August 30, 1«06. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



93J 



The Parterre at Lincoln Park, Chicago. 



length of the various English varieties 

 of cucumbers, but thoy all conform in 

 general to the description above given. 



The American type of cucumber is 

 primarily grown in the field, the product 

 to be used either for pickling or for 

 slicing. Forcing cucumbers in America 

 is confined to those varieties which pro- 

 duce large fruits suitable for slicing. 

 Only three or four of the better and 

 larger field varieties are adapted to this 

 purpose. Notable among these is the 

 White Spine, the Arlington White Spine 

 being the variety which has been espe- 

 cially developed for forcing. The Long 

 Green, or a modification of it, is also 

 sometimes used, but aside from these 

 two varieties there are few that ever 

 find their way into the forcing house. 

 Such varieties as the Boston Pickling, 

 Chicago Pickling, and the cluster varie- 

 ties in general are not adapted to forc- 

 ing purposes. 



The American ideal for a forcing 

 cucumber is based, of course, upon the 

 outdoor-grown fruit, and in general 

 shape and size the fruits must conform 

 to the best of such fruits. The ideal 

 forcing cucumber for the American mar- 

 ket has a slender form, good length, is 

 cylindrical rather than triangular in 

 shape, and of a uniform green color 

 throughout. At the present time there 

 is no variety upon the market which pos- 

 sesses all of these characteristics. The 

 White Spine is objectionable because of 

 the white markings of the greater per- 

 centage of these fruits, and now and 

 then an albino appears, which is of 

 course exceedingly objectionable for 

 forcing purposes. The chief objection 

 to white markings upon cucumbers is 

 that as soon as the fruits are removed 

 from the plant these markings have a 

 tendency to turn yellow, indicating age 

 and deterioration. Fruits v.'hich are uni- 

 formly green in coloring do not show 

 these changes so quickly, and if they are 

 well preserved in cold storage, so as to 

 maintain their crispness of texture, they 

 can be held upon the market much longer 

 than those showing the white markings. 

 Frcm the standpoint of the buyer this 

 characteristic of the white markings is 

 an advantage, in that the purchaser can 

 determine whether or not the cucumbers 

 have been upon the market any length 

 of time by th6 amount of yellow color- 

 ing shown upon the white areas. 



SOWING LETTUCE. 



When is the time to sow Boston Mar- 

 ket lettuce to have a crop in by Novem- 

 ber or December? G. T. S. 



If you want to have Boston Market 

 lettuce ready in November, you don 't 



want to lose any time in getting your 

 seed sown. For our November crop 

 we sow the seed about the middle of 

 August, and transplant into coldframes 

 as soon as it is large enough. We use 

 coldframes for our supply up to the 

 middle of December, as we find the 

 plants do better and are easier handled 

 in frames than in the greenhouse up 

 to that date. We make three sowings 

 for frame work, at intervals of two 

 weeks apart, the last sowing being made 

 about the middle of September. 



The first sowing for greenhouse work 

 is made about the end of September. 

 This crop we depend on coming in for 

 Christmas. It is a pretty safe rule to 

 count on three months from the time 

 of sowing to the time of maturity. The 

 time may vary a little, according to 

 weather conditions, but this can be taken 

 safely as a rule. W. S. Croydon. 



BOSTON. 



The Market 



While there is no great amount of 

 business, conditions show some improve- 

 ment. Carnations, except from outdoors, 

 are rather scarce and bring $1.50 to $2 

 per hundred. There are plenty of roses 

 at the previous week's prices. Sweet 

 peas have reappeared with the clear, 

 warm weather we are now having and 

 sell at from 20 cents to 25 cents per 

 hundred. Gladioli continue of good 

 quality. Some from a distance, how- 

 ever, are rather poor. Asters continue 

 plentiful. Lilium auratum and Harrisii 

 are seen, and outdoor-grown L. speciosum 

 appeared this week. Green stuff remains 

 about the same. 



Various Notes. 



S, J. Goddard has returned from a 

 vacation in Maine, where he enjoyed ex- 

 cellent sport with the finny tribe. 



The annual show of plants and flow- 

 ers occurs at Horticultural hall Septem- 

 ber 5 and 6. Dahlias will be the star 

 feature among the cut flowers. 



Thomas Pegler, who has taken houses 

 at Wollaston to grow double violets, 

 will in the future sell only his own flow- 

 ers and carnations, etc., from S. J. God- 

 dard at the Park street market. 



August is giving us clearer skies than 

 July, In fifteen days we had but one 

 shower and with some shade tempera- 

 tures over 90 degrees a little more 

 moisture would now not come amiss. 



Peirce Bros. ' delivery team broke 

 down on August 23 on the way to 

 Faneuil hall market. One hundred bush- 

 els of tomatoes which were aboard were 

 mostly spoiled. 



E. Allen Peirce has gone on a two 

 weeks' auto trip to Portland, Me., with 

 friends. 



Bert Mehegau, of Cambridge, better 

 known as "Wadey," is spending a va- 

 cation in Maine. 



The auction sale of stalls at the Music 

 hall market will occur September 1. A 

 good sale is expected. 



E. Ragan, who has been salesman at 

 Park street for Mrs. David Fisher's es- 

 tate, has resigned to accept a similai- 

 position for H. N. Eaton, of South Sud- 

 bury. 



Abe Goldberg, a well-known street 

 floAver salesman, is dangerously ill. 



The police are on the lookout for the 

 treasurer of one of our retail florists, 

 who has Absconded with a large si'im of 

 money. 



The auction sale of stalls at the Park 

 street flower market will occur on Sep- 

 tember 8. A record-breaKing sale is ex- 

 pected. 



,T. J, McCormick, of Maiden, is away 

 on a trip to New York, Philadelphia and 

 Baltimore, and expects to be able to 

 give his confreres some experiences on 

 his return. He has just completed ar- 

 rangements for a greenhouse 25x75. 



Applications are already coming in 

 for the next meeting of the Gardeners " 

 and Florists' Club on September 18. An 

 addition of forty members is expected 

 that night. 



W. W. Bawson & Co. are now getting 

 nicely settled in their new quarters, all 

 ready for fall trade. 



The local delegation to the Dayton 

 convention was small. To Philadelphia 

 in 1907 it should be a big one. 



H. E. Fiske Seed Co. is rushing prepa- 

 rations for the new seed store at 12 and 

 13 Faneuil hall square, lately occupied 

 by W. W. Rawson & Co. This new 

 firm should do well, as the various mem- 

 bers are well and favorably known. 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Soci- 

 ety has just issued an advance schedule 

 for the March and May exhibitions in 

 1907, also a list of the special prizes for 

 dinner table decorations to be given at 

 the coming chrysanthemum show. 



European vacationists are now return- 

 ing. A few of the craft will wait until 

 September for their holidays, but the 

 majority will get right down to business 

 after Labor day. W. N. Craig. 



Philadelphia, Pa. — Marie C. Schmitz 

 is intending to rebuild her greenhouses; 

 the improvement wi?' cost $200. 



Denison, Tex.— The decorations for 

 the Denison flower show, to be held No- 

 vember 8 to 10. will be in charge of T. P. 

 Gorman, who was one of the prin.cipa] 

 decorators at the St. Louis fair. 



