Aphil 23, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists' Rev^i 



ew# 



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Ciiierarias, Grown by H. B. Vyse, Morristown, N, J. 



disposal, and commercial growers find a 

 ready sale for well-flowered plants. 



The first thing to consider is to secure 

 the best possible strain of seed, for the 

 seeds are not expensive and, as with all 

 other seeds, the best always is infinitely 

 the cheapest. 



The seeds may be sown any time from 

 June 10 to June 25. First, prepare a 

 light compost, consisting of one part 

 loam, one part leaf-mold and a good 

 sprinkling of sand. Put all these through 

 a fine sieve and fill some well drained 

 5-inch pots or shallow pans. Firm the 

 soil moderately, give a watering and 

 allow the pots to stand for a while be- 

 fore sowing the seeds. When sowing the 

 seeds take great care not to sow too 

 thickly. Cover lightly with fine, sifted 

 sand. Stand the pots or pans in a shady 

 position in the greenhouse, covering with 

 a sheet of glass. Watch closely for 

 the appearance of the seedlings and re- 

 move the glass to prevent the little plants 

 from becoming drawn and weak. 



When large enough to handle, prick 

 off in 4-inch pots, from four to six 

 plants in a pot. If left in the seed pots 

 or pans to become crowded during the 

 warm nights of August the result would 

 be a total failure through the young 

 plants damping off. 



As soon as they are large enough, the 

 next shift should be into 2^4 -inch pots, 

 one plant to a pot. using the same com- 

 post as before. Keep the plants in a 

 «hady house and as cool as possible. The 

 next shift may be into 4-inch pots and 

 a little richer compost may be used. A 

 sprinkling of bone meal in the soil will 

 suffice. Continue to pot moderately firm. 



When the 4-inch pots are filled with 

 roots the plants will be ready for their 

 final shift to 6-inch pots. 'This shift 

 should be made early in January, mak- 

 ing up a compost consisting of two parts 

 good loam and one part well rotted cow 

 manure, to which a sprinkling of bone 

 meal may be added and the materials 

 ^yell mixed together. For this shift pot 

 +he plants firmly. 



Keep the plants fumigated once every 

 two weeks to ward off the attack of 

 greenfly and other insects. When the 

 plants show signs of flowering, sprinkle 

 a little of Clay's fertilizer on the sur- 



face of the pots every two weeks and 

 water it in. 



The illustrations accompanying these 

 notes are from some of my plants of the 

 past season, the photographs having been 

 made by A. T. Boddington, who thought 

 them a credit to his seed. H. B. Vyse. 



BOSTON. 



The Easter Market. 



All things considered, Easter trade has 

 been fairly satisfactory. Probably as 

 many flowers and plants were sold as a 

 year ago, but prices averaged lower. 

 There had been little hope of any records 

 being broken, owing to the prevailing 

 trade depression. The terrible Chelsea 

 fire April 12, calling for hundreds of 

 thousands of dollars for relief, also had 

 some depressing influence on the mar- 

 ket. Growers on the whole fared better 

 than the retailers, the, largest producers 



of lilies, rambler roses and other flower- 

 ing plants selling out clean. 



The plants continue to cut more 

 of a figure each succeeding Easter. 

 Lilies, as usual, held first place; prices 

 varied from $10 to $12.50 per hundred 

 buds, although poor stock could be pur- 

 chased cheaper. At retail 14 cents to 16 

 cents were prevailing rates. Pink ram- 

 bler roses seemed to be second in popu- 

 larity. Lady Gay, Dorothy Perkins and 

 Farquhar were all in evidence, Dorothy 

 Perkins in largest numbers. Quite a 

 few Hiawatha were sold, also of Baby 

 Eamblers. Less hybrids than usual were 

 in evidence. Of Crimson Ramblers far 

 less were seen than of the pink varieties, 

 and these were not of the best quality. 

 Azaleas sold well; salmon and deep pink 

 shades were most seen. Genistas sold 

 only moderately. Acacia armata was less 

 abundant than usual, owing to the late 

 date of Easter. Some nice ericas were 

 seen, including some of the waxy sec- 

 tion. 



Rhododendron Pink Pearl was well 

 flowered, at a few stores. Other rhodo- 

 dendrons were fewer than usual. Mar- 

 guerites, yellow and white, were good 

 and sold well. Bulbous stock was abun- 

 dant and sold rather slow. Other plants 

 noted included Boronia elatior, gloxinias, 

 astilbes of excellent quality, Crataegus, 

 Prunus triloba, deutzias and English 

 primroses. Palmayi ferns and other foliage 

 plants were rather a slow sale. 



In cut flowers there were no striking 

 advances in prices. Roses were in heavy 

 supply and of fine quality. Beauty ad- 

 vanced in price only a Jittle, but best 

 grade Killarney and Richmond sold up to 

 $4 per dozen. Bride and Maid varied 

 from $2 to $8, only fine flowers reaching 

 top figures. Of Mme. Chatenay some 

 excellent flowers were sold. Wellesley 

 also showed up well. Carnations were of 

 excellent quality. A few made $5 per 

 hundred, a fair number $4, and many 

 went at $3, which seemed to be a popular 

 price, and a good many were either sold 

 lower or left over in ice-boxes. Prices 

 on carnations did not average much over 

 hat^ those of a year ago. 



Violets, owing to the lateness of the 



Cinerarias, Grown by H. B. Vyse, Morristown/N. J. 



