^^i^CT?:^ 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Mabch 12, 1908. 



of the ordinary shapes are to be pre- 

 ferred. What is known as the French 

 shape is good; this is the style of basket 

 that comes mostly in the plain wicker. 

 Plateaus are also good to use. If you 

 wish to use a dove on a plateau, it is a 

 good plan to tie the small wooden base, 

 on which the dove comes mounted, right 

 in with the moss. 



You will find it necessary to wire some 

 of the flowers to get a nice, airy effect 

 in most work, and this is especially true 

 in a funeral basket, as ydu will want 

 some of the finer flowers, such as valley, 

 hyacinths, etc., to show above the other 

 flowers. 



Baskets for Various Occasions. 



Baskets for openings of stores or ho- 

 tels, or for presentation at some political 

 gathering, should be made as showy as 

 possible. In the first place, if none has 

 been selected, use a large, showy, inex- 

 pensive basket, or one that does not sell 

 readily. An old basket can also be made 

 to look like new if a mat is tied around 

 it, with a bow on one side and some 

 green on the handle. 



Fill the basket with sphagnum moss, 

 tying it into place with some string. 

 Cover the moss mth ferns. Next pick 

 out from your stock on hand an assort- 

 ment of flowers. For instance, if the 

 finished basket is to bring $7.50, allow 

 50 cents to 75 cents for a ribbon; then 

 deduct what the basket is worth, and the 

 remainder can be allowed for the flowers. 

 It is hardly necessary to figure much for 

 your work on a job of this sort, for you 

 should be making a good profit on the 

 flowers. 



If there are any weak-stemmed flowers 

 in the lot, stiffen them with some wires. 

 Mix the colors up well and have some of 

 the flowers projecting out over the oth- 

 ers. For a basket of this sort it is better 

 to pick out some flowers that are pretty 

 well advanced, or some of which you may 

 have an oversupply. 



G>mbination Baskets. 



Combination baskets are baskets in 

 which both flowers and plants are to be 



of flowers used, of course, depend on the 

 occasion for which the basket is intended. 

 A Boston fern can also be trimmed up 

 in this way: First cover the pot with 

 either a mat or some other cover; then 

 stick some flowers in between the leaves. 

 Some low Scottii ferns treated in this 

 way will make a pretty and inexpensive 

 centerpiece. Hugo Schroeteb. 



ENCOURAGE THE GARDENERS. 



This is the season of the year at which 

 every florist who does a local trade in 

 plants for bedding, window-boxes, etc., 

 and everyone who deals in hardy peren- 

 nials, shrubs and trees, should bestir him- 

 self to put life into the local civic im- 

 provement body. There is no movement 

 which means so much to florists as that 

 looking to the beautification of cities. 



And in this work the florist should 

 practice what he preaches, as in the illus- 

 tration on page 5. This is from a 

 photograph made at Galesburg, 111., where 

 the establishment of 1. L. Pillsbury occu- 

 pies a prominent corner. Mr. Pillsbury 

 is a member of the Galesburg Improve- 

 ment Society and does all he can to keep 

 it busy, for he says it stimulates and en- 

 courages the use and purchase of flowers 

 and plants. As a means of setting an 

 example, Mr. Pillsbury last season made 

 the plantations on his corner lot shown 

 in the picture. The central bed was can- 

 nas and thirty feet in diameter. The 

 plants used in the other beds were Salvia 

 splendens, two varieties of coleus, S. A. 

 Nutt geraniums, and two varieties of al- 

 ternanthera. The display cost something 

 for stock and for attention, but it was the 

 cheapest means of advertising, as well as 

 the most effective, that Mr. Pillsbury 

 ever found. The improvement society had 

 a competition for prizes during the sum- 

 mer and so effective was the Pillsbury 

 display that the committee of awards 

 gave it honorable mention in reporting 

 awards to the newspapers. 



Well kept grounds are not only a stand- 

 ing advertisement for the stock a florist 

 has to sell, but the power of example is 

 great and no florist should permit his 



Establishment of C L. Van Meter^ Monticello, la. 



used. There remains little to say, how- 

 ever, about the making of these, as the 

 subject has been pretty well covered in 

 the preceding notes. 



Arrange your plants in the basket first, 

 keeping them in place with sphagnum 

 moss. Leave the plants in pots, if possi- 

 ble. Stick some green into the moss and 

 then the flowers. The color and variety 



grounds to be other than the best planted 

 and the most thoroughly cared for in the 

 neighborhood. Plan to plant your own 

 lot early, before the rush begins. 



Birmingham, Ala. — William M. Lind- 

 say is a candidate for election to the 

 Board of Eevenue of Jefferson county. 



THE ARGENTINE ANT. 



I wish to call the attention of your 

 refers, and particularly that of all flo- 

 rists and nurserymen in the southern 

 states, to the danger which threatens 

 their business in the introduction of the 

 Argentine ant. This insect has already 

 become established at New Orleans and 

 vicinity, and while it is not known how 

 far north it will thrive in the open air, 

 it certainly is greatly to be feared as a 

 pest in northern greenhouses. It is very 

 injurious to many cultivated flowers and 

 ornamentals, destroying the calyxes, while 

 in the south it threatens the fruit-grow- 

 ing industry, as it feeds upon fruit buds 

 as well as fruit. 



The Argentine ant is also a fearful 

 pest in the household, and indirectly 

 favors the development of many species 

 of coccidse and aphididse. 



Its dissemination in shipments of gro- 

 ceries, foodstuffs and household goods 

 cannot well be prevented, but precaution 

 should be taken against its introduction 

 in greenhouse plants and nursery stock. 

 It is reported, upon reliable authority, 

 that in many greenhouses in the infested 

 region every plant has more or less of the 

 ants upon it, and serious losses may re- 

 sult if greenhouse plants are purchased 

 in New Orleans or vicinity. L. R. Taft. 



Agricultural College, Michigan. 



USES SOLID BEDS. 



C. L. Van Meter, at Monticello, Iowa, 

 has a modern establishment of six con- 

 nected houses, each 120 feet long. The 

 plant has all Iseen built within two years 

 and is thoroughly up-to-date. As is nat- 

 ural in a city of this size, the business is 

 a general one, a great variety of stock 

 being grown for local consumption, but 

 5,000 carnation plants are blooming. 

 Solid beds are used and the results have 

 been so satisfactory that Mr. Van Meter 

 says he recommends them for trial by 

 everyone similarly situated. A part of 

 the beds are confined by cement slabs 

 eighteen inches high, which are filled in 

 with cinders to within eight inches of the 

 top. On these beds the grower says the 

 plants do fully as well as on benches and 

 the flowers are of better quality and keep 

 longer. 



Mr. Van Meter says business has been 

 first rate this winter and he is looking 

 for the biggest spring business on record. 

 The farmers all through Iowa have plenty 

 of money and the towns with farmer 

 trade are more prosperous than ever. 



A BUILDER'S PROBLEMS. 



In the near future I intend building 

 a new range, and as I am not pleased 

 with my present arrangement I wish to 

 make some changes, but with your ad- 

 vice. 



I like solid benches, but I see that 

 raised benches make better and earlier 

 crops, so I have been thinking of putting 

 down two or three hot water or steam 

 pipes on the ground, for 6-foot benches. 

 Then I would put twelve inches of cin- 

 ders on top of the pipes for drainage, 

 and then six inches of soil for tho plants, 

 which would be carnations and roses. 

 The pipes might be incased in 3-inch or 

 4-inch glazed sewer pipes, but I imagine 

 that a reasonable amount of bottom heat 

 will start plants off earlier. It is too 

 hot here, in Kentucky, and we cannot 

 house our carnations as early as in the 

 north. Has this plan ever been tried! 



I read in one of Henderson's books 

 that experiments were being made with 



