IB 



The Florists^ Review 



Apbil 1, 1815. 



ijllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillilllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllilllllt^ 



I SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS I 

 I FpR SOUTHERN FLORISTS | 



sillllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllJIIIIIIIillllllilllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllUllilli? 



CamAtions. 



The last six weeks were so excep- 

 tionally bright and sunny, even for the 

 south, that the plants in the houses 

 grew rapidly and developed a great crop 

 of blooms. This, of course, made an 

 increased demand on the soil in the 

 beds, A good, heavy top-dressing of 

 cow manure, chopped fine, or equal 

 pa^ts of manure and good soil, will be 

 !» .'i'of the greatest benefit. Here and there, 

 especially along the edges, the soil may 

 be worn and washed away, exposing 

 soQie of the roots, and the beds may 

 have lost much of their level shape, 

 making an even distribution of water 

 difficult. A mulch will remedy these 

 defects and provide nouris^iment for 

 the plants in"; th© best foi^. More 

 water may be given also, to the ex- 

 tent of a good soaking at least every 

 other day in bright weather. Over- 

 head watering or light syringing is a 

 great help to the plants in retaining 

 their vitality, and should be continued 

 regularly to the end of the season. 



A light . shading on the glass is also 

 in order now, especially in th« more 

 southern sections. In the more north- 

 ern sections this is not done till after 

 Easter, although the first week in 

 March is none too early to tipply it 

 on the colored varieties. An extremely 

 thin shading is all that is required at 

 first; a little more may be added occa- 

 sionally as the season advances. Old 

 air-slaked lime is the best shade to use, 

 as it is easily removed when no longer 

 wanted. 



Give an abundance of ventilation, 

 and do not neglect the usual routine 

 duties of disbudding, weeding and keep- 

 ing the plants growing straight in their 

 frames. A little extra care on these 

 lines will keep the quality of the cut 

 up to standard. In the south, carna- 

 tions are staple and good sellers as 

 long as they can be had and it more 

 than pays to give the best of culture 

 to the end of the season. 



Soses. 



This is the season of the year when 

 mildew is likely to be troublesome if 

 roses are not handled correctly. Un- 

 less in exceptional circumstances, mil- 

 dew is the result of unwise, reckless 

 or insufficient ventilation. It is also 

 largely a constitutional matter, and the 

 proper ventilation of fhe houses is prob- 

 ably the most important factor in the 

 upbuilding and maintaining of a hardy 

 plant constitution. 



There is a wide variation of the 

 night temperature outside in the differ- 

 ent sections of the south, ranging from 

 28 to 60 degrees or even higher, so 

 that no definite rule can be laid down. 

 However, it is always safe in the colder 

 sections not to close the ventilators en- 

 tirely until one coil of steam pipes will 

 not maintain the regular night tempera- 

 ture. In the warmer sections enough 

 air must be left on all night to insure 

 a free and quick circulation. Make 

 the last reduction just before retiring 

 and err rather on the side of leaving 

 too much air on than too little. 



The morning is a time, also,'f6r ex- 

 treme watchfulness. As soon as the 

 thermometer begins to rise from 2 to 

 4 degrees, raise the ventilators a little 

 more and keep on raising them with 

 the rise of temperature in||de. With 

 ventilators on both sides or the ridge, 

 begin opening the ventilators on the 

 lee side of the house. When these, 

 though opened wide, will not maintain 

 a buoyant atmosphere, free from all 

 sense of suffocationVor stuffiness, open 

 those on the weather^ide. A day tem- 

 perature of 85 degrees in bright weather 

 at this season is not excessive, provided 

 there is enough ventilation to meet the 

 conditions mentioned. Some growers 

 are mightily afraid to ventilate on the 

 windy side even at this season, but my 

 experience has been that too much cau- 

 tion is worse than too little. There 

 are limits, of course, which common 

 sense will not permit one to overstep. 



Where night firing has not been dis- 

 continued, one pipe in each house may 

 be painted with a sulphur wash two 

 or three times a week, as a preventive. 

 On cold, cloudy days, a rise of 2 de- 

 grees is enough if you have to use 

 steam, and 4 degrees without steam and 

 a little air on. I have often heard the 

 remark in the south that Killarney is 

 a great rose but is too subject to mil- 

 dew. The fault is with the grower or 

 his houses and not with the rose. L. 



MOTT-LT MUSINGS. 



J. J. Soper, Eockford, 111., had a big 

 Easter stock worked up when the writer 

 called, and there was every indication 

 that everything would be sold. 



C. C. PoUworth Co., Milwaukee, has 

 taken advantage of a slight lull to look 

 around for what was lacking in the 

 Easter stock, which promised, at the 

 time of my call, to be fully up to the 

 usual standard, with demand equal to 

 supply. 



Helton & Hunkel Co., Milwaukee, is 

 strong on roses and is planting heavily 

 with Mrs. Russell and Ophelia. The 

 company specializes along several lines 

 and has built up a large department 

 through the Classified Ad section of The 

 Eeview. It keeps them guessing how to 

 satisfy all concerned, but they seem 

 to do it. 



The Alpha Floral Co., Lansing, Mich., 

 was looking forward to a banner Easter 

 and had some excellent stock in readi- 

 ness. 



J. M. Gasser Co., Cleveland, O., has a 

 grand cut of roses and carnations for 

 Easter. 



A. Graham & Son, Cleveland, have a 

 splendid lot of the Rambler family in 

 both trained and naturally grown speci- 

 mens, in perfect condition. They will 

 lead the procession in a big block of 

 blooming stock. 



Prank Friedley, of the James Eadie 

 Co., Cleveland, says that as soon as the 

 Easter rush is over and their fi.ne lot of 

 stock disposed of, his firm will get to 

 work on the fall exhibition, which, it is 

 predicted, will be the best show yet held 

 at that season of the year. A splendid 

 lot of La Reine tulips were noted, prov- 

 ing that this popular variety is yet to 

 be had in high grade. W. M. 



Maii^ About PfeoMe 



1. 



^ 



Springfield, O.— Harry C. Reeser, 

 president of the Reeser Plant Co. since 

 its incorporation, and Mrs. Reeser have 

 moved to Niles, Mich., where, it is said, 

 he will engage in the greenhouse busi- 

 ness. 



Albert Lea, Minn. — G. A. Clausen has 

 returned home from St. Paul, where he 

 spent three weeks in a not wholly suc- 

 cessful effort to drive the rheumatism 

 out of his system in time for him to 

 take his usual active part in the Easter 

 rush. 



Lynn, Mass.— James Little Miller, of 

 the firm of Wm. Miller & Sons, surprised 

 his friends March 10 by taking a trip 

 to Somerville and marrying Miss Mar- 

 garet Jane Paterson, of that town. He 

 and his wife spent their honeymoon at 

 the New York fiower.show. 



Waltham, Mass. — Francis Goodwin, 

 19 years old, an employee at the store 

 of James T. Silman, has been at the 

 Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary 

 undergoing treatment to prevent the 

 loss of his eyesight. He complained of 

 severe pains in his eyes after washing 

 his face with tar soap, and it is thought 

 that potash from the soap got into his 

 eyes, perhaps eating into the mem- 

 branes. The boy is an orphan and has 

 been sleeping in the rear of the store. 



Clinton, IlL — J. U. Johnson, manager 

 of the branch store in this town of the 

 Peterson Floral Co., of Gibson City, was 

 married March 18 to Miss Elizabeth 

 Nelson, of Gibson City, at Champaign. 

 Mr. Johnson was connected with the 

 greenhouses at Gibson City for a num- 

 ber of years and recently assumed the 

 management of the branch here. 



Haverhill, Mass. — Morris Yaffe, aged 

 22, of Yaffe Bros., has disappeared. He 

 is thought to have been suffering from 

 mental trouble. He had $500 in cash 

 when he was last seen. His brother, 

 Hyman, learned he had been on a Law- 

 rence-bound electric car, inquiring about 

 trolley connections for Boston. After an 

 unsuccessful trip to Boston, Hyman 

 Yaffe reported the disappearance to 

 the police. 



Lawrence, Mass. — Joseph Leon Win- 

 gate was married March 20 to Miss 

 Alice Dean Moors, of Stafford, N. H., 

 at the home of Charles E. Wingate, 8 

 Fulton street. Immediately after the 

 ceremony the couple left for Washing- 

 ton, D. C, on a ten days' trip. After 

 April 1 they will be at home at 8 

 Fulton street. Mr. Wingate is a stu- 

 dent at the Wentworth Institute of 

 Electrical Engineering, Boston, from 

 which he will graduate in June. 



