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12 



The Florists^ Review 



OCTOBEB 22, 1014. 



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SEASONABLE 

 ^ SUGGESTIONS 



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Azalea Indica. 



A good many azaleas from Belgium 

 have already arrived in America and 

 many more will undoubtedly come to 

 hand this fall. A few weeks ago it 

 seemed doubtful whether we would get 

 any. Such as are arriving will cost im- 

 porters some fifty per cent more than 

 normal in freights. This may somewhat 

 increase their selling price, but we are 

 assured of at least a moderate supply. 

 Just as soon as azaleas arrive, the balls 

 should be stood in tubs of water and 

 thoroughly soaked. Then they can be 

 stood closely on the floor of a cold pit 

 until potted. The work of potting 

 should be done just as soon as possible, 

 for the plants will only lose foliage if 

 allowed to remain long out of the pots. 

 Drain the pots well and ram the soil 

 firmly about the balls. Soak well with 

 water later, to settle the soil. 



Some of the earliest azaleas, such as 

 Mme. Petrick, Firefiy, Charles Encke 

 and Deutsche Perle, should go into heat 

 at once. Quite a few will flower for 

 Thanksgiving and a large number for 

 Christmas. Spray these early plants 

 freely and rub out any growths which 

 may be made in advance of the flowers. 



Bambler Boses. 



While pot-grown roses are always the 

 best for early forcing, plants which 

 have been field-grown and are dug up 

 now and carefully potted will run them 

 a close second. Save all possible roots 

 when potting and do 'not allow them to 

 lie around and become dried up first. 

 Pot firmly, using a good soil, heavy rath- 

 er than light. Stand them outdoors 

 in an open, sunny spot. This allows the 

 soil to become warmer than where shade 

 is afforded, and the roots become active 

 almost immediately. These plants will 

 become nicely established before the 

 cold weather arrives and will break 

 earlier and more strongly than late pot- 

 ted ones from perfectly dormant stock. 

 When the plants cease wilting and are 

 establishing themselves, gradually de- 

 crease the water supply in order to ripen 

 oflF the wood better. 



Every grower has his special favorites 

 in ramblers, but it is safe to say that 

 Tausendschon is today the most popular 

 variety we have for pot culture. Dor- 

 othy Perkins, White Dorothy, Lady Gay, 

 Hiawatha and the old Crimson Rambler 

 are also favorites. Pink varieties sell 

 much better than crimson ones, not only 

 at Easter, but on all other occasions. 

 Do not overlook the so-called baby ram- 

 blers, such as Orleans, Mme. Norbert 

 Levavasseur, Baby Dorothy, Mrs. W. H. 

 Cutbush, Catherine Zeimet and others. 

 These all make ideal little pot plants. 



Lily of the VaUey. 



There appears to be an adequate sup- 

 ply of cold storage valley pips in Amer- 

 ica to carry us along until well into the 

 new year, and probably by that time 

 some means may be devised to get addi- 

 tional shipments from Germany via Den- 

 miark or Holland. The shortage in val- 

 ley will probably be more felt in 1916 



and 1917 than in 1915. With all able- 

 bodied men under arms "up to 45 years 

 of age, all industries must suffer and 

 the likelihood is that valley planting 

 will be no exception to the rule. 



Cold storage valley does not need bot- 

 tom heat. A top heat of 60 degrees is 

 ample. Keep dark until the spikes are 

 pushing up about halfway; then grad- 

 ually give more light, so that the plants 

 will have better foliage. It makes little 

 difference what material valley pips are 

 planted in. Sand is the easiest material 

 to use and the most cleanly. A good 

 watering a day will suffice and care 

 must be taken not to wet the flowers 

 over when once they are expanding. 

 Valley is in good demand in October and 

 November for weddings. It takes from 

 three to lour weeks at this season to 



flower it, in an average temperature of 

 60 degrees. 



Pancratium Maritimum. 



Another bulbous plant closely alliod 

 to the eucharis is Pancratium mariti- 

 mum, which is now coming into bloom. 

 It is particularly valuable for use in 

 wedding bouquets and funeral designs. 

 I find that one large flowering bulb in 

 an 8-inch pot gives good results, or three 

 may go into a 10-inch pot. For com- 

 post use one-half fibrous loam, one-fourth 

 old cow manure and the balance leaf- 

 mold and sand. By keeping the plants 

 somewhat dry during August and Sep- 

 tember, a crop of spikes can be had in 

 October and November. These old-world 

 bulbs are hardy in the warmer parts of 

 the United States, but most of us will 

 need to grow them in pots. A few 

 plants do not take up much room and 

 an ordinary greenhouse will grow and 

 flower them just as well as a more trop- 

 ical one. Large specimens of pancra- 

 tiums in pots are occasionally seen and 

 make a beautiful show while in flower. 

 It is best to remove the pollen masses 

 from the flowers as they expand, to pre- 

 vent the flowers from becoming dis- 

 colored. 



Mews from 



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Beading, England. — Sutton & Sons 

 have sent seventy employees to the 

 colors, including two sons of Leonard 

 Sutton, who are lieutenants. 



London, England. — The hall of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, which has 

 been used by troops, has been turned 

 back to the society and the regular 

 program of shows has been resumed. 



Orleans, France. — E. Turbat & Co., 

 successors to Jules Gouchault & Turbat, 

 state that they see no reason why the 

 usual shipments of nursery stock should 

 not proceed from the Orleans district. 



Ghent, Belgium. — Although the Ger- 

 man army passed through this district, 

 practically no damage was done the 

 1,500 horticultural establishments or 

 their crops. With motors in many in- 

 stances taking the place of horses, the 

 moving columns stick to the highways. 



Botterdam, Holland. — German houses 

 have established Dutch agencies to at- 

 tempt to hold English custom, but the 

 British horticultural trades are deter- 

 mined to get along without German 

 supplies during the war. The British 

 gardening press constantly urges plant- 

 ers to support the trade in this action. 



London, England. — The British novel- 

 ty raisers who had prepared stock for 

 1915 are going ahead as though nothing 

 had happened. Cocker & Sons, Aber- 

 deen; Dobbie & Co., Edinburgh; Cooper, 

 Taber & Co., London; Watkins & Simp- 

 son, London; Laxton Bros., Bedford; 

 Kelway & Son, Langport; Samuel Mc- 

 Gredy & Son, Portadown; Hurst & Son, 

 London; Charles Sharpe & Co., Sleaford, 

 and others, have their usual lists of 

 novelties. 



Guernsey, Channel Islands. — C. F. 



A. van der Sluys grows annually a 

 half-million plants of American and 

 British carnations for export. Trade 

 with the colonies has not beeu inter- 

 rupted by the war and orders from Eng- 

 land are again coming, but business with 

 the continent has ceased. 



London, England. — At Covent Garden 

 market those who offer really good spray 

 chrysanthemums admit that the general 

 average returns are equal to other sea- 

 sons. All good mums are selling at pay- 

 ing prices. Mrs. Charles Russell rose is 

 of bright color, but seems to suffer great- 

 ly from mildew. Considering all things', 

 plant trade is excellent. 



Ohent, Belgium. — Arthur De Smet, 

 president of the trade syndicate, and 

 his executive committee, have had a 

 busy sixty days. Almost daily meetings 

 have been held and the trade's interests 

 safeguarded as far as could be, with ad- 

 vice and assistance given individuals 

 wherever possible. Recently conditions 

 have cleared to a considerable degree. 



Haarlem, Holland. — The stronger ex- 

 porters have ceased to push bulbs onto 

 either the British or American market>. 

 A considerable percentage of the crop 

 remains unsold, but it is not desirable 

 to demoralize the markets and brinj,' 

 loss to regular customers. The shii'- 

 ments to auction houses are principally 

 by weaker houses or those who have 

 no regular overseas customers. The 

 haste with which shipments were sent 

 out left the grower who usually sells 

 to exporters with considerable stock, as 

 the exporters did not wait to buy the 

 items they do not themselves grow, but 

 filled orders as best they could wit'n 

 what was in their own warehouses. 



