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The Weekly Florists' Review, 



Apbil 11, 1907. 



HELLENTHAL'S DISPLAY. 



John R. Hellenthal is one of the en- 

 terprising people in the trade at Colum- 

 bus, Ohio. He believes in advertising 

 and always keeps his place in up-to-date 

 shape, so that it will be attractive to 

 visitors. One of the annual features 

 with him is an opening advertised for 

 Palm Sunday. The photograph repro- 

 duced on page 1599 was made that day. 

 A large number of visitors were attracted 

 and the stock was found in first-class 

 condition. The lilies were excellent. There 

 was a batch of splendid hydrangeas and 

 the roses in pots were good. Miscellane- 

 ous blooming stock was shown in con- 

 siderable variety and the cut flower 

 houses were in equally good shape. For 



instance, from 4,900 carnation plants 

 9,300 blooms were cut Easter week. Of 

 these 3,000 were Enchantress. The Law- 

 sons gave about 400 bursted blooms and 

 these were advertised for a special sale 

 on Friday and Saturday before Easter, 

 at 25 cents a dozen. Perfect flowers in 

 pink and white sold for 75 cents a 

 dozen and the Enchantress at $1 a 

 dozen. All were cleaned up Saturday 

 night. All the plants were sold, the 

 hydrangeas being in special demand. 

 Plants with ten to fourteen heads of 

 bloom were sold at $5 and $6 each. 



The Easter trade in Columbus was 

 excellent with every one. Charles M. 

 Jones, who is the grower for Mr. Hellen- 

 thal, says he thinks every one is pleased 

 with the business. 



COUSINS' CARNATIONS. 



The photograph reproduced on this 

 page shows the new house of carnations 

 recently added to the plant of Leonard 

 Cousins, Jr., at Concord Junction, Mass., 

 There are grown here some 10,000 plants 

 of the most desirable market kinds. Mrs. 

 Thos. W. Lawson thrives well, as do its 

 sports, Variegated Lawson and White 

 Lawson, all three being done to perfec- 

 tion. Some of the finest Lawson blooms 

 shipped to the Boston market during the 

 season were sent from here. Fair Maid, 

 Queen, J. H. Manley and Harlowarden 

 are also grown in quantity. 



Pansies are another specialty with Mr. 

 Cousins. They wintered nicely. He has 

 a special strain that is the result of 

 years of careful selection of plants and 

 growing his own seeds from them. 



CARNATION NOTES.— VEST. 



JIONS 



when a earneition bloom is fully devel- 

 oped the fragrance is stronger than when 

 it is just opened. Also, that in a tem- 

 perature of 60 degrees or over the fra- 

 grance is thrown off more freely than 

 in a lower temperature. So it can be 

 readily seen that it would be difficult to 

 obtain the same results in scoring, even 

 with the same variety at different times, 

 unless these conditions were exactly the 

 same. To try to allow for such changes 

 in temperature, etc., would only cause 

 more confusion and trouble; in fact, it 

 could not be done. And there are other 

 conditions, too, that affect fragrance 

 considerably. 



There are few carnations that are de- 

 void of fragrance; perhaps none that 

 are entirely without it under favorable 

 conditions, though one often hears it 

 remarked at the exhibitions that so few 

 of them are fragrant. The fragrance is 

 there, all right, only it is not thrown 

 off freely because the conditions are 

 unfavorable. That some varieties are 

 more fragrant than others is quite true, 



Fragrance. 



At the first glance one would be in- 

 clined to coincide with those who think 

 that fragrance in the carnation should 

 hav,» more attention than has been given 

 it. It is argued that the fragrance is 

 one of the chief charms of the carna- 

 tion and that it ought to come next to 

 color in the scale of judging. That the 

 first assertion is quite true can not be 

 denied, but as to the advisability of 

 placing the importance on that section 

 that is asked by some in scoring a new- 

 variety, I have serious doubt. I do not 

 know what the scale committee's rea- 

 sons were for according to fragrance 

 only five points, but I think that is 

 about as many points as should be al- 

 lowed it. The fact is, the fragrance in 

 a carnation bloom varies too much with 

 other conditions to allow it to cut too 

 much of a figure in the scoring. If it 

 were stable, like color, calyx, form, stem, 

 etc., it would be quite another question. 

 Every carnation grower knows that 



but the difference is not so great as 

 many imagine, nor so important. 



Exhibition and Commercial Qasses. 



It is often asked if it is not time 

 we were dividing our varieties into ex- 

 hibition and commercial classes. I would 

 say emphatically, No! That there are 

 many medium size and extremely free 

 flowering varieties, and also that there 

 are other large, fancy flowered and less 

 floriferous varieties, is well known; also 

 that the former are more profitable than 

 the others for the average grower to 

 grow for the average trade. It is this 

 latter fact that is causing the discussion 

 and demand for a division into two 

 classes. I have repeatedly pointed out 

 these facts in my notes and advised 

 against picking out the largest blooms 

 and stocking up with those varieties to 

 the exclusion of all others for commer- 

 cial growing. But as to making sepa- 

 rate classes for them at the exhibitions, 

 I don't think it at all feasible. Every 

 raiser of new varieties recognizes the 

 fact that the commercial grower is the 

 man who buys the new varieties in quan- 

 tity and that he wants varieties that will 

 produce quantity as well as quality. So 

 you would find no new varieties entered 

 in the large flowered, shy blooming 

 class. Every variety, be it ever so large 

 and fine, would be entered in the com- 

 mercial classes, just as every variety 

 that is put on the market now is "the 

 greatest bloomer ever." 



The same arguments that obtain in the 

 division of the chrysanthemum into com- 

 mercial and exhibition classes could not 

 be considered in this case at all. They 

 are not parallel. The mum produces one 

 or more blooms to the plant, which open 

 practically at the same time; in fact, 

 you restrict the plant to as few blooms 

 as you think advisable in accordance 

 with the quality desired. Not so with 

 the carnation. You want good blooms 

 and then you want as many as it is pos- 

 sible to get, and to cover most of the 

 year. You might demand of the origi- 

 nator a record of blooms cut, etc. 



Then another objection is that the 

 aim of the carnation breeders is to ob- 

 literate this division altogether, and as 

 soon as possible. While there will be 

 increase in size of bloom, the aim is to 

 get varieties that produce blooms as 

 large as our fancies of today, and as 



House of Carnations of Leonard Cousins, Jr., Concord Junction, Mass. 



