'^T 



1088 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Febbuaby 28, 1907. 



the dwarf and taller growing German 

 irises feel quite independent of the more 

 difficult forms, however. The German 

 iris, as popularly known, varies in growth 

 in the varied forms from fifteen to forty 

 inches. The earlier varieties commence 

 blooming in early May, and by a care- 

 ful selection of kinds it is possible to 

 keep up a succession of flowers nntil late 

 June. 



Iris Florentina, the orris root of com- 

 merce, is one of the most popular, and 

 deservedly so, for over a hundred years 

 it has occupied a conspicuous position in 

 every large New England garden and 

 during the period has lost none of its 

 popularity. Free blooming, with flowers 

 of pearly whiteness, it annually leads the 

 way to the charms of the early summer 

 garden flowers. There are three forms, 

 the common type just described, the va- 

 riety Albicans, of a purer white, and 

 Princess of Wales, even more floriferous, 

 with slightly longer flowers and the most 

 deliciously fragrant of any German iris. 



The crowning beauty of all German 

 irises is traceable to the blood of Iris 

 pallida, the broadest leaved of all, with 

 sword-like foliage often attaining a 

 height of two and one-half feet and an 

 inch and a half across the blade. The 

 flowers are borne on long stems bearing 

 these flowers well above the foliage, al- 

 together producing a most charming ef- 

 fect. The variety Dalmatica, or some- 

 times known as Princess Beatrice and 

 occasionally in this country as Madam 

 Almyra, is the finest, with immense flow- 

 ers of a rich lavender blue and with a 

 charming though subtle fragrance. Deli- 

 eata is of weaker growth, with falls lav- 

 ender, shading to white and French gray 

 standards. Hybridizing has not im- 

 proved this species. 



The varieties of German iris mentioned 

 are but a fraction of those that can be 

 purchased from horticultural sources ; 

 they represent, however, the best, and 

 among them are varieties far advanced 

 in horticultural merit over many of the 

 more common varieties seen. Of clear 

 yellow German irises we have tv\'o spe- 

 cies, flavescens and aurea; both are good, 

 the former attaining a height of three 

 feet, with lemon yellow flowers, and the 



latter of dwarfer growth, with rich gol- 

 den yellow flowers. 



All of these irises with surface rhi- 

 zomes are of the easiest cultivation, 

 thriving in ordinary garden soils, requir- 

 ing subdivision and replanting in re- 

 enriched soils as their clumps become 

 large or the soil becomes exhausted. 

 This replanting should be done as soon 

 as the foliage shows signs of ripening 

 and must not be delayed so long that 

 they may not become thoroughly re- 

 established in the soil before winter. ' In 

 planting it is better not to sink the 

 rhizomes over an inch below the surface 

 unless the situation is naturally a very 

 dry one. As the plants become estab- 

 lished, the rhizome soon assumes its 

 proper elevation. Until of late few dis- 

 eases troubled this class. Unfortunately, 

 however, a seemingly microbic rot is 

 found to aflfect the roots so that the foli- 

 age becomes detached from the rhizome. 

 The disease is little understood and no 

 remedy has been proved effective, though 

 it is quite possible that over -richness of 

 soil may serve to foster the disease. 



PECKY CYPRESS. 



It has been the good fortune of the 

 growers in the vicinity of Chicago to 

 discover a great many ways of saving 

 money which have since come to be of 

 recognized value to all growers. The 

 ridge and furrow greenhouse without 

 partition walls, and the iron gutter, may 

 be accepted as Chicago ideas, but no one 

 thing promises to make so much money 

 for so many small growers, as well as 

 large, as the Chicago discovery that 

 pecky cypress is the l^st bench material 

 wherever wood is used. And by the 

 same token, the Louisiana cypress mills 

 owe no small debt to the circumstance 

 which caused Bassett & Washburn to 

 first try pecky cypress, for the price of 

 the wood has advanced about fifty per 

 cent since that time. 



It is generally conceded that the first 

 pecky cypress to be used in greenhouse 

 benches went into a house at Hinsdale, 

 twelve or fourteen years ago. It looked 

 so bad that there was no great enthu- 

 siasm manifested, but Mr. Washburn 

 was just then closing out the business 



of E. Washburn & Son, dealers in hard 

 woods, and had no sale for the pecky 

 cypress which was carried for the mak- 

 ers of cheap caskets. However, it was 

 soon seen that the benches of ill-looking 

 cypress were outlasting those of the 

 handsomest hemlock. Since that time 

 nothing but pecky cypress has been used 

 for benches at Hinsdale, and as a mat- 

 ter of fact Mr. Washburn says that 

 original lot is still in use on the place. 

 When the wood was as yet unknown to 

 the trade, visitors would poke all kinds of 

 fun at the worm-eaten boards they were 

 putting into the benches and occasion- 

 ally someone would take out his knife 

 and try to poke a hole through one of 

 the new benches to show how poor they 

 were. If he poked hard enough he broke 

 his knife. At any rate, the lumber al- 

 ways proved to be a good deal better 

 than it appeared. Prior to this time 

 about its only sale had been to those 

 who did not care how their packing cases 

 looked. 



Peter Eeinberg was the second Chi- 

 cago grower to become impressed with 

 the fact that there might be something 

 about pecky cypress it would pay a 

 grower to know. It was not a case of 

 someone trying to sell him something; 

 he asked the Adam Schillo Lumber Co., 

 where he was in the habit of buying, for 

 it and they had to send to Louisiana for 

 him. When it came, Mr. Eeinberg was 

 not especially impressed by its appear- 

 ance, but he put it in a few benches 

 built that year. As a result he now has 

 several carloads on the place, ready for 

 use this spring, and the quantity he has 

 used all told would equal a big train- 

 load. Although the price has risen stead- 

 ily, year after year, the first cost is still 

 less than hemlock, and the cypress lasts 

 much longer, possibly several times as 

 long. 



There is not a day but what brings its 

 visitors to the big plants about Chicago, 

 so it wasn't long until pecky cypress was 

 in strong request. The Schillo *Lumber 

 Co. is reported to have estimated its 

 sales for this spring at over 750,000 feet. 

 This is not all for growers for the Chi- 

 cago market, as they ship it all over the 

 country. 



An Average sample of Pecky Cypress, the most Enduring Wood for Greeohouce Benches. 



