JULI 9, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



33 



leaving was given a surprise party at the 

 home of Henry Kahrs, his right-hand 

 man. The occasion at the same time 

 celebrated the birthday of Mr. Kahrs. 

 The event will long be remembered, all 

 wishing Mr. Gorley a safe return home. 



Christ Sanner, better known as 

 "Stump," of Smith & Co., was laid up 

 last week with a sprained back. He 

 was greatly missed by his friend "Fatty" 

 Henzel. 



John Burke is now on the retired ^t, 

 liaving closed his place for the summer. 

 He will make a camping trip with a few 

 friends in the trade after tie picnic. 



Geo. Waldbart is repainting the in- 

 terior of his show house. Mr. Waldbart 

 has as yet not found the summer dull 

 and says he has plenty of work right 

 along. 



Mrs. M. M. Ayers, the only lady mem- 

 ber of the St. Louis Florists' Club, says 

 that she has promised the club's trustees 

 that she will attend the picnic July 15 

 and take part in all the events for ladies 

 and see that all the ladies who attend 

 the outing enjoy themselves. The trus- 

 tees, Messrs. Schoenle, Beyer and Smith, 

 will assist Mrs. Ayers in this. 



Park Commissioner Scanlan and Su- 

 perintendent Ostertag were reported on 

 the sick list last week. The commis- 

 sioner is confined to Lis bed and the su- 

 perintendent is just able to be about. 



Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Kalisch will spend 

 their vacation on an eastern trip just 

 as soon as brother John and his bride 

 return from their honeymoon trip. 



Mrs. M. Klockenkemper left last week 

 to join her husband in Germany. Mr. 

 Klockenkemper left some four weeks ago. 

 They will return home in time to at- 

 tend the S. A. F. convention. 



All of our four wholesalers started 

 the early closing July 1, so after 5 p. m. 

 the first five days and 12 o'clock on Sat- 

 urdays the retailers will not be able to 

 buy supplies. 



Henry Ostertag, the official umpire for 

 the retailers, says he will not stand for 

 any baiting and Avill remove the first 

 player who kicks from the game. He 

 will play no favorites. Umpire Ammann 

 voices his sentiments. 



F. H. "Weber says he is glad that he 

 will have company in his trip abroad 

 and looks forward to a pleasant jour- 

 ney. He will meet his wife when he 

 reaches the other side of the big pond. 



Miss Bell Miller, of Springfield, 111., 

 is sending to C. A. Kuehn a lot of extra 

 fine Carnot and other roses. 



Gus Eggeling, of the Eggeling Floral 

 Co., is out riding each evening in his 

 new automobile. Mr. Eggeling says he 

 had a good season's business and will 

 take things easy this summer. 



Charles Wors is now known as the 

 green goods man. He is supplying the 

 trade with fancy and common ferns of 

 his own picking from the hills around 

 Clayton. 



The florists of St. Louis and vicinity 

 should not forget that next Wednes- 

 day, July 15, is the day we celebrate at 

 Normandy Grove. All in the trade are 

 invited to attend and bring their friends, 

 the Florists' Club to stand all the ex- 

 pense, and the florists, regardless of mem- 

 bership, will be made happy if they only 

 come out and spend a day without any 

 business cares. Arrangements are all 

 complete. J. J. B. 



Sterling, III. — The Sterling Floral 

 Co. has let the contract for the erection 

 of another greenhouse. 



MouldiDK bricks and taking our finished bricks. 



The glass dryini; sheds. 



Buildings used by the Anglo-American Spawn Co. 



Mushrooms at Kennett Square, Pa« 



Vegetable Fordng. 



MUSHROOMS AT KENNETT. 



The forcing of mushrooms during the 

 winter months has attained large pro- 

 portions in this country. The business 

 has, until recently, been extremely prof- 

 itable, fancy prices being paid for the 

 finished product during the social sea- 

 son. Gradually the market has broad- 

 ened and prices have had a lower tend- 

 ency. The demand for spawn has in- 

 creased, more than keeping pace with 

 the supply of the first quality, some of 

 the spawn producing a mixture of varie- 

 ties, some of which are not. equal to the 

 market requirements. 



To meet this want the Anglo-American 

 Spawn Co., of Kennett Square, Pa., was 

 formed. The company claims that it 

 perfected a process by which the spawn 

 taken from mushroom spores at the 

 proper moment can be delivered to the 

 mushroom grower in a state of perfec- 

 tion. This spawn, they say, will come 

 absolutely true to variety and will yield 

 large crops. The members of the Anglo- 

 American Mushroom Co. are J. B. 

 Swayne and Hugh Gardiner. Their plant 

 is at Kennett Square, Chester county, 

 Pennsylvania. A visit to the new com- 

 pany's place a few days ago was full 

 of interest. Both Mr. Swayne and Mr. 

 Gardiner were hard at work making 

 mushroom spawn. The process, as ex- 



plained by Mr. Swayne, consists in plac- 

 ing the composition containing the 

 spores in molds about 6x9 inches. These 

 molds are laid on the floor of a green- 

 house, side by side, with the flat side 

 uppermost. When sufficiently hardened, 

 in from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, 

 the composition is taken out of the 

 mold and placed on its side. When fur- 

 ther dried the bricks of mushroom spawn 

 are removed to a building where they 

 are not exposed to direct sunlight and 

 further treated. The bricks are ready 

 for the market in from six to eight 

 weeks, when they are packed in boxes 

 and sent out as required. Mr. Gardiner 

 exhibited a cartload of these mushroom 

 spawn bricks, pointing out the numer- 

 ous white, threadlike lines running 

 throughout, indicating, he said, a high 

 degree of fertility. When asked regard- 

 ing his confidence in this mushroom, Mr. 

 Swayne said that he had tested it fully 

 in his mushroom houses last season and 

 that he would use no other spawn in his 

 nineteen houses this season. The accom- 

 panying illustrations will give some idea 

 of the drying process and the final 

 product. There is also a picture of a 

 bed of mushrooms grown from the 

 Anglo-American spawn. Phil. 



THE SWEET POTATO. 



The sweet potato is at least one-third 

 more nourishing than the Irish potato, 

 and outyields the latter with but little 

 more care. No bugs bother the vines. 



