,M ■.•-.?■■ -.z^: 



30 



The Weekly Florists' Revie\!(7. 



Jandaky 28, 1909. 



handle upward. Fill with flowers loosely 

 and give Cupid a place among them. 



A large fan spread in full view may 

 form a good centerpiece for a valentine 

 window. Set the open fan upright. Fill 

 in ^ith violets and white in regulation 

 strides, alternating the colors distinctly. 

 Have Cupid peeping out from over the 

 top. By way of a practical suggestion, 

 lay a dainty corsage of violets down 

 beside the fan. Valley or Eomans may 

 be used to good advantage for a fringe 

 along the upper edge of the fan, with a 

 cluster of green or violet cord attached 

 to the handle below„ Sharply contrast- 

 ing colors should be used for the stripes. 



Simple Table Decorations. 



For simple table decorations trace a 

 series of heart outlines, with loose violets 

 laid on the cloth. The foliage of English 

 violets will form an occasional heart of 

 green among the purple ones. Between 

 the heart outlines make trailers, as often 

 seen in embroidery work, of violet heads 

 caught one in the spur of the other and 

 the stems flying in opposite directions. 

 Coquettish hats and saucy baskets or 

 '.'granny" muffs of violets make good 

 valentine centerpieces. 



If violets or red are used, bring out 

 in strong relief by a light, contrasting 

 background. The setting for any one of 

 the above designs for a window should 

 be carefully planned. Bearing in mind 



the size and style of the design, consider 

 carefully the distance at which it should 

 be placed from the glass. A small, 

 dainty piece should be placed rather 

 close to the front, while a large, striking 

 design must be more retiringly placed, 

 with a simple setting. 



The Question of "Filling In." 



Quite often it is a question what else 

 to put in the window to "fill in." It 

 is better not to have any ' ' filling in ' ' 

 to do. Make the special design large 

 enough to occupy most of the space. 

 Have a suitable floor background, and if 

 a plain WQcdwork or mirror background 

 is found, fteak its severity by a green 

 vine tracing or a fabric drapery touched 

 with some flower seen in the design. 



Do not try to show something of every- 

 thing in the house. Limit the variety dis- 

 jilayed to the theme of the decoration. 

 In other words, do not introduce any- 

 thing but what can find a fitting place in 

 the general scheme. For example, sup- 

 pose you are exhibiting a standing piece 

 and have some presentable blooming 

 plants also. So group the plants about 

 the base as to make it appear that they 

 are planted into that same base, and you 

 may extend that base as far as the 

 bounds of the window and still have a 

 reasonable connection and unity for the 



whole thing. 



Gertrude Blair. 



LEAF BLIGHT IN GERANIUMS. 



Please give me a remedy for the 

 geranium leaf blight. It causes the 

 plants to lose their leaves when bedded 

 out in the summer. It comes in small 

 brown splotches on the leaves and spreads 

 until the leaves are practically covered 

 and fall off. It almost defoliates the 

 plants at times, and is much worse in 

 damp or rainy weather and while the 

 plants are small. I enclose some leaves 

 that show signs of it. E. T. 



The trouble referred to is common and 

 is diflBcult to control. Under glass it is 

 possible to minimize the attacks by care- 

 ful watering and ventilating, but out- 

 doors so much depends on atmospheric 

 conditions that we can never be quite 

 certain how our plants will stand spells 

 of damp, muggy weather. Our expe- 

 rience has been that fall propagated cut- 

 tings, carefully hardened before plant- 

 ing out, are less susceptible to blight 

 than winter or early spring struck cut- 

 tings. The first named are rooted with- 

 out bottom heat; the latter are usually 

 given more warmth and never seem to 

 possess the same vitality as the late fall 

 rooted stock. 



Spraying with a solution of perman- 

 ganate of potash is said to act as a 

 deterrent on both geraniums and holly- 

 hocks. Spraying should begin, of course, 

 before the blight appears. Once it has 

 made its appearance, we are afraid there 

 is little that can be done to prevent its 

 running its course. If the trouble comes 



while the plants are small, in all cases 

 it might pay to spray with either per- 

 manganate of potash or Bordeaux mix- 

 ture, but with most growers the trouble 

 shows most pronouncedly in the dog-day 

 weather of July and August. C. W. 



PAUL CRAMPEL AS A STANDARD. 



Those who require standard geraniums 

 in pots for placing in suitable positions 

 on terraces and lawns, or other desirable 

 situations in summer, should grow that 

 brightest of all summer-flowering varie- 

 ties, Pelargonium Paul Crampel. Plants 

 raised from stout cuttings grown on 

 vigorously soon reach the height re- 

 quired, three feet to four feet for the 

 taller specimens. By repeated pinching 

 of the points as fast as a little growth is 

 made, the foundation of good heads is 

 soon made, and the plants can after- 

 wards be grown on as desired. As a free- 

 flowering variety this pelargonium has 

 few equals, and certainly no superior, 

 when we consider its vigorous growth. 

 In the gardens at West Dean Park last 

 summer, says a writer in the Gardeners' 

 Magazine, I saw some charming stand- 

 ards of this variety, arranged on the 

 grass with a background of evergreens, 

 and the great masses of flower trusses 

 produced a brilliant effect. 



Mitchell, S. D. — The Newburys are 

 building four houses 14x120, which will 

 increase their glass area to about 50,000 

 square feet. 



IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 



The U. S. Treasury Department has 

 just completed the record of imports and 

 exports for the month of November, 

 1908. It is of interest to note how the 

 totals for all classes of seeds compare 

 with the preceding year, as follows: 



Seeds. 1907. 1908. 



Imports $ 693,237 ?349,483 



Exports 1.007,506 496,617 



: MINNEAPOLIS. 



The Market. 



Trade has been somewhat dull the last 

 two weeks, this January not being nearly 

 as good as last year's. Stock is plenti- 

 ful, except that there was a little- scarcity 

 of roses last week, occasioned by the 

 dark weather. Bulb stock is on the mar- 

 ket in full blast. Beauties are scarce 

 and short stemmed. Plants are not mov- 

 ing very fast. The abominable, slushy 

 weather keeps people indoors, and thus 

 the cut flower business falls off. 



Variottt Notes. 



The meeting of the Florists' Club was 

 held Tuesday evening, January 19. It 

 was well attended, and an interesting 

 meeting was held. Mr. Holm, of Holm 

 & Olson, read a paper touching the busi- 

 ness entirely from a retailer's point of 

 view, and it contained some pithy re- 

 marks, and a lot of good, practical sug- 

 gestions. 



C. I. Lindskoog has put in a stock of 

 goldfish, and finds his new adjunct profit- 

 able. 



Henry Kusik & Co. find their new 

 quarters very satisfactory, and report an 

 ever increasing number of orders in and 

 out of town. 



The Minneapolis Floral Co. had a good 

 business in funeral work last week, most- 

 ly for out-of-town shipping. 



M. E. M. 



LEXINGTON, KY. 



Tlie Market. 



Business conditions last week were 

 good. There were several large funerals 

 that cleaned out quantities of stock. We 

 are having some sunshine now and stock 

 is more abundant than it has been. 



Roses are of fairly good quality. Car- 

 nations are plentiful and good and meet 

 with a ready sale. 



There is a satisfactory demand for 

 Soman hyacinths, callas, Paper Whites, 

 narcissi, lily of the valley, and Lilium 

 longiflorum. Sweet peas are in good sup- 

 ply and demand. Tulips and freesias 

 are on the market. 



Asparagus, smilax and galax are 

 abundant and move satisfactorily. Other 

 green goods are plentiful and are sell- 

 ing well at present. Cyclamens, azaleas 

 and primulas have a fairly good demand. 



Various Notes. 



James P. Keller has been busy the last 

 three weeks with funeral work. His 

 roses and carnations are of good quality. 



Henry Ballard, of J. A. Keller's, was 



in Cynthiana, Ky., last week, on busi- 

 ness. 



Leonard Knight, the vegetable grower 

 on the Harrodsburg road, is adding an- 

 other house, 350 feet long. 



John Ballow, of Frankfort, Ky., was 

 a visitor. Blue Grass. 



