.(■-■ 



Degembeb 1, 1004. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



7J 



appearance and maintaiti their right to 

 recognition. But with all this in their 

 .favor there is probably no other flower 

 that is grown in as great a bulk that 

 carries such an uncertain value in the 

 market and is liable to give such unsat- 

 isfactory results. True, the perfect 

 flower, or one approaching that stage, is 

 sure to bring profitable returns, but the 

 inferior article, which is frequently in 

 the majority, is a drug on the market. 

 Some of the retailers out here argue 

 that handling half a dozen ' varieties of 

 diversified color will prove far more satis- 

 factory than handling the innumerable 

 sorts now put on the market. But every 

 grower has his hobby to gratify and, in 

 opposition to public demand, persists in 

 carrying it out. The man who is up 

 against it every hour in the day in the 

 store most certainly acquire a clearer 

 perception of public taste thanN he who 

 is many miles away. Many of the old 

 varieties are still grown out here and 

 when well done are equal to newer sorts. 

 The finest collection, both in extent and 

 character to be seen out here this fall, 

 was grown at the City park greenhouses. 

 The benches are constructed well up in 

 the center of the house, bringing the 

 plants close to the glass, and the space 

 allowed between each row would be con- 

 sidered by the commercial man as the 

 height of extravagance, but when taken 

 into consideration the results attained 

 from such treatment, there are no regrets 

 whatever. A few of the most prominent 

 of the old favorites were Niveus, Mrs. 

 Bobinson, Mrs. Constable, Mrs. Weeks, 

 E. Hatch, V. Morel, lona. Helen Blood- 

 good, Golden Wedding, Philadelphia and 

 Bonnaffon. Among the newer ones 

 which proved quite satisfactory were 

 Mrs. Coombes, Dr. Enguehard and Wm. 

 Puckham. 



Various Notes. 



The cut flower market is picking up 

 nicely, considering the warm weather. 

 The mercury is frequently seen in the 

 sixties. Roses have resigned for the 

 past two weeks in favor of the mum, but 

 as the growers have recognized the folly 

 of stocking the market vrith them during 

 mum season, there have not been ahy 

 losses in this line and those who have 

 held them back aire showing up nicely 

 for the holidays. 



Xew carnation seedlings and sports 

 are becoming quite numerous out here, 

 mostly of Lawson pedigree. Benson 

 has a white sport from this source which 

 is very promising. Ben Boldt has a 

 pink sport from the same stock, color of 

 Enchantress and possessing the other 

 qualities of its parent. Mr. Graham, of 

 City park, has a striped sport. Davis 

 Bros, have a new white seedling, large, 

 fragrant and beautifully fringed, with 

 fairly good stem. 



Twenty members of the craft organ- 

 ized a bowling league recently. The 

 leading flrms in the business contributed 

 a liberal fund for premiums and a sat- 

 isfactory start was made on a better 

 basis than any similar undertaking here- 

 tofore. Great Divide. 



BEST IN CIRCULATION. 



Enclosed find check to cover bill. Had 

 very good success; sold out everything 

 advertised. You have the best adver- 

 tising medium and all-around florists' 

 paper in circulation; anything else I 

 have you will da the job. Geo. Milnb. 



Winchester, Mass., Sept. 29, 1904. 



Carnation Robert Craig. 



V^etable Forcing. 



STEM-ROT AGAIN. 



I am sending you some cucumber roots 

 and would like to know what is wrong 

 with them, and the remedy. J. I/. M. 



The roots sent were pretty much dried 

 up, but they seemed to be a good deal 

 healthier than the stems. I think the 

 whole trouble originates from stem-rot. 

 I answered pretty fully a query relating 

 to stem-rot in last week's issue, which 



please see. 



W. S. Croydon. 



GARDENING QUERIES. 



What causes celery to get pithy, or 

 "hollow," as it is often called? What 

 causes outdoor cucumjaers to decay 

 while on the vines? Some have ru:ity 

 spots all over them, as if stung, and 

 they curl up and do not grow straight. 

 What is the best head lettuce to grow 

 for summer? L. H. W. 



The trouble you mention with celery 

 is brought on through various causes. 

 Often it can be attributed to the seed, 

 which has carelessly been selected from 

 pithy stock. Celery sown indoors and 

 afterwards transferred to the open 

 ground will often become pithy through 

 softness of growth previous to planting 

 out, and too much manure will often 

 cause pithy growth. If good seed is 

 procured, sown and grown entirely out- 

 doors and the plant set in a moder- 

 ately enriched soil, there should be no 

 trouble with pithy celery. 



Your cucumbers are probably attack- 

 ed by the cucumber beetle. Keep the 

 plants dusted with air-slaked lime, es- 

 pecially in the earlier stages of growth, 

 taking care that the under as well as 



the upper side of the leaves is cov- 

 ered. 



The best standing summer head let- 

 tuce I have ever tried is Deacon. 



W. S. Croydon. 



STRENGTH OF ACID. 



We notice in the Review of Novem- 

 ber 10 an article on keeping insects 

 down, by W. S. Croydon. As we have 

 trouble with white fly on cucumbers we 

 would like to try hydrocyanic acid gas. 

 Mr. Croydon does not state what per 

 cent pure sulphuric acid he used. As 

 it is sold from forty per cent to ninety- 

 eight per cent pure, we fear that we may 

 get too strong a dose. D. B. 



The acid I use is what is known as 

 the commercial grade. Th's is claimed 

 to be ninety-six per cent pure acid, four 

 per cent water. There is a refined grade 

 sold only for medicinal use, but this is 

 much more expensive and is no better 

 for the purpose in hand than the com- 

 mercial article. W. S. Croydon. 



CUCUMBERS. 



I find, in the training of cucumber 

 plants, that it is a good plan to have 

 two leaders, in place of running them 

 on the single-stem system. When the 

 plants are about eight inches high I 

 pinch out the points, which causes them 

 to break. Several shoots are usually 

 produced. Of these I select the two 

 strongest and train them horizontally at 

 first, until they are long enough to reach 

 the upright wires placed eighteen inches 

 apart, the plants of course being set 

 midway between the two wires. The 

 taking of two stems induces fruiting at 

 an earlier stage than if the single-stem 

 system is followed, besides preventing 

 rankness of growth. The lateral or side 

 shoots are what must be depended on to 

 produce pistillate flowers on which alone 



