Srptembks 8, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



759 



Exhibit of the McQ-ay Refrigerator Co, at the St. Louis G>nvention. 



this fine shrub troubled witl^ any blight. 

 Although W. T. Lr. does not say so, we 

 suppose the bed was planted this spring 

 and is not yet very well supplied with 

 working roots, and as the hot weather 

 came some exhaustion would take place 

 and the oldest leaves would naturally be 

 the first to succumb. We don't think there 

 is anything else the matter. Just let me 

 say to "W. T. L, that in its native sur- 

 roundings this shrub or dwarf tiee may 

 make a very picturesque bush without the 

 interference of man and his knife. Yet 

 as a cultivated shrub if you want fine 

 flowers and a fine bush the growth of this 

 summer should next spring be cut back 

 three or four eyes. 



The zonal geranium leaves sent were 

 too much diied up to say much about 

 them. We think for the past thirty years 

 we have occasionally seen geraniums at- 

 tacked in the same way. What to call 

 it I am unable to say. If it was a fun- 

 goid disease it would, I suppose, show 

 on the surface of the leaf, which it does 

 not. A decay of the tissue takes place 

 and, therefore, is it not a bacterial dis- 

 ease? I am asking the question because 

 I am not certain. We have seen the 

 same trouble on some varieties of zonals 

 in the spring when the soil was exhausted 

 and the roots began to perish and tliis 

 year we noticed it on a lot of Mrs. Fian- 

 cis Perkins (the fine pink), for the first 

 six weeks after being planted out. They 

 were starved in the pots before being 

 planted out and took some time to get 

 growing. 



I have never heard of any attempted 

 cure for this decay of the foliage, ex- 

 cept the best of all cures, viz., proper 

 conditions. Select the healthiest cuttings 

 and give plenty of light and air during 

 winter and a night temperature of 40 to 

 45 degrees is plenty high enough dur- 

 ing the dark days and very little water is 

 needed. Over-watering these succulent 

 plants in a low temperatuie and dark 

 weather is often the cause of decay and 

 rot Among geraniums. If I wanted to 

 propagate from these plants this fall I 

 would cut them hard back and look for a 

 clean, healthv, new growth. 



J W. S. 



Wyomissing, Pa. — James Ruth, who 

 recently purchased twelve city lots, has 

 begun the erection of a large green- 

 house. 



THE FLORISTS' REFRIGERATOR. 



In the prosperous town of Kendallville, 

 Ind., there is a big refrigerator factory, 

 with branches in many cities, which has 

 so high an appreciation of the desirabil- 

 ity of florists ' patronage that they make 

 a consistent effort to present their wares 

 to the attention of our trade. The re- 

 sult is that these ice boxes are found in 

 flower stores from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific. The display illustrated in this 

 issue, that of the McCray Refrigerator 

 Co., was the only exhibit of florists' re- 

 fiigerators at the S. A. F. convention at 

 St. Louis. 



They showed a No. 610 with glass 

 front and ends, arranged with center 

 icing system. They also showed a No. 

 675, four doors, with glass front and 

 wood ends, with side icing system. On 

 these refrigerators the ice chamber door 

 is fitted with a French bevel plate mir- 

 ror and the entire interior is enameled 

 in white, except the floor, which is cov- 

 ered with galvanized iron. They also ex- 

 hibited a glass lined refrigerator and a 

 family ice box. 



These display boxes were stock sizes 

 such as are on hand at all times and not 

 built specially for show. The company, 

 however, does a large business in build- 

 ing florists' refrigciators to order to suit 

 the space or style of decorations or orna- 

 mentations. 



Ve getable Forcing . 



Lmvrexce Becker, Rogeis Park. Chi- 

 cago, after growing carnations for a 

 number of years, put his place in lettuce 

 last season and prospered so well that 

 he is now adding 20,000 feet of glass 

 to his place. 



CUCUMBERS. 



If not already started, seeds of cucum- 

 bers for the first indoor crop should be 

 planted without delay. The best place 

 for starting the seeds will be in the 

 greenhouse, though we have been quite 

 successful in starting them in cold 

 frames. It is easier to give them the 

 necessary attention in the greenhouse, 

 also easier to regulate the heat and at- 



mospheric moisture. Bottom heat is not 

 absolutely necessary to insure a good 

 start, but it is all the better to have heat 

 at command in case of a damp, cold 

 spell, when without it germination would 

 be slow and quite a few of the seeds 

 might rot. 



The seeds may be planted singly or, to 

 make more certain, plant two in each pot 

 and remove one after they are well up. 

 A light, free compost should be used 

 for filling the pots. One composed of 

 equal parts of loam, leaf-mold and fine 

 sand should answer the purpose well. Use 

 2'/^-inch pots, fill loosely level and insert 

 the seed with the thin or wedge-shaped 

 end down, deep enough so that the upper 

 end will just be covered. Then press 

 the soil moderately firm around the seed. 



Pack the pots in flats as close as they 

 will stand and set the flats in the house. 

 Thus they are much easier to move 

 around and don 't take up much more 

 space. If the soil is moderately moist 

 it will hardly be necessary to apply water 

 right away, and, unless fire heat is used, 

 the moisture in the soil ought to be suf- 

 ficient until the seeds are started, provid- 

 ing the house is kept as close as possible, 

 and the atmosphere kept moderately 

 charged with moisture. 



W. S. Croydox. 



CAULIFLOWER. 



The time of sowing tiiese will depend 

 upon when the plants are required to be 

 large enough for planting in the benches. 

 It is quite a usual custom to follow 

 chrysanthemums with this crop and if 

 this is the intention there is no imme- 

 diate hurry about sowing, as under fa- 

 vorable conditions the plants ought to be 

 large enough to plant in the bench in 

 from six to seven weeks from the time 

 the seed is sown. There is no advantage 

 in having the plants large. One experi- 

 ence is that small plants invariably suc- 

 ceed better than large ones, as they suf- 

 fer less check and take hold of the soil 

 much quicker. We make a sowing about 

 this time for frame work and from this 

 sowing we seldom fail to reap a very sat- 

 isfactory crop during the month of De- 

 cember. 



The seeds may be either sown in flats 

 or in a frame. In either case the plants 

 should be pricked over once before the 



