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66 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



December 1, 1904. 



HELPING NATURE. 



I desire to call attention through the 

 Keview to the excellent misrionary work 

 being done in the cause of floral deco- 

 ration and artistic neatness by the Mich- 

 igan Central railroad, through the eni- 

 bellishment of the grounds around its 

 stations and by the introduction of flow- 

 ers as an important 'factor in providing 

 for the comfort and enjoyment of its 

 many patrons. The liberal spirit mani- 

 fested in this beautifying of the road 

 and the thorough manner in which it has 

 been carried into effect merit more than 

 a passing word of recognition from every 

 lover of flowers. Tlie effect of the good 

 example shown ought of itself to give a 

 strong impetus to floral matters in the 

 region through which the Michigan Cen- 

 tral road runs. 



_ I speak more especially -of the por- 

 tion of the line between Chicago and De- 

 troit as observed on a recent trip. For 

 some years past the company has been 

 diligenty improving the scenic beauty of 

 this part of its line, for which nature 

 had already done much. Every station, 

 however small, lias its bouquet of color 

 in the summer and the larger places have 

 decorations which, with the tasteful mod- 

 em architecture of the buildings, makes 

 the road like a park from one end to the 

 other. Much of the planting which has 

 been done consists of shrubs and shade 

 trees for permanent effect and is, on 

 this account, particularly valuable as an 

 object lesson for the surrounding coun- 

 try. The plants needed for the station 



of the main building. In the construc- 

 tion 10,000' feet of glass were employed. 

 The latest and best appliances are pro- 

 vided and an extensive variety of plants 

 are represented. Over half a million of 

 free bouquets are distributed yearly to 

 lady patrons of the Michigan Central. 



Here at least is a great corporation 

 which not only has a soul but a strong 

 senpe of beauty as well and I am glad to 

 see that its good example is being fol- 

 lowed by other railroads. 



There is one thing more which we 

 would be happy to see this road and oth- 

 ers take up tor the complete beautifying 

 of their rights of way, and that is the 

 establishment of desirable native shrubs, 

 tree-^ and hardy perennials along their 

 tracks between stations. Many of these 

 plants are in great danger of speedy ex- 

 termination from various causes and un- 

 less protected will soon be lost to our 

 flora. Nowhere in the country can they 

 be so efficiently protected as along the 

 railroad tracks. John Higgins. 



CRINUMS IN FLORIDA. 



Crinums belong to the amaryllidacese 

 and are found chiefly in tropical re- 

 gions. They are very handsome bulbous 

 plants, with large flowers, mostly white 

 or pink and white. Of the 100 or so 

 varieties I doubt if more than thirty are 

 grown in the United States and but one 

 is native, C. Americanum, which is 

 found in the Florida swamps, often grow- 

 'T'g right in the water. Its flowers are 



Amos Perry, of Winchaiore Hill, London* 



(Prom a photogrrapli by J. D. Elsele J 



/ 



grounds and the cut flowers for distribu- 

 tion to passengers are provided from the 

 greenhouses of the road at Niles and 

 Tpsilanti, under the direction of John 

 Gipner. The larger houses at Niles con- 

 sist of a conservatory, steel frani d, 

 with two wings, one seventy and the oth- 

 er thirty feet long, roof twenty feet from 

 the floor. At the south end, facing the 

 track, is a palm-house thirty feet high. 

 The heating is by boilers in the basement 



pure white, with narrow petals and very 

 sweet scented. Of the various crinums 

 grown in Florida C. Kirkii (Zeylanicum) 

 is by far the commonest; you find it in 

 every garden, usually called the milk and 

 wire lily. It grows anywhere, in any 

 kind of soil and even flourishes in aban- 

 doned gardens. It has twelve' to twenty 

 or more large white flowers to an um- 

 bel, with broad petals and a purple stripe 

 on the outside of each petal, the scape 



being two feet high. The bulbs in time 

 grow to a large size, sometimes to five 

 inches diamter. They are cheap enough, 

 as 3-inch bulbs can be bought for $3 

 per hundred. 



The two giants of the family are C. 

 auguistum and pedunculatum. These 

 often stsnd six feet high, the bulbs be- 

 ing huge and stump-like. C. augustum 

 has pink flowers, twenty to thirty 

 to an umbel. The petals are six to eight 

 inches long and rather narrow. A fully 

 expanded umbel is often over two feet 

 across. C. pedunculatum is very similar, 

 only the flowers are pure white and the 

 leaves grow more upright. 



Crinums are a mixed-up family find 

 you can buy the same variety under half 

 a dozen, different names. Other varieties 

 grown in Florida are erubescens, scab- 

 rum fimbriatulum, campanulatum, cras- 

 sifolium, giganteum, Virginicum, Moorei, 

 Capense rosea and Capense alba, etc. 

 Erubescens has solid pink flowers. Gi- 

 ganteum is giant only in name, as it is 

 not a large growing kind. Its flowers 

 are pure white, with a greenish 

 throat and extra wide petals. Ca- 

 pense alba and rosea are often sold 

 as Amaryllis longiflora; they stand 

 the most ecld. Of Moorei there are sev- 

 eral varieties. One is a pure white, an- 

 other a pink shading to white, and an- 

 other white with a pink stripe. Vir- 

 ginicum is an English hybrid; it has 

 white flowers, six to seven inches across; 

 broad petals, with a faint pink stripe, 

 and a scape sometimes four feet high. 

 The flowers open in the evening and are 

 especially sweet scented. 



Crinums are increased by offsets and 

 seeds. Some, like Americanum and 

 Kirkii, produce seeds very freely; others 



like augustum, produce no seeds at all^ J 



and many of the hybrids, like fimbriatu- 

 lum and Virginicum, are sterile or near- 

 ly so. The sterile varieties usually in- 

 crease quicker by offsets than the fertile 

 ones, though augustum is very slow, 

 much slower than pedunculatum, which 

 sets plenty of seeds. From seed a 

 crinum will bloom in about three years. 

 The seeds are large and fleshy. Hybrid- 

 izing is very easily done, and many 

 pleasing variations may be obtained. 



Crinums are not particular as to soil. 

 Here they often grow in the poorest 

 sand, but rich soil, with plenty of cow 

 manure and as much sun as possible, 

 suits them best. "When in full growth 

 they require plenty of water, and ma- 

 nure water may be used with the best 

 results, as they are very heavy feeders. 

 When grown in the north in tubs or 

 pots at least half of the bulb should be 

 above the ground; here in Florida we 

 plant them deep, but that is another 

 story. In winter the bulbs may be dried 

 off and kept in any place free from frost. 

 Louis Bosanquet. 



AMOS PERRY. 



The photograph of Amos Perry,- a well 

 known English grower of hardy plants, 

 here reproduced, was taken at his place 

 near London by J. D. Eisele, of the H. A. 

 Dreer Co., in September. A pleasant 

 thought has evidently crossed Mr. Perry 's 

 mind and is reflected in one of Mr. Eis- 

 ele 's first attempts at photography. 



Phil. 



Harlan, Ia. — W. M, Bomberger, of 

 this city, is to read a paper on "Horti- 

 culture and Patriotism," before the Iowa 

 State Horticultural Society ' at Des 

 Moines, December 15. 



