August 26, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



A Simple Table Decoratioa; Pink Pond Lilies and Valley. 



in a hurry. On the inspiration of the 

 moment you may wish to change the 

 mounting of a piece, to bend it back or 

 forward and clinch it there, or remove 

 the mounting entirely. All of these little 

 things get to be important features of a 

 piece. 



Relieving the Monotony. 



For example, a pillow always at the 

 same angle becomes tiresome. But re- 

 moved from the folding frame, with a 

 sag in one end, or with a corner turned 

 down, the opposite one turned up and 

 the under surface filled as far as it is 

 seen, it will make almost a new piece.- 

 The idea of the pillow is a good one 

 and will be used long hence, but little 

 changes and varieties in the make-up in- 

 crease the popularity of the piece and 

 ought to make it command more money. 

 To alter a piece in this way, or to re- 

 move or add a folding frame, the wire 

 snips will come in handy. 



Besides wired picks, match sticks in 

 three different lengths, for heavy and 

 long stemming, are almost essential. Al- 

 though a trifle annoying to handle, on 

 account of coloring the fingers, yet the 

 green dyed sticks are better for the ap- 

 pearance of the work. They cannot be 

 driven in far enough to disappear in the 

 moss, and, of cournj, if they are left 

 the light, natural color, they will show. 

 Long match sticks are useful for sup- 

 porting a good sized spray, if enough 

 large brush is not at hand. For an extra 

 long, heavy spray a cane stake or bam- 

 boo rod serves best. 



For Outside Decorating. 



For outside decorative work a sepa- 

 rate kit of tools should be kept, consist- 

 ing of two hammers, large and small, 

 two sizes of staples, an assortment of 

 wire, picks, pins, scissors, tinfoil, dark 

 twine, tape line and jackknife. 



As experience increases, fewer tools 

 and material will be found to retain their 

 usefulness and more uses will be found 

 for each one. One at a time you will dis- 

 card what you forraeriy considered in- 

 dispensable. For instance, it used to be 

 the proper caper to pick stemmed flow- 



ers with tweezers and insert them in the 

 moss. Now we consider our fingers ail 

 that are necessary, and tweezers have 

 long since been forgotten. 



A set of rattan screens can be used 

 in a dozen different ways about the store 

 and window. Likewise a stump, a canij) 

 kettle, a big straw hat, or a favorite 

 basket may be brought out every now 

 and again in a different guise. A chime 

 of bells may be silver with pink or green 

 decorations at one time, or gilded the 

 next time with crimson setting. Your 

 storeroom, no doubt, is nothing but a 

 junk shop to the uninitiated, but a pile 

 of resources to your mind's eye. 



Japanese bamboo pockets, radiator and 

 mantel pans, with rustic coverings, vari- 

 ous small baskets, with inside pans, hang- 

 ing brass and crockery vases, wire arches, 

 canopy frames and Japanese umbrellas 

 are also helpful articles for store, win- 

 dow and general decorative uses. 



Gertrude Blair. 



BULBS FOR CHRISTMAS. 



What is the best method of forcing 

 French Roman and Dutch hyacinths ancl 

 tulips for the Christmas trade? I want 

 to put in about 200 of each, to be used 

 as cut flowers. Would it be best to put 

 them in bulb pans or in the benches? If 

 grown in the benches, what are the cul- 

 tural directions to save the most space? 

 Should they be started in a cool and 

 dark place in flats and reset in benches 

 later, or put directly into the bench upon 

 receipt of the bulbs? C. A. S. 



French grown Soman hyacinths. Paper 

 White narcissi and Trumpet Major nar- 

 cissi can be had in flower for Christmas. 

 The two first named come in easily, but 

 the Trumpet Majors need an early start 

 and rather hard forcing. You cannot 

 get Dutch hyacinths for Christmas, and 

 the only tulip which will flower at that 

 time is La Reine, unless you try the Due 

 van Thol varieties, which are too short- 

 stemmed to become popular in the Amer- 

 ican trade. 



It will not pay to plant any of these 



in the benches. Use flats containing four 

 inches of soil. The Paper Whites can 

 be placed in a frame or directly under 

 the greenhouse benches. They start 

 quicker than the oJ:her bulbs and can be 

 flowered by the early part of November, 

 if desired. These will possibly need some 

 retarding in a cool house. Place the 

 Roman hyacinths, Trumpet Majors and 

 tulips in a cool cellar or pit. Soak well 

 with water and keep dark until the 

 growths are a couple of inches high and 

 the flats filled with roots. Never allow 

 them to approach dryness at the root. 

 Place the tulips and Trumpet Majors in 

 a darkened ease in a warm house to draw 

 them up. Gradually afford light as buds 

 and flowers appear. 



You will easily flower the hyacinths 

 and Paper Whites for Christmas. The 

 others are less certain; unless you have 

 good forcing facilities it will be better 

 to leave them alone. C. W. 



YUCCA FILAMENTOSA. 



Are seedlings of Yucca filamentosa, or 

 Adam's Needle, considered hardy in 

 southern New York? I have some of 

 these which I am anxious to winter. 



E. L. S. 



Yucca filamentosa, or Adam's Needle, 

 is a perfectly hardy plant. If your seed- 

 lings are small, give them a mulch of 

 coarse straw or some other litter after 

 the ground freezes. This will be ample 

 protection and will prevent them from 

 being heaved out of the ground by 

 alternate freezings and thawings. 



C. W. 



Lewistown, III. — William Jones has. 

 sold his greenhouse to Edson Bearce, who 

 will take possession soon. 



Lynn, Mass.— William Sim, Clifton- 

 dale, has a young Japanese, C. Abe, 

 studying horticulture under his instruc- 

 tion. Prof. T. Shiraki, sent by the Jap- 

 anese government to study the gypsy 

 and brown tail moths, has recently been; 

 visiting the young man. 



