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The Florists' Review 



March 4, 19ir>. 



more than fair to either change this 

 law or have it interpreted in a sane 

 and rational manner. 



The Toledo Florists' Club and the To- 

 ledo Market Gardeners ' Association 

 would be glad to hear from other clubs 

 and from individuals in regard to this 

 matter, in order to take concerted 

 action.. The growers of Toledo and vi- 

 cinity have already addressed the fol- 

 lowing resolutions to Wallace D. Yaple, 

 chairman of the Industrial Commission, 

 at Columbus: 



Wc, the florists nnd commercial ftreenliouse 

 owners and operators of Toledo ami vicinity, in 

 nieetinK iissembleil, resiiectfuliy present to yowr 

 honorable Iwdy tlje following resolutions: 



Whereas, tliere appears on the statute boolis of 

 Ohio a section requiring all owners, users or 

 operators of steam boilers of thirty horsepower or 

 more to obtain a license to oi)erato sucli Iwilers 

 from tlip division of steam engineers of the In- 

 dustrial Commission, and. 



Whereas, a large percentage of greenhouse 

 •toilers are operated by tlie owners, who deem 

 themselves responsllile for the safety of life and 

 property, and. 



Whereas, although they are nlile to answer all 

 reasonable questions pertaining to safety of 

 operation of steam Imilers, and are satisfactory 

 to the boiler insurance companies and their In- 

 spectors, they are refused licenses because of 

 Inability to answer questions more or less tech- 

 nical (note affidavits of specific cases enclosed 

 lierewith), and. 



Whereas, most of the greenhouse owners are 

 ambitious young farmers wiio are striving to 

 build up a business, and wiioso income from the 

 modest ranges of glass erected as a beginning 

 will not warrant the expense of a licensed oper- 

 ator day and niglit. and. 



Whereas, they arc tlius confronted witli the 

 alternative of either abandoning tlieir business 

 entirely, or of employing liigh-i)riced boiler oper- 

 ators for whom they have no practical need what- 

 ever, and. 



Whereas, tiie average licensed operator lias not 

 been trained to understand the condition peculiar 

 to the greenhouse Industry, while greenhouse men 

 already have tiiat practical knowledge, and. 



Whereas, not only individual states, but the 

 federal government Is today rendering every 

 assistance and encouragement within its power 

 to the cause of agriculture In any and every form. 



Resolved, that we earnestly protest against the 

 interpretation of this section as applying to our 

 business, and be It further. 



Resolved, that we request of your honoralde 

 bo<ly tliat it take such action as will render im 

 possible In the future, under the law, a repetition 

 ot the disgraceful scene enacted here recently, 

 when one of these rising .voung agriculturists was 

 arrested and hauled before the court by the dls 

 trict examiner, when it would be but simple 

 Justice were he treated as a public benefactor 

 instead, for of these men it can be truthfully 

 said that they make not only two, but 200 blades 

 of grass grow where one grew before. 



MOTT-LY MUSINGS. 



C. N. Braunrich & Son, Wheeling, 

 W. Va., large hardware dealers, have 

 arranged to extend the seed business, 

 which has been a profitable feature 

 for many years. 



Alfred Langhans, Wheeling, notes 

 the absence of elaborate decorations, 

 but believes the public taste for these 

 has been temporarily restricted and 

 will soon return to its former liberal- 

 ity. 



The Imlay Co., Zanesville, O., claims 

 big things from its seeds. A trucker 

 drove uj), just at the time of my visit, 

 with a bunch of Hollow Crown pars- 

 nips. One was four feet long and 

 solid. "Some parsnips," remarked 

 J. M. Imlay. "From our seeds? Cer- 

 tainly." i noted some Rose Queen 

 sweet peas which had been in crop 

 since Thanksgiving and looked as if 

 they might be good until Memorial 

 day. They are considered the best in 

 their class. The decided color is fetch- 

 ing^ Schiller's strain of cineraria is 

 a departure from the large flowers. 

 Star-shaped, with beautiful colors, 

 they are good sellers. Some building 

 and rebuilding will take place this 

 summer. 



Will Underwood, of Underwood Bros., 

 Columbus, spoke in the same strain. 

 Their place has been entirely built 

 around, and business is dependent upon 



the phone. A fine bush of that beau- 

 tiful old rose, Gloire de Dijon, in 

 bloom, carried us back to the roman- 

 tic period when it, with its charming 

 companion, Marechal Niel, flourished 

 on the latticework around the old 

 homestead. 



Carl Jagsch, of the Franklin Park 

 Floral Co., Columbus, O., reports a 

 steady increase in business during the 

 last four months, a pleasing item to 

 note. 



The Livingston Seed Co., Columbus, 

 is fairly in the swim with early forc- 

 ing orders. W. Sperry, manager of 

 the wholesale department, predicts a 

 most satisfactory season in all lines. 



S. F. Stephens & Son is the new 

 style of the old house of S. F. Stephens, 

 Columbus. The young man has re- 

 signed a state position as chemist to 

 associate himself with his father. The 

 business is located near a cemetery 

 and caters chiefly to cemetery trade, 

 which is now quiescent, but, with the 

 advent of spring, will be doubly active 

 with the newest ideas. 



The J. M. McCullough's Sons Co., 

 Cincinnati, O., has been strengthened 

 by the entry of J. M., Jr., into the 

 business. With the veteran Carmichael 

 on the job and vigorous as ever, the 

 outlook was never brighter for all con- 

 cerned. W. M. 



OYSTER BAY, N. Y. 



The monthly meeting of the Oyster 

 Bay Horticultural Society, February 25, 

 Avas well attended, President Joseph 

 Robinson in the chair. Rev. C. .1. Cana- 

 ran was elected to associate member- 

 ship and Robert S. Renison, of West- 

 bury, to active membership. 



The exhibition tables were loaded 

 down with splendid stock, there being 

 seventeen non-competitive exhibits in 

 addition to the numerous ones for the 

 monthly prizes. The latter, three in 

 number, were captured by James Duthie. 

 The non-competitive exhibits were: 

 From Joseph Robinson, azalea; J. In- 

 gram, callas and cattleyas; A. Lahodny, 

 Formosa lilies, annual larkspurs and 

 a collection of tulips; F. Kyle, Primula 

 obconica; J. Duthie, Primula malacoides 

 Improved and cyclamen; H. Gibson, 

 roses and cucumbers; Charles Mills, 

 beans; J. Sorosick, roses. The judges 

 were Messrs. Proctor, Humphreys and 

 Beaton; they awarded cultural certifi- 

 cates or honorable mention in each case. 



The premium list for the 191.') shows 

 is ready and copies may be had by ad- 

 dressing the secretary, Andrew R. Ken- 

 nedy, Westbury, L. t., N. Y. 



FERTILIZER FOR LAWNS. 



Will you please let me know what is 

 the best fertilizer for lawns when run 

 down ? The soil was poor when the 

 grass was sown, about ten years ago. 

 Every year since then we have covered 

 it over with mushroom manure in Feb- 

 ruary; that is, after the manure had 

 raised a crop of mushrooms. About 

 April 1 we cleaned it off, as the strength 

 had gone. K. H. — Pa. 



If the soil was poorly prepared origi- 

 nally, I doubt if any system of top- 

 dressing or feeding will ever make your 

 lawns really satisfactory. I would sug- 

 gest digging up and reseeding, doing 

 this work in the fall — August or early 

 September — rather than in the spring. 

 I doubt whether the grass would get 

 any great amount of plant food from 

 the spent mushroom manure. It would 



be more valuable below than above the 

 sod. 



To improve your lawns somewhat, I 

 would apply a bone-ash fertilizer, con- 

 sisting of fine bone and unleached wood 

 ashes. It is well to mix these first with 

 five or six times their bulk of finely 

 screened loam, later scratching the lawn 

 over and giving it a good rolling. Be- 

 fore rolling, also scratch in some lawu 

 seed to cover the bare spots. 



Pulverized sheep manure makes a 

 safe and good lawn fertilizer, as doea 

 cattle manure similarly dried. Barn- 

 yard manure should not be used; it ia 

 unsightly, unsanitary and brings a host 

 of weed seeds. Furthermore, the cloda 

 of manure, if they lie long on the lawn, 

 will smother out some of the grass. 

 Various forms of humus have been 

 boomed considerably in the last few 

 years. This, in most cases, is merely 

 swamp muck dried, pulverized and 

 bagged up. It retails for about $12 

 per ton. Some have found it beneficial,, 

 but personally I cannot recommend its. 

 use, as it has failed to give me any sat- 

 isfactory results after careful trials.. 

 C. W. 



BUSINESS EMBARRASSMENTS. 



Boston, Mass. — Frank Howard, who- 

 for a number of years has conducted 

 the store known as Howard's Flower 

 Shop, at 18 Boylston street, Cambridge, 

 has filed a petition in bankruptcy. His. 

 liabilities are scheduled at $5,665, and 

 his assets at $250. 



Dayton, O. — Elizabeth M. Phebus has 

 filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy 

 in the United States District Court at 

 Cincinnati, scheduling liabilities at $4,- 

 609.56, and assets at $2,360, of which 

 $500 is claimed exempt. Her assets, 

 include real estate valued at $2,000,^ 

 stock in trade, $200, and personal prop- 

 erty, $160. The larger unsecured credi- 

 tors are Jos. C. Krebs, of Dayton, $1,- 

 5.55; D. Rusconi, of Cincinnati, $375; 

 Samuel Bowman, of Greenville, $200^ 

 and David Jackson, of Dayton, $200. 



Houston, Tex. — Application for the- 

 appointment of a receiver of the Henk 

 Dirken Floral & Nursery Co. waa 

 field b}' J. C. Hutcheson in the Sixty- 

 first District court, February 23. The 

 petition alleges that $526.71 is due on 

 a lease entered into August 26, 1913, 

 for the entire block 1, Main street, 

 addition, and that instalments of rent 

 have not been paid. 



AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY. 



The sixteenth annual exhibition will 

 be held March 18 to 21, in conjunc- 

 tion with the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society. The schedule com- 

 mittee, Messrs. Louis J. Renter, Alex- 

 ander Montgomery and Thomas Ro- 

 land, has done good work in fixing 

 prizes. The manager of the Rose So- 

 ciety's exhibits is Eber Holmes, of 

 Montrose, Mass. The annual member- 

 ship dues are being paid well. There 

 is a free ticket to all members. The 

 election of officers will be an important 

 event, also deciding where the show 

 shall go next year. Philadelphia has. 

 spoken for it. 



Benj. Hammond, Sec 'y. 



Ardmore, Okla. — The Shuman Floral 

 Co., of which Gilbert E. Shuman is the 

 proprietor, will build another house^ 

 43x100 feet, and do a wholesale busi- 

 ness. 



