Mabch 26, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



<i 



Sweet Peas Exhibited by Wm« Sim at the Boston Spring Show. 



tops from growing as long as possible. 

 After the young roots have started they 

 should not be allowed to freeze, as they 

 are thus easily killed. The pots should 

 stand on a dry bottom and be packed in 

 leaves, sawdust, ashes or other suitable 

 material. 



New Sorts. 



The Crimson Bambler has been for 

 many years a popular Easter plant, but 

 its popularity is waning; it will still be 

 grown, but in smaller quantities than 

 formerly, but fortunately there are a 

 number of climbers that may be grown 

 profitably, and which have the charm of 

 novelty. Among the best are Lady Gay, 

 Dorothy Perkins, Tausendschon and Hia- 

 watha. The last named is especially 

 . .1. i..iinj;; although the bloom looks frail, 

 it is a fi'ie keeper, and I look for it to 

 increase in popularity. The new variety, 

 Newport Fairy, will, undoubtedly, be 

 largely grown when its merits become 

 known. Another very fine one is Mr. 

 Walsh's Juniata, and no doubt there 

 are other hybrids in the Wichuraiana sec- 

 tion which I have not had the opportunity 

 of seeing. 



Culture. 



The culture of pot roses for Easter 

 is simple, but there are certain rules as to 

 temperature, airing, and the prevention 

 or destruction of insects, which must be 

 faithfully followed. The soil should be 

 a clay loam enriched with well decom- 

 posed stable manure, and I like to add 

 a liberal sprinkling of bone dust and 

 fine sheep manure; the latter gives the 

 foliage a rich, dark color. 



The plants should be carefully and 

 very firmly potted, using a potting stick 

 to pack the soil about the roots. It is 

 well to shade the house either with slats 

 or by whitewashing the glass with whiting 

 and coal oil, and sprinkle frequently 

 with water to keep the wood plump until 

 the young roots start ; they should never 

 be allowed to shrivel. Keep for five or 

 six weeks in a night temperature of 40 

 to 45 degrees. The plants should by 

 this time be well rooted and the tempera- 

 ture may be gradually increased, if nec- 

 essary, to 60 or 65 degrees at night. « 



When we have a late Easter, as this 

 year, it may be at no time necessary to 



exceed 60 degrees. The lower the tem- 

 perature at which they can be flowered 

 in time, the better. 



Crimson Rambler and Wichuraiana roses 

 may be trained in various shapes, globu- 

 lar, oval, or in the form of fans, etc.; 

 or, they may be cut back to about one 

 foot from the pots and grown without 

 any stacking. In these severely cut back 

 plants the clusters of flowers will be 

 larger than where more of the wood is 

 retained and the lighter branches al- 

 lowed to bloom. 



Use tobacco stems between the pots 

 to keep down insects, cleaning out and 



removing about once a month. Give al- 

 ways plenty of air if weather permits. 

 If this is regularly attended to, mildew 

 is not likely to appear, and when the buds 

 are set an occasional watering, say once 

 in two weeks, with manure water is bene- 

 ficial. Soot water is also excellent to 

 improve the foliage and color of blooms 

 and serves also to destroy worms. 



To recapitulate, I should say the prin- 

 cipal points to be observed are: Lift 

 carefully, pot promptly and firmly, starts 

 at low temperature, always as much air 

 as possible, use tobacco stems between the 

 pots, which should have some space be- 

 tween them from the start. 



I 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



v^^H».'^j>».<^^»% (♦=n.<^^>v'^^w.'^^'^^WL <♦'*%.'♦?»■ ^^^^■•*».«^jn. 



I 



THE ROSE AT RETAIL. 



[Synopsis of a paper by J. P. Sullivan, 

 Detroit, read before the American Rose Society 

 at Chicago, March 25 to 27.] 



The present great extent of the rose 

 trade was developed by many contrib- 

 uting factors, but I believe the chief of 

 these were the pioneer retail florists, who, 

 in their time, were the first to realize 

 the commercial possibilities of the queen 

 of flowers. To these men is due the 

 honor of having appreciated the full 

 worth of the rose, and laid the founda- 

 tion of its illustrious career. They loved 

 the rose, and had faith in its future, 

 and no unfavorable circumstance deterred 

 them in advancing the prestige of their 

 adopted flower, nor from courageously 

 asking a price for it commensurate with 

 its actual value as determined by the 

 cost of production. 



The Rose the Leader. 



And here is suggested the inquiry: 

 Why have the retailers in the early days 

 of floriculture, and continuing to the 

 present time, selected the rose as the 



basic element in their business careers t 

 Why have they continued to maintain the 

 rose most conspicuously before their 

 trade? Why are so many florists today, 

 while not ignoring the increasing value 

 of many other branches of the business, 

 making roses a specialty and succeeding 

 in their efforts to permanently popular- 

 ize them? Because the retailers wisely 

 view the rose as their chief asset in 

 merchandising. Without it, their places 

 would be devoid of the essential attract- 

 iveness and proper equipment of a flower 

 store. The florists realize that in no 

 other stock of cut flowers can they op- 

 erate with the same degree of immunity 

 from possible loss that the rose gives 

 them. They can, as every florist well 

 knows, stock up with a supply of tight 

 buds, which being at once salable, con- 

 tinue to actually improve on their hands 

 for several days, more or less, according 

 to the season and varieties, before they 

 begin to decline, and even then they are 

 just about in the right condition for that 

 funeral design, for which he wisely sug- 



