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The Florists^ Review 



October 27, 1921 



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NEWS OF THE NURSERY TRADE 



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T. C. Thurlow & Sons Co., of West 

 Newbury, Mass., last week purchased a 

 tractor for use at the Cherry Hill Nurs- 

 eries. 



Paul J. Krause, Chicago nurseryman 

 and landscape gardener, says any good 

 residence district affords as much work 

 as can be well done. 



From Painesville, O., comes word that 

 Storrs & Harrison Co., in its nursery 

 department, is having one of the best 

 autumn seasons on record. 



The proceedings of the 1920 meeting 

 of the California Association of Nursery- 

 men reached members just in time to 

 refresh their memories before the eleventh 

 annual meeting, held October 20 to 22 

 at Los Angeles. Secretary Henry W. 

 Kruckeberg has put out the volume in 

 his customary neat and orderly fashion. 



William A. Peterson, Chicago, com- 

 ments that the quarantine now has been 

 in effect long enough to begin to 

 make itself felt in the peony market. 

 Many of the more popular varieties are 

 becoming scarce and prices on them are 

 rising. Mr. Peterson is adding to his 

 stock of peonies along certain lines, be- 

 lieving that the prospects for business 

 never were better than now. 



The Farmer Nursery Co., which was 

 established at Portersville, Cal., nine years 

 ago, has taken into partnership John M. 

 and J. Leon Linden, practical nursery- 

 men. George A. H. Farmer, who organ- 

 ized the company, will henceforth de- 

 vote his time to the interests of the firm 

 of Elliott & Farmer in the real estate and 

 orchard superintendence business. The 

 oflSccrs of the Farmer Nursery Co. are: 

 President, George A. M. Farmer; vice- 

 president and manager, H. F. Elliott; 

 tield manager, John M. Linden; secretary- 

 treasurer, J. Leon Linden, and R. C. Mor- 

 rison-Scott. 



ON A NURSERYMAN'S LAWN. 



A Weeping Blue Spruce. 



The Colorado blue spruce, Picca 

 pungens glauca, has frequently been 

 called the queen of the piceas. 

 If it is worthy of such .a term 

 of approval, as it probal)ly is, tlien the 

 tree shown in the illustration, a weep- 

 ing or pendulous form of the same 

 spruce, is fully as deserving of the title, 

 queen, because still more distinctive 

 and striking in ajipearance. If the 

 specimen in the picture is as excellent 

 in color as in otlicr respects, it is indeed 

 queenly. It is growing on the lawn of 

 Willis E. Fryer, the nurseryman and 

 plantsman of Mantorville, Minn., and 

 was planted by him in 1896, the year 

 in which his ^Mantorville business was 

 established. 



So for a quarter-century the tree has 

 grown with the business, and has made 

 its regular, daily little contribution to 

 the development of the business by at- 

 tracting the favoral)le attention of 

 passers-by. The lad in the foreground 



of the picture is Mr. Fryer 's son, Willis 

 J. Fryer. The height of the tree may 

 be estimated from the fact that the 

 young man was just five feet tall when 

 the photograph was taken. The Fryer 

 nursery produces a general line of hardy 

 stock, both hard-wooded and herba- 

 ceous, with the gladiolus and iris among 

 the specialties. 



True-blue Trees. 



In propagating Koster's blue spruce, 

 grafting is the method universally used. 

 Such a manner of reproduction is the 

 only reliable means of perpetuating the 

 beautiful, silvery blue sheen of the 

 foliage. In the effort, also, to multiply 

 a weeping variety, such as here illus- 

 trated, grafting usually must be em- 

 ployed, though perhaps with only a 

 gambler's chance of attaining the de- 

 sired result. 



But the ordinary stock of Colorado 

 blue spruce, Picea pungens glauca, is 

 generally grown from seed. The use 

 of the seed is not only the least trou- 

 blesome process, but is also the most 

 satisfactory one in some respects, es- 

 pecially with reference to the habit of 

 the resultant plants. As a rule, the 

 seedlings excel the grafted stock in 

 natural symmetry. The seedlings vary 

 considerably in color, but those with 

 the most decidedly blue tint may be 



carefully selected and thus a stock may 

 be accumulated which may almost rival 

 the Kosters in silvery hue. The shade 

 of blue will not be so uniform as that 

 of the Kosters, but may be just as ac- 

 ceptable to some customers and possi- 

 bly even more acceptable to others. 

 Some may consider the variation pref- 

 erable to the uniformity; others may 

 think contrariwise. First-class nursery- 

 men usually have stocks of both varie- 

 ties and sell each according to true 

 name, charging accordingly. 



ROOTINQ BERBERIS. 



I have some large berberis. Can 1 

 root cuttings from- them now? 



J. G.— Mo. 



All varieties of berberis are most 

 easily and economically propagated from 

 seeds. Gather the fruits now, pack 

 them over winter in dry sand to stratify 

 and sow them early in spring in a green- 

 house coldframe, in flats of sandy loam 

 or outdoors in a prepared; well pulver- 

 ized seed bed. C. W. 



PEONIES IN CLAY SOIL. 



Please give me your opinion of plant- 

 ing peonies on a clay subsoil, with good 

 drainage and in a locality where the 

 summers are hot and dry. What kind 

 of fertilizer should be used and in what 

 quantity per acre ? V. E. B. — Tenn. 



A well drained clay subsoil may be 

 good to grow peony blooms, but it will 

 not produce good roots for dividing. It 

 is not certain that peonies will really do 

 well as far south as Memphis, Tenn. 

 Conflicting reports are heard from that 

 region. To pass on the soil condition, it 

 would be wise to have an analysis made 

 and then to ask the state agricultural 

 college to suggest a suitable fertilizer. 

 W. A. Peterson. 



Weeping Colorado Blue Spruce. 



NELSON NURSERY SCHOOL. 



The Nelson Nursery School, of Oak- 

 land, Cal., is believed to be the only 

 private institution in the country which 

 gives personal training in nursery work. 

 As stated in the scliool bulletin, the ob- 

 ject "is to give the student a general 

 knowledge in liorticulture and to show 

 him the quickest way to get results." 

 For the $15 per montli tuition charged, 

 the student is given the choice of a wide 

 range of sulijects, all of whicli are quite 

 ])ractical. Some of the subjects taught 

 are "Propagation l)v Seed," "Propa- 

 gation by Cutting," " Projjagation by 

 Grafting," "Propagation by Layer- 

 ing," "Trajisplanting of Seedlings," 

 "Transplanting of Trees and Shrubs," 

 "Potting," "Hanging Baskets and 

 Other Make-up," "Packing," "Prun- 

 ing Trees," Pruning Roses," "General 

 Pruning," "Spraying," "Raits and 

 Traps," "Preparing Potting Soil," 

 "Bulb Growing." 



The staff of instructors comprises 

 Charles Nelson, Mrs. Charles Nelson, 

 I'rofessor F. F. Ellis, University of Call- 



