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The Florists' Review 



E*EBEUARY 11, 1915. 



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i 3^ SUGGESTIONS j |. 



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Pennisetums. 



Seeds of those useful and ornamen- 

 tal grasses, the pennisetums, should be 

 sown now if good plants are desired 

 for spring sales. There are several 

 varieties of pennisetums and all are 

 decorative anfl make splendid edges 

 for beds containing cannas or large 

 subtropical plants. V. longistylum, 

 carrying greenish white plumes, is the 

 variety most in evidence, but P. Rup- 

 pelianum, commonly called the purple 

 fountain grass, has graceful foliage 

 and purplish plumes. Then there is 

 the newer P. Japonicum, which makes 

 a splendid bed by itself or is effective 

 if used as an individual specimen. 

 This variety will make fine plants the 

 first season. "With all the pennisetums 

 it is necessary to pot off seedlings 

 singly and, as they grow quite fast, a 

 shift into 3% -inch pots may be neces- 

 sary before planting-out time, for 

 starved looking plants are wanted by 

 no one. 



Rambler Boses for Easter. 



Easter is the season par excellence 

 for all kinds of roses in pots. It is 

 too late to start any of these now. The 

 plants should all be nicely started into 

 growth and be in a house where they 

 have a minimum temperature of 58 to 

 60 degrees. On clear days use the 

 gpray nozzle freely. Do this early in 

 the day, so that the plants will be 

 dry before nightfall. If, perchance, 

 cloudiness should follow a clear morn- 

 ing, give the plants a good shake to 

 help dry them off. In dark weather it 

 is better to omit syringing, but if 

 there is any arid part of the house 

 where there is a chance for spider to 

 get a foothold, do some spraying there. 

 Mildew must be carefully guarded 

 against. It comes usually from cold 

 drafts, the results of careless ventila- 

 tion, and it is fostered by a damp and 

 too close atmosphere. On its appear- 

 ance, either evaporate sulphur or blow 

 flowers of sulphur on the affected part. 

 Plants attacked by mildew are prac- 

 tically unsalable. 



Miscellaneous Crops. 



Quite a few annuals can be sown 

 now to furnish spring or Memorial day 

 flowers. Stocks started early in Febru- 

 ary will be on time for Memorial 

 day. Giant Ten Weeks is a good strain 

 to buy. Candytuft makes another good 

 Memorial day crop. Annual lupines 

 and larkspurs are not much seen in 

 the market, but they make splendid 

 and profitable spring crops. The fact that 

 they are not commonly seen makes 

 them sell all the better. Sow the 

 larkspurs in fiats, pot off and plant out 

 ten inches apart each way. Sow the 

 lupines in rows eighteen inches apart. 

 For li. mutabilis thin out a foot apart; 

 for Pink Beauty, a pretty early va- 

 riety, the rows can go a foot apart 

 and the seedlings can stand four inches 

 apart 

 Sweet peas can still be sown where 



they can have ample head room. Use 

 nothing but the Spencer varieties. 

 Some of these come high, but the mar- 

 ket now demands them, for no matter 

 how fine you grow the old grandifloras 

 they are hardly salable when the 

 Spencers are in competition with them. 

 Dimorphotheca aurantiaca and hybrids 

 can be flowered earlier from seed than 

 any other annuals. Sow in a shallow 

 bench. They will flower within two 

 months. Calendulas are now a fairly 

 profitable winter crop. For a spring 

 crop, sow now in,, benches in xoy^i 

 twenty-four inches apart. Thin out the 

 seedlings, making them ten inches 

 apart in the rows. Cornfiowers are 

 another desirable spring crop. The 

 double blue variety throws a good per- 

 centage of double fiowers and should 

 be used. Do not sow , the seed too 

 thickly, or, if you do, have courage 



to thin out the seedlings till they are 

 three inches apart. Allow fifteen to 

 eighteen inches between the rows. 



Mignonette can be sown now and 

 will do well until warm weatHer comes 

 along, though the spikes will not be 

 anything like the equal of those pro- 

 duced during winter, while the temper- 

 ature is low. Some sorts of annual 

 coreopsis make a useful indoor crop. 

 Schizanthus is still another useful va- 

 riety, but it does better in pots than 

 in benches. This annual is fine for 

 cutting and lasts surprisingly well in 

 water. The orchid-like flowers have a 

 special charm and have given the plant 

 the common name of poor man's or- 

 chid. 



Salem, O. — M. C. Clay & Son have 

 a new range of four houses about ready 

 for occupation. They will be used for 

 growing bedding plants and lettuce. 



Peoria, 111. — The settlement of the es- 

 tate of James C. Murray is being de- 

 layed because his executrix, , Susan 

 Mary Kirby Murray, cannot locate Van 

 Acker Bros., Saffelaere, Belgium, to 

 whom is due $10.80, a dividend of about 

 eleven per cent from the estate. The 

 sum has been paid to the county treas- 

 urer, awaiting further investigation at 

 the end of the war. 



FROM FOREIGN KA>NDS 



Paris, France. — Some members of the 

 trade would prefer to banish roses of 

 German origin entirely rather than add 

 to the confusion of varieties by renam- 

 ing them. Frau Karl Druschki is often 

 called Reine des Neiges in France and 

 will probably be so known in the fu- 

 ture. For Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, 

 the names Tommy Atkins, Gloire de 

 Louvain and Souvenir de Reims have 

 been suggested. But, it is interesting 

 to note, while the discussion of renam- 

 ing goes on, the varieties are appear- 

 ing under their old German names in 

 the advertisements of the French trade 

 papers that have resumed publication. 



Darmstadt, Germany. — "I am pleased 

 to state," said Ludwig Heyn, proprie- 

 tor of the grass and tree seed business 

 of Conrad Appel, speaking January 14, 

 "that trade with America now is in 

 full swing. With the help of my New 

 York agents, Loewith, Larsen & Co., 

 I obtained quite a fair amount of my 

 usual orders, and most of them are al- 

 ready executed and on the way to New 

 York, although at first some of my 

 American friends feared not to be able 

 to get any seed from me. By arrange- 

 ments with forwarders in neutral ports, 

 my export trade has been done 

 smoothly and safely and without delay. 

 Financial conditions in Germany are 

 excellent in every respect; payments 

 are coming in without delay, the banks 

 are doing regular business, and we all 

 have the highest confidence in our army 

 and the kaiser, that this war will be 

 carried out with all power and soon 

 lead to a successful and glorious 

 peace." 



Leiden, Holland. — It is reported here 

 that when Bruges was occupied by the 

 invading army the priceless orchid 

 plants of Sander & Sons were evicted 

 in order that the houses might be used 

 as a shelter for horses. 



Uxbridge, England. — At the com- 

 mencement of the war Lowe & Shaw- 

 yer had a large acreage of crops in 

 hand, and were paying out close to 

 $2,500 a week in wages and salaries. 

 They did not consider themselves justi- 

 fied in continuing this under the cir- 

 cumstances, so they called their men 

 together and asked them to say which 

 of the following two courses they pre- 

 ferred: (1) For all to stay on who 

 cared to, and for all to take part only 

 of their regular wages for the time be- 

 ing, with a promise that the part left 

 should be paid later if all the firm's 

 crops could be sold. (2) For a consid- 

 erable number of hands to be paid off, 

 and for those kept on to be paid their 

 wages in full. The men voted unani- 

 mously in favor of No. 1, and no men 

 were discharged at all. Lowe & Shaw- 

 yer have been able to market prac- 

 tically all their produce, and in late 

 January the last of the back wages 

 were paid up in full. The firm has 

 started giving the men Saturday after- 

 noons off, except when urgent work has 

 to be done. In these cases, and for 

 Sunday work, Lowe & Shawyer propose 

 henceforward to pay for all time made 

 at time-and-a-half. They are also en- 

 deavoring to institute a system of bon- 

 uses and other extras under which, if 

 successful, their men will be able to 

 add considerably to their wages. 



