'.-".', r '.MTV * 



10 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



July 29, 1909. 



wanted, and others building one-piece 

 benches that must be constructed in their 

 permanent location, and which involve 

 the necessity for quick work. Which 

 brings to mind a story: 



A certain instructor was endeavoring 

 to impart ideas to a class of. boys. 



' ' Johnny, ' ' said the teacher, * ' who is 

 the greatest inventor of the agef" 



Johnny scratched his head a minute 

 before he said: 



"Why, Pat. Pending, I guess; I see 

 his name on so many different things. ' ' 



There are a lot of patents pending on 

 devices employed in building greenhouse 

 benches. They are, indeed, so numerous 

 the inventors find the patent oflSce grinds 

 them through with exasperating slowness. 



Windier'! Method. 



George B. Windier, the St. Louis 

 florist, has been exercising his inventive 

 faculties on a one-piece bench. In build- 

 ing such a bench the mold is one of 

 the most important features, its erection 

 usually consuming considerably more 

 time than does the filling in with con- 

 crete, which is the actual work of con- 

 struction. Mr. Windier believes the 

 bench legs should do more than hold up 

 the bench, so he makes the legs first, 

 puts a casing around them and makes 

 them hold up the mold. 



The bench legs may be of concrete, 

 but vitrified sewer pipes make fine posts. 

 Mr. Windier puts his casing around them, 

 each half of the casing having a loop at 

 the upper end, through which a cross- 

 piece is put to hold the temporary floor- 

 ing. He fastens the crosspiece by a 

 wedge of wood. When the concrete has 

 set, he drives out the wedge, releasing the 

 crosspiece. When the crosspieces are 

 drawn out the temporary flooring falls 

 and the bench is complete. 



In the accompanying illustration one 

 side shows the mold, or temporary 

 bench, with the concrete ready to be 

 tamped. The strips across hold the side 

 boards. After the concrete is tamped 

 another board is set on the concrete 

 parallel to the side board, and one and 

 a half inches away. This makes a space 

 to be filled, and to become the side of 

 the permanent bench. 



The other side of the picture shows 

 the completed bench. The objects in it 

 are corn cobs, inserted in the concrete 



when it is soft and to be pulled out to 

 make drainage holes. Mr. Windier built 

 this bench for pot plants; had it been 

 for cut flowers more cobs would have 

 been put in, that is all. At the far end 

 of the completed bench stand two of the 

 leg casings, and beside them are some 

 of the crosspieces used in building the 

 bench. 



ST. LOUIS SHOW PLANS. 



Because of the increasing interest in 

 the annual flower show, scheduled for No- 

 vember by the St. Louis Horticultural So- 

 ciety, the premium lists mailed out dur- 

 ing the last few weeks have been with- 

 drawn and a list with more classes and 



better premiums is to be substituted. 



Otto G. Koenig, secretary of the sq. 

 ciety, says that he has had a large num- 

 ber of letters from florists and fruit 

 growers from all parts of the south- 

 west. Instead of making the fruit vx- 

 hibit a minor part of the show, it is 

 now the plan of the society to make tliat 

 part of the fall program a feature. 

 Scores of fruit growers of note have 

 promised to do all in their power to 

 make the St. Louis show one of the 

 greatest ever held in the United States. 

 J. C. Robinson, president of the Fruit 

 Exchange of Kansas City, is among those 

 interested. He promised Mr. Koenig lug 

 section of the country would be repje- 

 sented fully. 



I SEASONABLE 



^ =^f^^ SUGGESTIONS i 



Mignonette. 



The finest spikes of mignonette are 

 always produced in the coldest winter 

 months. In hot weather it is impossible 

 to get any size to the flower spikes. 

 For this reason, as an outdoor flower for 

 cutting, mignonette is much less popular 

 here than in Europe. An early sowing 

 in April and another made now will, how- 

 ever, give fairly good spikes. A little 

 frost does not injure it and sometimes 

 the plants are flowering until November 

 in the open. Well enriched ground 

 should be given the seeds and the plants 

 should be thinned, or the flower spikes 

 will be small. 



The first week in August is not . too 

 early to make a first sowing of mignon- 

 ette under glass, where flowers are de- 

 sired towards the end of October. A 

 cold house is absolutely essential to suc- 

 cessful mignonette culture. It must have 

 air in abundance. While it will succeed 

 well in raised benches, it does even bet- 



Nymphaea Gladstoniana 



ter in solid beds, which, however, should 

 be well up to the glass. Be sure that 

 no heating pipes run under the benches, 

 as the roots want to be cool and moist. 

 Six inches of soil, composed of two parts 

 turfy loam and one part decayed cow 

 or horse manure, is about right. Where 

 sheep manure is procurable — not the 

 dried, pulverized article — it will be found 

 excellent. Better avoid the use of chem- 

 ical fertilizers at all times. Veteran 

 growers have never seen much benefit 

 from their use on mignonette, but some 

 times great injury. 



There are some fine special forcing 

 strains on the market of the Allen's De- 

 fiance type. About every prominent 

 seedsman carries an excellent strain. Sow 

 the seeds a few together, eighteen inches 

 apart in the rows and twelve inches 

 between the little patches. Thin out the 

 seedlings to three in a place and keep 

 the ground frequently stirred among 

 them. The first spikes which run up 

 are customarily weak. These can be 

 pinched back and the next lot of shoots 

 allowed to flower. The glass will not 

 require any shading for mignonette. 



Callas. 



Pots of callas. which have been lying 

 on their sides for some time, should he 

 overhauled as so9n as time will allow. 

 All the foliage will have dried dov " 

 and the tubers can be shaken out clean, 

 assorted in sizes and laid aside in box s 

 ready for potting. If it is desired '» 

 increase the stock of tubers, a numb' r 

 of the small offsets can be planted " 

 boxes six inches deep. In these they w II 

 develop into strong flowering roots ' ^ 

 another season. Many growers do n t 

 carry over their callas at all, throwii g 

 them away when done flowering, figurii U 

 that it is cheaper to buy fresh stc k 

 each season. Good home-grown tubc!^ 

 are, however, superior to any that e; n 

 be purchased and the finest callas mai >' 

 of the markets see each year are tho^f 

 from bulbs that have been grown f'l" 

 a long term of years, sufficient youig 

 stock being raised each year to oflF^''^^ 

 any loss in the older bulbs. 



Callas can be grown in pots, boxes "f 

 benches. As a rule, the pot system is 



