1408 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



OCTOBKB 18, 1806. 



18, apparently, to aid in the production 

 and transformation of the protein 

 bodies. An insufficient supply of phos- 

 phoric acid always results in a poorly 

 developed plant. 



Potassium. 



Potassium is one of the most im- 

 portant and least variable of all the 

 elements in the ash of plants. It 

 is quite evenly distributed throughout 

 the leaves, stem, and seed, and generally, 

 occurs in the entire plant in the largest 

 proportion of any of the essential ash 

 constituents. The function of potassium 

 is apparently to aid in the production 

 and transformation of the carbo- 

 hydrates. • It is also essential for the 

 formation of protein, and thus indirectly 

 aids in the formation of all organic 

 matter. It doubtless has much to da 

 in the way of regulating the acidity 

 of the sap, by forming salts with the 

 organic acids developed during the 

 growth of the plant. 



Gtldum. 



Calcium is a constituent of the stem 

 rather than the seed, and seems to im- 

 part hardiness to plants. The exact 

 function of lime is not. clearly under- 

 stood, but it seems to aid in the con- 

 struction of the cell walls. According 

 to some authorities, its absence is felt 

 in less time than either potassium or 

 phosphorus. It is claimed that a supply 

 of lime is just as essential to the plant 

 in order that it may form cell walls 

 from starch and sugar, as it is for the 

 formation of bone in animals. 



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Moisttsreand Homus* 



¥ 



But the presence of the chemical ele- 

 ments of fertility in themselves is not 

 sufficient to insure fertility. To serve 

 as food plants, they must be in a form 

 available to the roots. Water is abso- 

 lutely essential, both for the solution 

 of the food elements in the soil, and for 

 their distribution in the plant after they 

 are acqiAred. 



Possibly no one factor influences the 

 water-holding power of soil more than 

 humus. It also appreciably affeots the 

 general physical condition of tl^e soil, 

 and in its decay it causes pot^h and 

 v' phosphoric acid to be rendered avail- 

 . . able to plants. The yarious essenti^ 

 .-elements of plant food may be suppfied 

 'in inorganic for]gas;''but unless humus 

 is present, to regulate the general physi- 

 cal conditions and to Supply the eiSBeli' 

 tials for the brtf^9g-up of the in- 

 jBofuble formed salvia the soils, vigor- 

 ous plaints cannot be produced. 



' . '/■ (To l9^.«eiitiDudd<) ■ ' ■■! * 



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.. -^i >«USHRCX>H«S. ;, 



This has beefi' a most prolific fall for 

 that delicious fniit of the pasture, Aga- 

 ricfus campestris. Someone wanted to 

 know tne name; of the common edible 

 mushroom. That is the name. Agaricus 

 is the genus of flingi to which it be- 

 longs, ^nd its specific name is from cam- 

 pus, a field, or open common, as the field 

 devoted to the sports aild games of col- 

 lege students is yet called the' college 

 •V eampus. The long, hot summer and 

 tnen the copious raiCfis of the past two 

 weeks will account for the abikMance of 

 mushrooms. They have been {pund in 

 orchards, meadows, and pastures, and 

 every wanderer in the fields has been 

 able to gather all he could carry. It's 

 a great olessing that many of our rural 

 ' population have not acquired a taste for 



mushrooms, and we hope they never will. 

 There will be all the more left for us 

 who dote on them. - 



We once dreamed that we had spread 

 before us more broiled mushrooms than 

 we could eat. It was only a dream, and 

 it never came true. What a lot of lies 

 there are told about the luscious fungi. 

 One farmer will tell you that when he 

 ploiB'ed his corn stubble he turned over 

 bushels of them. Another will tell you 

 that he "seen on Bill Skeet's farm, in 

 a, pasture, more 'n a wagon load. ' ' When 

 you go to these favored spots, satisfied 

 with only a remnant of these crops, they 

 all have disappeared. It's been a short 

 but a merry season for the lovers of the 

 musnroom, and let us hope they ^yill be 

 as abundant next fall. 



On going out the other morning, 

 shortly after the dew had evaporated, 

 we uiscovered near the barn ft likrge 

 specimen of agaricus. He was too large 

 to pick, and as he was criticising his 



Wm, Scott's Grandson. 



grandpa's Buffalo notes we had him pho- 

 tographed. This variety was not the 

 mushroom, but Agaricus Corfuensis, or 

 giant puff-ball. W. S. 



NEW YORK. 



The Market. 



With the advent of the chrysanthe- 

 mum flpod comes again the beautiful, 

 balmy Indian summer of late October, 

 so sure for New York every year, and 

 so ends the fourteen days of strong 

 prices for roses and carnations. But 

 there will be no serious slump and good 

 stock of all kinds will bring good prices, 

 no matter how swift and deep the river 

 of mums may flow. 



The chrysanthemums that came to 

 town last week were top-notchers, most 

 of them, and until Friday the best sold 

 for $6 a dozen. Then the price fell 

 gradually as the supply increased. With 

 the warmer weather and the supply grow- 

 ing in volume daily, we may expect to 

 record a big discount in our next re- 

 port. 



Violets are improving in color and 

 perfume. Something shortened the sup- 

 ply on Saturday. The demand could 

 not be filled. One expert declared the 



west was drawing on our source of sup- 

 ply up the Hudson and paying better 

 prices than we. This will never do. 

 While we are glad tQ see the west pro- 

 gress, it must not forget that we can 

 only spare what violets we cannot use 

 ourselves, and anyway 1,000 miles is too 

 far to ship them safely or sweetly. 

 When the perfume is dead what have 

 you left, and yet with the stockyards 

 odors I can easily imagine Chicago rev- 

 eling in the exquisite aroma of violets 

 forty-eight hours old. 



Beauties have fallen. They always 

 drop their heads and prices when the 

 big mums appear. On Saturday $25 per 

 hundred was top and the tendency 

 downward, a sort of "bear market," so 

 to speak. Soses of all kinds fell off. 

 There seemed to be no call for reds. 

 Their popularity is waning, perhaps be- 

 cause of their overabundance. Every- 

 body has Richmond. Tastes change. 

 When we had no Liberty or Richmond, 

 even the now neglected MSteor was pre- 

 cious. There is an oversupply of Killar- 

 ney. 



For corsages,- brides' bouquets and 

 table decoration orchids have the call, 

 among the 400 at any rate. The retail 

 windows are a safe guide on this ques- 

 tion. Not one of them is dressed until 

 it is ablaze with cattleyas or golden 

 odontoglossum. The predicted craze for 

 orchids has materialized sooner than we 

 dreamed. From all over the country 

 comes the demand for plants. Carrillo 

 & Baldwin tell me last week they 

 shipped away nearly fifty cases. This 

 means a local supply in every big city 

 before many years. Meantime New 

 York is aud will always be headquar- 

 ters, for around and within its limits 

 are several of the largest orchid grow- 

 ers in the world. 



Carnations are strong and scarce. 

 Never have the high rates held as firmly 

 as early in the season; $5 and $6 was 

 paid last week for Enchantress ;and 

 good whites. Every variety, where qual- 

 ity was up to the mark, touched high 

 water mark for October, and good prices 

 are likely to continue, for the supply is, 

 I am told, limited in comparison with 

 other years. 



VariotM Notes. ^ 



The club meeting, on November 12, 

 should be an interesting one. Most of 

 the mum experts have promised exhibits. 

 Totty will have a lot of his new ones 

 here from Madison. F. R. Pierson Co. 

 will demonstrate what their wonderful 

 new houses can produce. Imagine their 

 extent — nearly 50,000 square feet of 

 glass in three of them! 



Wm. Lesser, bookkeeper for Reed & 

 Keller during the last ten years, has not 

 taken a holiday in all that time. Next 

 year he goes for a long European trip. 

 Some idea of his devotion to business 

 may be realized when it is known that 

 in twenty-five years he has not been at 

 Coney Island. 



Thomas Young, Jr., has opened his 

 wholesale store immediately above the 

 retail estauiishment at 41 West Twenty- 

 eighth street. At the funeral of Mr. 

 Hyde, a well-known theatrical manager, 

 last week, the Thomas Young Co. sent a 

 standing wreath of orchids and valley 

 valued at $250. 



Arthur T. Boddington has taken the 

 American agency for Edward's English 

 cyaniding apparatus and cyanide so- 

 dium, for which they have created much 

 inquiry and demand. 



F. W. O. Schmitz, of Prince Bay, 



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