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Febkuaey 7, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



855 



The Model Establishment of the South Bend Floral G)., South Bendt Ind. 



PECKY CYPRESS. 



Would pecky cypress be as good as, 

 or better than, soft pine for greenhouse 

 benches where they are to be used for 

 plants with only an inch of sand in the 

 bottom? If soft pine is worth $30 per 

 thousand feet, what would pecky cypress 

 be worth for the same purpose? W. T. 



Pecky cypress, while not a handsome 

 lumber, will outlast any other wood in 

 greenhouse benches. This inquiry comes 

 from a city not far distant from Chi- 

 cago, and in Chicago pecky cypress is 

 used exclusively for bench material by 

 nearly all growers. In the Chicago mar- 

 ket pecky cypress is now worth $22 to 

 $23 per thousand feet, so that it would 

 to this grower be cheaper than the first 

 cost of pine, and the bench bottoms of 

 pecky cypress would last much longer. 



FERNS. 



How long should young ferns be 

 topped back? Mine are in 3 -inch pots 

 now. I want to plant them on a bench 

 for the summer months, put them in 

 6-inch and 7-inch pots early in autumn 

 and have them ready for October sale. 

 The varieties are Scottii and Piersoni, 



M.S. 



It is customary to cut back the old 

 fronds of nephrolepis to about six inches 

 above the ground at the time they are 

 planted out on the bench, and at the 

 same time they should be examined care- 

 fully for scale insects. The marks of the 

 scale show plainly on the surface of the 

 fronds in the form of light colored 

 spots, and any leaves that look suspicious 

 should be cut off entirely, as these in- 

 sects will soon ruin the crop. Give the 

 ferns plenty of light, and do not water 

 the bench too heavily before the plants 



get a start, and if your 3-inch plants 

 are in fair condition they should turn 

 out some strong plants by October. 



W. H. T. 



WISTARIA FOR EASTER. 



I have some wistaria plants I would 

 like to have ready for Easter sales. Will 

 you kindly give me some information 

 about them? How many weeks will it 

 taJte to force them in, and what tempera- 

 ture? W. W. 



Plants of Wistaria Sinensis should be 

 brought into heat right away to hav^ 

 them in flower for Easter, as that holi- 

 day comes unusually early this year. Give 

 them a sunny house with a temperature 

 of 55 degrees at night. Syringe freely. 

 It is unwise to subject them to hard 

 forcing or the buds may drop. Move to 

 a cooler house as the flower racemes start 

 to open. C. W. 



PLANTS FOR SUMMER. 



Will you tell me if delphinium, platy- 

 codon, sweet william, campanula and 

 poppy, if sowed in March in a coldframe, 

 will bloom during the summer? 



R W. M. 



None of the plants named, which are 

 either perennials or biennials, will flower 

 the first year from seed, except it may 

 be a few of the delphiniums. The grandi- 

 florum, or Chinensis type of the last 

 named will bloom. This is a very de- 

 sirable variety, growing eighteen to 

 twenty-four inches high and is perfectly 

 hardy. All the varieties specified, if 

 sown in March, will make splendid flower- 

 ing plants for the following year, how- 

 ever. 



We presume Campanula Medium, or 

 Canterbury bells, are the particular kind 

 desired. These and sweet williams are 



biennials and may be sown as late as 

 June to secure good plants for the suc- 

 ceeding year. Probably the scarlet 

 oriental poppy, Papaver orientale, is also 

 the one needed. Sown in March, trans- 

 planted and kept well cultivated all sum- 

 mer, it will make nice plants by fall. 

 All the varieties mentioned should be 

 planted out where they are to flower not 

 later than October 1 to secure good re- 

 sults. Canterbury bells are the least 

 hardy and if the location is a bleak one 

 they would be better placed in a cold- 

 frame in November and planted out 

 where they are to bloom early in April. 



W. N. Ceaig. 



AN INTERESTING PLANT. 



Through the middle west there are 

 springing up, and flourishing, many up- 

 to-date greenhouse establishments, among 

 the most modern of which may be men- 

 tioned the establishment illustrated in 

 this issue, that of the South Bend Floral 

 Co., South Bend, Ind., of which Irving 

 Gingrich is manager. The plant now con- 

 tains 35,000 square feet of glass, devoted 

 largely to the growing of cut flowers and 

 plants for the retail trade, but a whole- 

 sale business is done in carnation and 

 chrysanthemum cuttings and cannas. 



There are a number of intAresting 

 features about the place. The exterior 

 view shows the Wittbold sprinkling sys- 

 tem in the field in the foreground. The 

 three houses to the right comprise a new 

 addition just completed, using the King 

 truss system. The potting shed is shown 

 running north and south. The heat is 

 furnished by an eighty horse-power Bon- 

 sen boiler, furnished by the Lyons Bros. 

 Boiler Co., Chicago. 



Another view shows the construction of 

 the new concrete benches in several stages 

 of erection. The starting point is the 

 frame, consisting of two 1-inch pipe legs 



