126 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Dbcbmbbb 8, 190)4. 



CATTLEYA BOWRINGEANA. 



One of the best of the autumn flower- 

 ing cattleyas is C. Bowringeana. It 

 comes in season just before C. labiata, 

 covering what would otherwise be a rath- 

 er dull season. This variety was first 

 introduced from Central America in 

 1886. We find it succeeds well in the 

 warmest end of the cattleya house, grown 

 in pots or pans. For compost we use 

 good osmunda fern fibre and have not 

 found anything superior. C. Bowrin- 

 geana is a very vigorous flowering va- 

 riety, 60 requires quite large pots or 

 pans. It is somewhat allied to the sum- 

 mer flowering C. Skinneri, which it re- 

 sembles in color. The flowers are two 

 and a half to three inches across, usual- 

 ly of a rich, rosy purple color, the front 

 of the lip being deeper purple, with a 

 transverse maroon band. In the variety 

 lilacina the flowers are of a bluish color. 

 Usually the racemes carry from ten to 

 twenty-five flowers, occasionally as many 

 as thirty to thirty-two. The illustration 

 shows a raceme of forty-seven flowers, 

 one of my plants produced the past sea- 

 son. The plant carried six large racemes 

 and one or two small ones and was grown 

 in a 15-inch pan. None of the other 

 racemes carried over twenty-six flowers 

 each. 



As this orchid is now fairly plentiful 

 and inexpensive, and comes in flower at 

 a period when orchid blooms are rather 

 scarce, it should be especially useful for 

 florists who need choice flowers. 



W. N. Craig. 



y^etable Forcing. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, Dec. 7. — Lettuce, heads, $3 

 to $3.50 bbl.; leaf, 30c to 35c case; cu- 

 cumbers, 50c to $1.25 doz. ,.-v„.^ 



Boston, Dec. 6. — Tomatoes, 15c to 25c 

 lb.; mushrooms, 60c to 75c lb.; lettuce, 

 25c to 35c doz.; parsley, 75c to $1 box; 

 cucumbers, best, $6 to $8 box; seconds, 

 $1.50 to $3.50 box; radishes, 20c to 25c 

 doz. bunches; mint, 75c doz. bunches. 



POLLINATING CUCUMBERS. 



Some time ago I received this inquiry 

 from a correspondent, "What is meant 

 by pollination!" I had assumed that 

 growers would know what the term 

 meant but in this case, and no uoubt in 

 others, I was taking too much for 

 granted. For the benefit of any who may 

 not know I will try to explain what the 

 word means, and would also like to im- 

 press on them the necessity of pollina- 

 tion to insure a free set of such subjects 

 as tomatoes and cucumbers. 



Pollination is the act of transferring 

 the pollen (a yellow, floury substance) 

 from the stamens to the pistil of the 

 flower, where it must be, placed before 

 fertilization — or what is commonly called 

 setting of the fruit — takes place. In 

 cucumbers, melons and plants of this 



Cattleya Bowringeana. 



(A raceme bearing forty-seven flowers.) 



Cedar Rapids, la., is to have $60,000 

 a year for the next three years to ex- 

 pend in park improvements. 



- SlEUBENVILLE, O. — A. L. Wells & Co., 

 have moved their flower store to the 

 Specht building on North J^'ourth street. 



Wheeling, W. Va. — Miss Clara P. 

 Forbes, of the Wheeling Greenhouse Co., 

 is sending out "Christmas Suggestions" 

 in the form of a red Christmas bell, hand 

 lettered, enclosing several pages of lists 

 of seasonable goods, printed in colors. 



class the stamenate (male) and pistilate 

 (female) flowers are quite distinct, 

 though both are produced on the same 

 plant. The female flowers of this class 

 are easily discernible by having the min- 

 iature fruit, or ffeed vessel, immediately 

 behind the flower. The flowers being 

 distinct, they are not self-jpollinating, 

 but require the assistance of some out- 

 side agency to transfer the pollen from 

 the one flower to the other. The natural 

 agencies, when the plants are grown out- 

 doors under natural conditions, are wind 

 and insects, but under greenhouse treat- 



ment, in winter especially, neither of 

 these agencies can accomplish the distri- 

 bution of the pollen; hence the necessity 

 of transferring it by hand from the 

 stamen to the pistil. 



Pollination is not always necessary 

 for a crop of cucumbers, as in the case 

 of what is known as the English frame 

 varieties, which will swell and attain 

 their full size without being fertilized, 

 but of course will produce no seed. In 

 England preference is often given to 

 unfertilized cucumbers on account of the 

 absence of the seeds. This class of cu- 

 cumbers, however, has never become pop- 

 ular in America, our White Spine variety 

 being generally preferred. For this fer- 

 tilization is necessary before tne fruit 

 will swell. Cucumbers are one of the best 

 adapted subjects for hand pollination. 

 By simply stripping off or turning back 

 the petals so as to bare the stamens the 

 pollen may be applied direct to the pistil 

 of the other flower, where it is held by a 

 sticky substance with, which it is provid- 

 ed. Bright days should, if possible, be 

 chosen for pollinating, as on such days 

 the pollen is not only drier and easier 

 transferred but the stigma of the female 

 flower is in better condition to receive 

 it. W. S. Croydon. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



Beceipts have been gradually on the 

 increase during the past week, but there 

 is still a good market for first-class ma- 

 terial. Beauties are now the principal 

 shortage and it is frequently impossible 

 to fill orders for these. The long-stemmed 

 stock goes farther than the medium 

 and short lengths. It is possible to meet 

 almost all requirements for good Bride, 

 Bridesmaid, Chatenay and liberty, but 

 there is no surplus of the better grades 

 and prices have held stiff and now are 

 advancing. A good part of the cut is 

 now placed in the best grade, but the 

 demand for short stuff is dependent on 

 the call for funeral flowers and these pull 

 down the average considerably. The 

 shortage of carnations has eased up, al- 

 though the growers are still bringing in 

 very light cuts and late orders are not 

 always filled. Some days prices are much 

 easier than they were a week ago, but 

 they soon stiffen up again. There are large 

 supplies of Romans, Paper Whites and 

 valley, and these are making low prices. 

 The New York violets are doing fairly 

 well and singles clean up, but the receipts 

 of Lady Campbell are frequently a prob- 

 lem for the wholesalers. Much of this 

 stock is weU sold if disposed of at any 

 figure. There continue to be abundant 

 supplies of "green goods," but prices 

 on smilax are being marked up. The 

 market is full of red berries. 



"Subject to Change.** 



The wholesalers have been busy the 

 past several days explaining to ont-of- 

 town buyers that "subject to change 

 without notice" on the price MMa 

 means just what it says. Of course they 

 all try to bill stock at quoted prices if 

 at all possible, but the lists are never 

 anything more than the wholesaler's best 

 judgment of what prices will be, and once 

 in a while the wholesaler's judgment is 

 off, away off occasionally. One of these 

 times was Thanksgiving, when practically 

 every house in town quoted carnations 

 of ordinary grade too low and had to 

 bill them out at prices quoted for fan- 



