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The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Febuuahy 22, 1006. 



^ov«d quality increases and all good 

 ^todk becomes readily salable without 

 <aku(^ question of price. On the other 

 ihand, the poorer grades become less sala- 

 'fljle in the better class of stores. 



THE STREET FAKIRS. 



For the past two or three years there 

 'ibave been no curbstone flower dealers in 

 "Chicago, and there has been agitation 

 to prohibit their activities in other cities. 

 "USie present opinion of a leading Chi- 

 cago retailer may therefore be of in- 

 ■terest. 



* * I was among those most active in 

 opposition to the street fakirs, but 1 

 have seen a great white light. The street 

 fakirs are now nearly all installed in at- 

 tractive stores, well located and doing a 

 good business. They are still handling 

 low grade stock at cheap prices, but peo- 

 ple go to them who would never notice 

 "them in the streets. They hurt the legiti- 

 mate retailers far more than they did 

 on the street, and this is laying aside 

 the fact that the street flower dealers 

 are a primary school for the education 

 of flower buyers for the retailers handling 

 a better class of goods." 



Starting the Cannas. 

 There is one important detail which 

 •needs attention just now: Start the 

 -mannas. If they have been in a dry and 

 oot too warm cellar, they will be all 

 -fight. Ours have been resting beneath 

 •A bench, on boards to keep them dor- 

 mnaat, and j the roots are plump and 

 -/resh. Time was when we did not know 

 Any better than to pot pieces, of the 

 foot and place' the pots on a bench. This 

 •^as waste of space, waste of material, 

 And altogether crudt. Spread one inch 

 ■ot sphagnum moss on a bench. If hot- 

 water or steam pipes are beneath the 

 C)ench, so much the better. After di- 

 -priding place the roots on the sphagnum 

 -jmd cover the roots only lightly with 

 the same material. Cocoanut fiber is 

 -^loite as good a medium. Every dor- 

 •Aiant eye that is sound will soon start 

 *nd when the leaf growth is up a few 

 •inches they can be then lifted and pot- 

 ted in 4-inch or 5-inch pots, or 

 whatever size you intend to grow and 

 ^«ell them in. 



If terribly crowded for bench room, 

 -which ail thrifty and progressive flo- 

 >rist8 should be, you can put the roots 

 <tnto flats in three inches of sand and 

 «>lace the flats on the pipes beneath the 

 ^nch, where they will g^t busy in a 

 few days, and soon be ready to put into 

 pots. I like the daylight bench and the 

 s«pbagnum moss better. 



Many florists in cities are cramped 

 -for room for their summer stock and 

 'have to buy cannas in the spring. They 

 - should not be difficult to procure, and 

 -you should buy tbt-m under name, so 

 'that if asked to supply a bed of one 

 ^ variety there will be no mix-up. A 

 -most satisfactory as.sortment can be ob- 

 tained from the following varieties and 

 none very expensive • The Italian sec- 

 -tion of this showy plant is not generally 

 very desirable for outdoor culture. The 

 'flowers are handsonie, resembling some 

 .of the orchids, but the flowers are not 

 'persistent and soon lose their beauty. 

 "What you want for outside show is a 

 ■persistent bloomer and a good spike, 

 •flouv. de Antoine Crozy, President Mc- 

 Kinley, Buttercup, Tarrytown, Flor- 

 ence Vaughan, Mill.3. Berat, David Ha- 

 rum, Egandale, Mont Blanc (almost 

 'pure white), Charles Henderson and J. 

 D. Eisele, are ail g( od. 



Keep Doing Business. 

 It has occurred to me lately that we 



often save, or reserve, too many of our 

 attractive plants for the great harvest 

 of Easter, while there is a sale all the 

 time for showy planis. Too many force 

 a hundred or two of azaleas for Christ- 

 mas and then attempt to have no njiore 

 till Easter. If yon observe any plants 

 , that are precocious in flowering, even 

 if kept cool, move them into a tempera- 

 ture of 50 degrees rmd let them flower. 

 They are sure to be wanted. Lilac and 

 Azalea mollis, and perhaps rhododen- 

 drons, will be showing color. They 

 want no actual forcing now, and will 

 flower nicely in a temperature of 55 to 

 60 degrees and will be very acceptable 

 at this time. Keep as brilliant a show 

 as you can aU the time. If you don't 

 seem to get immediate returns, you have 

 at least made an impression on aU your 

 visitors, and that . is boimd to tell- on 

 your eventual prosperity. 



In this connection I might mention 

 that the double tulips, Couronne d'Or, 

 Murillo and the Tournesol, flower well 

 at this season. Your single tulips will 

 not need any more heavy shade and 

 strong heat. They will send up a good 

 stem and fine flower without shade and 

 a La Eeine or Yellow Prince is a poor 

 thing without a robust stem. 



Get Good Seed. 



Sow seed just now or petunia. It is 

 not my place to tell you where to buy 

 it, but get the very best you can hear 

 of, and don't be afraid to pay a liber- 

 al price for a gool strain. I should 

 lite to enlarge a littie on this seed-sav- 

 ing business, but I am not going to. 

 I will merely say tnat one man has half 

 an acre of petunias or asters and saves 

 the seed of every flower, good, bad and 

 worse, while another selects only the 

 seed from the finest flowers. That is 

 selection, and the way that all species 

 have been unproveri except the human 

 race. Should you not be willing to pay 

 more for seed that ii the product of the 

 finest rather than what has been gath- 

 ered in large quantities and indiscrim- 

 inately! It is just the same with cy- 

 clamens, cinerarias, primroses and : all 

 other florists' flow(;rs. 



Lorraine Begonias. 



Our little plants of Lorraine begonia 

 may want some attention about this 

 time. It is not desirable to encourage 

 them into active gjrowth but you can 



pinch off all flowers, and, if the origin- 

 al cutting is growing, it can be stopped, 

 which will only streugthen the root, and 

 it is from the root that you expect the 

 vigorous growth to make the plant for 

 next Christmas, Also carefully stir the 

 surface of the soil in the little pot. This 

 will help and encourage the semi-tuber- 

 ous root to send out growths. Keep 

 them on a light bench in about 50 de- 

 grees at night. 



Two Invaluable Plants. 



Sow Dracaena indivisa and Grevillea 

 robusta now. Those who do little veran- 

 da box or vase filling may not need these 

 plants, but those who do know how in- 

 valuable they are. The finely divided 

 foliage of the grevillea is graceful ev- 

 erywhere and the cast-iron dracaena is 

 the most useful plant we have for a 

 cemetery vase. After a cyclone, earth- 

 quake, or visit from Carrie Nation, it 

 is always smiling and robust. 



The Lilies. 



There is nothing that will require 

 more care or cause more anxiety just 

 now than the condition of your Easter 

 lilies. There is the long month of March 

 to come and two perhaps bright weeks 

 in April, if the lilies are not showing 

 any sign of bud at the present time it 

 will be well to increase the heat 10 de- 

 grees. As observed in early winter, af- 

 ter the buds are once visible, is the 

 time when, in my opinion, the lilies will 

 endure a strong i'eat without harm. 

 And remember, when the buds have 

 turned white you can easily keep them 

 cool from that on and keep them from 

 spoiling for several weeks. Don't be 

 late with them, for it usually means 

 a big money loss. 



Roses for Easter. 



Eoses, both the Ramblers and the hy- 

 brid perpetuals, wiU come along nicely 

 in a night temperature of 50 degrees, 

 and are stronger a ad better color than 

 when forced. It is rather early to be 

 sure of their date of flowering. They 

 may need 55 degrees all night next 

 month, which is not. too warm to pro- 

 duce good flowers and color. We know 

 you cannot get a hybrid perpetual with 

 all its buds developed at one time, but 

 our customers much prefer two flowers 

 and some buds to open, to four or five 

 expanded flowers and no buds to come. 



Forcing Valley. 



The illustration on page 915 is from 

 a photograph of the lily of the valley ; 

 grown in 8-inch azalea pots, on the 

 pipes under the benches, as described 

 in the notes in this column February 8. 

 As you will notice by the 2-foot rule 

 which was resting on the surface of the 

 soil, the tallest are fully fifteen inches 

 long. I am fully aware that this is of 

 little interest to the valley specialist, 

 or large grower, yet it may be to many 

 who desire to have a few on hand at ail 

 times and have no other convenience 

 than a few hot-water pipes beneath a 

 Itench. One advantage in this method is 

 that you can, when all the bells are de- 

 veloped, remove the pots from beneath 

 the bench tp a shaded bench in a tem- 

 perature of 50 degrees, and they will 

 go on increasing in size and substance, 

 and if you don't have occasion to use 

 them they will last in the pots for at 

 least two weeks. Remember the roots 

 are almost entire as they were imported 

 and they are in ordinary soil from the 

 potting bench. William Scott. 



