12 



The Florists^ Review 



JANCABY 7, 1915. 



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? SEASONABLE s^ i 

 ^ SUGGESTIONS I 



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LUies. 



The lilies for Easter should now be 

 four or five inches high. I am referring 

 more especially to the giganteums. If 

 they are at this stage and are given 60 

 degre& at night right along, they will 

 be on time, if, however, they are just 

 peeping through the soil or are not 

 showing at all, they are a little back- 

 ward and must have a brisk heat right 

 along. Giganteums must have heat 

 from start to finish to come through 

 successfully, and remember that while 

 it may seem a long cry to Easter, it 

 is necessary to have the buds well in 

 sight by February 20 in order that they 

 may be in season. 



In the case of Formosa lilies, WTiich 

 are much taller growers than giganteum 

 or multiflorum, if the plants are now 

 ten to twelve inches high they can come 

 along in an average night temperature 

 of 50 degrees and be all right. These 

 are variable in height. Some, will grow 

 five feet high, others only half that 

 height. Some will carry a dozen buds 

 to a stem; others, seemingly of almost 

 equal strength, a solitary flower. This 

 lily, owing to its height, does not make 

 an ideal pot plant, but for cutting it 

 is unexcelled and it is remarkably free 

 from disease. 



Poinsettia Stock. , 



Poinsettias are unsalable after 

 Christmas and any unsold plants might 

 just as well be stored away for stock. 

 Lay the pots and pans on their sides 

 under a bench free from drip, or store 

 them in any frost-proof shed. When 

 the soil becomes quite dry and their 

 leaves have fallen, shake the plants out 

 and pack them closely in flats. They 

 will carry perfectly in this way. 



Oardenlas. 



Great care is now necessary with 

 gardenias. When the Weather' is ex- 

 tremely cold, little ventilation possi- 

 ble and strong fire heat necessary to 

 keep up the temperature, any excess of 

 water at the roots will soon start the 

 yellows. Low night temperatures and 

 a surplus of atmospheric humidity, 

 added to careless watering, will soon 

 cause the plants to lose their dark, 

 healthy coler. Keep the night tem- 

 perature aa near 65 degrees as possi- 

 ble. On severe mornings it can drop 

 to 60 degrees. Syringing should be 

 done only on clear days, and early in 

 the day, so that the foliage will be dry 

 before nightfall. If a bright morning 

 should be followed by a dark afternoon, 

 go over the plants with a stick and 

 give them a shake to remove some of 

 the surplus moisture. It is better not 

 to attempt any feeding at this season, 

 or buds are sure to drop. 



Schizanthus. 

 For late spring flowering, now is a 

 suitable time to make a sowing of 

 schizanthus. S. Wisetonensis or some 

 of the dwarf large-flowered hybrids are 

 the best for pot culture. ;Sow the seed 

 in pans, then prick oft fnto flats and 



later pot off singly. It has not been 

 possible yet to fix S. Wisetonensis and 

 procure any particular color. Much of 

 its feharm, however, lies in its sportive- 

 ness. None of the colors produced are 

 bad, but of course it would be some- 

 thing of an advantage if we could pur- 

 chase seed which would give us white, 

 pink or lavender-colored flowers. Schi- 

 zanthus should be grown cool all the 

 time; 42 to 45 degrees at night is 

 ample j'^t 50 degrees it becomes more 

 or less drawn. 



Mignonette. 



As the cold becomes the greatest the 

 quality of the mignonette spikes seems 

 to improve. Like violets, this popular 

 flower is at its best in a low tempera- 

 ture; 40 degrees at night is sufficient. 

 In order to secure the finest spikes, 

 the number to a plant should be limited 

 and other growths removed. However, 

 only a few growers usually want those 

 fancy stalks; the average country flo- 

 rist can use spikes of moderate quality 

 to far better advantage. Where plants 

 are flowering they will be improved by 



a top-dressing of old cow manure, well 

 broken up. 



Canterbury Bells. 



Start the Canterbury bells now in a 

 cool house. A temperature of 45 de- 

 grees will do for a start and it is not 

 well to give them over 50 degrees at 

 night at any time. In watering be 

 careful not to pour directly onto the 

 leaves, or there is danger of their rot- 

 ting, particularly where the crowns are 

 extra large. Canterbury bells make 

 handsome pot plants. They can hardly 

 be classed as Easter plants, for, unless 

 Easter comes late, they cannot be satis- 

 factorily flowered. For Memorial day 

 they are splendid, not only as pot 

 plants but for cutting. For this date, 

 the plants need not be started for some 

 time yet. 



Propagating Begonias. 



The earliest batch of begonia leaf 

 cuttings are now well rooted. Little 

 plants are appearing and many will 

 soon be fit for^potting. As Christmas 

 is t^e principal season for all flower^ 

 ing Degonias, the stock now is prob- 

 ably pretty w«^ depleted and if an 

 ample stock of^MtVes is not yet in the 

 sand, get them aBKthout delay. Gloire 

 de Lorraine is not yet out of date. It 

 is true that it will not realize the same 

 price as Glory of Cincinnati at Christ- 

 mas, but for earlier blooming it takes 

 the lead. The new Melior will niso 

 be considerably in evidence another 

 year. Everyone who has tried it has 

 words of praise for it. 



ODEN LETTEKi^^^ DEAD^ftd* 



WITH EDITOR'S DISCLAIMER. 



I would be pleased if you would pub- 

 lish the following, under the heading 

 of "A Message to My Fellow Crafts- 

 men," or any heading you may regard 

 as appropriate, and attach my signa- 

 ture: 



"Cheer up, the war is over! Before 

 spring peace will reign throughout Eu- 

 rope. There is not a statesman, banker 

 ."•r merchant prince who is not thor- 

 oughly convinced by this time that the 

 Allies will not succeed in forcing the 

 Germans back from the positions that 

 they hold, and therefore useless to con- 

 tinue the struggle. It is only natural 

 that the Allies should be reluctant to 

 admit this, but good sense will prevail, 

 and in due time, say within six or eight 

 weeks, the general desire for the cessa- 

 tion of hostilities will become manifest. 



"Do not allow yourself to be influ- 

 enced by the fairy tales that have been 

 printed in most of our newspapers. In 

 order to know the true conditions in 

 relation to foreign countries, it is es- 

 sential to be familiar with the general 

 characteristics of the people in those 

 countries. 



"W^e are soon to epV^r upon an era 

 of great prosperity, for this country 

 will be the first to be benefited when 

 the wheels of commerce are again put 

 in motion throughout the world. 

 Whether we have statesmen, college 



ot our nation will maibs little differ- 

 ence. 



"It is not my intention to delve into 

 the merits or demerits of the various 

 belligerents. 



"With malice toward none and char- 

 ity for all." A. J. Guttman. 



TO AVOID FROZEN TANK PIPES. 



In The Eeview of December 31, page 

 78, I noticed a question from B. A. B. 

 about the protection of the pipes of his 

 expansion tank from frost. While The 

 Keview's answer to B. A. B. 's question 

 was correct, it may be of interest to 

 him, and possibly to others, to know 

 about my arrangement. 



My tank has a capacity of 3,000 gal- 

 lons. It is on a steel tower thirty feet 

 high and about forty feet from the 

 boiler. The main supply pipe is a 1^- 

 ir.ch pipe running below the frost line 

 to the boiler house and from there to 

 the greenhouse, A 1-inch pipe is run 

 from the top of the boiler to a high 

 point and there vented; then it is run 

 down into the trench alongside the main 

 supply pipe and up to the tank in a 

 double boxing, containing two 2-inch 

 dead-air spaces, and connected to the 

 tank bottom just the same as the main 



supply pipe. A ^-inch pipe, with a 



valve, connects the main supply pipe, 



which runs closely alongside the boiler, 



professors or school boys at the head^ with the return pipe near the boiler; 



