July 19, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



521 



•stable manure, as it seems to hold the 

 moisture better than the cow manure 

 ■does, and the ammonia in it seema to 

 ^ive the plants good color. After a 

 flower is through blooming, pick it off, 

 ■stem and all; your plant will do better 

 and bloom more freely. 



Ornamental bedding is something that 

 «8 always left to the florist to do, and 

 lucky is the florist who has a man who 

 •can do ornamental work, for nowadays 

 everybody is a specialist. To get an 

 all-round man is a hard proposition. You 

 will find them mostly on the smaller 

 places, where a man is expected to be 

 able to grow most anything there is to 

 tte found, make up designs, decorate, and 

 Jast but not least, be a steam fitter, car- 

 penter and a good wheelbarrow pusher. 



Bulbs for Bedding. 



I can't close this paper without say- 

 ing a word or two on bulbs. "What is 

 prettier in the spring than a nice bed of 

 tulips, hyacinths, and narcissi? Often- 

 times people come in about the first part 

 of March and want bulbs, and when you 

 tell them that fall is the time to put 

 them in they look surprised. Bulbs can 

 (be put in after a light frost or two. Put 



GERANIUM SYCAMORE. 



A. S. Halstead, of the St. Clair 

 Floral Co., Belleville, 111., has for sev- 

 eral years been telling his friends about 

 a wonderful new' single -pink geranium 

 he was growing at his place. The ac- 

 companying illustration shows a bench 

 of it photographed early this spring. 

 Dr. Halstead has given the name Syca- 



more to the variety and will give the 

 trade a chance to see it at the Dayton 

 convention. It ia a bright-colored sal- 

 mon-pink, a cross between Mrs. E. G. 

 Hill and Bruant. The habit is vigorous, 

 dwarf and floriferous, the trusses being 

 very large. It is an excellent bedder, 

 one of its strong points being that it 

 will endure beating rains. 



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THE CARE OF CUT FLOWERS. 



[Paper read by John H. Bath before the meet- 

 ing of the Nebraska State Horticultural Society, 

 at Omaha, Neb., Thursday, July 12.] 



From a commercial viewpoint, I think 

 that growers, generally, give too little 

 attention as to how their stock is handled 



A. S. Halstead's New^ Pink Geranium, Sycamore. 



them down five or six inclies in the 

 ground about December, and give them a 

 good covering of coarse manure; then 

 as the weather begins to moderate in the 

 spring, remove your covering. After 

 they are through blooming, which de- 

 pends on the season, lift them up, cut the 

 tops off, and let the roots lie in the sun 

 for a few days, taking them iu at nightt 

 Then lay them on a shelf in the cellar 

 and about May 10 you can put out your 

 bedding plants. 



GERBERA AURANTIACA. 



Gerbera aurantiaca is a fine companion 

 to E. Jamesoni, but as it conies from a 

 <lry region of Natal and the Transvaal it 

 needs greenhouse protection during win- 

 ter, and very little water at that period. 

 The flower-heads are scarcely so large 

 as those of G. Jamesoni, but the ray 

 florets are a wonderfully vivid blood-red 

 •color with a yellow undersurface. The 

 leaves arc entirely oblanceolate, pubes- 

 <5ent above and tomentose beneath. 



after it is cut. Of first importance is 

 to have the stock sorted and placed in 

 water as soon as possible after being 

 cut. I find it a goo^t idea to have ves- 

 sels of water in the greenhouses, placed 

 conveniently, wherein the blooms may 

 be placed, awaiting their removal to the 

 sorting room, then if the cut is large, 

 the petals are not soft when being 

 sorted, thereby preventing a great deal 

 of bruising that they usually receive. 



After sorting, the long-stemmed and 

 short-stemmed stock should be placed in 

 separate jars of proper depths, to keep 

 them together and straight, and on 

 hardening, weak stems will be found to 

 liave straightened considerably. Flow- 

 ers kept in the cellar over night should 

 always have their stems cut afresh, and 

 the* water refreshed if it is desired to 

 hold them longer. The temperature of 

 the cellar or ice-chest should be 45 to 

 50 degrees Fahrenheit all the year 

 around. 



Too much care cannot be used in 

 packing flowers, whether the distance be 



one mile or a hundred. The damage 

 aoes not come from the jar of the wagon 

 or cars, but the blooms bruise each other. 

 Wax or manila tissue paper or cotton 

 cloth should be placed between the lay- 

 ers. Always have a cushion of paper or 

 air space at the head of the box when 

 packing, because a very slight jar in a 

 forward direction is sure to bruise them 

 badly. 



I do not believe that greenhouse em- 

 ployees receive enough instruction on the 

 handling of cut flowers. They are almost 

 invariably rough with them. The blooms 

 can be handled rapidly and gently. I 

 personally have seen a number qf ex- 

 l)ert rose growers who treated the flow- 

 ers, after they were cut, in a most shame- 

 ful manner, such as squeezing long and 

 short together, or laying them down hard, 

 almost dropping them, on the table. 

 This probably is mere thoughtlessness. 

 It takes no more time to handle them 

 properly. I believe that as many of the 

 tiowers as will permit should be broken 

 off, instead of being cut with a knife, 

 because more of the pore surface is 

 brought in direct; contact with the water 

 in this manner. This applies particularly 

 to chrysanthemums, lilacs, heavy- 

 s emmed roses, and others having heavy 

 stems. 



Handling in the Store. 



un receipt of the stock at the stor^ 

 it should always be gone over, the stems 

 freshly clipped, and bruised petals and 

 deformed foliage removed. If the flow- 

 ers have been shipped from a distance, 

 they should not be used until they have 

 been chilled a second time. 



In these days of fancy carnations, we 

 are trouoled at times with many split 

 calyxes. This can be remedied, if care- 

 fully done, with a needle and thread, or 

 with stemming wire, sewing the parted 

 caiyxes together. Too many flowers are 

 usually placed in one vase. Put them in 

 several vases; the flowers won't wilt, 

 I as oiherwise, the foliage is not destroyed, 

 ana you have apparently a larger stock 

 ; and an infinitely more artistic display 

 I for your customers' inspection. 



As to preservatives, many have sug- 

 gested the use of patented stuff, chloride 

 I of sodium, bicarbonate of soda, and even 

 i a rank poison, nux vomica; but I be- 

 lieve Nature intended cool, clear water, 

 and plenty of it, as the preservative, par 

 excellence, of cut flowers. 



Flowers grown in a greenhouse should 

 never be offered for sale until they have 

 stood in water and been kept in the 

 cellar or ice-chest at a temperature of 

 50 degrees for at least twelve hours, and 



