418 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



December 27, 1906. 



fm 



is printed Wednesday evening and 

 mailed early Thursday momins;. It 

 is earnestly requested that all adver- 

 tisers and correspondents mail their 

 **copy** to reach us by Monday or 

 Tuesday morninsf at latest, instead 

 of Wednesday morning:, as many 

 have done in the past. 



CONTENTS. 



Miscellaneous Seasonable Hints 407 



— Longiflorums 407 



— Tulips 407 



— Lily of the Valley 407 



— Dahlias 407 



— Freeslas 4(t7 



To Propagate Hydrangeas 407 



T)ie Craft and the Craftsman 407 



Azalea Firefly (lllus.) 40S 



tJkimmia Japonica (illus.) 400 



Delivery Teams of the Julius lloehrs Co., 



Kutberford, N. J. (illus.) 410 



Carnations — Carnation Notes— West 410 



— Temperature 411 



— Tobacco Stem Ashes 4J1 



— Thrips 411 



— Carnation Exhibits 411 



Vanda Sanderiana (illus.) 411 



The Glass Market 411 



A Successful Career (lllus.) 412 



New Sweet Peas (with supplementary illus.) 412 



Sweet Peas 412 



Hybrid Calceolarias (illus. ) 413 



Spiraeas and Lilacs 413 



Store Employee* of the Siebert Co., Pitts- 

 burg, Pa. (lllus.) 413 



Roses — Propagating Beauties 414 



— Poor Soil 414 



Vacant Chair by Joseph Haube (illus.) 414 



Bstablishment of Joseph Haube (illus.) 415 



Tbe Trade in Mississippi (lllus.) 415 



Notes from England 415 



Asters 415 



Florists and Express Rates 416 



Store of the Geller Supply Co. (lllus.) 417 



Notice 418 



The Readers' Corner — Valley on Heating 



Pipes 418 



— Transportation Problems 418 



— A Bad Habit 418 



Cinerarias 418 



Chicago 419 



Boston 421 



Philadelphia 423 



Springfield, 426 



New York 426 



Pittsburg 427 



Baltimore 428 



(Heveland 429 



Steamer Sailings 430 



Westerly, R. 1 430 



Vegetable Forcing — Vegetable Markets 432 



— Lettuce Worm 432 



— Feeding 432 



Seed Trade News 433 



— Imports 434 



— Notes from Holland 434 



— Season and Seeds 434 



— European Seed Notes 435 



— Vitality of Seeds 436 



— Anthurlum Seed 4.36 



— Fumigating Seeds 4.36 



Wayside Notes 438 



Pacific Coast 446 



— San Francisco 446 



— The University Farm 446 



— At Salem. Ore. (lllus. ) 447 



Cincinnati 447 



Nursery Notes 448 



— New Minnesota Nursery 448 



^~ Violate Pennsylvania Law 448 



Sulphur 448 



Providence, R. 1 450 



St. Louis 452 



New Orleans 4.54 



Greenhouse Heating 462 



Detroit 464 



The araucaria has come into its own 

 as a Christmas plant. 



Easter, 1907, falls on March 31, two 

 weeks earlier than in 1906. 



As to Christmas prices, it is worth 

 while remembering that it is supply and 

 demand, nothing else, which regulates 

 values. 



The interstate commerce commission 

 announces that in consequence of a large 

 number of complaints from all sections 

 of the country it is about to undertake a 

 general inquiry into the reasonableness 

 of express rates. 



NOTICE. 



To Advertisers and Correspondents. 



Advertisers and correspondents are 

 asked to note that New Year's falls on 

 Tuesday, the busiest day in the oflSce 

 of the Review. It is desirable that copy 

 for the issue of January 3 be placed in 

 our hands one day earlier than usual. 



THE READERS' CORNER. 



Valley on Heating Pipes. 



Seeing an article in the Review of De- 

 cember 13 on "Valley Under Benches," 

 written oy Mr. Scott, I wish to state 

 that I have grown them for a number 

 of years, both in pots and flats, and 

 have grown them no other way, I have 

 used moss, as he states, but I find by 

 laying pots or flats the same size, over 

 the pipes and stopping the holes with 

 moss, they act much better, as they are 

 not so apt to rot as with the damp moss, 

 and I find they grow more evenly. I 

 disagree with him in the cutting of the 

 roots, as I never leave them much over 

 three inches, if any, and I doubt if Mr. 

 Scott has had better success than I have 

 had. F. Jenkins. 



Transportation Problems. 



The trouble why so many shipments 

 are wrongly classified is not the desire 

 of the transportation company to skin 

 us, any more than it is our desire to 

 skin others. The average shipper does 

 not take the time to study the various 

 classifications, noting changes, etc. 



Every shipper should state the address, 

 town, county, street, state, then what the 

 shipment consists of, boxes, bales, etc., 

 what items they contain, the freight rate, 

 the delivering line, etc., not hurriedly 

 but methodically. 



Every railroad or express employee is 

 just as anxious to do his duty as is the 

 florist; he is just as anxious to correct 

 errors that are not his fault as is the 

 average florist. The average transpor- 

 tation employee works hard for the little 

 that is doled out for his hard work; 

 work that is very trying, very exacting. 

 Railroads are in it for every limit the 

 traffic will stand, and they get it. If 

 the average florist would follow their 

 lead there would be more enjoyment in 

 the business, for considering the ability, 

 perplexities, care and responsibility re- 

 quired of the average florist, the amount 

 received as compensation is relatively 

 meager. The student of scientific eco- 

 nomics sees the need of better help, 

 better surroundings, better pay, better 

 hours, better prices, more business-like 

 methods or the whole trade will suffer 

 by our fogginess. C. Betscher. 



A Bad Habit. 



I would like to call the attention of 

 the readers of the Review to a habit 

 among our wholesale men, which, al- 

 though it may seem trifling, does harm. 



Some days ago I received a box, con- 

 taining wire frames, marked, "Rush, 

 Perishable Flowers ! No delay ! ' ' The 

 train was late and the expressman 



rushed over to the greenhouse, it being 

 nearly midnight. The next day I re- 

 ceived a box of violets. It was not 

 marked * ' Rush ' ' and the box remained 

 in the express ofiice over night. Would 

 it not be better to use * ' Rush, ' ' etc.» 

 only on boxes containing perishable 

 flowers and not on florists' supplies? 

 The express companies are, during the 

 holiday time, rushed to the limit and it 

 does not seem right to rush the em- 

 ployees when there is no occasion for it. 



W. Bay. 



QNERARIAS. 



My cinerarias are budding and look 

 fine and healthy. The seed was sown in 

 August and the plants are now in 4-inch 

 and 5-inch pots. The soil is composed 

 of three-fourths rotted sod, one-fourth 

 leaf-mold, with a little well rotted ma- 

 ure added. I keep them in a temperature 

 of about 50 degrees night and day. The 

 lower leaves wilt and gradually die. As 

 the plants are free from insects I am 

 at a loss to know the trouble. 



F. B. F. 



The cineraria is considered a cheap 

 and unprofitable plant, but with all that 

 it wants careful watching, as much as 

 many other more expensive plants. You 

 appear to have sown them at the proper 

 time and have used an excellent compost 

 for growing them, and the temperature 

 is not wrong, although 40 degrees at 

 night and 50 degrees in the daytime 

 would be nearer the ideal. This is one 

 of those cold-blooded plants that are 

 hurt with the slightest frost and yet will 

 grow and thrive a few degrees above it. 



The fact that they are showing flower 

 so early is because the roots are confined 

 in too small pots. The wilting of the 

 lower leaves we have often seen occur 

 and may be caused by the soil in the 

 pots being too dry, and it also may be 

 caused by too much watering. The writer 

 knows no plant that needs more care in 

 watering than the cineraria and it ia 

 the watchful care that is needed in this 

 respect that makes them unprofitable. 

 They want water just when they need it. 

 If you used sifted soil and it is fine in 

 texture and does not let water pass 

 freely through it is almost impossible to 

 grow cinerarias. The potting soil, espe- 

 cially in their last shift, should be coarse 

 and porous and then overwatering is not 

 liable to do so much harm. 



Unless wanted to flower in January I 

 would advise you to pinch out the flower 

 stem. Shift the 4-inch into 6-inch pots 

 and you will have fine plants later in 

 spring. Keep them on a light, airy 

 bench and keep them at 40 degrees night 

 and 50 degrees in the daytime, and yoit 

 must give plenty of room between the 

 plants. W. S. 



Watertown, Wis. — Loeffler & Benke 

 are building another house 30x100. 



Fond du Lac, Wis. — E. Haentze haa 

 turned the active management of his 

 business over to his sons, and in the 

 spring intends to pay a visit to his old 

 home and relatives in Germany. 



Sparta, III. — H. O. Clendenin says. 

 Christmas trade was about as usual. Cut 

 flowers had the call, with carnations the 

 leading favorites. The non-arrival of 

 Christmas trees and later shipments of 

 holly was a sore disappointment and 

 placed them in a trying situation, as all 

 the trees were sold in advance. 



