Februaby 18, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



fi 



meeting of the S. A. F. at Cincinnati, in 

 order to give any of the members who 

 desire an opportunity to visit the florists' 

 convention. After the Philadelphia meet- 

 ing, the annual inspection trip of rail- 

 road gardens will occupy about a week, 

 on the principal roads leading into Phila- 

 delphia, New York and Boston. The ex- 

 act itinerary has not yet been completed. 



All bona fide railroad employees con- 

 nected with the gardening department of 

 North American railroads are entitled to 

 membership. The annual dues are $1. 



The association is young, but very 

 promising. It has not been extensively 

 advertised and consequently a great many 

 eligible to membership have never heard 

 of it. Any publicity that the Review 

 can give it will therefore be greatly ap- 

 preciated. Geo. B. Moulder, Sec'y. 



INSIDE CROPS FOR SUMMER. 



Will you tell me what I can grow 

 in a small greenhouse in the summer 

 months, after my pansies and geraniums 

 are sold? C. M. H. 



.JtoV.^ 



There are quite a number of crops 

 which you could profitably grow. If 

 there is a market where tomatoes could 

 be sold, they would make a profitable 

 crop, provided, of course, that you have 

 the necessary beds or benches and head 

 room for them. If you decide to grow 

 these, start them early in March and 

 have good stoc k in 4-inch pots ready to 

 plant as soon as your pansies and ge- 

 raniums are out of the way. Good vari- 

 eties are Stone, Comet and Early Jewel. 

 Cucumbers are another summer crop you 

 can grow if your house has sufficient 

 head room. 



In the way of flowers, chrysanthemums 

 benched in June or the early part of 

 July, of such early varieties as Polly 

 Rose, Pacific, Golden Glow and Halli- 

 day, could be cleared off by the middle 



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Nonin Chrysanthemums Grown Two to the Plant. 



of October and would probably be as 

 good as anything you could grow. If 

 you have a call for summer flowers, you 

 can plant asters in the benches. Use 

 sucb varieties as Victoria, Queen of the 

 Market and Comet. These will prove use- 

 ful ' and profitable, if you have a local 

 retail trade, and will also ship well. 



C. W. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



^1^ 



Asters. 



The two most important annuals for 

 florists are sweet peas and asters. The 

 latter are more easily grown than the 

 former, and flowering, as they do, satis- 

 factorily over a long season, shipping 

 well, lasting finely when cut, and being 

 indispensable in funeral work, it is not 

 to be wondered at that their successful 

 culture means much to many commer- 

 cial growers. If a selection of seed has 

 not yet been secured, no time should 

 be lost in ordering the needed supplies 

 for the coming season. A really bewil- 

 dering list of varieties of this popular 

 annual are offered by the many adver- 

 tisers in the Review. Whatever kinds 

 you purchase, be sure you get the best 

 quality. Cheap seed of any flowers al- 

 ways proves dear in the end. Unless 

 your trade calls for mixtures, rely on 

 packets of separate colors, such as pure 

 white, pink, lavender, blue and scarlet. 

 The two first named are always the most 

 in demand. 



Seed sown throe weeks ago for culture 

 inside is now giving us little plants, 

 nearly ready for transplanting. A first 

 sowing for outdoor planting is now time- 

 ly. Use shallow flats of light, sandy soil, 

 cover lightly, water with a fine rose can, 

 and in a temperature of 60 degrees the 

 seedlings will appear within a week. Re- 

 move to a house kept 5 to 10 degrees 

 cooler when they are nicely germinated. 

 Keep well up to the light and water care- 

 fully to prevent damping off. 



For the earliest sowing, we use Queen 

 of the Market, also called Queen of the 

 Earliest. For successional batches. Giant 

 Comet, Victoria, Vick 's Branching, Sem- 

 ple 's and Chrysanthemum are used. Seed 

 can be sown as late as early July. For 

 the last sowings such varieties as Mignon 

 Dw-irf Chrysanthemum and Victoria are 

 good. Of the newer asters, Debutante, 

 pure white; General Jacqueminot, rich 

 criffwon; Enchantress, flesh pink, and 

 Daybreak, shrimp pink, are especially 

 good. 



Unless you are growing aster plants 

 for spring sales, do not make the mistake 

 of sowing umch seed yet. One variety 

 now is sufficient. Make a sowing every sec- 

 ond or third week until July 1 and you 

 will have a constant supply of asters 

 from late July until frost. The proper 

 ground to be used for asters and its 

 preparation will be treated fully in a 

 future issue. 



Seed Sowins[. 



The time has now arrived to make 

 first sowings of quite a number of bed- 

 ding out and greenhouse plants. There 

 are advantages in sowing some seeds in 

 February, rather than a month later, es- 

 pecially if the plants are not too rampant 

 growers. There is a good, steady bot- 

 tom heat in the steam or hot water 

 pipes. A month hence on some days 

 they will be cool, as the increasing 

 power of the sun will necessitate shut- 

 ting off most of the heat for a few 

 hours daily. An even, moist tempera- 

 ture and shade from the sun's rays are 

 what seeds require. The bulk will germi- 

 nate nicely in a night temperature of 

 60 degrees. A few will start betler in 

 5 to 10 degrees more heat. Those prefer- 

 ring cool treatment should be moved to 

 a lower temperature soon after germi- 

 nation, to prevent their becoming drawn. 



The ideal soil for all flower seeds 

 should be largely of leaf-mold. Loam 

 should not compose even half the com- 

 post for any of the seeds. Fine sand 

 should be freely used. Be sure to drain 

 all receptacles well. Place some moss or 

 rough portions of the loam over the 

 drainage. After adding flner material, 

 pass the top portion through a fine 

 mesh screen, and level it evenly before 

 sowing any seeds. Use care in covering 

 the seeds. The old rule was to cover 

 each seed its own depth. This holds good 

 in most cases now. Fine seeds, such as 

 gloxinia, begonia, mimulus, etc., are bet- 

 ter not covered at all, unless it be with 



