434 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Jam Aitv 4, I'.tdd. 



lists gi\o tln' ;iil\icc. "Order curly." ])iit 

 tliis good advice is too ot'tcii overlooked; 

 ronscijuontly ilie oi-ders coiiie all in a 

 nish and all are uanted iniinediately, 

 uiiere a little I'oretliouglit wonld be of 

 n!'!tcri-il ad\anta<ic to all jtarties oon- 

 eeined. 



'J'houjili tile majdrity ot' seed lionso; 

 nse ^M-eat care iti the selection of their 

 seids and try tn have tlieni as reliable 

 ;is jiossihh'. tjiere are so many tliinos to 

 couteml with, that a full ]>ereentaji;e of 

 ;^erininat ion cannot always Ije relied on, 

 and it is well to have the seeds in hand 

 huig enouyli before sowinj^ time to ^'ive 

 a ehanee to test them ;ind see just avIup 

 lien-entajfe of tiie dilferent varieties eaii 

 be relied on. Then the seeds e;in be 

 sown thickly or thinly, accordiny' to the 

 jiereentayc of germination. It is verv 

 disaitpoint iny tci ha\e to waste time ami 

 space on a Mat of seeds in which only 

 a half or two-thiids crop comes up. 



'i'hc best way td test the seeds is to 

 count out fifty or Km seeds of each v;i- 

 liety, .sow e.ach in a sepaiate space and 

 <five every possible advantajre as regards 

 suitable soil, temj)ei;iture and care. When 

 well up coiint the number of ])lants and 

 make a careful note of <'ach variety. 

 Then you uill know pretty near wliat 

 you are doing when sowing time eoines 

 and kimw Just what you can icasonably 

 expect from ( adi Hat sown. 



b'egarding v.arieties, it is alway.s best 

 to stick imiinly to the old standard kinds, 

 as they are sure to be in greatest de- 

 mand, but it is ^\(•ll tci try new kinds 

 as they c(Mne out. on a limited scale, 

 and after you ;ire satisfied that you have 



A good, reliable, early variety of ea\ili- 

 flower is Dwarf Krfurt and the seed is 

 a good deal eheajier than Snowball, but 

 there is ti.sually a call for this latter va- 

 riety, so that it is necessary to grow 

 moi'e or less of it. 



-New York Spineles.s i^gg plant is a 

 standard variety that one makes no mis- 

 take in growing jdenty of. 



Of the numerous varieties of eelerv 

 we grow but two. White I'lume for early 

 and (iolden Dwarf for late. 



In tomatoes the variety is bewildering 

 and many of tluMU are worth growing, 

 but if confined to two 1 Avould choose 

 Freedom for early and Stone for main 

 crop. 



In pepjieis both Kuliy King ajid Bull- 

 nose are old, reliable varieties, that no 

 one can make any mistake in growing. 



W. S. CUOYDON. 



IN OKLAHOMA. 



The accomp.-inying illustration is from 

 a i)hotogvaidi made at Oklahoma <-'ity, 

 Okla. The Stiles Co. does a general busi- 

 ness, iiandling poultry sui)plies, seeds, 

 nursery stock .and plants as well as cut 

 jlowers. Jn the s(>ason they are large 

 shippers of mistletoe, (leorge II. Stiles 

 stan<1s at the left in the doorwav. 



BEGONIA VARIATIONS. 



I iiave fre(|uently referred to tlie sub- 

 ject of selections for stock purposes, and 

 the natural \ai'iations fouinl among 

 ]dants now receives more attention than 

 fornmrly. At the last meeting of the 

 Koyal llorticultural Soeietv, we had a 



5...- 



ti 



THE STILES COMPANY, 



SEEDSMEN, NURSERYMEN.FLORISTS. 



Store of the Stiles Co., Oklahoma City, Okla. 



Somtlhing gnnd yuu i-;in couliilcnt i\' rn- 

 ommcinl tlicni to ynur ciistcimer< another 

 seasdu. 



In lettuce ten -spring planting, 1 think 



we ha\(> untiling better than tl Id Dos 



ton .Market. Hig Hostcm m.akes a fiiu'. 

 Large head, but is iicit (|uite sn liardv as 

 the formei- .-hhI liable tn siifl'er more if 

 snVijected tn a c<dd sna|i. I )eacon is an- 

 other g I, hanly. reliable sort. 



In I'abbage. .leisey W:ike(ield is, in 

 my iipiuion. the ha'lei- for eaily. a\ ith 

 Danish l->:illhead ei Suci-essieii for sec- 

 ond earlv. 



iiiKid instance of this, when II. \'. May 

 ■submitted four dilfeient selectiems frnm 

 begonias. The\' Weic not considel-ed suf 

 ficiently distinct tn g.ain awards yet they 

 \veie un<loubtedly an advance en the \a- 

 rious sorts from which they were se 

 lected. The original ]iarent of all was 

 (iloire de Lorraine. M.astei'piece. selected 

 from the original form, had huge 

 fnliage. str(Uig (Inwer stems, and richly 

 coi((i(d flnweis; and if nnt suflii'ient Iv 

 distinct foi- a new name, should be worth 

 keeping fnr stock jmrposes, ami may de- 

 ser\e to lie called ' ' impro\'ed. ' ' Tlie 



same may be said of Marie, which is u 

 selection from ]\Irs. Leopold de Roth- 

 schild, and showed, as exhibited, a de- 

 cided advance. ]\Iont Blanc, a selection 

 from Turnford Hall, also showed niore 

 vigor, and flowers of better substance, 

 and they also apjieared to have less pink 

 in them; but it is difficult to say from 

 a single specimen if this character is 

 likely to be sustained. Kosea crispata I 

 should hardly consider distinct enough 

 to merit notice, yet even with this, if 

 seen in a batch with the parent, its dis- 

 tinctness might be more apparent. 1 

 recommend all who grow these valuable 

 winter-flowering plants to be careful to- 

 select the very best only for stock. Jt 

 has now become quite established as ;i 

 nmrket plant, and only requires care in 

 keeping to the best and strongest forms 

 to further enhance its value. When I 

 first grew this begonia I hardly expected 

 to see it make such plants as are now 

 grown. Jt seems capable of increasing 

 in vig(<r from year to year; this is, prob- 

 ably, owing to its being perfectly abor- 

 tive. Some plants shown at the Crystal 

 Palace on l)ecember 6 and 7 measured 

 fully two feet in height and probably 

 more in diameter. 



Begonia i\Iyra, one of the hyl)rids of 

 the same t.vpe as Mrs. J. Ileal, shown 

 at the Crystal Palace by IL Caimell ^ 

 Sons, was specially worthy of note, cer- 

 tainly one of the best of its class; the 

 plants were covered with large blooms ot 

 a deep rose pink, and there is a possi- 

 liility of this making a good market 

 idant, — Tlorticultural Advertiser. 



BEST CANNAS. 



Will you ]>lease give us a list of tlic 

 best cannas for commercial purposes? 



A. J. S. 



We woidd reconnuend the following 

 canna lilies as likely to give greatest sat- 

 isfaction: Betsy Ross, variegated; But- 

 tercup, yellow; (Jhautauqua. scarlet; 

 Coronet, improved, yellow; Duke of 

 ^larlborough, nmroon; Duke of York, 

 variegated; Kastern Beauty, salmon; 

 Kvolution. yellow shading to ])ink ; 

 (ieorge Washington, variegated; Cdadi 

 ator. variegated; Juanita. chrome yel 

 loAv; ^lartlia Washington, rose pink; 

 Mont Blanc, white; Niagara, vari»>gated ; 

 Pennsyh'.ania, ileej) scarlet ; I'hilatlelphia. 

 crimson; West Ci'ove, coral ]iink. 



( '<»N'AKI> & .loNKS < 'o. 



RED ANTS. 



I'lease tell me the best remedy for 

 red ants in the jialm house and on orchids. 

 Tliev .are WW destructive to blooms and 

 budv. R. W. 



The safest method to use against these 

 trnublesome pests in the palm and orchid 

 linnses would be to trap them. This may 

 be ac<-oinplished l)y di]>ping some pieces 

 nf sponge in sweet oil and then laying 

 tliem on the benches among tlie ]dants. 

 where the juits will soon find them. In 

 a shfut time the sponges will be well 

 tilled with the insects, when tliey may 

 be gathered uj) and thoroughly scalded 

 with boiling water. By repeating tliis 

 jirocess from time to time the ants v.\\\ 

 snon 1)0 thinned out. W. II, T.\ri.ix. 



Mii.wAiKKK. Wis. • — • The Kaps.alis 

 I'loral Co. has been incorporated, with 

 ^1.000 capital stock, by 11. K. Pestalozzi, 

 P, X. Kapsalis and K. .1, Patterson. 



