Fbbkuauy 14, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



933 



twisted; consequently the pollen cannot 

 be carried down to the ovule. 



1 always take a little pollen of the 

 seed bearer in order to get as much of 

 its habit as possible, as the pollen parent 

 Bometimes dominates over the seed 

 bearer and you lose exaietly what you 

 have been trying to preserve, a strong 

 growing habit. 



Under glass I fertilize any time, sum- 

 mer or winter. For outdoors in summer 

 you have to do this early, as the pollen 

 on a hot day towards noon gets hard 

 and is then worthless. If the pistils 

 have a watery appearance, then is the 

 time to apply the pollen. If the flower 

 which you wish to fertilize is not quite 

 ready to receive the pollen, you can cut 

 the flower, which you wish to poUenize 

 with, put it in a tumbler of water in a 

 cool, shady place and it will keep for 

 two or three days. 



Work With Other Plants. 



Martner, of Germany, was the first to 

 give the florists some really good things 

 in the way of azaleas. The first crossing 

 of tuberous-rooted begonias was made by 

 Zeith & Sons, of London, in 1869. Much 

 has been written lately about the pollen- 

 ization of the pear. My first attempt 

 in this line was about fifteen years ago. 

 I crossed the Duchess with the Seckel, 

 and the Kieffer with the Seckel, and 

 carefully poUenized them for two days 

 in succession. As the flowers appear in 

 clusters, I pollenized every one on one 

 cluster. In a few days I examined them 

 and found that half of them were drop- 

 ping off. I had noticed at the beginning 

 that some of the stems that carry the 

 flowers were of a much paler green than 

 others. By close examination and dis- 

 secting I found it was the fault of the 

 stem that supplies the flower with nour- 

 ishment and no amount of pollen would 

 set fruit. This only shows that the fault 

 of not setting fruit is put on the wrong 

 side. Plants are capable of forming the 

 fleshy part, or the shell, case, or what- 

 ever you may call it, that surrounds the 

 germ of the seed without any pollen. 



I have a Cycas revoluta which every 

 other year brings a crop of seed, not 

 the fleshy part, and the shell that sur- 

 rounds the little bulby part inside is 

 always perfect. All it would need would 

 be some pollen to fertilize it, as pollen 

 is nothing more than living cells, and 

 with these cells life begins. 



My advice to young men is to begin 

 early and study plant anatomy and 

 physiology. Dissect the flowers and fruit, 

 follow up the organs, see where they 

 start from and where they go. Without 

 this study we are working in a fog and 

 by studying them we are able to gather 

 a few pebbles on the shore of horticul- 

 tural knowledge. 



FOOD FOR TEAS. 



How much manure should be put into 

 sandy loam for Bride and Maid roses 

 and how much bone meal? Should the 

 beds be tamped before planting? Should 

 they be watered with liquid manure when 

 dry and with clear water between each 

 of the manure waterings? How early 

 should liquid manure be given them? 

 W. R. M. 



It depends on the nature and richness 

 of the soil and, without examining it, it 

 is impossible to state the exact propor- 

 tions of soil and manure required to 

 make it suitable for roses. The quality 

 of the manure must also be taken into 



consideration. The usual proportions are 

 good, turfy loam four, decomposed cow 

 manure one. 



Tamping the soil in the benches is a 

 rather ancient custom and not much 

 practiced by up-to-date growers; but if 

 the soil is of a very sandy nature the 

 s6il can, be tamped firm after the plants 

 are benched. 



It is not a good plan to feed with 

 liquid manure when the soil is dry, as 

 the plants are apt to use too much at 

 OBce and sicken themselves. When the 

 soil is in a half dry condition is the best 

 time to use it. 



If the liquid fe^eding is of ordinary 

 strength and the plants are robust there 

 is no necessity for using clear water be- 

 tween liquid applications. 



As to the proper time to commence 

 feeding with liquid the grower must be 

 guided by the condition of his plants 

 and the original richness of his compost. 

 Many good growers refrain from this 

 practice until the days begin to lengthen 

 in February. 



Bone meal can be applied at almost 

 any time with beneficial results. One 

 bushel to each 500 superficial feet of sur- 



The advertisement in the Carna- 

 tion Number of 





was entirely satisfactory and has 

 brought us lots of business. Will soon 

 use more space. 



HEIM SUPPORT CO. 

 Connersvillet Ind. 

 Feb. 2. 



face is sufficient for each application. 

 This should be lightly stirred in and 

 can be repeated every six weeks with 

 perfect safety. Bibes. 



BOSTON. 



The Market 



While wintery conditions continue and 

 we are enjoying zero temperature, with 

 abundance of snow for sleighing, we 

 have had rather more sunshine and flow- 

 ers are more abundant. In the case of 

 carnations, prices have fallen and a 

 further decline in the near future is 

 probable. The long dull spell in De- 

 cember and January must be held re- 

 sponsible for a lack of stem on many 

 of the flowers. 



Roses still sell at high prices, although 

 a decline, due to increasing supplies, is 

 noted as compared with the previous 

 week. Best Beauties and Richmonds still 

 realize something like Christmas prices. 

 Short-stemmed Brides and Maids are 

 more abundant and lower. 



Violets are plentiful and many are 



sold at 25 cents to 30 cents per hundied, 

 which is not very remunerative. Best 

 stock, however, still realizes 50 cents to 

 75 cents. Sweet peas continue to sell 

 well. Easter lilies are rather scarce and 

 make $2 a dozen. 



There is a much larger quantity of 

 bulbous stock arriving, ^ut the bulk of it 

 clears satisfactorily. La Reine continues 

 the dominant tulip, wfcile Trumpet Ma- 

 jor, Golden Spur and ^<double Von Sion 

 are daffodils most ii/ ^evidence. Some 

 fine Lilium speciosmB^-^Jojinra^ji^ubrum 

 are coming in aMl me&l^^ith a good 

 sale. No special change jn^rns or as- 

 paragus, but'smilax is making better 

 prices than usual. 



Southerland Suicides. 



George Southerland, wholesale commis- 

 sion florist at 34 Hawley street, on Mon- 

 day, February 31, Avas found asphyxiated 

 by gas supposed to have been turned on 

 by his own hand with suicidal intent. 

 The interment was Wednesday after- 

 noon. 



George A. Southerland was formerly 

 a partner of W. J. Stewart in the com- 

 mission business. Later he was associ- 

 ated with a man named Peck. After a 

 number of vicissitudes the business re- 

 cently was reorganized as the Souther- 

 land Co., a Mr. Burke being associated. 



Various Notes, 



John W. Duncan, of the Boston park 

 department, delivered an interesting lec- 

 ture on ' ' The Home Vegetable Garden, ' ' 

 at Horticultural hall, February 9. The 

 audience was the largest of the season 

 and the numerous questions asked 

 showed the keen interest taken in the 

 subject. 



At a meeting of the board of trus- 

 tees of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society February 9 Walter C. Bayliss 

 was elected a member of the board in. 

 place of the late George F. Fabyan. A 

 committee was appointed to arrange for 

 the decorating of the walls and ceiling 

 of the lecture hall and to improve its 

 acoustic properties. 



Florists and market gardeners oper- 

 ating steam boilers are up in arms 

 against proposed steam boiler legisla- 

 tion, which if enacted will make it com- 

 pulsory for all such to employ only 

 licensed firemen. At the next meeting of 

 the Gardeners' and Florists' Club, Feb- 

 ruary 19, all those operating steam boil- 

 ers are asked to meet the executive com- 

 mittee at Horticultural hall at 6 o'clock 

 to decide upon what action the club will 

 take in the matter. Every commercial 

 grower, whether belonging to the club 

 or not, is invited to be present. 



At the coming club meeting, in addi- 

 tion to Mr. Ross's lecture, there will be 

 some interesting exhibits, the steam 

 boiler question will be thoroughly aired 

 and everything points to a rousing at- 

 tendance. 



E. Sutermeister, of Readville, is 

 bringing in large quantities of Golden 

 Spur and Von Sion narcissi and other 

 bulbous stock of his usual high standard 

 of quality at present. 



A delegation from the Gardeners' and 

 Florists' Club will attend the annual 

 banquet of the North Shore Horticultural 

 Society February 15. W. N. Craig. 



London, Ont.— A. John Mill has gone 

 out of business. 



Fenton, Mich. — George Bridson is 

 spending about $2,000 in improving and 

 enlarging his greenhouses. 



