J 376 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



Apbil 27, 1905. 



SAVING FREESIAS. 



In the Review for April 20 I read 

 a note on freesia, signed W. S. Now, I 

 cannot resist the temptation of a few 

 remarks, and I hope they won >.t be feund 

 amiss. W. S. in his article advises an 

 inquirer not to save his freesia bulbs 

 over for another year, as they won 't pro- 

 duce as fine flowers the second year as 

 they did the first. This is a very mis- 

 taken idea, for freesia will produce as 

 fine flowers, not only for one, two or 

 three years, but for as many years as 

 they are kept and planted. 



I have been growing the same stock 

 for twenty-two years, with not even the 

 addition of a single fresh bulb, except 

 what I produced from seed, and I can 

 — -- say positively that I have the finest 

 - - freesia in the world, as all that have 

 seen it can testify, and they have been 

 grown in greenhouses and saved over all 

 that time. Had I known W. S.'s opin- 

 ion I would have sent him some sam- 

 ple blooms which would have made him 

 change his mind about it not paying 

 to save one's bulbs over another year, as 

 I read another article on freesia by 

 him some little time ago. 



It is all very well to advise buying 

 bulbs every summer, but where is the 

 use of it if the ones that are thrown 

 out are just as good as the ones you 

 buy? If the growers in California and 

 other freesia producing places would 

 pay more attention to purifying the 

 freesia they send out each year, so that 

 their customers can be assured of get- 

 ting better stock than the preceding 

 year, then it certainly would pay to buy 

 each year. But when one gets the same 

 naixture from year to year, then I ad- 

 vise everyone to save the bulbs and cull 

 out the poor ones as they appear and 

 they can rest assured that they wiJl 

 get the selfsame quality of flowers the 

 second year and as many years as they 

 care to plant them, as they did the first, 

 if they are grown in the same way. 

 Greenhouse culture never injures the 



m no way injures the pips. The size 

 of the bulb is no indieation of qual- 

 ity of flower, for the . very smallest, 

 poorest flowers may be the ones that 

 will have the largest bulb, j 



The freesia, da grown in Calif ouhia, is 

 grown for size and quality of bulffe and 

 not for quality of flowers. That does not 

 seem to be taken into consideration at 

 all, the only thing that shohld be con- 

 sidered, since that is the end for which' 

 the bulb is grown. The bulbs are planted 

 and left to flower and go to seed, which 

 drops and produces flowering bulbs in 

 one season, which are mixed with the 

 other bulbs for sale or future planting. 

 Freesia seed is like carnation seed. There 

 may not be on^ good- bulb out of a thou- 

 sand seedlings. If anyone has a selected 

 stock of freesia they should be care- 

 ful to pick all flowers and allow none 

 to ripen seed to drop in the soil where 

 the freesia is grown. R. Fischer. 



all its departments that will make the 

 future firm of Schultheis & Sons one of 

 the most important iii American flori- 

 culture. J. XtifenN Shaw. 



The location of S. B. Chester's lettuce 

 growing estaWidhpient is Brooklyn, a sub- 

 urb of Cleveland, 0., and not East liver- 

 pool, as given in a recent issue. 



SCHULTHEIS BROS. 



William Scott's remarks as to the 

 young florists of the country in the 

 Soring Number were especially interest- 

 ing and valuable. In thdr love for the 

 business, their intelligent understanding 

 of it, their practical knowledge and their 

 devotion to its progress lie the hopes of 

 floriculture for coming generations. 



In this connection the accompanying 

 illustration of the independent enterprise 

 of the Schultheis boys, of College Point, 

 L. I., is appropos. They are the sons 

 of Anton Schultheis. There is another 

 partner who did not get in the picture, 

 but he has his quarter interest just the 

 same. These boys, from 13 years down, 

 built this house themselves and the "of- 

 fice" adjoining, dug the pit and built 

 the boiler house, not visible here, and 

 another little house for propagating pur- 

 poses, and have been given free rein by 

 their practical father to buy, sell and 

 make money in their own way, and they 

 are doing it. They have a chicken "side 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicaoo, April- 25.— Leaf -lettuce, 25c 

 case; head lettuce, $2 to $4 bbl.j cu- 

 cumbers, 35c to $1.10 doz. 



Boston, April 24.— Cucumbers, $3 to 

 $6 box; lettuce, $1.25 to $2 box of three 

 doz.; tomatoes, 35c lb.; rhubarb, 4c lb.; 

 radishes, 30c doz. bunches; beets, $1.25 

 to $1.50 doz. bunches; parsley, $2.50 bu. 



New York, April 24.— No. 1 cucum- 

 bers, 75c to $1 box; No. 2 cucumbers, 

 40c to 60c doz.; lettuce, 25c to 75c doz.; 

 mushrooms, 30c to 60c lb.; mint, 30e to 

 50c doz. bunches; radishes, $1 to $2 per 

 hundred bunches; rhubarb, $2 to $3.50 

 per hundred bunches; tomatoes, 10c to 

 30c lb. 



Establishment of Anton Scholtheu' Sons, College Point, L. L 



freesia bulb, for it is not like other 

 bulbs. It cannot be forced out of sea- 

 son, but has its time for growing and 

 all we can do is to hasten or retard its 

 blooming by growing in different tem- 

 peratures. As with outdoor lily of the 

 valley, if we put glass over it we get it 

 into bloom sooner than if we left it un- 

 covered by glass, but the earlv blooming 



line," too, that is prosperous and it is 

 delightful to note the enthusiasm of the 

 youngsters and the really fine work they 

 have accomplished. They bought their 

 own boiler, with a capacity for two 

 more ' ' houses ' ' which they will construct 

 in their spare time this summer. And 

 so they are laying the foundation for a 

 practical knowledge of the business in 



THRIPS ON CUCUMBERS. 



I have been troubled with thrips for 

 the past two years and have not been 

 able to get rid of them. They usually 

 eat out one house a year for me. I 

 have fumigated with hydrocyanic acid 

 gas without much result, and it would 

 always burn the leaves and hurt the crop. 

 At best it would only stun the thrips and 

 in two days I could not see but what 

 there were just as many of them as be- 

 fore. If there is any way to get rid 

 of thrips without damage to the crop, 

 I would be pleased to know it. I grow 

 cucumbers exclusively and my houses are 

 23x1 SO, five feet to the eaves and twelve 

 feet six inches to the ridge. How shall 

 I fumigate? c. C. S. 



I have never been able to destroy 

 thrips by fumigation. Tobacco will not 

 reach them and hydrocyanic gas, if used 

 strong enough to kill them, will surely 

 injure the plants, cucumbers being one 

 of the plants which are very susceptible 

 to injury from this gas. Syringing and 

 spraying are the only means I know to 

 keep them in check. In this case, as in 

 most others, prevention is better than 

 cure and if syringing is judiciously done 

 Ironi the time the plants are started it 

 can be relied on to j)revent serious at- 

 tacks. The water will not kill the mature 

 insect, but it will certainly upset their 

 family arrangements and prevent their 

 getting established. A rather strong 

 snray is best for this purpose, as the 

 leaves are tender and easily torn and 

 water applied in force from a strong 

 nozzle would be sure to do injury to the 

 foliage. Spraying with a solution of 

 Ivory soap or some of the numerous com- 

 •1 nreparations of tobacco will also 

 be found beneficial, but the spraying 

 must be thoroughly done, so as to reach 

 every part of the foliage. The insects 

 mostly harbor on the under side of the 

 leaf, but should this be made uninhabit- 

 able, they will make themselves at home 

 on the upper side and quickly get down 

 to business. The mature insect is quite 

 a lively little customer and can be de- 

 pended on to hop around pretty lively in 



