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44 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Februabt 20, 1908. 



PACIFIC COAST. 



Seattle, Wash. — The Alki Floral Co. 

 has been incorporated, with $1,800 au- 

 thorized capital stock. 



PORTLAND, ORE. 



The Market 



Trade conditions have remained much 

 the same since our last report, varying 

 but little from day to day. It is suffi- 

 cient to say that the demand in all lines 

 fully equals the supply. A left sweep of 

 that Chicago blizzard came our way and 

 caused the growers a few sleepless 

 nights and much anxiety in filling their 

 wholesale orders. Cut flowers are scarce, 

 particularly roses, and prices have ad- 

 vanced accordingly. The celebration of 

 the Chinese New Year is now in prog- 

 ress. It lasts for two weeks, during 

 which John has the time of his life. His 

 sporting proclivities naturally crop out at 

 this season, but he always pays his debts. 

 The Chinaman is a good customer on this 

 occasion, usually selecting the more 

 highly scented cut flowers, and it is es- 

 timated that no less than 300 azaleas 

 adorn the festive boards in the celestial 

 quarter. 



Various Notes. 



The firm of Rahn & Herbert is meeting 

 with great success. They say so and 

 their customers corroborate it. When 

 they leased the Pfunder greenhouses last 

 fall, it was an undertaking that required 

 pluck and perseverance, as well as skill. 

 While the houses were well filled with a 

 various assortment of plants, yet all were 

 not of a strictly commercial value, and 

 good results are now being produced by 

 the weeding out of the undesirable and 

 the classifying of the more profitable 

 stock. The finest bench of lilac the 

 writer has seen in years was here ready 

 for the market. We inspected the whole 

 place and found that every inch of space 

 was being utilized, and when the plant- 

 ing season opens this firm will have 25,- 

 000 young plants to offer to the trade. 



While out walking on a recent Sunday 

 afternoon, we called briefly on John Al- 

 stadt, Hoffman Bros., Burkhardt Bros, 

 and George Otten, all of the west end, 

 and learned that trade with them was 

 equal to last year at this time, and in 

 fact some said it was better. 



Two traveling men from Milwaukee 

 were here last week — W. G. Schucht, 

 representing the PoUworth Co., and A. J. 

 Currie, of Currie Bros. Co. We are glad 

 that the coast is attracting the notice of 

 the big eastern firms, and these two 

 young men seemed quite equal to fulfill- 

 ing the duties imposed on them. 



H. J. M. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



The Market 



We have been treated to several kinds 

 of weather during the last week. We 

 had copious rainfall for the early part 

 and plenty of warm sunshine, with fairly 

 cold nights, for the balance. At pres- 

 ent it looks as though we will have some 

 pleasant weather. The month of Janu- 

 ary was a stormy proposition, and the 

 same could be said of February until 

 within the last few days. 



Flowers are not overplentiful, with the 

 exception of violets and narcissi, and 



these are going begging. Regarding 

 prices, yellow daffodils cost the retailers 

 from 50 to 75 cents per hundred, and 

 the white varieties of narcissi can be 

 had for half these figures. 



Roses are commencing to show the re- 

 sults of the continued dark weather, and 

 most of them are of poorer color than 

 usual. Good whites are scarce and no 

 fancy Beauties have been seen for some 

 time. Carnations, especially of the white 

 sorts, are not plentiful and the prices 

 have stiffened a shade during the last 

 few days. 



Some inside sweet peas are being 

 brought into town. They cost the stores 

 about $1.50 per dozen bunches. Fruit 

 blossoms are now in full blast. The al- 

 mond is past its prime, but early plum 

 is taking its place and is in good de- 

 mand. 



Wild maidenhair is being brought in 

 from the country and is taking the 

 place of the cultivated variety, which 

 has the appearance of having been very 

 closely cropped. Smilax is rising in price 

 and seems to be getting very short in 

 length. 



Various Notes. 



Harry Bayersdorfer, of H. Bayers- 

 dorfer & Co., of Philadelphia, left for 

 Portland, Ore., on his return trip east- 

 ward during the present week. His wife 

 accompanied him on his present trip. 



Wm. Nelson, a well-known nurseryman 

 of Ashland, Ore., is in town looking up 

 some varieties of nursery stock. He 

 reports everything booming in his neigh- 

 borhood. 



At the last meeting of the Society 

 of Hortensia, of Alameda, the proposi- 

 tion of holding a spring flower show 

 was discussed at length, and details of 

 it will be announced later. 



A report of the death of Robert 

 Petrie, of Alameda, will be found in the 

 obituary column. G. 



CARNATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



Rooting the Cuttinc^s. 



The present is about the best possible 

 time in California for the rooting of 

 carnation cuttings without bottom heat. 

 This is easily accomplished either in 

 a coldframe or in a glass house with- 

 out fire heat. It is also possible to root 

 the cuttings in the open, but this is more 

 easily accomplished after March 1, as the 

 excess of moisture at the present time 

 usually interferes greatly with their 

 growth. When it becomes slightly warm- 

 er overhead and the excess of moisture 

 has not to be contended with, there is 

 no particular difficulty in rooting cut- 

 tings. But if the plants are wanted for 

 spring sales, they will usually be too 

 late if grown this way. Hence, a cold- 

 frame or the bench in a greenhouse 

 will regulate the temperature so as to 

 make it possible to root cuttings at least 

 two months in advance of those out- 

 side. 



The cuttings themselves are better if 

 taken from inside-grown plants and, if 

 no bottom heat is to be used in striking 

 them, much better results can be had if 

 the cuttings are taken from plants that 

 have been forced little, if at all, during 

 the winter. Cuttings from outside- 

 grown plants are usually very short and 

 stubby so early in the season. 



In regard to the soil to use when bot- 

 tom heat is not given, it matters lit- 

 tle whether soil or sand is used, pro- 

 vided the drainage is good. This means 

 that if soil is used there must be 



Asparagus Plumosus 



2H-lnch, 12.50 per 100. 



AsparaKua SpreiiKeri — 3 .and l-lmck, fine, 

 busby plants, 16.00 ana tS.OO per 100. 



Gyolamen OlK»nteam— 8-incb, I7.N per 100. 



Smtlax— 3-lncb, 11.60 per 100. 



Petunia Seed from my Cbamplon strain is 

 the choicest seed of this strain obtainable at 

 prices of common seed and cannot be beaten for 

 size of flowers, variety of color and marklnr •. 

 Ail Petunia Seed Is hand- fertilized. Tr. pkt., 25c: 

 1000 seeds, 50c ; oz., 120.00. 



My Champion Strain of RulQed Giants Is an- 

 other very superior strain, finely ruffled, of enor- 

 mous size, in an endless variety of color and 

 markings. Tr. pkt., 36c; 1000 seeds, 76c; OB.,t26.00. 



I have only one grade of the two strains of Pe- 

 tunia Seed listed above, and that is the best. 



Send for list of other seeds. Cash, pleas*. 



FRED 6R0HE, Santa Rosa, Cal. 



Mention The Review when yon write. 



fieneral Nursery Stock 



SKND FOR CATALOGUE * 



8041 Baker St. 



Pacitle NnrserleR 



F. LUDEMANN, 



San Francisco, Cal. 



Mention The Review when yoo write. 



CCDAIIIIIIIQ 2K-inchpots, all kinds. $2.60 

 DCnfllllUniO) per 100; $20.00 per 1000. 



BOSTON and SCOTTII FERNS, 2}i-iDCh 



pots S3 00 per 100. 

 REX BEGONIA, 2>i-iDch pots, $6.00 per 100. 



RAHN S HERBERT 



Sieceiion to Pfander'a SreealioBie 

 Mth St. PORTLAND, OREGON 



Mention The Review when yon write. 



A. Miffing 

 Caila Bulb Co. 



17 to 23 Kennan St. 

 SANTA CRUZ, CAL. 



Mention The Review when yoo write. 



sufficient sand in it so that it will not 

 hold the moisture too long. Heavy soil 

 is out of the question, certainly, but 

 there is an advantage in a mixture of 

 sand and soil, in that it is possible to 

 leave the cuttings several months in the 

 boxes after they are rooted, if it is to 

 be an object to keep them this way. 



As the California climate is subject to 

 sudden successions of extremely warm 

 spells in the middle of the day and as 

 this is one of the dangers always to 

 be looked out for in unrooted cuttings, 

 it is always well to have temporary 

 shade that can be arranged at a mo- 

 ment's notice. In a general way, much 

 better success can be had if the cut- 

 tings can be kept away from the glass. 

 If the house is not too dark the boxes 

 can be put on the floor, and I have 

 rooted many thousands in this way when 

 I happened to be short of room. Ven- 

 tilation must be arranged for, because 

 of the same reason that I have given for 

 the shading. It is always better to give 

 too much rather than too little. 



Watering must be watched carefully 

 on warm days or at times when our 

 drying winds are upon us. The secret 

 is to keep the cuttings moist enough 

 and it makes no difference whether they 

 have to be watered twice a day or twice 

 a week. Have the soil or sand such as 

 will not get crusty and cake on the top. 

 Clean creek sand is the best to use, but 

 be sure there are no fine particles of 

 adobe mixed with it, as this makes a 

 putty-like combination that is sure death 



