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16 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



August 10, 1911. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



Odontoglossum Grande. 



While most of the odontoglossums, 

 owing to our torrid summers, are diffi- 

 cult subjects to handle with any degree 

 of satisfaction, the well known baby 

 orchid, 0. grande, succeeds quite well 

 in an ordinary greenhouse. In summer 

 it does particularly well hung near the 

 glass below the ventilators. It seems 

 to love an abundance of fresh air, but 

 should not be exposed to the direct 

 rays of the sun. The new bulbs are 

 now being formed, and the plants, 

 which grow especially well in small, 

 well drained pans, must be liberally 

 supplied with water. A suitable com- 

 post is one consisting of rather soft 

 osmunda fiber, mixed with a little fresh 

 chopped sphagnum. It is hardly safe 

 to top-dress with growing sphagnum, 

 as this makes an ideal lurking place for 

 small shell snails and these will create 

 havoc among the flower spikes when 

 they appear, which will be in a few 

 weeks' time. 



Lycaste Skinneri. 



Lycaste Skinneri is an old orchid and 

 not often seen in good condition. It 

 is of easy culture and, when reasonably 

 well grown, is far superior to many 

 of the newer and more costly varieties 

 of orchids which are being constantly 

 placed on the market. With cymbidi- 

 ums and cypripediums, Lycaste Skin- 

 neri is the most lasting of orchids, 

 as the flowers in winter will keep 

 in good condition on the plants 

 for from eight to twelve weeks. 

 It is a terrestrial orchid and grows 

 better in an equal mixture of fibrous 

 loam and fern fiber than in one of pure 

 fern fiber. Pots are the best receptacles 

 to grow it in and a winter minimum 

 temperature of 50 to 55 degrees will 

 be found about right. 



The plants are fine for room decora- 

 tions and the flowers will not go to 

 sleep, as is the wont of cattleyas and 

 dendrobes in warm, dry rooms. While 

 the old L. Skinneri is handsome, the 

 pure white L. Skinneri alba is one of 

 the most chaste of white orchids. I 

 saw a recent photograph of a plant 

 of the pure white form, carrying twelve 

 and nineteen flowers, respectively, from 

 two new bulbs. What a treasure such 

 plants as these would be in winter 

 where orchid flowers are in demand! 

 This, however, is an old orchid. Nine 

 growers out of ten do not know it, but, 

 flowering as it does in February and 

 March, it is worthy of a little more 

 attention. 



Mlltonia Vezillarla. 



Any necessary repotting for Miltonia 

 vexillaria should have been completed 

 before now. Keep the plants in a 



cool house, where they can be shaded 

 by means of blinds or lath shadings 

 from direct sunshine. Plenty of venti- 

 lation can be given night and day; only 

 on cool nights need the ventilators be 

 lowered at all. After repotting, water- 

 ing must be done with extreme caution; 

 otherwise the new roots, just starting, 

 as well as the tender growths, may rot. 

 Thrips are partial to miltonias; hence, 

 in order to keep the plants absolutely 

 clean, it is necessary to dip, sponge or 

 spray them with a nicotine solution, 

 fir tree oil or Aphine once a week. Do 

 not spray them unless sure that the 

 plants will be quite dry before night. 



Trapping Cockroaches. 



While fire heat is at its minimum, 

 these gentry are less in evidence than 

 in winter. They are in their element 

 crawling near the steam and hot water 

 pipes and I have never seen a house, 

 cellar or pit too hot for them. Some 

 new places do not know cockroaches, 

 but will eventually make their ac- 

 qiiaintance, as many of us have done 

 years ago. They work at night, are 

 extremely nimble-footed and not easy 

 to catch. They are not easy to poison, 

 but can be readily trapped by pouring 

 a little molasses into wide mouthed jars 

 and sinking the jars to the brim 

 around their haunts. Stale bacon also 

 acts as a powerful magnet for them. 

 Once in the jars, they cannot escape 

 and twenty or more may be caught in a 

 jar in a single night. 



I read not long ago an article by an 

 orchid specialist who had been in the 



habit of staying up nights to try to 

 kill cockroaches. He stated that he 

 had only seen a single specimen dead 

 from eating poison, but if he will try 

 the jar method of capture he will be 

 able to sleep nights and count cock- 

 roach corpses by scores. Summer ia 

 the time to destroy these roaches, for 

 just as soon as we begin to apply fire 

 heat their work of destruction begins. 



STOCKS FOB WINTER BLOOM. 



Will you inform me whether it i» 

 too late now to plant stock seed for 

 winter blooming? C. G. J. & S. 



Sow seed of giant ten weeks', White 

 Column, Pink Column, Beauty of Nice,, 

 or any of the special varieties used for 

 forcing purposes, about the end of Au- 

 gust. Pot off singly when of sufficient 

 size, and bench before the pots become 

 too much matted with roots. Stocks- 

 are not a particularly profitable mid- 

 winter crop. The call for them is not 

 robust and the plants themselves do not 

 flower as they do in late winter or early- 

 spring. For Memorial day they are a 

 splendid crop and they pay better then 

 than at any other season. C. W. 



BEAPFBAISEHIENTS. 



The customs authorities have made 

 the following reappraisements of in- 

 terest to the trade: 



19785 — Palms. — From J. B. Haerens & H. 

 Wille, Somergem. Exported April 28, 1911, 

 entered at New York. File No. 59427. Invoice- 

 No. 11462. Hay, G. A. — Kentia Forsteriana, 

 iiingle, 5 feet, 5 to 6 leaves, entered at 13.50, 

 advanced to 15 francs each; ditto, 6% feet^ 

 entered at 18, advanced to 20 francs each. Kentia 

 Belmoreana, single, 4 feet, 5 to 6 leaves, entered 

 at 11.25, advanced to 12.50 francs each. Phoenix 

 reclinata, 25 to 30 inches, entered at 1.35, ad- 

 vanced to 1.60 francs each. Bay trees, 28 to SO 

 inches diameter in tubs, entered at 27, advanced 

 to 30 francs p<>r pair. And similar goods. Add 

 cases and packing. Discount 5 per cent. 



THE DETBOIT OUTING. 



The accompanying illustration is re- 

 produced from a photograph of the 

 members of the Detroit Florists' Club 

 and their families and friends embark- 

 ing, July 31, on the beautiful steamer 

 St. Clair, en route for a lake ride asi 

 guests of the Michigan Cut Flower Ex- 

 change. There were nearly 500 in the 

 party. H. S. , 



Florists of Detroit Gatheriiie as Guests of Michigan Cut 

 Flower Exchange. 



