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10 



The Rorists' Review 



SaPTBMBBB 26, lOia. 



HOW TO MAKE THEM PAT. 



; Indispensable for Home Sales. 



With the arrival of cool nights and 

 thtj making in readiness of quarters for 

 tender plants, the Holland bulbs come 

 to hand. While the weather is warm 

 bulb talk somehow palls on us, but as 

 the elements grow cooler we somehow 

 become more and more interested in 

 them. We hear each year growers for 

 the city cut flower markets say that 

 Dutch bulbs are a nuisance and that 

 there is no money in them. It is true 

 that there are glut periods with these, 

 as with all other flowers, but for the 

 country florist who uses the bulk of his 

 blooms at home there is rarely any 

 waste, provided always that batches are 

 properly timed, that suitable varieties 

 are grown, and that a good, cool cellar 

 or shed can be utilized for retarding 

 purposes. Also, the grower who uses 

 his bulb stock for his retail trade gets 

 as good prices as ever he did. 



The quantity of Dutch bulbs which 

 <;an be flowered at Christmas is so small 



, as to be scarcely worth mentioning. St. 

 Valentine's day brings a fair call for 

 tTertain varieties, but the largest sales 



-are always at Easter, and while white 

 varieties used to be the leaders,^ the 

 pink shades now sell better. There* are 

 so many diverse uses to which bulbs 

 can be put, either cut or in pots or 

 pans, that the wideawake grower will 

 find DO trouble in disposing of them. 



Soil. 



While the soil for bulbs does not need 

 as careful preparation as for some other 

 classes of plants, it should have been 

 prepared some weeks ago, as advised in 

 The Review. All Dutch bulbs succeed 

 well in a light but moderately rich 

 ('pmpost. Two-thirds decayed loam, 

 one-third old cow, hotbed or mushroom 

 manure, with a fair addition of leaf- 

 mold and plenty of sharp sand will be 

 found suitable. Mix this thoroughly and 

 it is all the better if it is prepared be- 

 fore being wanted. It is safer not to 

 add bone or any chemical fertilizers to 

 soil for bulbs, as these are more likely 

 to injure rather than improve the 

 plants. 



Tulips. 



Tulips are more in demand in piiiis 

 or pots than any other Dutch bulbs. 

 There also is a good call for certain col- 

 ors in winter in a cut state; not, how- 

 ever, to the same extent as narcissi. 

 For cutting, no tulip has yet equaled in 

 popularity La Eeine, also called Queen 

 Victoria. It comes shaded with light 

 rose in winter, becoming pure white 

 later in the season. By keeping darker 

 some growers produce pure white flow- 

 ars in January, but purchasers seem to 

 rather prefer the pink-shaded flowers. 

 If restricted to one tulip, a commercial 

 ^'rower should select this sort. White 



Hawk is a good early tulip for forcing, 

 aways coming pure white. In pinks 

 of moderate price, suitable for cutting, 

 choose Rose Grisdelin. There are others, 

 such as Pink Beauty, Flamingo and 

 Queen of the Netherlands, vastly supe- 

 rior in quality, but their price is as 

 yet a little too high for general use. 

 Belle Alliance is a good scarlet and 

 Yellow Prince is a useful yellow. 

 Thomas Moore, apricot orange, Keizers- 

 kroon and Duchess of Parma are all 

 good for cutting. Thomas Moore is a 

 good seller, but none of these are in 

 demand like La Reine. 



For pot or pan culture, a little more 

 variety may be used, and if one or two 

 of the somewhat higher-priced sorts 

 are included they should be charged for 

 in like ratio. Here are a good dozen 



fraVERY now and then a weU- 

 ttSi pleased reader speaks the word 

 which is the means of bringing a 

 new advertiser to 



;^srs 



Such friendly assiitance is tlioroughly 

 appreciated. 



dive us the -name of anyone from 

 whom you are buying, not an adver- 

 tiser. We especially wish to interest 

 those selling articles of florist's use 

 not at present advertised* 



FLORISTS' PUBLISHING C30. 

 530-60 Cazton Bldg. Chicago 



sorts: Mon Tresor, yellow; Flamingo, 

 Queen Wilhelmina, Queen of Nether- 

 lands, Pink Beauty, pinks; Thomas 

 Moore, orange; Proserpine, rose; Ver- 

 milion Brilliant, scarlet; Keizerskroon, 

 red and yellow; Joost van Vondel, 

 White Pottebakker and La Reine, 

 white. I have not mentioned the Due 

 van ThoU tulips. These are quite dwarf, 

 averaging six inches high, but are 

 much more easily flowered for Christ- 

 mas than any others. There are white, 

 yellow, rose and other shades of these. 

 The Darwin and cottage tulips are 

 naturally late flowering and it has 

 hardly paid to cultivate them under 

 glass; though some 'of the Holland 

 houses say they can be forced as well 

 as the other type, we do not know of 

 its being done on any large scale in 

 this country. 



Narcissi 



Without a generous planting of nar- 



I cissi, no country florist can well get 

 along. These have less call as pot 

 plants, but are in heavier request for 

 cutting than any others of the Dutch 

 bulb family. The Trumpet majors are 

 the earliest to flower. The Dutch fol- 

 low closely after the French and are to 

 be had in fair condition at Christmas 

 if started as soon as received. The 

 popular Golden Spur is more in demand 

 than any other single yellow daffodil 

 and should be planted heavily. The 

 double Von Sion remains popular com- 

 mercially, as it stands rough handling 

 better than the singles. It is a much 

 coarser flower than the single form, but 

 sells even better. In the large trumpet 

 class it will pay to "grow a good batch 

 each of Emperor, Victoria and Empress. 

 Princeps is a cheap variety, somewhat 

 lacking in substance, but it can be 

 grown at a good profit, owing to its low 

 price. In the short trumpet section. Sir 

 Watkin, the giant Welsh daffodil, sells 

 moderately well. Poeticus ornatus flow- 

 ers early and is in heavy demand. 

 Leedsii Mrs. Langtry and Barrii con- 

 spicuus can be sold, but only in small 

 quantities. Flats containing four to 

 five inches of soil should be used for 

 the various narcissi. 



Hyacinths. 



As cut flowers the Dutch hyaeisths 

 have a much more restricted sale than 

 tulips or narcissi. Their heavy odor, 

 which becomes obnoxious as the flowers 

 fade, is against them. The second, or 

 bedding size of bulbs, or what are 

 known as Dutch Romans, are the best 

 for early forcing for cutting, and one 

 or two sorts of a pleasing color are 

 L 'Innocence, white; Queen of the Blues, 

 blue; Gigantea, pink; La Grandesse, 

 white, and Roi des Beiges, bright red. 

 Any of the foregoing are good for pot 

 or pan culture. In addition, the fol- 

 owing should be included: Mme. van 

 der Hoop and Baroness van Tuyll, 

 white or blush; Gertrude and Pink Per- 

 fection, rose and pink; King of the 

 Yellows, yellow; King of the Blues, 

 Grand Maitre and Czar Peter, blue. 



Some growers leave the tops of their 

 hyacinths' noses peeping. This is a 

 mistake. They are better covered a 

 little; half an inch will suffice. 

 , These, with the tulips and narcissi, 

 after being well soaked with water, 

 should be placed on a bed of coal sishes 

 in a frame or cellar and buried several 

 inches deep in fine ashes. A quite pop- 

 ular plan is to bury in trenches out- 

 doors. There are advantages and many 

 serious drawbacks to this' plan, the 

 worst being in getting out the stock 

 during severe weather. Anyone who 

 has a good, cool cellar and has once 

 tried storing his bulbs there never 

 wants to plunge them outdoors again, 

 and I have never heard it claimed that 

 bulbs carried in trenches outdoors are 



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