16 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



NOVEMBEB 25, 1909. 



syringing unless you ventilate properly 

 to keep the atmosphere from getting 

 foul. Fresh, pure air is one of the 

 best fungicides, in that it invigorates the 

 plants so that they are able to resist the 

 ravages of the diseases. Avoid sudden 

 chills when the weather is cold and damp. 

 Baise the ventilators moderately first, 

 and increase the ventilation by easy 

 stages as the weather may require. 



Do not allow your houses to run cold 

 and damp over night, but run a steam 

 pipe in each house, even though you may 

 have to keep the ventilators open a 

 couple of inches. It does not pay to 

 be niggardly in this respect. Paint the 

 pipe with sulphur, lime and water about 

 once each week. Dust your plants with 

 air-slaked lime and sulphur, half and 

 half, or better still, get some Grape 

 Dust and dust it on. 



If you will follow these suggestions 

 you will have little further trouble with 

 rust. A. F. J. B. 



THE WORLD'S LARGEST FUCHSIA. 



Alexander McConnell, the New York 

 florist whose name is familiar to most 

 readers of the Eeview, is a native of 

 the Isle of Man, that interesting, ro- 

 mantic, tiny speck of ground near the 

 west coast of England. It was during a 

 recent visit to his birthplace that Mr. 

 McConnell procured the photograph of 

 the immense fuchsia which is shown in 

 the illustration. 



Fuchsias attain to great size and per- 

 fection in the island, on account of the 

 remarkable equability of the climate. 

 The average outdoor temperature is about 

 59 degrees in summer and 42 degrees in 

 winter, and thus the difference between 

 the summer and winter averages is only 

 about 17 degrees. In that wonderfully 

 uniform climate some palms and other 

 plants, which in other temperate lati- 

 tudes require artificial heat, grow 

 throughout the winter in the open air. 

 Bedding plants of all kinds grow luxuri- 



variety is a prolific bloomer, and when 

 Mr. McConnell last saw it, early in Sep- 

 tember of this year, it was loaded with 

 blossoms. On a former visit to the island, 

 twenty-four years ago, Mr. McConnell 

 noted that the fuchsia was then an im- 

 mense specimen, and since then it has 

 grown more in diameter than in height. 



The Isle of Man is only about 12x33 

 miles in extent, and is so completely occu- 

 pied by a mountain range, stretched over 

 everything like a huge reposing animal, 

 that one would suppose there would 

 hardly be room for anything else. Yet 

 about seventy per cent of the area, at 

 last accounts, was under excellent culti- 

 vation and the balance of the space was 

 utilized for pasturage. There is also 

 some beautiful scenery, reached by good 

 roads, which are traveled in summer by 

 hosts of visitors. There are good Eng- 

 lish schools and the Manx language is 

 rapidly becoming extinct. 



Though the island is under the gov- 

 ernment of England, yet the modern in- 

 stitutions are strangely mingled with 

 many peculiar remnants of ancient laws 

 and customs, and the combination forms 

 a fascinating subject of study. No won- 

 der that Mr. McConnell 's fellow Manx- 

 man, Hall Caine, the novelist, found 

 plenty of good material around him for 

 the writing of "The Manxman," "The 

 Deemster," "The Bondman," and other 

 stories. 



GYPSOPHILA PANICULATA. 



The well known baby's breath is one 

 of the florists' indispensables among 

 hardy herbaceous perennials. If your 

 stock of these is light, it is not yet too 

 late to secure and plant a few more. 

 Do not forget to try a few plants of the 

 double flowering form. This cannot be 

 raised from seed, like the single va- 

 riety, but is a splendid thing for 

 bouquet and funeral work. It is not 

 generally known how useful this gypso- 

 phila is in spring if gently forced. Now 



The Largest Fuchsia in the World. 



antly and flower abundantly. Hedges of 

 fuchsia are frequently seen in front of 

 cottages. 



The fuchsia illustrated is growing 

 within the grounds of S. A. Whitham, 

 Ballure House, Eamsey, Isle of Man. It 

 is twenty-three feet in height and 105 

 feet in circumference and is believed to 

 be the largest fuchsia in the world. The 



that the plants have had a few good 

 freezings, dig up some of them. Pot 

 singly or place several in boxes six to 

 seven inches deep. Stand outdoors until 

 they have one or two good freezings. 

 Then store in a frame or pit until you 

 want to start them, which can be done 

 any time after the middle of December. 

 Gypsophila does not respond encourag- 



ingly to hard forcing. A temperature of 

 45 degrees for a start, advancing to 50 

 degrees, is quite warm enough at night 

 for it. 



COST OF METERED WATER. 



In answer to E. M.'s inquiry as to 

 rates on water by meter, I am sending 

 you the meter scale of the city of Lynch- 

 burg, Va. The monthly charges are a» 

 follows : 



2,500 gallons 50 cent* 



Excess, 17 cents per 1,000 gallons to 5,000. 



5,000 gallons 93 cents 



Excess, 14 cents per 1,000 gallons to 15,000. 



15,000 gallons $2.88 



Excess, 11 cents per 1,000 gallons to 50,000. 



50,000 gallons $6.18 



Excess, 8 cents per 1,000 gallons to 100,000. 



100,000 gallons $10.1S 



Excess, 6 cents per 1,000 gallons to 200,000. 



200,000 gallons $16.18 



Excess, 4 cents per 1,000 gallons to 300,000. 



300,000 gallons $20.18 



Excess, 2 cents per 1,000 gallons for all oyer. 



My water bill averages about $1 to 

 $1.25 per month. I have about 10,000 

 feet of glass and also have my residence 

 connected with the same meter. As you 

 will notice, the more water used, the 

 cheaper it is. Harry E. Bbow^n. 



MARGUERITES. 



The growth now being made by the 

 young marguerite plants is rapid and 

 they will need frequent overhauling, as 

 they fill the pots with roots rapidly. As 

 chrysanthemums pass, it is possible to 

 give the marguerites more space. It will 

 not be possible to flower much of this 

 young stock for Easter unless pinching i» 

 now discontinued, but as there is a steady 

 call for marguerite blooms through April, 

 May and June, there should be no trou- 

 ble in disposing of the plants or flowers. 

 Plants carried over summer in pots, or 

 such as were lifted from the open ground 

 and potted, will now be throwing some 

 flowers and giving promise of a nice crop 

 six weeks hence. Keep these in a night 

 temperature of 50 degrees. Feed liber- 

 ally when once the pots are full of active 

 roots and never allow the plants to suffer 

 from dryness. 



WASHINGTON. 



The Market. 



A few days of cold weather the first 

 part of the week checked the supply of 

 cut stock considerably and it would un- 

 doubtedly have been for the best had In- 

 dian summer not returned. Mums are 

 about over and the end of the week will 

 wind up their season. Beauties have 

 been in heavy supply. Carnations still 

 seem scarce and will continue so until 

 steady cold weather sets in, then stock 

 and prices will improve. 



New Wholesale Florist. 



Washington now has her second whole- 

 sale florist, the name of the new firm 

 being the "Washington Florists' Ex- 

 change. This new firm was incorporated 

 under the laws of the District of Colum- 

 bia and is now doing business at 729 

 Thirteenth street. At a meeting No- 

 vember 15 the following officers were 

 elected: President, J. L. Loose; vice- 

 president, Theo. Dietrich; secretary, 

 Bobert Bowdler; treasurer, John Eobin- 

 son; manager, Albert Schnell. Mr. 

 Schnell has managed the local branch of 

 the Pennock-Meehan Co. He will be 

 assisted by Mrs. Schnell. The Washing- 

 ton Florists' Exchange will handle a 

 full line of florists' supplies as well as 

 cut flowers and plants. 



