638 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



January 25, 1906. 



Y^etable Forcing. 



The Armour private car lines are car- 

 rying, each day during tlie season, forty 

 to fifty cars of Florida head lettuce to 

 the New York market. 



A. DiETSCH, the Chicago manufacturer 

 of greenhouse material, says that it is 

 noteworthy the extent to which market 

 gardeners are replacing hotbeds witli 

 ^greenhouses. He says that half a dozen 

 years ago material for vegetable growers 

 was but an inconsiderable part of the 

 business, while now it has grown to be a 

 quarter or a third of the total. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, January 24. — Cucumbers, $1 

 to $1.75 doz.; leaf lettuce, 30e to 60c 

 case; head lettuce, $2 to $(j.5u'bbl.; to- 

 matoes, $1 to $1.75 case. 



Boston, January 23.— Cucumbers, 

 $2.50 to $11 box; lettuce, 50c to 75c 

 doz.; tomatoes, 40c lb.; parsley, $1.50 

 to $1,75 box; mushrooms, $1.50 to $2 

 per four-pound package; mint, 50c doz. 



New York, January 22.— Boston cu- 

 cumbers, $1.25 to $1.75 doz.; head let- 

 tuce, 25c to 75c doz.; radishes, $2 to 

 $3.25 100 bunches; mushrooms, 10c to 

 60c lb.; tomatoes, 15c to 40c lb.; rhu- 

 barb, 50c to 75c doz. bunches; mint, 75c 

 to $1 doz. 



RHUBARB. 



Bhubarb is something that is almost 

 impossible to raise here in Arkansas. 

 The first year it does well; the next year 

 it dies. Gardeners say it burrs out. 

 Now, in Kansas and Oklahoma, it grows 

 fine, and it does not get any hotter here 

 than it does there, and we do not have 

 any hot winds like they have in Okla- 

 homa. Is there any special cultivation 

 that it requires? Does it need to be well 

 fertilized? What kind of soil docs it do 

 best on? I can give it sandy loam or 

 heavy, damp black soil. I want to know- 

 all about it, because I like to tackle 

 .something that all the re«t fail with. 



J. H. K. 



I am not sufficiently acquainted witli 

 your climate to be able to say exactly 

 what the trouble may be with the grow- 

 ing of rhubarb, but I see no reason why 

 it cannot be grown satisfactorily, as it 

 is generally looked upon as (me of tlie 

 ♦•asiest of subjects to cultivate. If dry- 

 ing out is the trouble 1 would, by all 

 means, grow it in the heaviest soil you 

 have, and a good mulch of stable litter 

 or some such material would be of great 

 assistance in retaining the moisture dur- 

 ing the dry, warm spells. If, on the 

 other hand, the trouble is not caused by 

 dryness but by a rotting of the roots, 

 which often takes in over-damp situa- 

 tions, the better plan would be to plant 

 in the lighter soil, depending on the 

 ■mulch and watering to supply sufficient 

 moisture. 



The roots being of a very soft nature 

 and easily affected, it might be possible 

 that some chemical ingredient in the soil 

 may be the cause of the trouble ; this 

 could be ascertained by an examination 

 of the roots. It is my opinion that it is 

 a root trouble in some shape or form, 

 more than mere drying out, that is re- 

 sponsible for the failure of the plants, 



seeing that they do well the first year. 

 Khubarb is a heavy feeding plant and 

 in a light, sandy soil is hard to overdo 

 in the matter of liquid refreshments as 

 long as the roots are in good working 

 order. The soil should be forked up 

 around the plants in the spring and a 

 good dressing of barnyard manure well 

 worked into the soil. This I consider 

 the best fertilizer for the purpose, and 

 if wash from the stables can be ob- 

 tained it makes the best form of liquid 

 manure; or a good substitute may be 

 made by soaking either cow or sheep 

 manure in water and applying in liquid 

 form. Chemical fertilizers, so called, 1 

 do r.ot consider nearly as efficient as 

 this. 



Khubarb roots require protection in 

 winter in all situations where the tem- 

 perature runs below 10 degrees above 

 zero. Stable litter is the best material 

 to use and the amount of this should be 

 regulated by the severity of the climate. 

 The best plan is to let the ground freeze 

 to the depth of an inch or two before 

 applying the protecting material, then 

 put on enough to prevent the frost from 

 penetrating much deeper. This will pre- 

 vent the soil from thawing and freezing 

 alternately, according to the fluctuations 

 of the weather, and keep your plants en- 

 tirely dormant until the proper season 

 for starting arrives. 



The plants require to be divided about 

 every third or fourth year, as the crowns, 

 where it does well, increase rapidly in 

 size and soon find it hard to procure 

 sufficient nourishment, when the plants 

 are large, in the limited area their roots 

 can reach. Another important point is 

 to prevent the plants from flowering, the 

 spikes should be cut out as soon as they 

 appear, as allowing them to mature puts 

 a heavy drain on the plants. 



W, S. Croydon. 



BOSTON. 



The Market 



Prices continue to hold up well and the 

 market cleans out finely. On Saturday, 

 January 20, hardly a flower of any sort 

 was carried over, either in the markets 

 or commission houses. There is a fairly 

 good supply of all sorts of flowers, but 

 demands for social functions are quite 

 heavy and the prospects for continued 

 good trade are excellent. Weather con- 

 ditions continue abnormal, being more 

 like April than January and the saving 

 in coal bills' must be considerable. 



Koses clean out well. Prices remain 

 mucli the same as in our last. All good 

 stock is quickly taken. Carnations bring 

 $4 per hundred for fancies, some going 

 higher. Quite a number of Enchantress 

 bring $5. The lowest figure on whites 

 has been $2, but good flowers have made 

 $3 and some $4. Violets average 75 

 cents. A few sell down to 50 cents and 

 60 cents and extra specials have made $1. 

 Easter lilies are abundant and a little 

 lower, at $8 per hundred. Callas are 

 about the same. Tulips and daffodils are 

 coming in more abundantly and vary 

 from $2 to $4 per hundred. Paper 

 Whites and Romans sell better than a 

 year ago, averaging $2. Sweet peas are 

 abundant and of fine quality. The best 

 make $1. Cypripedium insigne continues 

 in good supply. Some Ccelogyne cristata 

 is seen and a good quantity of Cattleya 

 Trianff". Valley is not any too plentiful. 



Green stock sells well and has been in 

 heavier call than usual ; no special change 

 in price, however. 



Qub Meeting. 



The following is the full list of awards 

 at the last club meetii^g. Eeports of 

 merit to red carnation seedling Beacon, 

 from Peter Fisher; Pink Patten and 

 Mikado, from Patten & Co., and Helen 

 (Joddard, from S. J. Goddard. The lat- 

 ter was recommended as a valuable com- 

 mercial sort. Backer & Co. received hon- 

 orable mention for a fine pink sport 

 from Enchantress. Thomas F. Matthews 

 received a vote of thanks for a good 

 white seedling, Apollo x Prosperity, which 

 the committee would like to see again; 

 H. A. Stevens Co. honorable mention 

 for vase of seedlings; James Wheeler 

 honorable mention for a new single vio- 

 let. Henry \vild, Greenwich, Conn., sent 

 a grand dish of Eockford's forcing to- 

 matoes. 



President Wheeler appointed the fol- 

 lowing standing committee on exhibits: 

 Alexander Montgomery, Peter Fisher, 

 Robert Cameron, William Downs, A. H. 

 Fewkes, Julius Heurlin, Emil Johansson, 

 J. A. Pettigrew, W. A. Riggs and Will- 

 iam Sim. Mr. Montgomery is chairman 

 on the committee on rose exhibits, Mr. 

 Fisher on carnations and Mr. Cameron 

 on all other flowers. 



It was finally voted to accept ladies as 

 club members. The opposition to one 

 proposed on January 16 led to an ani- 

 mated discussion. The constitution of 

 the club states that all interested in hor- 

 ticulture are eligible for membership, 

 nothing being said as to sex. It is un- 

 likely, however, that further applica- 

 tions from ladies will be presented, ow- 

 ing to the opposition manifested. Forty- 

 two supported the final resolution to ad- 

 mit them, thirty-five opposing it. 



Peter Fislier, speaking of his red seed- 

 ling. Beacon, stated that it had the 

 fine record of one-half of one per cent 

 burst calyxes. He had a little trouble 

 with his new pink, Evangeline, but be- 

 lieved that careful propagating would 

 eliminate this. He found that flowers 

 kept poorly after being fumigated with 

 tobacco dust and he now sprays with 

 nicotine instead. 



A query as to Fiancee elicited the in- 

 formation from Peter Fisher that ninety- 

 six per cent of his flowers burst. Mr. 

 Patten said nine-tenths of his did the 

 .same. Mr. Fisher thought the carnation 

 of the future would be grown altogether 

 indoors in especially constructed houses 

 running from north to south in five 

 inches of soil and that blooms would 

 rival American Beauty roses in magnifi- 

 cence. He thought there was a good 

 future for dwarf varieties as pot plants. 



It was voted to accept an invitation 

 to a banquet to be given by the North 

 Shore Horticultural Society on February 

 15 and a delegation from the club will 

 attend. 



Various Notes. 



A large and interested audience en- 

 joyed the lecture on ' ' The Garden Beau- 

 tiful, ' ' by Loring Underwood, at Hor- 

 ticultural hall on January 20, Summer- 

 houses and their construction, pergolas, 

 garden seats and fences came in for 

 special treatment by the lecturer. 



Carnation is the word this week and 

 the convention seems to be uppermost in 

 all minds. The attendance of florists 

 and gardeners from a distance is re- 

 markable, showing how warm a place the 

 ilivine flower has in their hearts. 



Henry M. Robinson & Co. report their 

 .January trade as much ahead of a year 



