JO 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



Jolt le, 1908. 



Coal supplies for the coming winter 

 should be arranged for while prices rule 

 low; if this has been neglected, it should 

 be attended to without delay. 



Brief Reminders. 



Cinerarias should be sown now in a 

 coldframe. Keep the pans well covered 

 with paper. 



Keep the little plants of Ficus elastica 

 and F. pandurata potted on before they 

 become potbound. Syringe ficus in lath 

 sheds ireely during hot weather. 



Eemove the pods from sweet peas per- 

 sistently. Pick the flowers in the even- 



ing. If gathered in the heat of the day 

 and placed in a cold room many flowers 

 will fade out. 



Get the young smilax and Asparagus 

 Sprengeri in the beds and benches as 

 soon as possible. Cut out all old shoots 

 from last year's Sprengeri bench. 



Save seeds of any fine strains of use- 

 ful perennials, such as larkspur, aquile- 

 gia and digitalis. Sow at once and they 

 will produce fine plants before fall. 



Choose cloudy, moist days for the 

 transplanting of perennial and biennial 

 seedlings. 



I 



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STATE STUDIES 



FOR FLORISTS 



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FOREIGN EXPERIMENTAL WORK. 



Results of Investigations at Urbana. 



In organizing the experimental work 

 in floriculture at the Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station at Urbana, 111., the De- 

 partment of Horticulture had prepared a 

 brief review of such work as has already 

 been done, especially in other countries. 

 Some notes from one sub-topic of that 

 report are here presented in abridged 

 form: 



The largest amount of experimental 

 work along the line of forcing has been 

 concerned with the new process of etheri- 

 7.ation. The investigations have borne 

 on the physical nature of the process, 

 the effect of various environmental con- 

 ditions on it and its application and 

 eflBciency with various kinds of plants. 



First and foremost is to be mentioned 

 the discovery of the treatment itself by 

 Dr. Johannsen, professor of botany in 

 „ the Agricultural College at Copenhagen. 

 This discovery marked the beginning 

 of a new experimental interest in the 

 management and cultural modification of 

 the resting period in plants. A num- 

 ber of other investigators have elaborated 

 the method or defined the conditions of 

 its application. 



Aymard, Fils, has made quite consid- 

 erable theoretical studies on etherization 

 and has written a booklet on the sub- 

 ject. 



Effect of Etherizatioa. 



First, as to the nature of the process 

 in the plant: Investigations show that 

 anesthetics have the same effect on plant 

 life as does drying out or freezing. 

 Further, the three processes can be inter- 

 changed for cultural purposes. It was 

 shown that the drying out of plants is 

 a factor in etherizing by desiccating un- 

 etherized plants over calcium chlorid and 

 other desiccating agents. Such plants 

 forced as quickly or even quicker than 

 '^hose treated with ether. Moreover, eth- 

 erized plants were shown to lose consid- 

 erably in weight. 



Further investigations along this line 

 showed that the more the plant has been 

 frozen the less is the strength of etheri- 

 zation that is needed to force it. 



Temperature and humidity during the 

 process of etherization were shown to be 

 of great importance. It was shown that 

 the effect of anesthetics is directly pro- 



portional to the temperature at the time 

 of etherization. The best temperature 

 is 17 to 20 degrees C. The upper limit 

 at which ether affects the plant is 24 

 degrees, and the lower limit 9 degrees 

 below zero C. 



It should be remarked that another 

 authority on this subject thinks that the 

 different temperatures for etherization 

 cannot be laid down so exactly as Ay- 

 mard has done in these figures. 



Investigations have brought out — as 

 also the experience of gardeners — that 

 the percentage of humidity in the box 

 at the time of etherization is of con- 

 siderable importance. So far as the re- 

 viewer has noticed, however, percentages 

 have not been stated. Chatenay noticed 

 that if there is a high degree of humidity 

 in the etherizing box the flowers do not 

 open well. 



As to the necessity for light: It has 

 been found that lilacs may be forced in 

 the dark up to the time the flowers be- 

 gin to open. 



Vilaire found that bagging of the buds 

 just as they begin to appear hastens their 

 opening. Bagged clusters opened while 

 those not bagged were still in the bud. 



Aymard sho-wed, further, that the effect 

 of anesthetics decreases as the thickness 

 of the covering of the buds increases; 

 and that the quantity of liquid used and 

 the length of time it is applied must be 

 proportioned to this thickness. 



It has been found that etherizing 

 plants as soon as they are taken out of 

 the ground does not give so good results 

 as when the plants are allowed to rest 

 for a few days in the interval. Further, 

 Ledien has shown that etherized plants 

 retain the effect of the treatment for 

 some time and that they do not need to 

 be forced at once. In fact, lilacs which 

 had stood for two weeks between etheri- 

 zation and the beginning of forcing 

 bloomed in five days less time than did 

 plants brought into the greenhouse di- 

 rectly from the etherization box. 

 (To be contiDued.) 



PITTSBURG. 



The Market. 



When one says we are in the midst of 

 summer business it does not mean much 

 business and this year it means less than 

 usual. There is not even the usual amount 

 of funeral work, although there is some 



good stock and the first asters have made 

 their appearance. It is believed, how- 

 ever, that most of our mills and factories 

 are about to resume operations and, if 

 such proves true, by the time fall comes 

 we will not have anything to complain of. 

 Among the wholesalers there is not so 

 much complaint, as many of the em- 

 ployees are on their vacations, giving 

 the balance all the exercise they need this 

 extremely, hot weather. 



Qub Meeting. 



The Pittsburg Florists' Club met last 

 Tuesday evening, but a big storm during 

 the afternoon and evening kept the at- 

 tendance down. The subject for the 

 evening was "Annuals and Perennials." 

 There was a good exhibit and what was 

 lacking in numbers was made up in en- 

 thusiasm. The prize for perennials went 

 to Mr. Lillie, gardener for Mr. Barns- 

 dale; for annuals, to Fred Weissenbach, 

 gardener for Wm. Mellon. 



The Elliott Nursery Co. sent in about 

 fifty specimens of hardy perennials, 

 which were shown by one of the firm's 

 employees, Mr. Marshall, who stood ready 

 to give any information asked for. 



President Fred Burki had a bunch of 

 native wild flowers. 



J. Weisman, gardener for D. M. Clem- 

 son, showed Hydrangea arborescens steri- 

 lis, which is considered a good thing, 

 blooming as it does from the middle of 

 June till the late varieties come into 

 bloom. 



There probably has not been a meeting 

 held for some time in which the interest 

 was so general as was the interest in the 

 discussion of the hardy flowers. 



Several new members were added, and 

 a few old ones who are in arrears for 

 dues were carried over, in hopes that 

 they might have enough pride in their 

 profession to keep themselves in good 

 standing in the only society which does 

 anything to bring them together and 

 encourages and instructs them in the 

 various lines in which they should be in- 

 terested. There are not many of these, 

 but it was the judgment of most of the 

 members that these few might be shown 

 that it is to their interest to stand with 

 the boys if it did cost them $2 per year 

 to do it. Wake up, boys I Pay your 

 dues like men and do not let your friends 

 think you too small to associate with. ' 



Variotft Notes. 



John Bader and T. F. • Koerbel will 

 sail Thursday, July 16, for Europe. They 

 expect to be gone several months, cover- 

 ing all points of interest. 



Mrs. E. A. Williams is resting at one 

 of the Canadian summer resorts. 



A. W. Smith, Jr., will spend his vaca- 

 tion at his summer cottage, Chautauqua, 

 Pa. 



George Marshall, of the Pittsburg Cut 

 Flower Co., leaves this week for Atlantic 

 City. 



Alfred MeCoyd is making some im- 

 provements at his summer home at West 

 View. Hoo-Hoo. 



ST. LOUIS. 



The Market 



The condition of the market last week 

 was such that almost any kind of a re- 

 port might fit in well. The commission 

 men are receiving quite a lot of stock, 

 but little of it can be classed as first 

 grade. Trade has been only fair. One 

 day they clean up and the next there 

 is plenty left over. The retailers are 

 not stocking up much and only buy as 



