5H 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



ACOUBT 11, 1904 



Forcing aod Packing;. 



Now the wbalesale man, who is grow- 

 ing for the trade, will adopt different 

 methods. -He will grow but few lines and 

 specialize on these. His experience will 

 teach him the proper time that these 

 should be brought in. Should it happen 

 that he is a little late and has to force 

 hard, in order to have them in on time, 

 he must not forget that satisfaction to 

 his customers must be his first consideora- 

 tion, and in order that his plants may 

 prove satisfactory they must have a few 

 days in a house of cooler temperature to 

 prepare them for the store man or cus- 

 tomer. His crop having been prepared, 

 his next step is to advise his customers 

 what he has on hand, giving in detail 

 their exact condition and value. As soon 

 as orders are received they should be 

 acknowledged, so that customers may 

 depend upon getting what they have or- 

 dered. 



Every plant should be carefully 

 wrapped, AJU flowering plants, with flow- 

 ers that are easily bruised, should first 

 receive a wrapping in tissue paper and 

 then some heavier material to protect them 

 from the cold and bruising or breaking 

 while in transit. Cases should be lined 

 with heavy building paper or several 

 thicknesses of newspaper and every row 

 of plants should be cleated in so that 

 there will be no danger of the plants dis- 

 lodging should the express company turn 

 the cases upside down. 



Easter Plants. 



Once the Christmas holidays are over 

 preparations for the next great event 

 in the plantsman's year, Easter, must be 

 attended to. The varying dates on which 

 Easter falls must always be borne in 

 mind, so that you may govern your crop 

 accordingly. For the Easter holiday a 

 number of different varieties of plants 



than those forced for the Christmas holi- 

 days wiU be used. 



First and foremoet are Easter lilies, 

 either longiflorum or Harrisii, For pot 

 plants I consider the 7-9-inch bulbs the 

 best size. There is a difference of opin- 

 ion how these should be grown, some con- 

 tending that they should first be potted 

 in 4 or 4 1^ -inch pots and then shifted 

 up into 6 or 7-inch as the plants come 

 along. Others say that they should be 

 potted in the pot in which they are to 

 bloom. The only difference that I can 

 see is a slight economy of space in their 

 early stages. From my several years' 

 experience in growing and handling these 

 I see but little difference in the result 

 when handled by careful growers. There 

 is just one essential .point to always bear 

 in mind: Prom the time a lily starts 

 growing it ^ould never receive a check, 

 for if it does, any germs of disease that 

 are lying dormant are sure to develop. 

 Nor can you gauge its date of flowering 

 with the sJame degree of success as if it 

 had not received a check. 



There are a number of brands of Lil- 

 ium longiflorum on the market but I do 

 not think that there is any material 

 difference between them. The maip ob- 

 ject is to have good, sound, well-ripened 

 bulbs. Under the same conditions, longi- 

 florum will: come in if started from four 

 to five wei^s later than Harrisii. While 

 the lily is '..the Easter flower par excel- 

 lencej' it"' is'also the most expensive to 

 grow and hardest for the store men to 

 handle. 



Other plants that will need immediate 

 attention are hydrangeas, Crimson Eam- 

 bler and hybrid perpetual roses. These 

 should be brought in and started into 

 growth in a moderate temperature, grad- 

 ually increasing it, governed by the time 

 at your disposal. 



Azaleas that are to be held for Easter 

 should be kept in a cool house, with an 



i-ri 



The Anheuser-Busch Bow^ling i rophy. 



even temperature, free from drip or ex- 

 cessive moisture. Other varieties of 

 plants such as metrosideros, lilacs, rho- 

 dodendrons, deutzias, etc., will not need 

 to be brought in before the last week in 

 February or the first in March. 



Among the soft-wooded plants the im- 

 proved varieties of pelargoniums are go- 

 ing to take a prominent place as Easter 

 plants. These if propagated during Sep- 

 tember and October, and kept growing 

 along, wiU make fine, bushy plants in 

 5 or 6-inch pots, with from six to ten 

 large trusses of flower, by the first of 

 April. They are easily handled, very 

 floriferous and find a ready sale, giving 

 customers as good satisfaction as an 

 azalea or a Crimson Bambler and will 

 yield a better profit to the grower. 

 Spiraea or astilbe is also a prominent 

 Easter plant and is sold in larg^ quanti- 

 ties. Dutch bulbs should not l:^ lost 

 sight of. Pans of hyacinths, tulips and 

 narcissi, in their various varieties, are 

 sold in large quantities and are easily 

 brought in at the right time. Three 

 weeks in a moderate temperature is all 

 that is required to bring them to per- 

 fection. Lilies of the vaDey and forget- 

 me-nots in pots and pans are also desira- 

 ble. It will also be necessary to prepare 

 a few foliage plants, such as Boston and 

 Piersoni ferns, palms and rubbers, but 

 let your main effort be to prepare a 

 stock of good flowering plants for the 

 Easter trade. Of all the holidays in the 

 year, Easter is the one on which most 

 flowering plants are used. Its associa- 

 tions are of a joyous nature and all 

 people, be they rich or poor, high or 

 low, are imbued with the happiness at- 

 tending the occasion and want something 

 bright and cheerful, in keeping with 

 their feelings. 



The same care in handling and deliv- 

 ering plants as mentioned for the Christ- 

 mas trade will apply at all times. Easter 

 lilies are very hard to handle without 

 bruising. For shipping, the best method 

 that we have found is to allow the plants 

 to become somewhat dry, so that the 

 flowers will be just a trifle willy, s^A 

 each individual flower and bud wrappeu 

 in cotton batting. The plants should be 

 firmly staked and each row should be 

 cleated into the cases and a top cleat 

 nailed across the case just below the 

 buds and each row of plants tied to this 

 cleat. If this work is thoroughly done 

 you will have no drawbacks or rebates 

 to make for bruised flowers while in 

 transit. 



Prospects in GinaJa. 



There are a number of plants that I 

 have not mentioned which might be 

 brought in for the holidays, such as 

 freesias, ericas, ardisias, capsicums, 

 bougainvillea, etc. You are kll familiar 

 with the handling of them and I do not 

 need to go into details. The demand in 

 your locality must govern you largely in 

 what you grow. It is well, from year to 

 year, to change the varieties that you 

 are growing, dropping some that you find 

 the demand decreasing on and adding 

 others that are likely to create a demand. 

 That the demand is increasing, and vnll 

 continue to do so, is without a question 

 of doubt. The time was when all our 

 efforts were concentrated in endeavoring 

 to have a sufficient supply of cut flowers 

 to fill the demand, but gradually plants 

 are superseding this demand and, whilo 

 at holiday times there will always be a 

 demand sufficient to take all the cut 

 flowers that can be produced, the demand 

 for both plants and cut flowers is not 



