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18 



The Florists' Review 



Septembeb 10, 1914. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



! [ "Growing. BiUbB for Winter and Spring Bloom- 

 Ing," by MaU#ke Fuld. Fubllsbed by the Knigbt 

 ^ Struck Co.v New York. Seventy-eight pages. 

 Hrice, |1.] 



■ There is no room for doubt as to the 

 fact that this book was intended for 

 t^e non-commercial rather than the com- 

 ipercial grower, for Mr. Fuld himself 

 states in the preface that he has 

 "treated the subject solely for the ben- 

 efit of the amateur." Yet it frequent- 

 ly happens that little fragments of ele- 

 mentary truth, essential to complete 

 success, have escaped the attention even 

 of the grower who is in the business 

 for money alone, and such a book as 

 this is not unlikely to contain some of 

 these important, fundamental little 

 items of knowledge. The book should 

 be complete in its way, for the author 

 says that he "wants it to serve those 

 who know absolutely nothing on the 

 subject, as well as others more experi- 

 enced." The 'language used is clear 

 and the matter is well arranged with a 

 view to convenience of reference. 



With his usual enthusiasm, Mr. Fuld 

 says in one of his introductory pages: 

 "It is my aim to make this story so 

 attractive and so complete that those 

 who read must try the experiment and 

 those who try it must succeed." It 

 would seem, then, that if Mr. Fuld has 

 been able to make his theme as fas- 

 cinating as he hoped, many practical 

 florists might be tempted to read the 

 book for recreation if not for solid 

 profit. 



FEBTILIZEBS FOB LAWNS. 



What fertilizers do you recommend 

 for lawns besides stable manure and 

 bone meal? F. A. P. 



I do not recommend the use of stable 

 manure in any form for lawns, as it 

 brings such a host of noxious weeds 

 with it. If used at all, let it be quite 

 old and well decomposed. Sheep ma- 

 nure, in spite of all we hear about its 

 being kiln-dried, is weedy. A single 

 pound taken at random by the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College experts 

 was found to contain 4,600 weed seeds, 

 some of them extremely noxious ones. 

 Sometimes we will get a nice crop of 

 lawn grass after broadcasting sheep 

 manure on a greenhouse bench, which 

 shows that it is much alive even if 

 kiln-dried. Quite recently a representa- 

 tive of one of the humus companies 

 told me confidentially that they were 

 selling large quantities of humus to 

 sheep manure dealers, the inference be- 

 ing that it was used for adulteration. 

 Better, therefore, get an analysis of 

 any sheep manure you buy. 



Bone is a good lawn fertilizer; so, 

 also, is wood ashes. I have used bone 

 ash phosphate with gratifying results. 

 All dealers in chemical fertilizers have 

 a special brand for use on lawns. Su- 

 perphosphate of lime and fine bone give 

 lawns a good appearance. If you want 

 to use stable manure, lay it outdoors, 

 mix it with several times its bulk of 

 good loam, turn it several times, throw- 

 ing it into a large round pile, screen 

 before using and you will have a good 

 and tolerably clean fertilizer. At pres- 

 ent, in the amateur gardening papers, 

 humus is being boomed as a lawn fer- 

 tilizer and strong claims are made for 

 its magical effects on grass. While 

 humus is valuable in all soils, I have 

 found that as a lawn dressing it is 

 worth little. C. W. 



DOUBLY A VETERAN. 



As well as being a veteran of the 

 florists' trade, William J. Baker, the 

 Philadelphia wholesaler, is also a vet- 

 eran of the Grand Army of the Be- 

 public, and it is in the latter capacity 

 that he is shown in the illustration on 

 this page. He served in the Twenty- 

 third Pennsylvania regiment during the 

 Civil war, and was in the thick of the 

 fight at Gettysburg fifty-one years ago. 



BUFFALO, N. Y. 



TO EXTERMINATE WOOD UOE. 



My greenhouses are infested with 

 what appears to be the sow bug, a small 

 gray bug which, when it is struck, curls 

 up like a ball and is hard to kill. It 

 seems that a plank or a piece of wood 

 will bring them underneath it in any 



WilUam J. Baker. 



amount. Can you give me any informa- 

 tion as to what will kill them without 

 injury to the plants? G. K. 



For wood lice, sometimes called sow 

 bugs, mix a poisoned mash of fresh 

 shorts, molasses and Paris green, letting 

 the Paris green just color the mixture. 

 Drop this about their haunts, where 

 they will eat it greedily. They can be 

 trapped in large numbers by putting a 

 little dry moss in empty flower pots 

 and laying them about their haunts. 

 Potatoes and other root crops or squash, 

 scooped out and laid here and there, 

 make excellent traps. These should be 

 picked up at least twice a day and the 

 pests dropped into a pail of hot water. 

 Water as near boiling as possible can 

 sometimes be used effectively by pour- 

 ing it over them where they congregate 

 the most. C. W. 



The Market. 



i 



Business last week was dull; const - 

 quently, a large surplus of stock of all 

 kinds is on the market. Roses, gl;,- 

 dioli, asters and Beauties find their wa • 

 to the rubbish barrels. Gladioli are iii- 

 ferior in quality. America is mucJ. 

 smaller in size, both of flower an.; 

 spike. Prices on these are higher, a 

 the season for them is getting lato. 

 Carnations are poor and the suppl 

 meager. Eoses of all kinds are plenti 

 ful. Taft, Ward, Eussell, White Kil 

 larney. Milady and Key are all in spleu 

 did condition. Maryland is getting; 

 poorer in quality. Beauties are excel- 

 lent; the cool weather of the last two 

 weeks has given them a good color and 

 a fall crispness, which they have lacked 

 during the summer. There is a consid- 

 erable demand for sweet peas, although 

 there are none to be had just now. 

 Asters are good, but there are few of 

 the choice varieties coming into the 

 market. Japanese lilies are still plenti- 

 ful. These are used in corsage work- 

 in combination with valley, yellow 

 statice, heather, etc. Cattleyas are 

 rather scarce and prices high. There 

 are a few Lilium auratum and Harisii 

 to be had. In flowering plants there 

 are a few celosias. These, however, are 

 not especially good sellers, for they are 

 not attractive. 



Various Notes. 



S. A. Anderson's store has been 

 freshly painted and redecorated, botli 

 the front and the store proper. The 

 front has been given a handsome bronze 

 coating, which gives a distinguished 

 tone to the floral displays inside. In 

 the basement, two new sets of lockers 

 have been added. One set is for the 

 ladies and one for the men, each having 

 an up-to-date, hygienic lavatory adjoin- 

 ing the locker rooms. The entire store 

 is being put in readiness for the fall 

 trade. 



The opening of the new Hippodrome 

 theater was attended with a big dis- 

 play of baskets and vases of flowers, 

 palms, etc., in which all the downtown 

 florists had a share. Felix Albert did 

 the palm decorating. 



James J. Karins, of Henry A. Dreer, 

 Inc., Philadelphia, stopped in Buffalo 

 for a few hours on his way west. He 

 reports that business was only fair at 

 the Boston convention. 



Wm. F. Kasting has just returned 

 from a motor trip, which included Old 

 Orchard, Me., the White mountains and 

 the Adirondacks. His son, Wm. F. 

 Kasting, Jr., and Mr. and Mrs. Geo. 

 Asmus, of Chicago, accompanied him on 

 the trip. 



The store of Joseph Sangster was re- 

 cently remodeled and redecorated. Th'' 

 woodwork is white enamel throughout 

 and the wall covering is a soft pearl 

 gray. Projecting shelves run the en- 

 tire length and breadth of the stor' , 

 making a splendid place for the displa^' 

 of baskets, jars, vases, etc. Two dee]-- 

 set windows finished in leaded gla^^ 

 add a distinctive feature to the sides 

 of the store. The same leaded glass i-^ 

 used in the cases used for ribbons. Tbc 

 tops of the counters are covered witli 

 Carrara glass, which gives the store an 

 immaculate aspect. A Grecian seat, iu 

 imitation old ivory, adds an artistic 

 touch to the salesrooms. An old-fasli- 

 ioned clock with a brass dial and round 

 disks to mark the hour instead of 



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