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12 



The Florists' Review 



Sbptbmbek 2, 191S. 



the old Little Gem rechristened, but 

 this is a vast mistake. The Qodfrey is 

 much superior, as can be attested by 

 anyone who has grown the two sorts. 



The particulars supplied by the E. G. 

 Hill Co. are, in substance, as follows: 

 "The Godfrey is of the Devoniensis 

 type and was brought to this country 

 by E. G. Hill about ten years ago. It 

 is a beautiful improvement over the old 

 ^thiopica, in color, texture and general 

 refinement. When given full swing in a 

 bench, it bears extra large blooms, but 

 it is seen at its best when grown in 

 pots, 6-inch to 8-inch in size, when the 

 blooms are of medium size and are 

 freely produced." 



Perhaps the information already 

 given, though covering certain phases 

 of the subject in a most satisfactory 

 way, might be supplemented by a few 

 more details of a purely cultural nature. 



Unreasonable Expectations. 



Some there are who seem unable to 

 grow the Godfrey successfully, or at 

 least they expect too much from young 

 plants. Not long ago I visited a com- 

 mercial place where the proprietor sells, 

 at retail, all he can grow. When inci- 

 dental reference was made to callas, I 

 asked him whether he had tried the 

 Godfrey. The answer was, "Yes, and 

 it 's no good. ' ' He thereupon conducted 



me to the end of one of his houses and 

 pointed out a batch of what I supposed 

 were callas. One plant carried a miser- 

 able little flower; two more had spikes 

 on the way. Some were dead, others 

 dying and all looked unhappy, and no 

 wonder. The grower had got in some 

 stock in 214-inch pots and put five each 

 in 10-inch pots; then he had stood them 

 on the floor, partly below carnation 

 benches. All were in a more or less 

 saturated condition and yet the owner 

 marveled that they were doing poorly! 

 Now, it stands to reason that we can- 

 not expect much the first ' year from 

 2^-inch or even 4-inch pot plants, no 

 matter how well we grow them. Some 

 will flower — I have even flowered them 

 in 214-i'ich pots — but the flowers will 

 be small. Do not rest these young 

 plants in summer. After they have 

 made good, strong flowering roots, they 

 should be rested the same as the ordi- 

 nary callas. While small, however, 

 they must not be rested, but should be 

 grown on continuously until they are 

 of flowering strength. They will be 

 better outdoors from June to Septem- 

 ber. Keep them well watered and fed. 

 They should be ready for a shift at 

 housing time. 



Feeding and Temperature. 



Give them a light bench, as near the 

 glass as possible. As the pots get filled 



with roots, feed with liquid manure and 

 give a top-dressing of fine bone. AH 

 callas love bone. It is a delight to see 

 how the roots devour it, and the Qod- 

 frey is surely a greedy bone devourer. 



Godfrey callas can be successfully 

 grown in a minimum temperature of 50 

 degrees. In such a temperature they 

 will flower from early October until the 

 end of April. The flowers, however, are 

 more valuable in midwinter and will 

 open more quickly if a temperature of 

 55 to 60 degrees at night can be given 

 them. A carnation temperature has 

 been proved ideal for calla culture. 

 When the higher temperature is given, 

 the flowering season will be shortened 

 about a month. 



Three strong tubers in 7-inch and four 

 in 8-inch pots have given splendid re- 

 sults. Pots occasionally carry six open 

 flowers at one time and the flowers are 

 far purer in color than those of the 

 old calla, and just as large. The re- 

 mark is often made that the flowers of 

 the Godfrey are small. The best way 

 to disprove this statement is to give 

 the two kinds identical treatment and 

 compare results. My experience has 

 been that the Godfrey gives between 

 two and three times as many flowers 

 as the old calla, and they are just as 

 large on the average. 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



MOBTGAGES OF RETAIL STOCKS. 



According to a late decision of the 

 Indiana Appellate court, in the case of 

 Vermillion vs. National Bank of Green- 

 castle, 105 Northeastern Reporter 5.30, 

 the validity of a mortgage on the stock 

 and fixtures of a florist or seedsman, as 

 against unsecured creditors, must de- 

 pend upon the question whether it was 

 given with fraudulent intent to delay 

 or hinder them in the collection of their 

 claims, and not merely on the question 

 whether it has the effect of delaying or 

 hindering them. The decision was not 

 announced in a case arising in the 

 trade, but is applicable to all mer- 

 chants. It is, therefore, held that a 

 mortgage is good if given and received 

 in good faith for the sole purpose of 

 securing a debt due the mortgagee. The 

 court goes a step farther and decides 

 that such a mortgage may validly em- 

 power the mortgagor to sell his goods 

 in the ordinary course of business and 

 use part of the proceeds in replenishing 

 his stock, and provide that the new 

 goods shall be subject to the lien of 

 the mortgage. S. 



CHOOSE YOUB COLORS. 



Did you ever wonder how the secretary 

 of state from whom you obtained your 

 automobile license, hit upon the particu- 

 lar color scheme thereof? Or why the 

 gentleman who installed the electric 

 lighted sign over your store doorway, or 

 who contracted for your billboard ad- 

 vertising, made the recommendations 

 that he did as regards colors? 



The knowledge of their reasons might 

 be of value to the window decorator or 

 card writer at your store. The basis 

 for their selections is the table below, 

 which indicates the comparative legi- 

 bility of certain coK)r combinations. It 

 is the result of tests made recently in 

 London. The precise distances men- 

 tioned are not so valuable as the com- 

 parative legibility indicated by them. 

 It is worth noting that the difference 

 between the first and last places on this 

 table is a matter of approximately ten 

 per cent. 



The figures indicate the distance at 

 which the signs of the colors given were 

 readable: 



Black on yellow 375 



Green on white 367 



Red on White 364 



Blue on white 364 



White on blue 357 



Yellow on black 352 



Black on white S-il 



White on red.. . . .^»*>.-. ^. 350 



White on green,...' 341 



White on black 340 



WINTER WINDOW BOXES. 



Now is the time to plan the filling 

 of winter window boxes. Last autumn 

 there was a wonderful increase in the 

 business done in this line, largely as 

 the result of the trade making an ef- 

 fort to get orders, and there is no rea- 

 son why the income from this source 

 should not be largely increased again 

 this season. It will be found easy to 

 interest people whose window boxes 

 have been filled with soft-wooded stock 

 during summer and to get an oppor- 

 tunity to relieve the bleakness of win- 

 ter by filling the boxes with evergreens. 



Once the winter dress of green has 

 become a habit, the orders are to be 

 had for the asking, each autumn as 

 well as each spring. This is one of 

 the ways th0 city florist can add hand- 

 somely to Ms income if he will but 

 take hold and push. 



MAKE A X!HAROE FOR IT. 



I would like to have some florists* 

 views on the] making up of flowers for 

 customers who have picked them from 

 their own gardens or have bought them 

 cheap from their neighbors. We re- 

 fuse to makei them up and have lost 

 several customers, who accuse us of not 

 being accommpdating. What would you 

 do? W. W. M.— Ind. 



When one, at a summer resort, has 

 good luck fishing, the hotel manage- 

 ment gladly cooks and serves the catch 

 — but there is no reduction in the bill 

 because the guest supplies a portion of 

 the food. A -certain grower sends his 

 commission-man three new-laid eggs 

 with each day's consignment of flow- 

 ers. The wholesaler eats them for his 

 noonday luncheon — and he pays in the 

 restaurant exactly what he would if he 

 did not bring • his own eggs. 



There are, to be sure, all kinds of flo- 

 rists, just as there are all kinds of cus- 

 tomers, but every florist worthy of the 

 name charges for his skill and his time 

 as well as his flowers; indeed, with a 

 discriminating customer the skill em- 

 ployed in arrangement frequently is 

 more valuable than the stock employed. 



It is a great mistake to charge only 



