 from last week 's record. The same 

 may be said of carnations; 'only the 

 novelties and selects rise above $1.50 

 per hundred. The quality still has room 

 for improvement. The level of orchid 

 values continues low. The best com- 

 mand only $20 to $25 per hundred. At 

 times the surplus is so great that the 

 department stores advertise them at 

 10 cents each. 



Valley and lilies remain fairly firm 

 and have not fluctuated. Nothing new 

 or good is yet to be said of violets, 

 Cireat quantities do not sell at all. 



