|^l"^iMI«;^.IIP|W!.»!tl.»»W»i,U«U»^lW,l"'.}ll^NJ5».^^^ 



1296 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



i-,/.:;-.-V"-^ .,; 



OCTOBEB 26, 1905. 



i I 



ft 



IVEPHROLEPId PIERSONI 



■C.4' 



a •r.-T-.nr 



ELEGANTISSIIVIA 



Grand stock, in all uzet* Very popular in New York and all the largfe cities* 



INPRECEDENTED SALE OE LARGE SPECIMENS 



Prices from 75c each ; $9.00 per doz.; $50.00 per 100, up to $2.00, 

 $3.00, $5.00 and $7.50 each. Satisfaction Guaranteed. 



F. R. PIERSON CO., TARRYTOWN, N. Y. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



PACIFIC COAST. 



ASPARAGUS. 



Growing in Lath Houses. 



To a florist who uses a great deal of 

 ^een stuff in connection with cut flowers 

 and designs the difficulty of getting As- 

 paragus plumosus stems in sufficient 

 •quantity is often a serious consideration. 

 This is especiaUy felt in our smaller 

 towns, where large establishments for the 

 growing of ferns, etc., are not located 

 and often the retailer has to fall back 

 on some other sort of trimming that is 

 cot as desirable. 



Very few retailers having establish- 

 ments devoted to growing plants and 

 flowers have sufficient room to devote to 

 asparagus, and as this is now an indis- 

 pensable adjunct to the business I can 

 offer my experience in handling aspara- 

 gus in lath houses. 



I have found that the asparagus will 

 grow and thrive anywhere smilax can be 

 grown successfully. It is equally as 

 hardy in this locality and, although it 

 only sends out one strong crop each year, 

 it in the meanwhile furnishes a good 

 <|uantity of short stems, which are really 

 more desirable for bouquets or designs 

 than the longer ones. 



Three years ago I built a lath house 

 20x75 feet. I put the laths closer to- 

 gether than on the smilax house; that 

 is, the space between each lath was 

 about two-thirds the width of the lath 

 %nth which it was built. I excavated to 

 a depth of eight inches and filled about 

 lialf the depth with rotten manure. I 

 ithen put back all the soil, which raised 

 the beds several inches above the sur- 

 roundings. I dug it up well and planted 

 the asparagus about one foot apart in 

 the rows, running them crosswise. I put 

 fifty rows in the house, which gave 

 •eighteen inches between each row. In 

 this way I used up about 1,000 plants 

 from 4-inch pots. 



I planted them in the month of April 

 and did not get much of a crop until 

 September, when they commenced to 

 make tremendous shoots. I gave them 



plenty of strings to climb on and from 

 these plants I cut over 1,500 strings 

 each from six to eight feet long. All the 

 following spring and summer I cut 

 quantities of short stems and in July I 

 again gave them about the same quantity 

 of strings, with the same good results. 



This year I gave them a good mulch- 

 ing, in July, of well rotted manure, and 

 they have made a tremendous growth 

 since then. The beds are still consider- 

 ably higher than the walks and I have 

 found that in a couple of low spots they 

 do not grow as well as in the other 

 places, probably because too much water 

 collects there. 



The cold weather has not hurt the 

 leaves, although it checks the growth 

 and turns the stems a very dark greeu. 

 The only difficulty 1 have found has 

 been in places where the moisture col- 

 lected and the stems have turned yellow. 

 The texture is not quite as fine as of the 

 asparagus grown under glass, but it an- 

 swers for all purposes and, as the house 

 requires hardly any attention, I con- 

 sider it one of the best paying proposi- 

 tions in the business. How long the 

 clumps will continue to produce so 

 abundantly I do not know, but this is the 

 third season and I am of the opinion 

 that if they are not too closely cut dur- 

 ing their growing season they will con- 

 tinue to produce indefinitely. 6. 



PORTLAND, ORE. 



State of Business. 



The business activity which asserted 

 itself all summer continued until the 

 closing days of the fair. The entertain- 

 ing of officials who so ably conducted 

 this memorable undertaking called for 

 the best in the market, but there w%s 

 none too much stock, weather conditions 

 being responsible. Sunshine is now at a 

 premium and the Oregon mists, which 

 generally prevail from early October un- 

 til July 4, seem to have begun in earn- 

 est. 



The supply of outdoor flowers came to 

 an abrupt termination and the green- 

 house output, though good, is limited. 

 Boses never were finer at this season and 

 we are glad to note that local growers 

 are beginning to realize the necessity of 



an early fall crop. Never was the de- 

 mand so great as now. Home-grown 

 chrysanthemums have made their debut 

 in a modest way. The finest seen here 

 were shipped in from California and re- 

 tailed at $5 per dozen. A look into 

 the numerous growing establishments 

 convinced us of much activity there and 

 that we may expect some fine stock for 

 the next few weeks at least. 



Recent visitors were K. C. Eisele, Bak* 

 er City, and A. McLaren, Salem. 



Exposition Awards. 



The great Lewis and Clark fair is now 

 a matter of history, having closed auspi- 

 ciously October 14. It has been a huge 

 success^ from every point of view. Surely 

 the florists do not regret its existence, 

 for it proved an impetus to what other- 

 wise might have' been a dull summer. The 

 absence of a trade display was not due 

 to a lack of interest on the part of the 

 .florists, the management offering no 

 inducements therefor. The landscaping 

 and horticultural features showed artis- 

 tic ability and were classed with the 

 principal attractions. Its value to the 

 trade cannot be overestimated. The visi- 

 tors from rural districts evinced great 

 enthusiasm, it being an education to 

 them from which we shall expect later 

 results. 



Awards for permanent exhibits were 

 as follows: 



Gold medal to W. Atlee Burpee & Co., 

 Philadelphia, for lawn grass seed. 



Gold medal to Vaughan's Seed Store, 

 Chicago, for bedding plants. 



Gold medal to George Otten, Portland, 

 for tuberous begonias. 



Gold medal to J. J'. Butzer, Portland, 

 for sweet peas. H. J. M. 



SAN FRANOSCO. 



The Market 



The bright, warm weather during the 

 past week has had the effect of bringing 

 out quantities of good stock. Carnations 

 are again plentiful and the short- 

 stemmed flowers, so noticeable a few 

 weeks ago, have been replaced by stock 

 first-class in every respect. Roses, al- 

 though not over-plentiful, are of good 

 size and color and possibly, with the ex- 



