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760 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



August 16, 1906. 



mountain. The soil has been made good 

 but has some gravel and rocks in it. 



The gentleman who wishes this work 

 done is a crank on flowers and has told 

 us to go ahead and fix it up, and he 

 would foot the bill. If you will kindly 

 give us all the information that you can 

 we shall appreciate it very much. 



O. & H. 



You do not give the dimensions of the 

 miniature "mountain," which makes it 

 difficult to advise as to the plants to be 

 used. However, you can hardly go wrong 

 in using for your taller plants such per- 

 ennials as: Anemones, Japanese, St. 

 Brigid and Virginian; aquilegias, Eocky 

 Mountain Blue, long spurred yellow and 

 Canadensis; Coreopsis lanceolata and 

 C. verticillata, Oriental poppies, Helian- 

 thus rigidus, campanulas of sorts, del- 

 phiniums, foxgloves, phloxes, lilies, hem- 

 erocalis, boltonia, etc. For your dwarfer 

 plants use: Phlox subulata. Campanula 

 Carpatica and rotundifolia, Viola cor- 

 nuta, Arabis alpina. Tunica saxifraga, 

 aubrietias, dianthus of sorts, Iceland pop- 

 pies, Geranium Carolinianum, Gypsophila 

 gallioides, Saponaria ocymoides, prim- 

 roses, veronicas, achilleas, etc. For more 

 woody things use yuccas, filamentosa and 



ferns might be planted some of our 

 shade-loving plants, like our native or- 

 chids, smilacinas and thalictrums, with 

 some of the finer grasses and wet ground 

 irises. If there is to be sufficient mois- 

 ture nt some point at the base, alismas, 

 sagittarias, orontium, arisemas, etc., will 

 afford a pleasing variety. 



The above list, supplied by J. F. 

 Cowell, will make a fine show for two or 

 three years, but herbaceous plantings are 

 like shrubberies, never finished. There 

 is needed a yearly transplanting or thin- 

 ning out. W. S. 



NEPHEOLEPIS AMERPOHLII. 



It is a far cry from Nephrolepis ex- 

 altata to its youngest descendant, 

 Nephrolepis Amerpohlii, although it is 

 only a few years since the development 

 of the race began with the advent of the 

 Boston fern. Amerpohlii is one of the 

 filmy ferns, the first of which was Pier- 

 soni. The accompanying illustration 

 gives a very fair idea of the lightness 

 and grace of the broad frond. As in 

 Elegantissima, Barrowsii and Whitmani, 

 so in Amerpohlii are the pinnae in them- 

 selves miniature fronds, in this case be- 

 ing subdivided and again subdivided ad 

 infinitum. 



Frond of Nephrolepis Amerpohlii. 



glauca; Teucrium Chamaedrys, Spiraea A. 

 Waterer and S. callosa alba, artemisias, 

 Plumbago Lady Larpent, perennial candy- 

 tuft, Abelia Chinensis, Daphne Cneorum, 

 etc. 



Ferns should do well if given partial 

 shade and not allowed to get dry. They 

 arc easily transplanted. Among your 



This new fern originated with Edward 

 Amerpohl, proprietor of the Janesville 

 Floral Co., Janesville, Wis. He has been 

 growing it for several years and has now 

 worked up considerable stock. He thinks 

 he has in it a most valuable novelty and 

 all who have had the pleasure of seeing 

 the plants have agreed with him. Thus 



far the stock shows no sign of degenerat- 

 ing; that is, there is no sign of re- 

 verting to the old Boston form. 



Mr. Amerpohl will be at the convention 

 next week with a display of his fern. 



THE CYCLAMEN. 



Its Commercial Production. 



Every commercial grower will, I be- 

 lieve, concede that the cyclamen as usu- 

 ally handled is by no means an easy 

 plant to grow, that is, to any degree of 

 excellence, and at the same time return 

 a fair margin of profit. Several years 

 spent in raising these plants by con- 

 tinuous culture in pots convinced the 

 writer that to produce them commercially 

 required some diflferent method, whereby 

 less care and attention would be needed 

 through the summer months, a method 

 that' would result in reducing the number 

 of weak, undesirable specimens. 



Every year would see at the harvest 

 time a considerable number to be dis- 

 posed of at a low price, and as the cost 

 is no more to produce a plant selling for 

 $3 than one bringing but 50 cents, it is 

 easy to imagine the determination with 

 which numerous experiments were con- 

 ducted to gain the desired end. 



To private gardeners, with whom cost 

 of production is of small account, and 

 cyclamen specialists, who are expressly 

 equipped for production in large quanti- 

 ties, a great proportion of which move 

 while in the 2-inch or 3-inch stage, this 

 article may not prove of special interest, 

 but it is the grower of a general line 

 of plants for retail at his greenhouse or 

 store, whose time is anybody's but his 

 own, that I hope to assist, and perchance 

 furnish food for thought to others. 



Time to Sow Seeds. 



To secure specimens of desirable size, 

 seeds should be put in by October 15 at 

 the latest. This allows fourteen months 

 for the plants to reach maturity and be 

 in bloom for Christmas of the following 

 year. For reasons given later, it is 

 preferable to begin operations between 

 August 15 and September 1. A passing 

 reference to the importance of using 

 none but the best strains of seed obtain- 

 able is sufficient. 



Flats for Seeds. 



Seeds may be sown either in earthen 

 pans or wooden flats, but for convenience 

 in handling, and inasmuch as sowing in 

 straight rows is one of the smaller fea- 

 tures of this method, specially con- 

 structed flats are advised. These may be 

 made of any kind of lumber, although 

 planed cypress is preferable as being 

 more durable and in the end cheaper. 

 Each flat requires six pieces of i/^-inch 

 material 2%xl8 inches for sides and bot- 

 tom, and two pieces of 1-inch material 

 21/^x12 inches for the ends. Nail to- 

 gether as ordinarily, except one side, 

 which should be fastened to the ends 

 with four screws. We then have a flat 

 21^x12x16 inches, with provision for 

 drainage, and a detachable side for use 

 when seedlings are large enough to prick 

 out. Two coats of paint will increase the 

 life of a flat fourfold, and besides con- 

 tribute to cleanliness. 



Sowing the Seeds. 



As cyclamen seeds are slow to germi- 

 nate, it pays to take extra pains in pre- 

 paring the soil in which they are to be 

 sown. Not only must it be of such a 

 nature as to remain in good mechanical 



