1218 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



OCTOBEB 19, 1908. 



V^etaUe Forciog. 



In the New York market Boston 

 greenhouse-grown cucumbers are $1.25 

 to $1.75 per dozen. Mushrooms are 

 fetching 25 to 75 cents a pound and 

 greenhouse tomatoes 10 to 12 cents a 

 pound. ;-y: 



CAULIFLOWER, 



To have a crop ready for cutting 

 around Christmas and New Year, the 

 plants should be planted in their matur- 

 ing quarters not later than the first week 

 of November. Some time ago I advised 

 regarding the sowing of the seed and 

 the after care of the plants, and if these 

 have been properly timed and grown on, 

 good stocky plants should now be ready 

 for setting. 



The chief point in the production of 

 cauliflower is to keep the plants growing 

 freely from start to finish. A check in 

 any way, or at any time during their 

 growth, will result in what is known as 

 buttoning, or, in other words,- the pre- 

 mature production of the flower ' before 

 the plants are strong enough to produce 

 a marketable article. 



Besides by a check in growth, button- 

 ing is sometimes produced by club root, 

 which is the work of a minute maggot, 

 but this club root is seldom very preva- 

 lent in a greenhouse crop. Sourness of 

 the soil is one of its chief causes, and 

 as this is easily guarded against where 

 the moisture and its application are en- 

 tirely under control, the disease is sel- 

 dom present to any hurtful extent. In 

 some soils, however, it is prevalent under 

 any conditions and in such cases, after 

 the grower is satisfied that it is present 

 in the soil, the only sure method of 

 eradicating it is to sterilize the soil, un- 

 less a different soil can be conveniently 

 procured. 



Oftoliflower can be grown in raised 

 benches, but they are much easier han- 

 dled and do much better in solid beds or 

 right on the floor of the house. Here 

 less water is needed, as they have the 

 natural moisture from below the surface. 

 The time when most water is needed and 

 when liquid manure can most advan- 

 tageously be applied is from the time 

 the heads are formed until they are 

 nearly finished. This is allowing for a 

 fairly rich soil, but in the case of a 

 poor soil liquid manure can be applied 

 almost at any stage of their growth, 

 should the plants show signs of needing 

 nourishment. A goqd fertilizer to use is 

 nitrate of soda, its quick acting proper- 

 ties giving the plants a chance of deriv- 

 ing the full benefit of the manure during 

 the short season of their growth. In 

 slower acting manures a good deal would 

 be lost to the crop in hand, though of 

 course the crop following would get the 

 advantage. We have seen an applica- 

 tion of nitrate of soda prove very help- 

 ful to plants attacked by club root. If 

 the plants are not too badly affected 

 its action seems to check the further 

 spread of the disease and so stimulate 

 the plants that they are able to outgrow 

 the harm already done. 



W. S. Ceoydon. 



NORTHERN TEXAS. 



I AM well pleased with the Review 

 and think the dollar invested in my sub- 

 scription is bringing me big returns. — 

 Emil Koeppen, St. Louis, Mo. 



A Land of Contrasts. 



T6xas is the land where the sun shines 

 at summer heat and the next hour sees 

 the mercury hovering around the freez- 

 ing point, where the soil more than re- 

 pays one for the working, where two 

 crops a year may easily be raised, where 

 frost seldom comes before the middle 

 of October and where roses are blooming 

 outdoors today and cou^pare very favor- 

 ably, with the northern-grown article, 

 where nature smiles continuously and 

 where floriculture is as yet in its infancy 

 and where the possibilities for future re- 

 turns cannot be estimated. Texas is the 

 land of diversified soil, where the soil 

 changes its color and productiveness 

 every few miles and where the people 

 are always ready with open arms to wel- 

 come the stranger within their gates. 

 Four weeks inside the borders of this 

 great state have taught me many things. 

 It has taught me that our profession is 

 as yet in its infancy here and that the 

 pioneers have had to overcome 'many 

 difficulties, in order to attain the present 

 degree of success. 



The cultivation of fiowefs in this sec- 

 tion is ot recent date, a few years at 

 most, and the florist has.iiad many ob- 

 stacles to overcome. First was water, 

 which pumped from driven wells was im- 

 pregnated with sodium and literally 

 burned everything which it touched. 

 Next came the difficult task of educating 

 the people to buy what was raised. This 

 took several years to accomplish by pains- 

 taking efforts and at considerable loss of 

 money, until today it is hard to find a 

 town of any size withput one or two 

 florists' establishments doing a good 

 business. Owing to the extreme heat of 

 July and August there is little stock 

 grown, with the possible exception of the 

 periwinkle, which is the staple crop for 

 funeral designs. Gladioli and tuberoses 

 do well, but only under shade. The cul- 

 tivation of roses inside is as yet in its 

 trial state, some florists stating that it 

 cannot be done. This I am not yet ready 

 to admit. Time will answer the question 

 fully. Carnations, mums and violets 

 thrive here famously, what I have so 

 far seen, with one exception, being far 

 in advance of those grown farther north. 

 Boses out of doors are just coming in 

 and I have seen some of the finest cut 

 blooms it has been my good fortune to 

 ever see. 



As yet there is very little landscape 

 work done here, the absence in some 

 localities of professional landscape gar- 

 deners being the cause, while in other 

 places it is uphill work to convince the 

 average citizen of the utility and beau- 

 tifying effect of plants and shrubs around 

 his home. In most of the towns civic 

 leagues have been organized and prizes 

 have been given for the best gardens. 



The question of city parks has been 

 taken up and all along the line improve- 

 ments are noticed. Time, I have no 

 doubt, will work wonders here. Every- 

 thing is propitious, soil and climate. 

 What seems to be needed most is the get- 

 ting together of the florists in this sec- 

 tion once in a while to exchange views, 

 so that each can profit in his respective 

 locality. Prices are as yet small com- 

 pared with the amount received by the 

 northern growers, but persistent effort to 

 excel in production will gradually bring 

 the prices up to where the grower will 

 receive a satisfactory remuneration. 



Prices in this territory at present are: 

 Roses, from 50 to 75 cents per dozen ; 

 carnations, 50 cents; violets 25 cents per 

 bunch. The immense amount of roses 

 blooming outdoors is the cause. 



Narcissus. 



BALTIMORE. 



The Market. 



We are having ideal October weather, 

 with bright days and very cool nights, 

 btit as ydt no frost -heavy enough to kill 

 outdoor stock, a9d business is not as 

 good as it might be. Naturally the mar- 

 ket is overstocked with a lot of cheap 

 stuff, such as dahlias, pink and white 

 Cochet roses and Fisher carnations. 

 Some fine American Beauty roses are 

 coming in, but only in limited quantities. 

 Brides, Maids and Gates are improving 

 in flower, stem and quantity. Plenty of 

 good white carnations can be had and 

 are moving very satisfactorily. Most pink 

 varieties are yet of very short stem. 



Chrysanthemums are more plentiful 

 and the best white sell well, with plenty 

 of the smaller pink and white carried 

 over. There are daily shipments of vio- 

 lets, but they are not ready sellers and 

 yet very small. Greens are mote plenti- 

 ful, especially good sprays of Sprengeri. 



Various Notes. 



George Cook has bought a large tract 

 of land at Pimlico, Md., and is building 

 several greenhouses. 



Harry Ekas has just completed a fine 

 house for carnations. 



Henry Eberhardt is slowly recovering 

 from his broken leg, the result of his 

 horse running away, although it will be 

 several months before he ¥^ be able to 

 be about business again. 



One of R. L. Graham's fine delivery 

 horses was found dead in the stable the 

 past week. 



Mrs. George Personette has opened a 

 flower store at West North avenue near 

 Park. 



Bolgiano & Son gave a free dahlia 

 show at their store, which attracted many 

 visitors. 



Wm. Terry has put up a new boiler 

 house 16x23 and has installed a new gaso- 

 line engine. 



A fine bunch of Mrs. Roosevelt dah- 

 lias was shown at the last club meeting, 

 raised from cuttings and said to be from 

 plants from four to five feet high. They 

 were grown by Mr. Uflfler, gardener for 

 Mrs. T. Harrison Garrett. 



Fred Bauer, of Govanstown, has com- 

 pleted a large shed, with office and a 

 cellar for storage purposes. 



Mrs. Mary Johnson, of West Madison 

 street, has completed renovating her 

 store, throwing two rooms into one, the 

 floor having been laid in tile with an at- 

 tractive large bow window. She is now 

 more able to handle her increasing trade. 



R. Vincent, Jr., & Sons, of White 

 Marsh, Md., are cutting extra flne dahlias 

 and shipping large quantities of them to 

 this market. 



Griffith & Turner Co. report a heavy 

 demand on all good forcing bulbs and 

 are unable to fill further orders for 

 some grades. They report that Kiloscale 

 has proven a wonderful success for San 

 Jose scale. 



Every fiower salable on Saturday, Oc- 

 tober 14, cleaned out. Many more car- 

 nations and chrysanthemums could have 

 been handled to good advantage at the 

 Exchange. A. F. 



