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The Weekly Flprists^ Review^ 



May 3, 1906. 



t 



VAUGHAN & SPERRY 



Wholesale Florists 



60 Wabash Ave. CHICAGO 



Write or wire for Special Quotations on larje lots Roses and Carnations 



Lilac Ready 



Peonies Next 



iM 



J 



Mention The Review when yon write. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



The Market 



The showerless April has brought in 

 quantities of cherry and other outdoor 

 blossoms, much appreciated for decora- 

 tive work, varying the effects made for 

 so long with greenhouse-grown flowers. 

 The warm weather which we have ex- 

 perienced has railroaded all the Btaple 

 varieties of cut flowers to such an extent 

 that it is impossible to move the surplus, 

 especially of poorer grades, at any 

 figures. Most of the good stock that 

 reaches the market can be disposed of, 

 but prices are low and variable. Beauties 

 are in heavy supply and command fair 

 prices. Sweet peas still sell well, espe- 

 cially the better grades. But violets are 

 over, and nearly all the bulbous stock 

 has disappeared, barring a few nice sin- 

 gle daffodils. Carnations are in heavy 

 supply. 



The Key to Success. 



The Floral Exchange has fully 175,- 

 000 square feet of glass at Edgely, Pa., 

 three miles beyond Bristol on the New 

 York branch of the Pennsylvania rail- 

 road. They are now erecting a new 

 house 64x250 feet, to be planted with 

 grafted Richmond. This is the third 

 house of this style on the place, the first 

 having been built five years ago. It 

 was 54x350. The other, built in 1903, 

 was 63x310. These houses are distinctly 

 Edgely houses, as opposed to the ridge 

 and furrow range style, or the sharp 

 pitch house usually built for cut flowers. 

 The idea is to economize building mate- 

 rial, the management believing that gut- 

 ters shade, while ridges and furrows 

 waste glass. The pitch is unusually flat, 

 the sides are high, and the ridge neces- 

 sarily is of great height in houses of 

 such breadth. I refrain from giving 

 figures, wishing merely to convey a gen- 

 eral idea of the style of house believed 

 in at Edgely. 



The roses in these houses are all 

 planted out in the ground, which is gen- 

 erally plowed, sometimes dug, before the 

 house is built. They are allowed to 

 remain for a number of years. One bed 

 of Brides, in particular, that are five 

 yeauiB old, would compare favorably with 

 almoet any bed of one-year-old plants. 

 The idea in growing is to keep the plants 

 steadily at it all the year around, thin- 

 ning ou* light wood and turning the 

 heavier shoots, as occasion requires, but 

 never drying off or resting the plants 

 to any extent. The figures on the score 

 card in the houses show an excellent 



cut, which, while smaller in winter than 

 in the other months of the year, would 

 certainly compare favorably with that of 

 many of our growers. 



There are 70,000 rose plants grown 

 at Edgely, about 8,500 each of American 

 Beauty and Queen of Edgely, 17,000 

 each Bride and Bridesmaid, 6,000 each 

 Ivory and Golden Gate, 3,000 Chateqay, 

 and there will be 11,000 Richmonds. 

 Most of them are now in potg, ready 

 for planting. Besides these there are 

 a few Killarney and Sweetheart, a tiny 

 rose brought from California by the 

 president of the company. The cut of 

 this vast place is distributed by two 

 commission houses each in Philadelphia 



Here is a dollar for another year. 

 ^e are very much pleased with 







Every florist ous;ht to read it, and 

 doubtless most of them do, for every 

 issue will put you in mind of some- 

 thing you ought to do. 



GEO. W. HAAS & SON. 

 Meadville, Pa. 

 April 18, 1906. 



and New York, and one each in Boston 

 and Pittsburg, besides the orders sent 

 direct by the retailers to the place. 



The heading of this note was sug- 

 gested by the thorough business-like sys- 

 tem evidenced in every detail of the 

 rose-growing at Edgely, a system, which, 

 if practiced by more of our growers, 

 would undoubtedly place their business 

 on a more substantial footing. A few 

 ideas of this system may be gleaned 

 from the fact that with the exception 

 of Beauty and Edgely, no roses are 

 grown on own roots, simply because a 

 careful comparison of the books proves 

 that the grafted plants yield better re- 

 turns. It was very diflScult for the man- 

 ager to realize this, as the own-root 



plants looked well and produced heavy 

 canes in the spring and summer. It was 

 further proved that the cost of replant- 

 ing and cleaning the houses was so great 

 that it was better to leave the house in 

 for almost an indefinite period rather 

 than incur this expense. Therefore 

 benches had to go, though there are still 

 some on the place, and ground beds are 

 favored. It is further believed that the 

 practice of disbudding may be easily 

 overdone, and at Edgely they allow the 

 plants to bloom pretty much when they 

 want to, after they have attained a cer- 

 tain height, finding that in this way they 

 get better returns. I do not mean that 

 these instances would apply on other 

 places, but simply call attention to the 

 fact that at Edgely the management has 

 tested every detail of the work and de- 

 cided what is best there. 



The place is heated by four large and 

 one small marine boiler fed with buck- 

 wheat coal. It is enriched by a wonder- 

 ful tank system of various fertilizers, 

 fermented with steam and sent through 

 the water pipes. A new cooling room, 

 large and convenient, has been installed, 

 which is invaluable. Adjoining it is a 

 commodious packing room. 



It is generally known that the Floral 

 Exchange had about 50,000 square feet 

 of glass prior to 1897, in which year it 

 was incorporated. D. Fuerstenberg is 

 president, Henry C. Geiger secretary and 

 Harry Simpson manager. The place is 

 full of interest and evidently one of the 

 most prosperous near this city. 



Various Noto. 



11. Bayersdorfer and Mrs. Bayersdor- 

 fer sailed last Tuesday from New York 

 on the North German Lloyd steamship 

 Grosser Kurfurst. 



Paul F. Richter entertained a dozen of 

 his business friends last Tuesday even- 

 ing at his home at Thirty-eighth and 

 Huntingdon streets. Mr. Richter re- 

 ceived a beautiful watch charm from his 

 business friends as a token of their es- 

 teem and regret at parting. 



M. Rice & Co. have an exclusive nov- 

 elty in a very neat and serviceable Uni- 

 versal cemetery vase, with pedestal and 

 pointed feet, just the thing that has 

 been wanted for the purpose. 



The Conard & Jones Co., West Grove, 

 Pa., is hard at work with its great spe- 

 cialty, cannas, starting and distributing 

 the dormant roots. 



The Keller Pottery Co., of Norris- 

 town, has had a very busy season. The 

 question in the fall was, "Where can 

 we get orders?" But from October on 

 the question was, "How can we keep 



