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April 9, 1008. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



House 30x360 of Boston Violet at W^tn. Sim's, Cliftondalet Mass. 



the withering of the edges of the leaves. 

 Fumigation will also cause it. Smilax 

 foliage is easily burned unless well 

 matured. I would certainly advise you 

 to plant in solid beds in future. This 

 will give you far better returns than 

 you can ever hope to get on benches. 



C. W. 



OTHER YEARS. 



A correspondent, who says he is not 

 certain just how recently James Russell 

 Lowell penned the following lines, writes 

 to inquire if the first few lines have ref- 

 erence to the recent state of the market: 

 violet: Sweet Violet! 

 Tblne eyes nre full of tears. 

 Are tliey wet 

 Even yet 

 With the thoufchts of other vears? 

 Violet! Dear Violet! 

 Thy blue eyes are only wet 

 With Joy and love of Him who 



Sent thee. 

 And for the fulfilling; sense 

 Of that glad obedience 

 Which made* thee all that 

 Nature meant thee. 



SHORT-STEMMED VIOLETS. 



Will you kindly inform me wliat I can 

 do for double English violets to get 

 longer stems? They are now two to 

 three inches long. I have them in cold- 

 frames on the south side of the houses, 

 where they get all the sun. I gave them 

 plenty of fertilizer last fall when I 

 planted them. J. H. S. 



You do not state whether or not your 

 plants are free of disease. If spot at- 

 tacks and destroys the foliage, short 

 stems will follow as a natural conse- 

 quence. If the compost was composed 

 of loam and cow manure, it should be 

 all right. Violets in a frame facing due 

 south require a lot of water. Are you 



quite certain you have given yours 

 an abundant supply? In propagating, 

 if you tear the old plants to pieces, as 

 is often done, you will get much shorter 

 stems than if you rooted runners during 

 the late winter or early spring. With- 

 out knowing more about cultural condi- 

 tions, I feel unable to advise you fur- 

 ther than as above. C. W. 



VIOLETS AND SWEET PEAS. 



William Sim, of Cliftondale, Mass., 

 is the largest and most noted grower of 

 sweet peas and single violets in Amer- 

 ica. His well kept establishment is a 

 Mecca for all flower lovers who may 

 chance to be in the vicinity of Boston 

 while his specialties are in season. Ref- 

 erence to the remarkable quality of his 

 sweet peas anid violets has frequently 

 been made in the columns of the Re- 

 view and little can be added to what 

 has already been said. This season his 

 sweet peas are of magnificent quality. 

 Probably no finer blooms were ever 



staged in this country than those which 

 won for him the Zvolanek cup at the 

 recent Park Street market show in Bos- 

 ton, February 29. A sight of his big 

 houses of these in full bloom is indeed 

 an inspiration. The varieties chiefly 

 grown are Christmas Pink and Florence 

 Denzer, but quite a few of Mr. Zvol- 

 anek 's other varieties are to be seen in 

 smaller quantities. 



One of the accompanying illustrations 

 shows a house 63x200, built on the ridge 

 and furrow plan, of Princess of Wales 

 violets. As many as 117,000 flowers were 

 picked out of this one house for Easter 

 two years ago. Quite a number of other 

 large structures are devoted to this same 

 violet. Another illustration shows a 

 house of the new Boston violet, being 

 introduced this year by Mr. Sim. It 

 is quite distinct from Princess of Wales, 

 carrying a larger, rounder and better 

 formed flower, a trifle paler in color. This 

 novelty is meeting with a big demand 

 from all parts of the United States and 

 some orders have arrived from Europe. 

 It has all the good qualities of Princess, 

 from which it is a sport, and promises 

 to become a standard variety. 



W. N. Craig. 



VIOLETS WITH CARNATIONS. 



Would you advise me to grow violets 

 and carnations in the same house? This 

 house is of modern construction, running 

 east and west, with glass on the sides. 

 I would like to grow violets in solid beds 

 on the sides, and, if possible, have the 

 center devoted to carnations on raised 

 benches. I have never grown any car- 

 nations and would like to try them, 

 but cannot as yet build a separate house. 

 Also, since single violets are housed so 

 late (the middle of October), what can 

 I have in the violet beds for an early 

 fall crop? Would not some varieties of 

 chrysanthemums bloom before time for 

 planting in the violets? I would expect 

 to change the soil. >'. H. 



The temperatures required by violets 

 and carnations are so different that I 

 do not think you should attempt to 

 grow them in the same house. Violets 



House 63x200 of Princess of Wales Violet at Wm. Sim's^ Cliftondale, Mass. 



