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JAMUABX 12, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



4U 



Blooms, Reduced in Size, Showing the Way the Richmond Rose Developes. 



for the energies of the younger men. 

 Land has been bought adjoining the 

 Pennsylvania railroad, where a large 

 and strictly up-to-date range of houses 

 will some day go up. 



The ebullitions of some of the writers 

 for the humorous weeklies have created 

 the impression in many minds that 

 southern "Injiany" is one of the waste 

 places of the earth. Such is far from 

 the fact. It is a fair and prosperous 

 land, and Bichmond is a modern city of 

 wealth and refinement, inhabited by 

 progressive people, whose hospitality is 

 of such sincerity that those who are able 

 to visit her florists on their way to or 

 from the Chicago carnation meeting will 

 remember it as one of the most pleasant 

 experiences of their trip. 



PANSIES DONT BLOOM. 



Please inform a southern subscriber 

 why pansy plants bought in November, 

 1904, in full bloom, did not continue 

 blooming after they were planted in 

 cold frames, and given very rich soil, 

 manure from an old hot-bed, plenty of 

 air and good treatment generally. It is 

 impossible to grow plants here in the 

 fall early enough to bloom in winter, 

 owing to the very dry autumng in Ala- 

 bama. F. J. U. 



PHYLLOCACTUS. 



I am sending you a branch of cactus 

 with fruit on it. I think the sample is 

 sufficient to enable you to identify the 

 variety. This plant had a number of 

 such fruits. What is the variety, and 

 are they good to eatf In breaking open, 

 they seem to be deliciously flavored. 



W. L. 



The branch of cactus submitted with 

 this letter is of the species now called 

 phyllpcactus, of South American and 

 Mexican origin, (Cereus phyllanthus 

 and Cereus phyllanthoides of De Can- 

 dolle.) The phyllocactus is the most 

 ornamental and satisfactory of cacti. 

 Most fruits of the cactus order are edi- 

 ble, though all are not equally palatable. 

 These, however, seem to be deliciously 

 flavored. Even the fruit of the common 

 opnntia is said to be very fine in the 

 West Indies. 



The phyllocactus has been so long a 

 favorite in cultivation that it has va- 

 ried into a multitude of colors, forms 



and habits. The flowers are usually 

 large, brilliantly colored and elegantly 

 shaped and most forms are free bloom- 

 ers. A white-flowered, night-blooming 

 sort, P. latifrons, is called the queen 

 cactus. P. phyllanthoides, one of the 

 original species, was discovered by Hum- 

 boldt in South America and it has 

 been a prime favorite ever since its in- 

 troduction. The flowers are bright rose 

 color, streaked with white and shaded 

 with darked" red and about four inches 

 across. Over seventy-flve varieties of 

 phyllocatus are listed by cultivators. 



John Higgins. 



PROPAGATING VIOLETS. 



I have a bunch of Marie Louise vio- 

 lets growing in my lettuce house which 

 are doing finely, but, owing to the lack 

 of space, I ^all have to throw them out 

 and replant the bench with lettuce. 

 Could I take off some of the rooted 

 runners and pot them up into small pots 

 and thereby grow them on in pots until 

 time to plant them in the field, or would 

 you advise me to grow them straight on 

 in pots and plant in the bench about 

 April or Mayf N. O. 



You can take off the rooted runners 

 and pot them up as you say. We al- 

 ways think it advisable, as I have said 

 before in these columns, to have more 

 than just a sufficient supply for your 

 winter wants; therefore, I would take 

 off all the stock that was good, potting 

 up such as are in the proper condition, 

 putting the balance of the cuttings in 

 the propagating bed, potting them also 

 as soon as rooted, taking care that they 

 do not get stunted, shifting them as 

 needed and planting them direct from 

 the pots into the borders when the house 

 is ready, growing them inside, this al- 

 ways providing you can give the house 

 sufficient air during the summer. The 



balance can be either carried on through 

 the season in pots or planted out in ti^e 

 field. In this way you hav^ 'plenty of ^ 

 good stock to take the place lit w- 

 cancies or poor plants as they appear at 

 times in the house and the surplus will 

 find a ready sale in the fall, and will 

 more than pay for the extra trouble 

 taken. R. E. Shuphelt, 



PEONIES FOR EASTER. 



Will you have someone with experience 

 tell us how to force peonies for Easter? 



S. & L. 



The most suitable varieties for forc- 

 ing are the Moutan or tree peonies and 

 to get the best results they should be 

 potted in the spring and grown all sum- 

 mer, as they rarely flower well if lifted 

 in the fall and forced during winter. 



If potted in spring and carefully at- 

 tended to during the summer they should 

 be taken inside as soon as the leaves 

 drop and kept in a temperature not to 

 exceed 40 degrees until such time as 

 they are started. 



As much of the top soil as can be, 

 without injuring the roots, should then 

 be removed and a rich compost put in 

 its place. They should then be placed 

 in a temperature of 52 degrees until the 

 eyes break, when the temperature should 

 be gradually raised till 60 degrees is 

 reached. They can be bloomed success- 

 fully in 56 degrees, but this takes a 

 much longer time. 



When they are growing freely and 

 until the buds show color, they are great- 

 ly benefited by an application of liquid 

 food at least once a week. 



After being forced they require at 

 least three years of field culture to re- 

 cuperate before being fit to force again, 



R. 



OSHKOSH, Wis. — Fugleburg & Flister 

 report a very satisfactory season's busi- 

 ness. 



Here is another dollar for the Re- 

 view; I consider it the best invested 

 money in my whole business. — Michael 

 Mandl, St. Paul, Minn. 



Florence, Colo. — Mary E. Templin is 

 successor to Templin & Co. She reports 

 good holiday trade but general business 

 not quite up to the average because of a 

 remarkably healthy community this sea- 

 son. 



