412 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



Decembeb 27, 1906. 



knowQ. They say that inquiry is be- 

 ginning earlier than usual and that buy- 

 ers are asking for prices on larger av- 

 erage lots than is usually the case. In- 

 cidentally it is noteworthy that they are 

 figuring on a number of big lots for 

 large growers for the Chicago market. 



Mr. LeVaque says that greenhouse own- 

 ers do not understand the difficulty which 

 attends procuring supplies of greenhouse 

 sizes. The florist does not appreciate 

 that the glass-blowers are paid higher 

 wages for making the larger sizes of 

 glass and that, therefore, there is a 

 natural disinclination on the part of the 

 workmen to cut the greenhouse sizes. 

 The significance of this lies in the fact 

 that there are more glass factories than 

 there are glass-blowers to operate them 

 and naturally the employer must keep 

 his men at work on the sizes that pay the 

 workmen best or see them desert his fac- 

 tory for one where they can get em- 

 ployment on the sizes that bring the 

 workers the most money. 



Another point is that the recent or- 

 ganization of glass manufacturers pur- 

 poses to end the season's fire not later 



A SUCCESSFUL CAREER. 



John Eblen, * ' Honest John, ' ' of New 

 Orleans, has an interesting history, and 

 one that points a moral, though it may 

 not adorn a tale. 



He was born in Wurtemberg, Ger- 

 many, in 1843, and has been engaged in 

 horticulture since leaving school at tue 

 age of 18 years. He began with his 

 uncle at Stuttgart, going from there to 

 the royal gardens at Kennstadt. Wlien 

 23 years old he went to Paris, where he 

 was employed in the government gar- 

 dens which supply plants and flowers for 

 public places. From that position he 

 went to work for the estate of the late 

 Baron Eothschild, in which position he 

 continued until the war between France 

 and Germany in 1871, when the unpleas- 

 ant conditions prompted him to come to 

 the United States. He selected New Or- 

 leans as his location, and soon began bus- 

 iness for himself. In 1876 he established 

 Mount Ararat Nursery, in the vicinity 

 of Audubon park. His knowledge of the 

 business, coupled with his industry and 

 integrity, made him successful from the 

 start. When the New Orleans Hortieul- 



John Eblen. 



than May 15, which is fully six weeks 

 earlier than usual. There appears little 

 likelihood of any considerable accumu- 

 lation of greenhouse sizes before that 

 date and it is quite possible that next 

 autumn will see the market bare of 

 greenhouse sizes. 



Little glass is now being imported be- 

 cause the Belgian glass-makers have re- 

 cently come to a good working agree- 

 ment and it is not possible to buy there 

 and pay duty, transportation, etc., and 

 compete with the present domestic prices. 



Lexington, Mo. — Mrs. J. P. Coen has 

 sold her residence and greenhouse to D. 

 W. Trine, of Dooley, Va., who took pos- 

 session December 12, The new owner 

 comes highly recommended. 



tural Society was formed in 1884, Mr. 

 Eblen was elected treasurer, which posi- 

 tion he has held ever since. This alone 

 is indicative of the high esteem in which 

 he is held by his brethren in the craft. 



As a grower Mr. Eblen is successful 

 with all plants, and especially with the 

 delicate ones. He is now making a spe- 

 cialty of adiantum. By careful invest- 

 ments and shrewd business tact he is 

 now in excellent financial circumstances, 

 and can retire from business at any 

 time, with the knowledge that he has 

 been successful in the best sense of the 

 word. His domestic relations have al- 

 ways been congenial, and his large fam- 

 ily of children, now grown up, and some 

 of them well established, have reason to 

 be proud of their father's achievements. 



NEW SWEET PEAS. 



Progeny of Gladys Unwin. 



The advent of the Countess Spencer 

 type of sweet pea marked the greatest 

 advance made in many years of fairly 

 rapid progress with this popular flower, 

 but it remained for an English amateur 

 gardener to "fix" these new jquali- 

 ties in the variety which has gone 

 around the world as Gladys Unwin. 

 From Gladys Unwin have come several 

 new colors, the varieties said to have all 

 the characteristics of the parent and as 

 unchangeable as in that variety. Four 

 of these have been grown in sufficient 

 quantity that they soon will be claiming 

 the attention of American sweet pea 

 fanciers. They each produce seventy to 

 seventy-five per cent, four blooms to the 

 stalk. 



These new varieties, which are shown 

 in the colored plate sent out as a supple- 

 ment with this issue of the Keview may 

 be described as follows: 



Nora Unwin takes its place easily in 

 the front rank of whites, far outdistanc- 

 ing Dorothy Eckford, which was hitherto 

 considered the finest white. This variety 

 has the same bold, wavy standard as 

 Gladys Unwin. 



Mrs. Alfred Watkins is a superb pink 

 of Gladys Unwin type, the same pale 

 pink color as the old Princess Beatrice, 

 which was thought so much of when it 

 came out many years ago; but the flow- 

 ers of Mrs. Alfred Watkins are so much 

 larger and have the beautiful, bold wavy 

 standard of Gladys Unwin. It will be 

 one of the best market varieties for cut 

 bloom. 



Frank Dolby is a lovely pale blue, the 

 same shade as Lady Grisel Hamilton but 

 much lai^er, and, being also bred from 

 Gladys Unwin, it has the same bold, wavy 

 standard. It is the largest and finest 

 pale blue sweet pea. 



E. J. Castle is a magnificent addition 

 to the Gladys Unwin class, with the 

 same large flowers and bold, wavy stand- 

 ard of its parent. It is somewhat lighter 

 than John Ingman, but with rather more 

 salmon shading in the standard, and has 

 a lovely effect. 



SWEET PEAS. 



I grow a great many sweet peas and 

 have had the best of success with them. 

 I have never shipped to the New York 

 market, but mean to try this year. Can 

 you give me a little advice on this sub- 

 ject? Will it be best to bunch them fifty 

 in a bunch, or 100? They are picked 

 here in the morning, placed in water un- 

 til packed, shipped at 8 in the evening 

 and will reach New York early in the 

 morning, about 8 a. m. Will it be ad- 

 visable to wrap each bunch in wax paper, 

 or would they be less liable to heat if 

 not wrapped? Would you advise ship- 

 ping to a wholesaler or a retailer? We 

 expect to pick about 10,000 stems per 

 day. Last year I began picking June 20 

 and picked continuously until October 7. 

 Would any other fertilizer besides stable 

 manure and wood ashes be advisable for 

 use? Mrs. Louis J. Bates. 



Watkins, N. Y. 



We should recommend by all means 

 shipping to a wholesale commission flo- 

 rist. Pick out one among the advertisers 

 in the Review and write to him about 

 picking, bunching, packing and shipping. 

 He also will tell you what colors or vari- 

 eties he can use to best advantage. — Ed. 



