

22 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



August 10, 1911. 



GEBANIUM SPORTS. 



We have a Mme. Salleroi geranium 

 which has just bloomed. It has salmon 

 flowers, shaped like those of Happy 

 Thought; the leaves on the blooming 

 branch are large and dark green, with 

 streaks of lighter green in the center. 

 Is this a freak? 



In our conservatory we have gerani- 

 ums of all colors and kinds, massed on 

 benches, with brackets above. From 

 seed taken off Prince Bismarck we have 

 grown a beautiful geranium, naming it 

 Enchantress, for all visitors are en- 

 chanted with its beauty. Its color is 

 a dainty salmon pink, a little lighter 

 than the parent, and it has large trusses 

 of perfectly formed flowers, on long 

 stems. It is a good bloomer and a vig- 

 orous grower and we consider it the 

 finest thing in our collection. Is there 

 anything like it on the market? I am 

 sending you some flowers of parent and 

 seedling. Although dry weather has in- 

 jured all, you can see the superiority 

 of the seedling. A. J. K. 



The Mme. Salleroi sport is quite an 

 interesting one and is worth propagat- 

 ing and perpetuating. Mme. Salleroi 

 rarely flowers and if you can secure 

 one which will bloom at all, it would 

 be interesting and may be profitable to 

 you. 



The geranium flowers enclosed came 

 in good condition. There are several 

 single varieties similar to or identical 

 with your seedling. The name Enchant- 

 ress is quite appropriate. An old va- 

 riety, Lady Bamsay, is of exactly the 

 same color and form. Your seedling 

 certainly is a vast improvement over 

 its parents. C. W. 



FIXING THE RESPONSIBrLITY. 



Kennicott Bros. Co., the well known 

 firm of wholesale commission florists 

 at Chicago, is in court with a suit 

 against the Adams Express Co. over a 

 loss which occurred through delay in 

 notifying the shipper in the case of 

 the failure of a consignee to accept a 

 shipment. The sum of money involved 

 is small and does not enter into the 

 consideration at all; what the whole- 

 salers are seeking to determine is a 

 method of taking from the express com- 

 pany all chance for its agents to exer- 

 cise their own judgment in such cases; 

 like other wholesalers, these shippers 

 wish to be the ones to direct what shall 

 be done in the event of any failure to 

 deliver or accept shipments. 



Kennicott Bros. Co. uses the well 

 known cut flower label, with the official 

 rose leaf in red as adopted by the So- 

 ciety of American Florists. On the 

 label is printed the following: "Notice 

 to express companies: Should consignee 

 refuse to accept shipment or pay C. 0. I 

 D., notify us at once by wire, at our 

 expense, stating reason why undeliv- 

 ered, or if amount is less than $4 sell 

 to best advantage." 



In the course of time several cases 



have arisen in which cqpsignee either 

 failed to accept shipment or to pay 

 C. O. D. and in which the agent of the 

 express company did not wire until the 

 close of the business day, using a night 

 message, which, of course, reached the 

 shipper the day following, so that the 

 flowers were twenty-four hours older 

 than they should have been before the 

 shipper had the chance to instruct as 

 to their disposal. The general agents 

 of the express companies at Chicago 

 all take the stand that they have com- 

 plied with their legal obligations when 

 their agent sends a message within the 

 business day on which delivery should 

 have been made. They assert that the 

 "notice to express companies," as 

 printed above, calls for nothing more. 

 The suit is a friendly one to determine 

 whether or not the express companies 

 have fulfilled the requirements of them. 

 Officials of the express companies, 

 desiring to work in harmony with the 

 cut flower shippers at Chicago and oth- 

 er points, have suggested a slight 

 change in the phraseology of the "no- 

 tice to express companies," as used by 

 Kennicott Bros. Co. and many others: 

 They suggest that the notice be made 

 to read as follows: "Should consignee 

 refuse to accept shipment or pay C. O. 

 D. promptly on arrival, notify us at 

 once by wire, day message, at our ex- 

 pense, stating reason why undelivered, 



or if amount is less than $4 sell to best 

 advantage for our account." 



SPIR^AS FOR MEMORIAI. DAY. 



Will you tell nie how to grow spiraeas, 

 and what kind, for Memorial day 

 trade? E. G. W. 



The old Spiraea Japonica is still 

 grown in considerable quantities for 

 cutting at Memorial day, but the more 

 dense flowering varieties, carrying 

 stronger flower stalks, such as Glad- 

 stone, compacta multiflora and astil- 

 boides, are superior in every way and 

 are no more expensive than the old 

 sort. Then there are two beautiful 

 peach-pink sorts. Queen Alexandra and 

 Peach Blossom, which cost a little more 

 than the white sorts, but command dou- 

 ble the price. You would do well to 

 try some of these. 



Spiraeas can be grown in pots, or in 

 boxes six inches deep. Probably you 

 will find pots the most suitable. They 

 like a rich soil. The pink sorts should 

 be started nine to ten weeks before 

 Memorial day and allowed to open in 

 a shaded house, to keep their color well. 

 White varieties will flower in eight 

 weeks easily, or in ten days less if 

 forced hard. Spiraeas want an abun- 

 dant water supply, need spacing apart 

 as they grow, require liquid manure 

 twice a week and must not be subjected 

 to any heavy fumigation. They are of 

 the easiest possible culture and can be 

 forced hard if necessary, but the flow- 

 ers have more substance if allowed to 

 open moderately cool. C. W. 



New Haven, Conn. — The Doolittle 

 Floral Co., has been incorporated, with 

 a capital stock of $25,000. The incor- 

 porators are A. L. Doolittle, William H. 

 Long and H. H. Kelsey. 



PEONIES DID NOT BLOOM. 



We have some peonies and it will 

 soon be time to plant them. We wish? 

 to know how to plant and divide large 

 clumps. We divided some about five or 

 six years ago and they never amounted 

 to anything. A number of small, sickly 

 looking stalks came up every year, but 

 did not grow more than a foot high; 

 they stayed green all summer and 

 never bloomed. Some new stock planted 

 at the same time did splendidly and 

 gave good blooms every year. Wo 

 wish to transplant those we have and 

 get more with them, and should like 

 to get correct information. W. M. 



Among the causes which make 

 peonies sulky are: 



1. Planting them too deeply, which 

 makes them multiply stems without pro- 

 ducing blooms. The eyes should not 

 be set more than one to two inches be- 

 low the surface of the ground. 



2. Leaving too many eyes on a divis- 

 ion. If the size and strength of the 

 tuber left with these eyes is not in 

 proportion to the number of eyes, the 

 growth will be weakened. 



3. If the ground is soggy and not 

 well drained it will act in this manner. 



4. If plants are set very late in the 

 fall or any time in the spring, they are 

 likely to be sulky for a year or two. 



Whenever a plant has been sulky 



for a series of years it is generally 



cheaper to throw it away and get new, 



healthy stock, so as not to waste time. 



William A. Peterson. 



