APBIL 25. 1907. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



1743 



Crotoa ^eismanni. 



into 6-inch, then into 7-inch for their 

 final shift. They can be bloomed in 5- 

 iuch or 6-inch pots, but if fine plants are 

 needed they should be in 7-inch or 8-inch 

 pots. 



The plants can be grown the second 

 season, and if this is done they should 

 not be dried off, but enough water given 

 to keep the bulbs plump and firm. Just 

 as they start into new growth they 

 should be knocked out of the pots and 

 as much of the soil removed as possible 

 without injury to the roots. They should 

 be repotted in the same size pots, but 

 will require larger as the roots fill the 

 pots. 



Preserviii£ the Seed. 



Everyone who grows cyclamen in quan- 

 Hty should select a few of his finest 

 dooming plants and keep them for seed. 

 'I'hey should be placed where they get 

 the full sun to ripen the seed. When 

 they are in full bloom it is well to brush 

 'lie hand over the bloom to scatter the 

 I'oUen. It is a good thing to sow the 



• oeds as soon as it is ripe; then you are 

 -'ire of good, fresh, plump seed that has 

 ' >t lost its vitality. Cyclamen grow the 



•:st from fresh gathered seed. 

 It is hardly necessary to speak of in- 

 '■cts, as cyclamen is one of the things 

 •lat is practically free from insect pests. 



• vringing to keep down spider and f umi- 

 ;/iting to keep greenfly away are essen- 

 tial, but if either is not convenient, to- 

 •acco stems placed between the pots will 



0. Earthworms are the greatest enemy, 

 lit if plenty of charcoal is put in the 



'ottom of the pots and a good layer of 

 ifted ashes is placed on the bench where 

 iie plants are stood no trouble will come 



Torn this source. 



CROTON WEISMANNI. 



Although botanists tell us that codise- 

 um is the correct botanical name for 

 croton, that the latter is an erroneous 

 generic term and belongs to a different 

 section of the natural order Euphorbia- 

 cea5, we doubt if the word cro^pn will 

 ever be dropped by cultivators. C. 

 Weismanni was introduced from Poly- 

 nesia as far back as 1868 and still re- 

 tains its position as one of the finest of 

 the genus. The leaves are ten to four- 

 teen inches in length, tapering at the 

 base, upper surface dark green with 

 golden blotches, mid-rib and margins 

 golden yellow. The plant is suitable for 

 a centerpiece on a dining-table and can 

 be grown into a large and handsome 

 specimen. Like all crotons, it needs a 

 brisk, moist heat; for compost, fibrous 

 loam, sand, a little charcoal and some 

 well dried cow manure or sheep manure. 

 By judicious feeding large plants can be 

 grown in very small pots. In summer, 

 crotons and dracsenas succeed best in a 

 frame, where they can be syringed and 

 closed up early. In such a place they 

 grow much more luxuriantly than in any 

 greenhouse. W. N. Craio. 



WHY USE CYPRESS? 



Every manufacturer of greenhouse 

 material is called upon, many times a 

 season, to answer the question, "Why 

 use cypress?" Of recent years not 

 many experienced florists use material 

 turned out by local mills, but the be- 

 ginner in the business always is from 

 Missouri in the sense that he has to be 

 shown why cypress is better than pine, 

 or hemlock, or some other wood the local 



mill would like to work up into sash- 

 bars. To answer the question the John 

 C. Moninger Co., Chicago, has pre- 

 pared a neatly printed circular, which 

 is in part as follows: 



"Cypress grows to a great age; h 

 tree now growing in the Alps is saiil 

 to have been there during the time of 

 Julius Caesar. Napoleon, when cross- 

 ing the Simplon, went out of his way 

 to leave it standing. The tree grows in 

 the south of Europe, East Indies, China, 

 Mexico, Guatemala and North America. 

 The wood of the cypress is close grained 

 and of a fine reddish hue. Among the 

 ancients it was in request for poles, 

 rafters, joists, and for the construction 

 of wine presses and mrjrfcal instru- 

 ments; and on that account was so 

 valuable that a plantation of cypress 

 was considered a sufficient dowry for 

 a daughter. 



"Owing to the durability of the wood 

 it was employed for mummy cases and 

 images of the gods. A statue of 

 Jupiter carved out of cypress is stated 

 by Pliny to have existed 600 years 

 without showing signs of decay. Mummy 

 cases have been found in the pyramids 

 of Egypt, of great age and perfectly 

 preserved. The gates of Constantinople, 

 made out of cypress wood, lasted for 

 eleven centuries, and the doors of 

 ancient St. Peter's at Rome, when re- 

 moved by Eugeniu's IV, were about 

 1,100 years old, but nevertheless in a 

 state of perfect preservation. Laws 

 were engraved on cypress by the ancients 

 and articles of value were preserved 

 in receptacles made of it. 



"The 'berosh' and 'beroth' of the 

 Hebrew scriptures, translated 'fir' in 



