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1002 



The Weekly Rorists' Review* 



Fbbruart 21, 1907. 



SOUTHERN FLORISTS. 



First Annual Convention. 



The first annual convention of the So- 

 ciety of Southern riorists was held at 

 New Orleans February 14 to 16 and 

 was a most pronounced success so far as 

 the interesting nature of the proceed- 

 ings was concerned, but in point of at- 

 tendance and extent of trade display 

 did not come up to tne expectations of 

 the promoters. President E. C. Berck- 

 mans was prevented from being present 

 and the meetings were presided over by 

 C. W. Eichling, of New Orleans, vice- 

 president of the society, who acquitted 

 himself most creditably. The report of 

 the secretary showed a membership of 

 fifty-six aiii the treasurer's report 

 showed a balance of $104.90. 



Essays were read as follows: "Chrys- 

 anthemum Growing in the South," F. 

 P. Davis, Mobile, Ala.; "Profitable 

 Orchids for the Florist," J. A. New- 

 sham, New Orleans; "Packing, Ship- 

 ping and Express Rates," C. W. Eich- 

 ling, New Orleans; "Eoses Under Glass 

 in the South," E. Lockerbie, New Or- 

 leans; "What the South Can Grow for 

 Northern Markets," B. M. Wichers, 

 Gretna, La.; "Laws and Eegulations 

 Controlling Spread of Insects and Plant 

 Diseases," A. A. Eosenfeld; "Experi- 

 ence with Carnations in Alabama," W. 

 B. Patterson, Jr., Montgomery, Ala. ; 

 "Gardening in the Public Schools," 

 Prof. Caldwell, Nachitoches, La. 



The presentation of each paper was 

 followed by interesting discussion, in 

 each the New Orleans craft participated 

 and from which Inany valuable points 

 of personal experience were extracted. 

 Among those who figured in the debates 

 were J. A. Newsham, E. Lockerbie, C. 

 W. Eichling, Joseph Steckler, P. Abele, 

 E. Baker, A. Alost, W. B. Patterson, 

 Jr., M. M. de Lapouyade, P. A. Chopin, 

 B. M. Wichers, Harry Papworth, C. R. 

 Panter, W. L. Kroeschell and others. 

 It was the consensus of opinion that 

 none of our trade organizations has ever 

 had a more valuable set of papers, nor 

 has it ever had more interesting and 

 instructive discussions. 



The officers elected were as follows: 

 President, J. A. Newsham, New Orleans; 

 vice-president, F. P. Davis, Mobile, 

 Ala.; second vice-president, W. B. Pat- 

 terson, Montgomery, Ala.; treasurer, Jo- 

 seph Steckler, New Orleans; secretary, 

 Paul Abele, New Orleans; executive 

 committee, E. H. E. Green, Dallas, Tex.; 

 Edw. Baker, C. E. Panter and E. Lock- 

 erbie, New Orleans. 



The selection of the place of next 

 meeting was left in the hands of the 

 executive committee. 



A part of the closing session was de- 

 voted to a discussion as to how greater 

 interest could be aroused among the 

 members outside of New Orleans. It 

 was the general opinion that an excel- 

 lent start hag been made in the first 

 year of the society's existence and that 

 the prospect is good for a much better 

 attendance at the second annual meet- 

 ing. 



Among those present from out of 

 town were W. L. Kroeschell, of Kroes- 

 chell Bros. Co., Chicago; George O. 

 Stoddard, of Caldwell, the Woodsman 

 Decorating Co., Evergreen Ala.; C. D. 

 Otis, Lake Charles, I^.; M. J. Galvin, 

 Uniontown, Pa.; W. B. Patterson, Jr., 

 Montgomery, Ala. 



The trade exhibition was largely con- 

 fined to the displays of stock by New 



Orleans growers, but many of these were 

 of much interest. M. Cook & Son 

 made a fine display of sweet olive 

 raised from layers, exhibiting plants all 

 the way from 4-inch pots to specimens 

 six feet tall. B. M. Wichers, Gretna, 

 La., had a fine display of ferns of the 

 nephrolepis varieties. C. W. Eichling 

 staged plants of Adiantum hybridum 

 and A. magnificum. J. A. Newsham 

 had two groups of decorative plants, 

 including a pair of Cocos Australis val- 

 ued at $150. He also had fine azaleas 

 and rhododendrons. Abele Bros, staged 

 a large quantity of flowering plants. 

 Chas. Eble showed good stock of palms 

 and ferns. The J. Steckler Seed Co. 

 had a splendid display of vegetables, 

 grown from their seeds. S. Nosacka & 

 Son, New Orleans, showed wire frames. 



The Avenue Floral Co. had an exhibit of 

 Target brand scale destroyer. Kroes- 

 chell Bros. Co., Chicago, had one of its 

 boilers on exhibition. The Paducab 

 Pottery Co., Paducah, Ky., exhibited a 

 general line of its wares. 



Saturday evening seventy members of 

 the New Orleans Horticultural Society 

 and guests sat at a banquet at Fabach- 

 er's restaurant. An excellent menu was 

 partaken of, after which President Otto 

 Abele introduced C. E. Panter as toast- 

 master. He filled the post most accept- 

 ably. J. C. Waldo, assistant district 

 attorney, was the speaker of the even- 

 ing, and a number of those in the trade,, 

 including the visitors, were called on 

 for remarks.. The banquet was one of 

 the most successful features of the con- 

 vention. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Chinese Primroses. 



Nicely bloomed plants of Chinese 

 primroses sell well at Christmas. It 

 may seem a long cry ahead to that fes- 

 tival, but if nice plants in 5-inch or 

 6-inch pots are desired the seed should 

 be sown not later than the middle of 

 March. Of course, flowering plants may 

 be secured from later sowings, but the 

 seed will germinate better now, before 

 the sun has gained too much power. It 

 never pays to purchase cheap mixtures 

 of any of the choice greenhouse flower- 

 ing plants. Buy the best strain procur- 

 able and, if you have critical customers, 

 get it in separate colors. For a Christ- 

 mas color nothing is better than Crim- 

 son King, introduced some years ago by 

 Sutton, the well-known English seed 

 house. Soft pink, deep pink, pure white 

 and blue are all good selling colors. The 

 Duchess has jumped into great favor. 

 It has a pure white flower of large size, 

 with a zone of rosy carmine surrounding 

 a clear yellow eye.' 



The newer Primula stellata, commonly 

 known as star primroses, have been much 

 improved the last two or three years. 

 The flowers are smaller than in the case 

 of P. Sinensis, but are freely produced, 

 on long stems thrown well above the 

 foliage. For decorative effect in rooms 

 or for table centerpieces these are much 

 superior to the older type. These are 

 now procurable in about as many shades 

 of color as the older type, but the varie- 

 ties White Queen Star and Pink Star 

 make the best plants. The blues and 

 scarlets do not grow so vigorously. 



In sowing primulas, pans or flats 

 should be used, well drained, some 

 coarse moss over the drainage, followed 

 by finely sifted soil composed of two- 

 thirds leaf-mold, one-third loam and a 

 good dash of sand and powdered char- 

 coal. Water the pans or flats after level- 

 ing them, drop the seeds evenly over the 

 surface, sift a little compost over them, 

 just enough to cover the seeds; water 

 lightly, then cover with sheets of glass 

 and lay paper over that until germina- 

 tion occurs, when they should be gradu- 

 ally inured to air and Ught. In a moist 

 house with a night temperature of 60 



degrees the seeds will germinate in from 

 two to three weeks. 



Cinerarias. 



Cinerarias love a cool house, 45 de- 

 grees at night being high enough. They 

 are now growing rapidly and if any 

 need a shift ere flowering let them have 

 it right away. A compost of two-thirda 

 turfy loam, one-third dried cow manure 

 and a little fine bone may be used for 

 this final potting. Green aphis is partial 

 to them and tobacco stems should be 

 spread among them once a fortnight. 

 Similar treatment will suit calceolarias. 

 A spraying overhead early in the after- 

 noon will be found beneficial. 



Bulbous Stock. 



We are now getting more sunshine and 

 bulbous stock comes on much more 

 rapidly. It is yet too early to bring in 

 narcissi and tulips for Easter. From 

 March 5 to 10, with ordinary winter 

 conditions, should be suflficiently early. 

 It will now be unnecessary to place the 

 flats and pans in dark places to draw 

 up the stems, as they will have made 

 a good growth by this time and the 

 extra sun heat will help to lengthen them. 

 It will be well to allow such narcissi as 

 Horsfieldii, Emperor, Sir Watkin and any 

 of the Leedsi type a few days longer 

 than such well-known forcing kinds as 

 Golden Spur, Trumpet Major and dou- 

 ble Von Sion. The early form of pheas- 

 ant's eye, N. poeticus omatus, is a 

 most useful Easter flower and should 

 be brought in right away, as it comes 

 on rather more slowly. Do not subject 

 any of these bulbs to a higher tempera- 

 ture than 50 to 52 degrees at night and 

 they will be in ample time. 



Such popular double tulips as Murillo, 

 Rex Eubrorum, La Candeur and Tour- 

 nesol will be found to need a little longer 

 time for development than La Reine, 

 Yellow Prince, Keizerskroon, the Potte- 

 bakker's, Cottage Maid and other sin- 

 gles. Hyacinths should be coming along 

 within three weeks without undue forc- 

 ing. It is always diflBcult to tell pre- 

 cisely the time needed to get these things 

 in season. If March should be cold and 



