14 



The Florists^ Review 



Fbbbcaky 4, 1915. 



z: 



iflbre difficult to sell if in competition 

 with the long-stemmed, large and dark 

 blue violet, Princess of Wales. 



You can probably succeed with both 

 double and single violets in the same 

 house if you give the single ones the 

 cooler end of the house. The double 

 varieties must be given 2 to 5 degrees 

 more heat. While Marie Louise is the 

 best colored double violet, it is more 

 susceptible to disease than Lady Hume 

 Campbell, which is now more grown 

 commercially than any other double 

 variety. 



The best soil for violets is a fairly 

 heavy loam, inclined to be sandy, with 

 one-fourth its body of cow manure 

 added. If this can be mixed the fall 

 before being used, all the better, but 

 if done early in the spring, chopped 



down and mixed^.once before hovg^ng, 

 it should be all right. The double va- 

 rieties can be planted eight inches 

 apart each way, but the singles need 

 more room. If of a large size, 12 x 12 

 is not too far apart. Small plants could 

 go a little closer. 



Sweet peas could be started in flats 

 or pots and planted out as suggested 

 for a late spring crop. Use the winter- 

 blooming Spencers. Of course sweet 

 peas need at least six to eight feet of 

 head room. While violets will do in six 

 to eight inches of soil, sweet peas 

 should have double that depth if possi- 

 ble. Sweet peas can have 45 degrees 

 at night until the buds show; then the 

 temperature should be kept at 50 de- 

 grees, with a rise of 10 to 15 degrees in 

 the daytime. i C. W. 



PEELINQ BX7LBI.ETS. 



I notice in the gladiolus department 

 in The Review for January 28 that a 

 writer uses the words corm and bulblet 

 as if they were synonymous. Corm is 

 the proper name of the root commonly 

 called bulb; the small, hard-shelled off- 

 sets are called cormels, the syllable 

 "el" being the diminutive in the 

 Latin. 



The writer who asks about peeling 

 bulblets (cormels) is advised that if 

 the variety is rare and high-priced it 

 will pay to peel the bulblets, which can 

 be done by holding the bulblet in the 

 left hand and taking off the point and 

 just a strip of the shell. There is a 

 great deal of difference in the germinat- 

 ing quality of different sorts, some 

 seeming to have a harder shell than 

 others. Ordinary varieties are treated 

 by soaking for a day or so, but if the 

 bulblets when first dug are put in boxes 

 of naturally moist earth and kept in a 

 cool place they will not get dry and 

 hard. On the other hand, I have known 

 dry bulblets to remain a year in the 

 ground and come up the next spring. 

 After the bulblet has been grown one 

 season, no matter how little, it loses its 

 shell and will start readily. 



Geo. 8. Woodruff. 



GLADIOLUS FLOWEES FOE JUNE. 



I want to grow gladioli for a flower 

 show to be held here, in northeastern 

 New Jersey, the first week in June. If 

 I plant them out from February 15 to 

 20 and keep them in a cool cellar until 

 May, do you think they will bloom the 

 first week in June? I have grown a 

 great many gladioli, but never have 

 started them so early. W. K. 



If you have a greenhouse bench at 

 your disposal, plant out the gladioli, in 

 good soil, from February 15 to 20. In 

 an average night temperature of 50 de- 

 grees they will flower about the time 

 named. If some come along early, you 

 can cut them while in bud and hold 

 them for some time in a cold cellar. I 

 am referring now to the large-flowered 

 gladioli, such as America, King, Klon- 



dyke, Brenchleyensis, Chicago White, 

 etc. If you have no bench at disposal, 

 plant three or four bulbs in 7-inch pots 

 and flower in an ordinary greenhouse; 

 or, if you have no greenhouse, pot off 

 singly in 4-inch pots and plant in a 

 warm position outdoors about April 10. 

 Some would flower on time, but only a 

 small proportion, I am afraid. C. W. 



AMERICAN GLADIOLUS SOCIETY. 



The American Gladiolus Society will 

 hold two shows next August, one at 

 Atlantic City, which will be a mam- 

 moth trade exhibit, not for competition, 

 the idea being to create a greater in- 

 terest in the gladiolus. Maurice Fuld, 

 1 Madison avenue. New York, has the 

 matter in charge and would be glad to 

 correspond with any wishing to take 

 part. 



The annual meeting and show will 

 be held at Newport, B. I. The pre- 

 liminary schedule of prizes will be is- 

 sued soon. I predict the show will be 

 a record breaker, as the premium list 

 is the largest and best the society has 



eVQtjhMcy^hffi dfttefl ifw holdijag the 



show will "bo announced shortly. I 



-. -H. Youell, Sec'y. 



HOT STUFF. 



The article in the issue of The Be* 

 view for January 14 entitled "Sun 

 Shines Sometimes" was a most valu- 

 able contribution, while that in the is- 

 sue of January 21, "Fire Often, Fire 

 Light," if followed, means the saving 

 of thousands of dollars and better re- 

 sults in firing boilers. A clean, level, 

 thin fire, light firing and often, would 

 astonish all who have not tried it. The 

 intense heat generated and the saving 

 of coal from this practice is well worth 

 consideration. Either article is worth 

 many times the cost of your valuable 

 paper. A. W. Beiman. 



IT LOOKS LIKE STATICE. 



If you were confronted with a speci- 

 men like that shown in the illustration 

 on this page and asked to identify it, 

 what would you call it I W. C. Kaber, 

 of Orland, Cal., who sent The Beview 

 the photograph from which the repro- 

 duction is made, at first thought it was 

 a statice and so did the botanist to 

 whom he submitted a sample for 

 identification Its name is, however, 

 Eriogonum vimineum; Mr. Kaber chris- 

 tens it "Pink Mist," which, he be- 

 lieves, is easier and fits the plant bet- 

 ter. 



Its home is the arid valleys of Cali- 

 fornia, where it blooms from July to 

 November, when almost all other an- 

 nuals have succumbed. Being thus 

 out of the way of horticulturists and 

 botanists, the plant is little known. 

 While it is a wonderful drought re- 

 sister, says Mi. Kaber, it yields readily 

 to cultivation and irrigation, and with 

 little attention plants two feet in 

 height and about the same in diameter 

 can be grown. Further description of 

 the plant, given by Mr. Kaber, is a»> 

 follows: ' 



"The leaves, of which there are few, 

 are nestled close, about the base of the 

 plant. They are round and downy, 

 and of a*silvery, greenish color. Early 

 in the ^gaaon the stems, also, are of 

 this color, but are destitute of fo- 

 liage. Th|r photograph was made from 

 a branch about ' twelve inches long, 

 stuck into a small Japanese pot. The 

 nodules along the fine, .wiry sl^ems are, 

 in reality, tufts of tiny pink flowers, 

 varying in color on different plants 

 from pale, pearly pink to beautiful 

 carmine rose, giving the entire plant 

 the appearance of pink mist. / 



"Used as gypsophila or stevia, it 

 is excellent; the wiry stiffness of the 

 stems makes an ideal framework for 

 the arrangement of other flowers, while 

 the color lends a charm not found in 

 anything else of the kind. Another im- 

 portant feature is the fact that it never 

 droops or wilts, but simply dries up, 

 retaining its color indefinitely. If 

 handled carefully, it can be used to 

 great advantage in a dry state; in 

 fact, the photograph was ipade from 

 a dried specimen." 



Erk>gonum Vimineum, Pink Mist. 



Beading, Pa. — At the meeting of the 

 Retail Florists' Association January 

 21, the following officers were elected: 

 President, Stanley Giles; vice-president, 

 Harry C. Huesman; secretary and treas- 

 urer, Fulmer Lauch. A committee will 

 be appointed in the near future to ar- 

 range for an anniversary banquet. 



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