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i08 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JUNB 9, 1904. 



place where asters have never grown be- 

 fore. Thin out the young plants if nec- 

 essary, transplant to the permanent bed 

 as soon as they are large enough and 

 when conditions are favorable, and, so 

 far as stem rot is concerned, no trou- 

 ble need be feared. 



ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS. 



Will some one please tell me through 

 the Review why my seeds of Aspara- 

 gus plumosus nanus germinate so slow- 

 ly this year? I have never let the beds 

 get dry and am very careful not to over- 

 water them. I am also careful not to 

 let a crust form on the soil. I keep 

 the temperature as near 80 degrees as 



Jiossible. I planted the seed one inch 

 eep in rather poor field soil, well sifted 

 and the beds get the sun all day. The 

 seeds were planted the last week in 

 March. S. B. R. 



You may have had the bad luck to 

 get hold of poor seed, too ancient to 

 germinate. The best advice I can give 

 you now is to remove all that poor soil 

 that you smothered the seed with, take 

 it off and try and leave only just> enough 

 to cover the seed. Next time you sow 

 asparagus first procure it of sAme good, 

 reliable firm. Soak the seed for twen- 

 ty-four hours in warm water. Then sow 

 it evenly on a smooth surface and cover 

 ■with sifted sod, just enough to cover 

 the seeds. There is no need of the hades 

 temperature of 80 degrees; 60 degrees 

 is plenty warm enough, and don't let 

 the sun shine till the young plants are 

 well up through the soil. Quality of 

 soil would make no difference to the 

 starting of the seed, but why not choose 

 a light loam, made bettet still with the 

 addition of sifted leaf-mold or very 

 decayed manure? W. S. 



S. A. F. TRADE DISPLAY. 



The following are extracts from the 

 revised rules for the management of 

 the S. A. F. trade display: 



The superintendent shall furnish the society, 

 through the secretary thereof, a list of tha 

 exhibitors and exhibits by 1 p. m. on the day 

 of openliij: the convention. He shall also fur- 

 nish tho secretary with a list of noTeltles and 

 new devices submitted for awards, said list to 

 be for the nse of the judges. 



Bxhlbitorg showing- novelties or Improved de- 

 vices which they wish to have examined by 

 the Judges for such special notice or award as 

 they may be deemed worthy of, shall make an 

 itemized entry thereof with the superintendent 

 In advance. 



The president shall appoint, not less than one 

 month in advance of the convention, three 

 judges who shall examine specially entered 

 exbibitA and make detailed report thereon 

 promptly to the secretary on the afternoon of 

 the first day of the convention. 



For exhibits deemed worthy thereof diplomas 

 of three grades may be given, as follows: Cer- 

 tificate of Merit, Honorable Mention, Highly 

 Ck>mmended. 



No distinction as "First," "Second," "Best," 

 or "Largest." or other mention indicating com- 

 parisons with other exhibits shall be made, and 

 diplomas of equal value may be awarded to 

 several exhibits in the same class. 



Those intending to exhibit should ap- 

 ply to C. A. Kuehn, 1122 Pine street. St. 

 Louis, for a complete copy of the rules. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 



Nathan Smith & Son offer the follow- 

 ing special prize for the Boston chry- 

 santhemum show: $25 cash for the best 

 twelve white chrysanthemums, of Ameri- 

 can or foreign origin, of a variety dis- 

 seminated in 1904; to be judged from a 

 commercial standpoint; stems, not less 

 than thirty inches long; open to private 

 gardeners only. 



Fred II. Lemok. Secrctarv. 



ADIANTUM CROWEANUM. 



The fact that Peter Crowe, of Utica, 

 who had been very successful at rose 

 growing, found it profitable to give up 

 that line to devote! his time entirely to 

 adiantum has no doubt had its effect 

 upon the sale of the variety which is 

 identified with his name and which is 

 shortly to be distributed to the trade by 

 Wm. F. Kasting, of Buffalo. The va- 

 riety Crowe?anum originated in a batch 

 of Adiantum cuneatum which Mr. Crowe 

 purchased a good many years ago from 

 Alex Montgomery, at Waban Rose Con- 

 servatories, Natick, Mass. It is natural- 

 ly of slower reproduction than a rose or 

 carnation and Mr. Crowe has been many 

 years working up a stock and selling 

 the cut fronds in the! wholesale mar- 

 kets of New York, Philadelphia, Buffalo 

 and Boston. He found it a much better 

 seller than the old cuneatum and Mr. 

 Kasting in handling the cut fronds recog- 

 nized it as a most valuable novelty. He 

 therefore) made a contract with Mr. 

 Crowe for the purchase of a portion of 

 the stock, with certain reservations as 

 to the time in which he might be the 

 sole distributor. Mr. Kasting has ap- 

 pointed a number of the leading seed 

 and plant houses throughout the country 

 as general agents for his novelty and 



t'Jf^ 



"The best all-arottcd paper there 



is. As an advertising medium it 



pays better than any other. If 



we have anything to sell or want 



to btiy, it is our first choice. Wt 



certainly could not do without it. 



We enclose $1.00 for subscription 



and copy for advertisements." 



J. SYLVESTER. 

 Oconto, 'Wis. 



June 6, 1904. 



reports a very large sale in all direc- 

 tions. Every grower of "green goods" 

 for the wholesale market is trying 

 Croweanum and hundreds of growers for 

 the retail trade are also taking it up, 

 as it makes a very fine pot plant and 

 is reputed to have wonderful qualities 

 of endurance when exposefd to the try- 

 ing conditions of the dwelling room. 



PENNSYLVANIA PREMIUMS. 



The Pennsylvania Horticultural So- 

 ciety will hold its annual exhibition No- 

 vember 8 to 12 this year and has is- 

 sued the premium list in pamphlet 

 form. This is one of the societies which 

 provides liberally for the plant classes, 

 silver medals and money premiums rang- 

 ing up to $50 being offered for spe- 

 cimen blooming and foliage plants and 

 for groups. On cut chrysanthemums 

 there arc many classes, some of which 

 are restricted to amateurs or private 

 gardeners only, with liberal premimns. 

 On the second day of the exhibition 

 roses, carnations and violets will be the 



features. For twenty-five blooms of tea 

 roses, premiums of $5 and $3 are of- 

 fered; for twelve Beauties, the first 

 premium is $25 and for best vase of 

 fifty blooms of a varietur not yet dis- 

 seminated the first premium is $30. A 

 silveir cup is offered for the best Amer- 

 ican seedling not yet disseminated. On 

 the third day of the exhibition floral ar- 

 rangements will be the feature. For 

 mantel decorations there are premiums 

 of $20 and $10; for table decorations 

 without bloom there are premiums of 

 $25 and $16, for dinner table decora- 

 tion with plants or flowers $60 and $30. 

 There are also premiums for baskets 

 and plateaus of flowers. The list also 

 includes the premium offers on fruits 

 and vegetables, most of them donated by 

 the Philadelphia seedsmen. 



DORCHESTER, MASS. 



Death of L. H. Foster. 



Lucius H. Foster died at his home here 

 May 31 after an illness of several months. 

 He suffered an apoplectic stroke last fall 

 but was thought to be gaining until re- 

 cently, when his condition took a turn 

 for the worse. Mr. Foster was in the 

 prime of life. The last time he waa seen 

 by the majority of his friends in the 

 trade was at the S. A. F. meeting at 

 Milwaukee, when he appeared in the most 

 robust health and good for many years 

 to come. His death, though not imex- 

 pected since his illness, comes as a 

 shock. Mr. Foster had a large business 

 and was widely known in the trade, his 

 name being associated with the nephrol- 

 epis, Anna Foster, named for his wife, 

 sent out from his establishment a couple 

 of years ago. 



Lucius H. Foster was born in Dor- 

 ehester, Mass., 57 years ago and was the 

 son of Joseph Warren Foster, one of thn 

 pioneer market gardeners of New Eng- 

 land in the early 40 's. He was educated 

 in the public schools of Boston and 

 graduated from the high school with high 

 honors and was always interested, even 

 when quite young, in plants and flow- 

 ers, receiving good, solid instruction in 

 floriculture from his father, which proved 

 a great benefit to him in after 

 years. Mr. Foster will be re- 

 membered as a partner in the firm 

 of Calder & Otis Co., of Boston, not 

 many years ago and also as a florist at 

 Saratoga, N. Y., several years ago. Al- 

 ways looking to improve his knowledge 

 in floriculture he started in business for 

 himself, taking his brother as a partner 

 and renting the greenhouses from their 

 father, making a success of their busi 

 ness by constapt attention, honest deal- 

 ings and upright manhood, which ad- 

 vanced him to the top of the ladder in the 

 florist business, which he loved. He will 

 be remembered as being the first man to 

 tirow the old Bon Silene rose on its own 

 roots in this country, receiving the high- 

 est price for that rose that was ever 

 heard of up to that time. He will be 

 remembered as the violet king of tho 

 east, only a few years ago being one of 

 the largest growers of Marie Louise 

 violets in New England, of which few are 

 grown here now, and only a few years 

 .ago he was acknowledged the king pin 

 grower of the Daybreak carnation on 

 which he received several prizes, and for 

 the past eight years he has been the 

 largest .grower of Boston ^erns in the 



