20 



The Florists' Review 



NOTBMBEB 6, 1913. 



ones who have been added this year, 

 we extend our thanks. 



Eeferring again to the membership 

 of the society, your secretary earnestly 

 requests that each member undertake 

 to do some personal work to get new 

 members. We greatly appreciate the 

 loyalty of those who are standing by 

 us and helping the society to keep up 

 its work, but there are many things 

 that we could do to help along the in- 

 terest of the chrysanthemum if we had 

 a larger membership. 



We should extend a vote of apprecia- 

 tion to every member of the examining 

 committees, who willingly give their 

 time to examine every variety sub- 

 mitted to them. 



The trade papers have been gener- 

 ous in printing the notices sent to them 

 from time to time and publishing de- 

 tails of our meeting and the work of 

 our society, for which we owe to them 

 our vote of thanks. 



As ordered by vote at our last an- 



nual meeting, a return post-card ex- 

 plaining the compromise scale of points 

 as suggested by Ex-president Elmer D, 

 Smith in scoring exhibition varieties 

 when they were being judged in com- 

 petition with a commercial variety, 

 was mailed to all members, requesting 

 them to give their opinion on the mat- 

 ter. The expression of the members by 

 the return cards indicates that the ma- 

 jority favor a scale as follows: Color, 

 30; form and fullness, 20; size, 25; 

 stem and foliage, 25; total, 100. 



The badges for members winning 

 first premiums at any chrysanthemum 

 show have been sent to the secretaries 

 of the different societies, requesting 

 them to attach one to every first pre- 

 mium exhibit of a member of the C. 

 S. A. 



The secretary wishes to acknowledge 

 the kindness of Elmer D. Smith in fur- 

 nishing him with a complete list of 

 varieties disseminated in 1912, which 

 was a great help to him. 



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f SEASONABLE s^ 

 \ ^ SUGGESTIONS j 



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Lilies of the Valley. 



Cold storage valley pips come along 

 quite fast at this season, twenty-four 

 to thirty days sufficing from starting 

 to flowering. With fire heat now at 

 command everywhere, a more even 

 bottom heat can be given, and the 

 pips start into growth with surprising 

 rapidity. In order to ensure a nice lot 

 of foliage, gradually expose the plants 

 to light after the flower spikes are 

 well advanced. The same sand can be 

 used over and over again for valley, 

 as the pips make no roots while being 

 forced. For both Thanksgiving and 

 Christmas, 5-inch and 6-inch pots of 

 nicely foliaged valley are salable, 

 especially when offered in an attrac- 

 tive form at the stores. It is better 

 to keep these in the dark for a short 

 time, to allow fuller development of 

 the foliage. 



Herbaceous Calceolarias. 



The growth of herbaceous calceola- 

 rias is now much more rapid, and care 

 must be taken to repot them before 

 their roots become matted. Use for 

 compost fibrous loam, old cow manure, 

 leaf-mold and sand. For the last pot- 

 ting leaf-mold can be omitted. Grow 

 the plants in a cold house; in fact, 

 they are just as well in a coldframe 

 for another month, if protected from 

 frost. Aphis will soon curl up the 

 foliage if fumigations are not given 

 weekly. Do not throw away the seem- 

 ingly weak plants, as they usually pro- 

 vide the finest flowers. Give them a 

 little encouragement and they will re- 

 pay you for it. 



Foinsettias. 



The poinsettias should now be kept 

 in a minimum temperature of 55 de- 

 grees, and if any are wanted as early 

 as Thanksgiving, 60 to 65 degrees must 

 be given. Water carefully, for on this 

 depends the future welfare of the 

 plants; soil, temperature, etc., may be 



ideal, but careless watering will soon 

 undo these, and the foliage, instead of 

 being green, will soon commence to 

 turn yellow. Poinsettias with good 

 foliage will always sell, but no one 

 wants them with naked stems. The 

 more flowers the plants carry at the 

 holidays, the better thejr will sell, and 

 in order to have them in a good, sal- 

 able condition, they should be stood on 

 a shelf or light bench in a house kept 

 at 50 to 52 degrees at night. They 

 need no shade whatever now and are 

 made all the harder and sturdier if 

 getting full sunlight from this time 

 on. 



Stevias. 



Move a batch of stevias into a mod- 

 erately warm house every eight or ten 

 days; nothing warmer than a carna- 

 tion temperature is desirable. At 

 Thanksgiving some stevias will come 

 in extremely useful and will prove 

 even more so at Christmas. Keep the 

 main batch of plants in a cold house; 

 anything clear of actual frost will an- 

 swer for them. 



Frencb Bulbous Plants. 



The earliest Paper White narcissi 

 are already in flower. It is not ad- 

 visable to have too many come into 

 bloom while mums are at their flood 

 tide, but on any retail place a few 

 flats of them come in useful at any 

 time, particularly when funeral work 

 is to be made up. Start a fresh batch 

 once a week to keep up a proper suc- 

 cession. This bulb will stand a con- 

 siderable amount of heat, but give it a 

 cool house when opening. Roman hy- 

 acinths of the flrst planting are now 

 sufficiently started to house. Give 

 them a warm house and it will be pos- 

 sible to have them for Thanksgiving. 

 French Trumpet Majors and Golden 

 Spurs are starting nicely and should 

 be fit to house by the middle of No- 

 vember, They must be started at that 

 time if any are wanted for Christmas. 

 We doubt if it really pays to force 



these narcissi and tulips for the 

 Christmas trade, but they are novel- 

 ties aad bring good prices at that sea- 

 son, hence most of the specialists strive 

 to have some in flower. 



WEAK-STEMMED EASTES LILIES. 



How long does it take Easter lilies 

 to bloom after they are brought in 

 from their rooting? How should they 

 be treated to bring them to bloom with 

 the largest number of flowers on short 

 stalks, or to have the stems sufficiently 

 strong to hold up the blooms without 

 drooping? My plants have been tall 

 and spindling, not strong enough to 

 hold up the blooms properly. What 

 kind of soil or fertilizer will overcome 

 the trouble? M. I. H. G. 



As to the time required for bloom- 

 ing, everything depends on the variety 

 of lily you are growing and the season 

 of the year. It takes an average of 

 six weeks from the time buds show 

 until the plants are in flower in an 

 average minimum temperature of 60 

 degrees. Plants, for instance, which 

 will be two or three inches high at 

 Christmas would be easily flowered for 

 the end of March in a temperature of 

 60 degrees at night. In a higher tem- 

 perature, still less time would be re- 

 quired. The length of stalk depends 

 largely on the variety. The Formosas 

 are tall, as a rule; Harrisii, moderately 

 tall; multiflorums, shorter; giganteums, 

 the shortest, stockiest, and, in propor- 

 tion to their height, the finest and 

 freest flowering of all the Easter 

 lilies. 



To keep your plants from becoming 

 spindling, keep them on a light, sunny 

 bench, well up to the light. You can 

 feed the plants quite liberally with 

 liquid manure when once the pots are 

 full of roots, and particularly after 

 buds show. Do not use any chemicals 

 and do not pot the bulbs in a rich soil. 

 It will do them more harm than good. 

 C.W. 



NAME OF AMASYLLIS. 



What is the name of the amaryllis 

 that has no foliage? It has a spike of 

 bright scarlet flowers. It grows in 

 Florida. M. F. C. 



All the amaryllis flower with little 

 or no foliage, and, as there are many 

 scarlet varieties, it is not easy to say 

 just what variety you have in mind. 

 At this season, also, the nerines are in 

 flower. There are several varieties that 

 have bright scarlet fiowers which come 

 before the foliage appears. Is it pos- 

 sible you have seen these and mistaken 

 them for amaryllis? The flowers are 

 much smaller than those of amaryllis, 

 and quite different in appearance. Ama- 

 ryllis Belladonna flowers at this season 

 before making any leaf growth, but the 

 color is bright pink, not scarlet. 



C. W. 



Manchester, Mass. — Wm. Lawson, 

 formerly at Dow's greenhouses, at 

 Beverly, has taken a position with 

 Axel Magnuson here. 



Mansfield, O. — Stuhldreher Bros, are 

 having a most successful chrysanthe- 

 mum crop this fall. The number of 

 plants under cultivation is half again 

 as large as last year's, and it will be 

 larger next year, as an addition, 150 

 X 900 feet, is being erected, raising the 

 glass area to 25,000 feet. 





