n32 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



March 15, 1906. 



Dijon, W. Allen Richardson, Jules Mar- 

 gottin, Glory of Cheshunt, Victor Ver- 

 dier, liessie Johnson, are magnificent as 

 pillars, on arches, walls, or porches. 

 Dean Hole says we should have in our 

 gardens, ' ' Beds of roses, bowers of 

 roses, hedges of roses, pillars of roses, 

 arches of roses, fountains of roses, 

 baskets of roses, vistas and alleys of the 

 rose. ' ' 



THE COAL STRIKE. 



Every day it becomes more certain 

 that there will be a general strike of 

 coal miners on April 1. The commit- 

 tees of operators and miners seem to 

 find no common ground. If anything, 

 each day's developments show the em- 

 ployers and their workmen to be far- 

 ther and farther apart. The miners' 

 union wants an eight-hour day and an 

 advance of about ten per cent in wages. 

 The operators say that the promises made 

 at the time the nine-hour day was 



granted have not been made good in that 

 production has not been as great in a 

 nine-hour day as it was in ten. There 

 are various other points at issue, none 

 of which will the employers concede. 



It is apparent that the railroads and 

 large employers of labor and consumers 

 of fuel anticipate a protracted struggle. 

 The railroads are storing coal as fast as 

 they can procure it. Where they have 

 no other facilities they are simply dump- 

 ing it on the open ground in the yards. 



A great many florists have taken time 

 by the forelock and put in a suflScient 

 amount of coal to at least last them so 

 long as fires will be needed this season. 

 Any who have not done so would be wise 

 to lose no time. Prices are stiffening 

 every day and will take a big jump as 

 soon as the strike is declared. If the 

 struggle is long continued the prices 

 will not be lower, if, indeed, it is possi- 

 ble to procure fuel, before fires are 

 needed in the fall. 



A Chapter on Orchids. 



Many florists have been tempted to try 

 a few orchids, and most likely the one 

 selected will be the useful and beautiful 

 cattleyas. In fact, the great majority 

 of our patrons, when they speak of an 

 orchid, have no other flower in mind, 

 and would not recognize a cypripedium 

 or oncidium as an orchid. It is cattleyas 

 that are wanted. 



As they are natives of northern Brazil 

 and Venezuela and adjacent tropical 

 countries, it is evident they must in 

 their native and natural state be ex- 

 posed to the tropical suns, a high tem- 

 perature, yet plenty of fresh air. A 

 writer on these lovely orchids says a 

 cattleya house should have ventilation 

 top and bottom, but I have found that 

 plenty of top ventilation will do. A light 

 shading is necessary when the young 

 pseudo-bulbs are growing. 



Shifting the Cattleyas. 



Shortly after flowering, when the 

 plants are dormant, is the time to do 

 any shifting, cleaning or fixing up with 

 fresh material, so it is rather late now 

 to disturb C. labiata or any species that 

 flowers in early winter, but if growth 

 has not started it can still be done. For 

 those fine species Trianaj and Perci- 

 valiana it is just the time. 



Where large quantities are grown the 

 board system is still largely in vogue, 

 but they can be grown equally as well, 

 if not as cheaply, in wooden baskets or 

 ordinary flower pots. 



When removing worn out or decayed 

 peat or moss from the surface or among 

 the roots is a good time to thoroughly 

 clean the bulbs of scale or other insects 

 with which they may be infested. If 

 the roots are loose on the boards or in 

 the baskets they should be securely fas- 

 tened with wire, for if the plant can 

 sway about the roots will constantly be 

 disturbed and poor results must follow. 

 Experts lay great stress on this, and that 

 the peat used in covering and between 



the roots should be firmly packed. I am 

 supposing you know all about the liberal 

 amount of drainage that these orchids 

 require. If they thrive and grow wired 

 to a flat board, with only a thin medium 

 of peat and moss for their roots, it is 

 evident they do not need much depth 

 for their roots. This is the case with 

 all the orchids known as epiphytal, or 

 growing in the forks of trees, while 

 terrestrial orchids, like cypripediums, 

 make roots down into the compost of 

 the pots. 



Peat and Temperature. 



One well known grower says * ' too 

 much stress cannot be laid on soft 

 peat. ' ' By that he means that what is 

 used as peat with us is often like a bunch 

 of wire, hard roots that will absorb no 

 moisture and, therefore, cannot give it 

 i)S again to the benefit of the orchid 

 roots. Our peat is mostly all the tough 

 fibrous roots of some of our strong grow- 

 ing native ferns, Osmunda regalis, and 

 others. If too coarse and wiry it is not 

 suitable for the orchids, so choose the 

 more tender and younger pieces that will 

 pack in closely around the roots and 

 then cover the surface with live sphag- 

 num moss. When the moss gets old 

 and lifeless it is useless to the orchids; 

 when it is green and growing it is a 

 pretty sure indication that your orchids 

 are doing well. 



When making their bulbs they should 

 be given a warm, moist atmosphere and 

 an abundant supply of water. After the 

 new bulbs have matured, and until new 

 breaks appear, less water is needed and 

 more air and sunlight can be given. 

 From 55 to 70 degrees night temperature 

 is most desirable, the latter when they 

 fire in active growth, the former from 

 the time the new bulb is matured until 

 they break into growth again after 

 flowering. 



A cattleya out of flower is by no 

 means an ornamental plant except to the 

 real gardener, who enjoys to see his 

 charge in perfect health. Don't cut off 



any old pseudo-bulbs, however old they 

 may be, unless they have turned black. 

 If they are green they are sending down 

 the vital force that forms new roots and 

 the growth. 



Now, Mr. Craig and Mr. Orpet, don't 

 criticise me too harshly if I have made 

 mistakes. I am' much more at home in a 

 carnation house than an orchid collec- 

 tion, but for every one of my readers 

 who knows more about the commercial 

 orchids than does the writer, there are 

 ten who know almost nothing. 



Coelogyne Cristata. 



Ccelogyne cristata, the most useful of 

 the genus, has been much used the last 

 few weeks. It is one of the few white 

 orchids and figured largely in Miss 

 Roosevelt's wedding bouquet, made by 

 Mr. Blackistone, whom all the sports in 

 the trade will remember as the able 

 manager of the shooting tournament at 

 Washington, which is a further proof of 

 what I have always insisted must be the 

 case: To be a successful florist or art- 

 ist, or even bishop, you must also be a 

 sport, or at least love sport and games, 

 even if you have to curb them to suit 

 conventional ideas. 



The ccelogyne is a very easily managed 

 orchid and a most profuse bloomer. This 

 is the season of flowering, ana when that 

 is over is the time to repot or divide 

 your stock. They are best grown in 

 pans. Their bulbs, which much more re- 

 semble a bulb than do the so-called 

 pseudo-bulbs of the cattleya, are formed 

 in thick clusters, and, as they need a 

 great amount of water in their growing 

 season, they should not be grown on 

 blocks. Fill the pan almost full of clean 

 broken crocks. The compost, in addition 

 to fibrous peat and sphagnum, should 

 have some fibrous loam, sod from a pas- 

 ture with the soil or loam well shaken 

 out, also some broken-up charcoal. Let 

 the roots rest on an inch of this compost 

 and be well surrounded with the same 

 material. Keep the plants shaded and 

 frequently sprayed after shifting or di- 

 viding for a few weeks. 



Their growing season is from April on 

 through the summer, and until the ma- 

 ture bulb is formed give them copious 

 waterings and frequent spraying. When 

 the bulb is matured less water is needed, 

 but never so dry that the new bulb 

 shrivels during the winter months. They 

 do very well in any ordinary greenhouse 

 where the temperature does not go below 

 45 degrees, and they flower well in a 

 temperature of 55 degrees, so at least no 

 special house is needed for this' pretty 

 orchid. It has been the fad with \is of 

 late, when supplying a bunch of 100 vio- 

 lets, to have it crowned with a flower ot 

 cattleya or spray of ccelogyne. 



Stage of Easter Stock. 



Questions are coming in as follows: 

 "How early should lilies be to be in 

 flower at Easter." Lilies should now be 

 showing their buds so that you can 

 plainly count them. If not, I consider 

 them late. They will come fast now, as 

 well as endure a high temperature. 



Hydrangeas should plainly show their 

 flowers. Hybrid roses should be just 

 about so you can feel their buds in the 

 top of their growth, and the Crimson 

 Rambler should be sending out the small 

 cluster of buds free of the foliage. 



William Scott. 



Rosw^ELL, N. M. — Frans 0. Santheson 

 has leased the Alameda Greenhouse from 

 I Mrs. J. P. Church. 



