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70 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



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Mat 28, 1907. 



ORCHIDS IN EUROPE. 



Orchids continue to take a leading 

 place in the upper class horticultural 

 world in Europe. Some large sales have 

 recently taken place in London, and again 

 almost record prices have been realized 

 for individual plants. At the regular 

 shows of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 orchids are in the majority, and often 

 fifty per cent of the new plants which 

 receive certificates, awards of merit, etc., 

 are orchids. The raising of orchids from 

 seeds, especially odontoglossums, is a 

 general practice, and huge quantities of 

 unbloomcd and tested seedlings are put 

 into commerce every year. This practice 

 of raising seedlings is probably in a 

 great measure the cause of so many new 

 varieties continually turning up, the or- 

 chid being very susceptible to cross fer- 

 tilization and inoculation. 



According to the usual methods, the 

 seeds are sown during January. The seed 

 is sown in the pots occupied by old plants 

 of the same kind that have been recent- 

 ly potted. The dendrobiums, cattleyas, 

 Iselias and some others are said to 

 germinate very quickly and easily. Some 

 of the more experienced growers sow the 

 seed on wood prepared for the purpose. 

 A heat of 80 degrees is required and a 

 very moist, humid atmosphere, and the 

 first plants will be large enough to 

 handle in about seven weeks. One of our 

 leading growers informs me that after 

 a year or so of experience and observa- 

 tion it is as easy to cultivate orchids 

 from se6ds as tomatoes, cucumbers or 

 any other of the common plants. J. B. 



GOOD FUCHSIAS. 



The fuchsia has of late years lost con- 

 siderable of its popularity in the United 

 States as a plant for the dwelling-room, 

 but in regard to the raising of new va- 

 rieties, there is a wide scope open to 

 those who could take up this useful class 

 of plants. We get some good Continen- 

 tal varieties, says a writer in a British 

 contemporary, the Horticultural Adver- 

 tiser, but few of them prove useful for 

 market work. If we could only get other 

 colors with the good habit of Ballet Girl 

 we should be getting into a good type. 

 The first to come into the market this 

 season was Scarcity, a free red variety. 

 This has had a long run, yet it is not an 

 ideal flower. Its great qualities are free- 

 flowering, good growth and earliness. 

 Some of the hybrids of the Lord Bea- 

 consfield type have taken well, and if 

 we could get a little more color in va- 

 rieties of similar habit, they would take 

 better. 



Fron;i notes taken last season I find 

 that Royal Purple and Gertrude Pearson 

 are the best singles, with purple corolla 

 and scarlet tube and sepals. These are 

 so nearly alike that one is often substi- 

 tuted for the other. Some of the newer 

 French varieties have fine flowers, but 

 they are wanting in habit. Many of our 

 oldest sorts still hold their own: take 

 Lady Heytesbury, Arabella, Try-me-oh, 

 Mrs. Rundle, Mrs. Marshall; there are 

 none to supersede them. Louis Faucon 

 is one of the best doubles, with purple 

 corolla and scarlet tube and sepals; but 

 this does not seem to have been taken 

 up by market growers. Phenomenal and 

 its varieties have been tried on account 

 of their large flowers, but the habit is 

 not good enough for market work. 



In regard to the demand for fuchsias 

 in the markets, as flowering plants for 

 decorations, they have lost favor with 



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many florists through being so easily 

 damaged in transit, but for bedding in 

 England they have come much into favor 

 during the past few years, and where, 

 formerly it was only Eiccartoni and 

 other hardy sorts that were planted, the 

 better varieties are now found to do 

 equally well for summer bedding. 



FLOWERS ON STAMPS. 



Japan and Newfoundland are the 

 only countries which have given recog- 

 nition to the floral kingdom in the issues 

 of their postage stamps. Trees have been 

 portrayed upon stamps by many coun- 

 tries, especially those situated in the 

 tropics, but it is only on the stamps 

 of Newfoundland and Japan that a 

 flower appears. The chrysanthemum, 

 the national flower of Japan, is given 

 a conspicuous place upon all the post- 

 age stamps issued by the government, 

 and upon many of the denominations it 

 occupies the central portion of the 

 stamp. For nearly ten years, from 1857 

 to 1866, a conspicuous feature of all 

 the stamps of Newfoundland was a 

 bouquet of thistle blossoms within the 

 center of a delicately engraved back- 

 ground. This issue of stamps is exceed- 

 ingly popular with collectors, and is 

 known as "the thistle issue," says the 

 Boston Transcript. 



ST. BRIGID ANEMONES. 



Those who have seen the brilliant St. 

 Brigid anemones must have been im- 

 pressed by the wealth of color and beauty 

 which characterize these flowers. For 

 many purposes these St. Brigid anemones 

 are superior to any other section of the 

 poppy or crown anemones, and their 

 value, either as cut flowers or for gar- 

 den decoration, is indisputable. 



The origin of these flowers is unknown 

 to many, and it may be well to mention 

 that they were raised by selection and 

 seeding from other poppy anemones by 

 a Mrs. Lawrenson, who at that time 

 lived at Howth, Ireland. There these 

 windflowers throve wonderfully. But for 

 continued careful seed selection the 

 strain would return to the original gar- 

 den poppy anemone. 



It is thus necessary, if the true stock 

 is to be obtained from seeds, to secure 

 a well-selected and carefully rogued 

 strain of the St. Brigid anemones. While 

 the tubers of the St. Brigid anemones 

 can be purchased, and it may suit some 

 to buy these, even if they desire to en- 

 ter upon seed saving for themselves, it 

 is not generally known that they come 

 freely from seeds, that seedlings are 

 more vigorous, and give better flowers, 

 and that by sowing the seeds early in a 



