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October 4, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



)285 



^'•>^ 



Bulbs for Easter 



lExtra Selected Multiflorums 

 ' - True to Name 



Each case contains a CERTIFICATE of the ** WM. P. CRAIG BULB FARM of JAPAN" 

 which is a guarantee of quality. We have to offer in this lot and a shipment 

 due OCTOBER 10, about 40.000 BULBS at SPECIAL LOW PRICES. Order at 

 least a SAMPLE LOT to test the QUALITY of our MONOGRAM BRAND BULBS. 



Size, 

 ' . , ... InctaeB. 



LILIUM MULTIFLORUM .. -... 7-9 



LILIUM GIGXNTEUM 7-9 



LILIUM GIGANTEUM - 8-10 



^n?i|lmeStS/'*'** AZORE LONGIELORUM 6-7 



' Which are ot excellent qnality. 



Have you had my book which tells about ** MY MAN IN JAPAN?** 

 If not« I will send it upon request. 



WM. P. CRAIG 



1305 Filbert Street/ Philadelphia 



bean growers, with others for Nebraska, 

 Ck)nnecticut and southern specialties, and 

 cover all requirements for a fairly com- 

 plete line. The quantities are large. It 

 appears that the contracts generally 

 were placed at low prices, a big block 

 of onion among them, and it is quite 

 likely that within the next ninety days 

 Sears, Eoebuck & Co. can job off the 

 stock with a much better showing than 

 they last year were able to make in the 

 mail trade. 



'Steo SELECTION. 



\ 



A writer in the Journal of Horticul- 

 ture raises an interesting question of the 

 seed trade in reference to possibilities 

 of selection, for improvement in the size, 

 shape, weight and color of all classes of 

 seeds used by growers. This is a subject 

 which in Europe at least receives far too 

 little study and attention, leaving out 

 perhaps two or three great firms who 

 work on scientific lines. I imagine that 

 nine out of ten growers would be satis- 

 fied and would consider they had first- 

 class quality seed supplied them if they 

 get 100 per cent to germinate quite true 

 to name, and probably such seeds from 

 our present commercial standpoint are of 

 first-class quality. But are they as good 

 as can be produced? How few seed 

 growers there are who do more than care- 

 fully rogue the crops when growing, pay 

 attention to the proper cultivation, har- 



vesting and drying, carefully cleaning the 

 seeds from weeds and rubbish; perhaps 

 in the case of peas and beans t]^ey only 

 take out a few of the smallest. Certain 

 it is that the larger the seed of any 

 plant the better and stronger will be 

 the growth and resulting crop, not for- 

 getting also the highest standard of 

 quality in color, shape, maturity and 

 solidity. Of course, were a seedsman to 

 make a practice of selecting his seeds in 

 this manner, and supplying only those 

 which showed an annually increasing high 

 standard of. quality on all the pointy 

 □rationed, the question of expense would 

 make the purchase of such seeds pro- 

 hibitive to the ordinary users. And yet, 

 would it? The best is always tiie cheap- 

 est and most economical, and therefore 

 the most profitable. This applies more 

 to seeds than to any other article of 

 horticulture. Were seeds always selected 

 to a higher standard each year the possi- 

 bilities of improvement would be almost 

 unlimited. If any one doubts these as- 

 sertions (as the writer mentioned above 

 remarks) let him get a pint of peas and 

 a pint of beans and select from each 

 the largest seeds in one-half and the 

 smallest seeds in the other, not forget- 

 ting the solidity and weight per hundred 

 seeds. Let him sow the four halves 

 separate, and a yield of fully twenty- 

 five per cent increase will be obtained 

 from the two selected samples. The 

 same thing will occur in a selection of 



smaller-seeded plants, such as radish, 

 onion, etc. If the stock seeds of our 

 seedsmen were annually obtained only 

 from these annually selected seeds, im- 

 provement would continue, and crops of 

 our market growers would be greatly im- 

 proved thereby. 



It appears from experience that the 

 lower temperature a seed is grown in, 

 in which it will properly mature and 

 ripen its seed, the better and more vig- 

 orous it is when afterward grown in a 

 warmer temperature. Consequently it 

 should always be a practice of growers 

 to procure their seeds grown as much as 

 possible in a colder climate than that in 

 which they are to be used. This method 

 only applies to quite hardy subjects, 

 such as annual flowers, etc., where they 

 are not required to fully mature their 

 crop, but produce little more than bloom. 

 It is obvious that they must be grown in 

 a warmer country than many in which 

 they are used. B. J. 



CARTER'S MONARCH STOCK. 



A new and fine strain of ten-weeks 

 stock is Carter's Monarch. Our trial 

 proves that it comes into bloom particu- 

 larly early, and the great length of spike 

 favors a continuance of blossom for a 

 long period. Its fragrance, which at any 

 season is most refreshing and agreeable, 

 fills the air during the early morning and 

 evening. The immense size of individual 



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