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16 



The Florists^ Review 



Mat 27. 1916. 



selenipedium section. There is no 

 month in the year when there is not a 

 fair crop of these popular and useful 

 orchids. Most of the family prefer a 

 well shaded house, with a moist atmos- 

 phere, and with a daily spraying in hot 

 weather to prevent the attacks of 

 thrips or red spider. The old and ever 

 popular C. insigne is not at all a fussy 

 subject and will grow and flower just 

 as well if kept in a coldframe, or even 

 under the shade of a tree right in the 

 open air, from June 1 to September 15. 

 If the plants are well rpoted, give them 

 a dose of liquid manure once a week. 



SEASONABLE NOTES. 



Phaius. 



The genus phaius is not as much cul- 

 tivated as its nierits would seem to 

 warrant. The old P. grandifoliua is 

 well known as a striking spring-flower- 

 ing, terrestrial species, but there are 

 now some beautiful hybrids that con- 

 tain, in many cases, grandifolius blood 

 and are worthy of culture. These lat- 

 ter are less robust in habit than P. 

 grandifolius, but are beautiful and 

 decorative. Among the best are 

 P. Norman, P. Cooksonii and P. Hum- 

 blotii. The first two are of easy cul- 

 ture. The last is a fussy Madagascar 

 species, but hybrids between it and 

 grandifolius possess a good constitu- 

 tion. During the growing season, 

 phaius plants like a well shaded, moist, 

 warm house. A suitable rooting me- 

 dium consists of a mixture of coarse 

 fibrous loam and fern fiber, with some 

 pieces of broken sandstone and occa- 

 sional pieces of dried cow manure. The 

 pots should contain ample drainage. 



Onddlum Varlcosum Bogersil. 



Oncidium varicosum Rogersii, a 

 showy, free flowering archid, is of great 

 value in the fall, being particularly use- 

 ful at the fall exhibitions. In window 

 displays its long, arching branches and 

 spikes of golden flowers are also in- 

 valuable. It succeeds best in compara- 

 tively small pots and pans, in a mix- 

 ture of fern flber and chopped sphag- 

 num moss. The plants are now making 

 up their new growths and need an abun- 

 dant water supply. They do better if 

 suipended from the roof than if stood 

 on a bench. The water supply can be 

 reduced as the growths are made up. 

 When the flower spikes are appearing, 

 keep a sharp watch for the small shell 

 snails, which sometimes lurk in the 

 compost and which are decidedly partial 

 to the succulent spikes of this orchid. 

 Protect them, as they appear, with 

 bands of cotton-wool, over which snails 

 will not crawl. 



Oalanthes. 



Calanthes are now in active growth 

 and, as the pots or pans become filled 

 with active roots, the water supply can 

 be increased. Calanthes like feeding, 

 but do not start it until the pots have 

 ample roots. Then water them with 

 liquid cow manure; or, better still, dip 

 them in a tub of the liquid. No orchids 

 are more improved by manure water 

 than the calanthes. They like a shaded 

 position in a warm, moist house, and 

 the most successful growers find that 



a little fire heat right through the 

 growing season, just enough to warm 

 the pipes, is much to their liking. 



Dendrobiums. 



A few dendrobiums flower at this 

 season, but the most important com- 

 mercial varieties, such as f ormosum 

 giganteum, Phalsenopsis Schroederian- 

 um, nobile, Wardianum and many hy- 

 brids, are now making their growths 

 and all appreciate a warm, stuffy, moist 

 house while doing so. A good syring- 

 ing overhead should be given about the 

 middle of the afternoon and the house 

 should then be closed tightly, in order 

 to bottle up a brisk heat. 



Cypripediums. 



Some of the cypripediums are flower- 

 ing now, particularly those of the 



LATE DOUBLE TULIPS. 



Is it possible to hold any of the late 



double tulips by placing them in a cool 



cellar until the middle of Mayt If so, 



please give the names of the best sorts. 



J. E. S.— Pa. 



The following are good commercial 

 double tulips which you should be able 

 to hold until the middle of May in a 

 really cool cellar: Murillo, Brimstone 

 Beauty, also called Tea Rose; Rex 

 rubrorum and Couronne d'Or. C. W. 



Qrand Bapids, Mich. — Arthur F. 

 Crabb, formerly manager and designer 

 at the Crabb & Hunter Floral Co.'s 

 retail store, has purchased the store of 

 William Cunningham, at 69 South 

 Division avenue, which he will conduct 

 himself. 



s HRAP Nrnt 



Copenhagen, Denmark. — The war has 

 produced a decided boom in the horti- 

 cultural industry in Denmark. Seed ex- 

 ports have been far above those of 

 previous years, particularly in lines for- 

 merly supplied by other countries which 

 are now unable to make their usual 

 shipments. 



Aalsmeer, Holland. — ^The growers' as- 

 sociation for the sale of flowers at 

 Aalsmeer sold in 1914 about $100,000 

 worth of its products, an increase of 

 $36,000 over the preceding year. This 

 indicates that this center was less af- 

 fected by the war than would be sup- 

 posed. During the flrst few days of 

 the war, however, sales were almost 

 impossible, totaling less than $42 for 

 the period of August 3 to 8. The asso- 

 ciation 's net profit for the year was 

 $1,720. 



Upper Walmer, England.— Em. Draps- 

 Boudry, of Oostdunkerke, Belgium, is 

 here and says: "I have been in Bel- 

 gium to see my nursery. It took me 

 four days to make a trip that in peace 

 times takes only four hours. Of my 

 nursery there is nothing left; plants, 

 benches, frames, perennials, all have 

 disappeared. The remains of the 

 twenty-four greenhouses are hanging 

 about. The village is bombarded every 

 day, and few houses are left unhurt. I 

 had about a thousand young pyramid 

 bay trees that have all been taken to 

 the trenches by the soldiers. They 

 have a couple of trees at every en- 

 trance to their trenches." 



Lyon, France. — Claude Pernet-Ducher, 

 son of the famous rose raiser, has been 

 killed in action at the front. His death 

 occurred last October, but the news 

 only recently reached his father. 



The Hague, Holland. — The govern- 

 ment of Holland is proposing a bill to 

 partly raise the prohibition placed by 

 the law of September 23, 1912, on the 

 importation and transportation of 

 gooseberry, currant and raspberry 

 bushes. It seems to have been estab- 

 lished that the fungus that causes the 

 American vine-mildew of gooseberries 

 only occasionally attacks raspberry and 

 currant bushes, and so these will be ex- 

 cepted from the provisions of the law. 



• London, England. — "Eye Witness," 

 the official chronicler of the operations 

 of the British army in Belgium, re- 

 cently made this comment: "Among 

 the many incongruities of this cam- 

 paign not the least strange contrast is 

 that between the waging of trench war- 

 fare and the gardening which is car- 

 ried on in many places by the British 

 soldier. The gardens, which are mostly 

 near the dugouts, ar« not of an am- 

 bitious order, but when circumstances 

 permit, considerable care is devoted to 

 their cultivation. In some cases the 

 small plots of growing primroses and 

 daffodils are not more than 200 yards 

 from the enemy, close behind the breast- 

 work protecting their owners from the 

 bullets which whistle overhead and 

 bury themselves with a vicious thud 

 in the sandbags a few feet away." 



