Sei'Tembek 5, 1912. 



The Florists^ Review 



15 



^tSfk 14. aJ> 





■••i:»5^>v,; w,.; 



^'"W^::;> 







Establishment of E. T, Wanzer, Intensive Culiurist, Wheaton, IlL 



.iml arc giving them <a little water once 

 or twiee a week. If it would pay us 

 better to buy new, we can easily use 

 these plants outdoors. G. V. W. 



It will not pay to attempt to force 

 any of these spiraeas a second season. 

 Vou would get few ilowers from them. 

 Plant them out on a rich piece of 

 ground and let them stay there a couple 



of years, after which they will force 

 splendidly and the clumps will be so 

 large that it may be necessary to divide- 

 some into two and three pieces before 

 potting. The e.xtremely low price at 

 which imported spiraeas can be pur- 

 chased makes it a jiure waste of tinu' 

 and energy to attempt to carry any 

 stock over and force it. C. W. 



UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 



1 had an order for a wedding bou- 

 quet of valley and white roses for the 

 middle of July. In middle Georgia we 

 exftect hot weather in July, and always 

 get it, too, but as I had such success 

 with the valley I will describe my 

 method. 



The pips were ordered from a whole- 

 sale seed house in Phila<lelphia and 

 reached me July 4. Although they had 

 been carefully packed in damp moss, 

 growth had started and several showed 

 the bud, which made me fear that the 

 whole batch woubl be spoiled by the 

 heat, causing the flowers to open before 

 the stem had grown long enough. I 

 l)lanted them at once, in pots of coarse 

 sand, and set each ])ot in a saucer of 

 water. Kach pot was covered with a 

 pai)er bag to keep the light from the 

 pi|(s. Twice a day the bags were re 

 moved and the y)ips given a thorough 

 spraying. l?ut the weather was so hot 

 that after the fourth day T kept them 

 in an ice-box through the day, ]>utting 

 them out in the open after the sun had 

 set and |>vitting them back in the ice 



box before breakfast. They grew fast. 

 The b(dls were of good size, with stems 

 from six to eight inches long, and were 

 ready for the wedding in fourteen days. 



• 'cist of pips jiiid express cliiirncs .S-.H.". 



Ice, fi>;llt (lilVS (>." 



Total $;t.(io 



.\s a result, I had nine do/en fine val- 

 ley. 1 also had the satisfaction of know- 

 ing it could be grown in spite of the 

 great heat and will be ready for future 

 orders. ^^. B. 



A TYPICAL ILLINOIS PLANT. 



Overwork in a Chicago otiice caused 

 !•-. T. Wanzer, whose home was at 

 WheatoTi, 111., to buy a tract of seven 

 teen acres just outside that town, for 

 the purpose of starting in the green 

 house business. He has now been at 

 it for a matter of ten years, ami has 

 been eminently successful. R. Schef- 

 ller was engaged as grower, and ^Ir. 

 S(hef1ler's abilities in this lint\ couided 

 with Mr. Wan/.er's business experience 

 and executive qualities, have resulted in 

 building up the establishment shown in 

 the accompanying illustration. There 



are six houses, each I'.ixL'dd, with a 

 lean-to on the south side, L'4xlMi(), and 

 another smaller one on the north side, 

 broken by tht> boiler shed, j)acking 

 room and otiice, which stand at the 

 cente-r of the range at that side. 



The [ihotograph from which the illus- 

 tration was prejiared was made earlv 

 in August. In the foreground the field 

 of carnations is shown, for carnations 

 are the [irincijial crop grown in the es- 

 tablishment. The picture shows three 

 lines of the Skinner system of irriga- 

 tion, which has been found an impor- 

 tant adjunct. The pijies are spaced 

 about forty feet afiart, the distance 

 being regulated by the water pressure. 

 The spacings are such that with the 

 pressure available each pipe throws to 

 the center between the lines, thus 

 bringing every [dant in the field within 

 rea(di of water. The pipes are 400 

 feet long, and are feci from one end. 

 The system works so perfectly that the 

 pressure is as good at the far end as 

 at the near end. The system is oper- 

 ate<l by a six horse-power gasoline en- 

 gine, and a new Challenge pump re- 

 cently installed. The appar.itus was 

 manufactured by the Challenge Co., 

 Batavia, 111., and the entire equipment 

 gives splendid satisfaction. 



Just beyond the field of carnations is 

 a big bed of stevias. The han.lling of 

 this crop shows especially well the sys- 

 tem by which Mr. Wanzer has made his 

 establishment so highly j.rofitable. 

 Kvery inch of greenhouse space is kept 

 busy in the most productive way. The 

 steyia is planted out in the field, and 

 makes fine growth. With autumn ap- 

 proaching, the plants are transferred 

 to boxes of convenient size for han- 

 dling, about five jdants to the box. 

 Whatever spa<e is available in the 

 lean-to houses, or in the greenhouses 

 themselves, is used for these boxes of 

 stevias. The balance of the 1 (>\,-s are 

 protected from frost in a dieai' struc 

 ture roofed with hotbcl s:ish. Hero 

 they remain until the < hrysaiitlieinunis 

 are cut. Then, as fast as space becomes 

 available, the boxes of stevias are 



