522 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



July 10, 1906. 



Members of the St. Louis Florists' Club at the Edwardsville Mtetiag, July 12. 



twenty-four woulil be better. This al- 

 lows the stems to become filled with 

 water, for the pi.ii acts much as a 

 sponge. Then, and not until then, will 

 the cut flowers keep, and be satisfactory 

 to the buyer. Fresh air is as important 

 as fresh water; for instance, at this 

 time carnations will keep but one day 

 at the store, and shouhl I take some of 

 the same lot to my home, wliere the air 

 circulation is gooa, they will keep three 

 to four days longer. A draft will wilt 

 a rose badly, and scart-ely injure a 

 carnation, so it is best to avoid drafts. 

 In conclusion, I would say tliat common 

 sense, coupled with an o'aserving eye, 

 should govern the care of cut flowers. 



BEST RED GERANIUM. 



In the Review of July 12, Mr. Scott, 

 under the heading "six best geraniums" 

 recommends to S. & Y. that they grow 

 fifty per cent S. A. Xutt. Now Xutt 

 is a very fine geranium, and there is 

 perhaps more of it grown tlian of any 

 other one variety in commerce. We 

 used to grow it, too, for dark red, years 

 ago, but we are now growing Marvel, 

 which we find a much better variety than 

 Nntt. Marvel is noi a new variety, in 

 fact I think it is almost as old as Nutt, 

 at least I have known it for fifteen years 

 or more. TiYhy it has never caught on 

 like Nutt I cannot account for, especially 

 when taking into consideration its good 

 qualities. I have seen many other dark 

 red varieties come and go. and de- 

 servedly so, because all had one bad 

 fault or anotner. Not so. liowever, with 

 Marvel. This variety has all the good 

 qualities of Xutt and none of its faults. 

 For instance, it grows more stocky and 

 heavier than Xutt, and is just as free 

 from disease. It is equally as free in 

 bloom and blooms as early and steadily. 

 The trusses are held up above the foliage 

 better and are just as large. The in- 

 dividual floret is larger and of better 

 form, while the color is a trifle brighter. 

 It does not take on that blackish cast 

 you see in X'^utt outside. A large bed 

 of it makes a grand sight. 



I have seen these two varieties grow- 

 ing side by side for years, and have 

 never seen Nutt make a better show than 

 Marvel under the same conditions, but 

 in nearly every case it was the reverse. 

 So constant was the superiority of 

 Marvel that we have discarded Nutt al- 



together for dark red. It cannot be 

 said that this is a local condition. In 

 the early nineties, when I was employed 

 at E. G. Hill's, at Richmond, I first 

 noticed the superiority of Marvel over 

 Xutt. Some years later, when I was 

 foreman at H. A. Nieraeyer 's place at 

 Erie. Pa., I procured some plants of 

 Marvel, an([ we found the same dif- 

 ference, and displaced Nutt with Marvel 

 as rapidly as possible. Since engaging 

 in business here in Indianapolis, we have 

 verified our opinion time and again until, 

 as I have said above, we have discarded 

 X'utt entirely. 



On the other varieties I quite agree 

 with Mr. Scott as to the percentage of 

 each color to grow. I Avould like to see 

 Marvel tried by every grower of gera- 

 niums. It can be procured from most 

 any of the large geranium propagators. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



ST. LOUIS. 



The Market. 



"We can safely say that the cut flower 

 market is dull. A few have been busy 

 with funeral work, and that is all there 

 is for the retailer. The light demand 

 at the wholesale houses each morning 

 shows this plainly. The quantity of cut 

 stock coming into town is quite large, 

 and the wholesalers have their troubles 

 in disposing of it. We had a good rain 

 Sunday, which no doubt saved the asters 

 and sweet peas. 



All roses are looking much better of 

 late. Kaiserins sell well. Bride and 

 Maid are too small and soft. Cochet 

 roses are coming in for a fair demand, 

 especially white. Beauties, both long 

 and short, are none too good. Carna- 

 tions have become scarce, that is, good 

 stock. Poor stock is plentiful enough. 

 Sweet peas were hard to sell last week. 

 Job-lot prices were 50 and 75 cents per 

 thousand. Asters and gladioli are having 

 a good demand. Dahlias sell slowly. All 

 greens are abundant. 



Qub Meeting. 



The Florists' Club meeting held on 

 last Thursday afternoon in Edwards- 

 ville was one of the best and largest at- 

 tended meetings held for a long time. 

 Thirty-six members, most of them bring- 

 ing their ladies with them, making the 

 party number fifty-two, left for the homo 



of President Ammann at 12:30 p. m., 

 arriving at 2 o 'clock. At the station 

 we were met by Mr. and Mrs. Ammann 

 and members of his family, and were 

 escorted to his place a block away. The 

 ladles were taken in hand by Mrs. Am- 

 mann and her daughters, and the mem- 

 bers by Mr. Ammann. The latter party 

 went on an inspection tour through the 

 greenhouses, which were being planted 

 with a young stock of roses, all in fine 

 condition, and a field of 50,000 carna- 

 tion plants, which opened the eyes of 

 some of our growers. Mr. Blixen, the 

 foreman, showed the members all the 

 points of interest on the place. In the 

 meantime the ladies inspected the new 

 residence just finished, and it's a beauty 

 in all respects from roof to cellar. 



After this the members and ladies 

 proceeded to Ihe meeting place four 

 blocks away, in the old fairgrounds. 

 The meeting opened at 3 o 'clock with 

 all the officers present. After the regu- 

 lar order of business liad been disposed 

 of, Fred Meinhardt, state vice-president 

 of the S. A. v., who has charge of the 

 transportation for Dayton, reported that 

 the round trip would coat $12. The ques- 

 tion as to which road to take would be 

 left to the choice of those going and 

 would be decided just as soon as all the 

 names were handed in. Chairman Beyer 

 of the trustees reported that everything 

 was in readiness for the picnic on July 

 2(5, to which the club donated $50 for 

 expenses, all money left over to be 

 placed in the entertainment fund of the 

 club. Gus Miller, a grower, presented 

 his name for membership, which will 

 be acted upon at tlie next meeting. 

 Nomination of officers then took place: 

 for president, Prof. H. C. Irish, E. W. 

 Guy and Frank J. Fillmore; for vice- 

 president, Fred H. Weber, .John Connon 

 and George Angerniueller ; for secretary, 

 Emil Schray and J. J. Beneke; for 

 treasurer, R. Windt. Chas. J. Juengel, 

 A. G. Bentzen and Henrj- Lohrenz; for 

 one trustee, to serve three years, C. A. 

 Kuehn. A. Fehr, William Winter and 

 R. J. Scott. Frank Fillmore led a dis- 

 cussion on growing carnations in pots, 

 which was interesting. The secretary 

 announced the election of oflScers for 

 the next meeting, and discussions by A. 

 Jablonsky, on "Growing Begonia Gloire 

 de Lorraine," and by C. C. Sanders, on 

 "Growing Nursery Stock," followed.' 

 Before adjourning a vote of thanks was 



