14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



.Tlne 22. 1911. 



modern conditions make necessary 

 modern laws, and in the course of time 

 there may come international law on 

 the navigation of the air, just as there 

 now is international law on the naviga- 

 tion of the seas — you have to fulfill 

 certain requirements before you are 

 permitted to sail a ship, and you are 

 held strictly to account for any dam- 



service does not reach beyond the rail- 

 way's to the country or the farmers, 

 which the post office does, through the 

 rural free delivery, which is waiting 

 with empty wagons to receive the ex- 

 press packages and take them to the 

 country stores and the farmers, and 

 carry back to the towns and the cities 

 the produce of the farms and truck 



ness of the country. The average 

 charge for carrying a ton of express in 

 the countries of Europe is $1.12, while 

 the average express company charge in 

 the United States is $31.20. They 

 charge five times as much to carry a 

 ton of express as a ton of freight in 

 other countries. Here the express com- 

 panies charge sixteen times as much." 



Freesia Purity as Grown by George J. Streator, Santa Cruz, Cal. 



age you may do, while sailing, to the 

 property of others. By the time air- 

 ships become one of the recognized 

 risks of the greenhouse business there 

 will be plenty of regulations for the 

 protection of all concerned. 



FREESIA PURITY. 



\ Eosedale is the name of the estab- 

 lishment of George J. Streator, plant 

 breeder, at Santa Cruz, Cal. The ac- 

 companying illustration shows part of 

 a field of Freesia Purity at Rosedale, 

 and Mr, Streator writes of it as fol- 

 lows: 



"The picture was made when the 

 plants were only in partial bloom. The 

 rows are far apart, to promote ease of 

 culture and to induce fullest develop- 

 ment of bulbs. This stock came orig- 

 inally from Mr. Fischer and has been 

 gradually increased, the primary object 

 being to produce from it a superior va- 

 riety. Purity is fine and much at home 

 here, where it grows all the wet sea- 

 son and matures after the rains cease. 

 Thick planting of bulbs will induce 

 long stems. Abundance of room, with 

 no seed allowed to develop, will pro- 

 duce in our coast climate, where frost 

 injury is not known, the finest of bulbs. 

 Sparaxis, hippeastrums, gladioli, wat- 

 sonias and ixias all seem at home in 

 this genial climate." 



PROPOSES GOVERNMENT EXPRESS 



A bill is now before the sub-commit- 

 tee on Postoffice and Postroads in Con- 

 gress providing for condemning and 

 purchasing the express companies and 

 *dding them to the postal system, and 

 establishing a complete system for the 

 quick transport of packages and the 

 eatable products of the farm and truck 

 garden, etc. "There are two main 

 reasons why the express companies 

 must be added to the postal system," 

 says Congressman Lewis, author of the 

 bill. "First, the express company 



gardens for the people to eat, at liv- 

 ing prices. Second, the contracts of 

 the express companies with the railways 

 give them an average transportation 

 rate of three-quarters of a cent a 

 pound; and with this rate the express 

 charges by post would be r^feduced from 

 two-thirds to one-half on parcels rang- 

 ing from five pounds to fifty pounds, 

 and about twenty-eight per cent on 

 heavier weights, as a consequence of the 

 coordination of the express company 

 plants with the post office and rural de- 

 livery, and the elimination of the ex- 

 press company profits, which are aver- 

 aging over fifty per cent on the invest- 

 ment. 



"The express companies are positive 

 hindrances and obstacles to the busi- 



MRS. ESTILL, OF MOBERLY, 



One of the well known Missouri flo- 

 rists is Mrs. R. S. Estill, of Moberly, 

 who has developed a special capacity 

 for the business. Her husband is super- 

 intendent of the city water works and 

 it was purely thrpugh natural inclina- 

 tion, just as so many other florists 

 have started, that Mrs. Estill took up 

 the commercial end of floriculture. 

 This was five years ago and her start 

 was with only $200 capital and a green- 

 house 8x15 feet, without heat. Now 

 she has six good houses, each 14x100 

 feet, and a large, well equipped flower 

 store on the main street in the town, 

 with facilities for filling any kind of 

 an order, be it for cut flowers, bedding 

 or landscape work. Plans are now on 

 foot for removing the greenhouses to 

 a new site north of the residence, 

 which they now adjoin, and in the re- 

 building to add something to the area, 

 at the same time changing the heat- 

 ing system from hot water to steam 

 and providing for a considerable fu- 

 ture addition to the glass area. 



In the accompanying illustration 

 Mrs. Estill stands at the right; next 

 her stands her venerable mother, who 

 is "Grandmother" to everyone who 

 visits the greenhouses. At the left is 

 Carl A. Claeson, who was in charge of 

 the greenhouses. At the store Mrs. 

 PjStill is assisted by her son, who is 

 21 years of age. 



Morrison, 111. — Work is well ad- 

 vanced on the new cucumber house 

 for the Davis Co. 



Miles City, Mont>^L. W. Stacy, who 

 owns a tract of five jvcres nearly oppo- 

 site his home on East Main street, is 

 planning to erect J a conservatory 

 there, with greenhouses and hotbeds, 

 at a total cost of about $10,000. 



Mrs. R. S. Estill, a Progressive Missouri Florist. 



