AUGUST 4, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



9 



and the 5-inch bulbs from eight to ten. ' ' 

 The few samples of this lily received in 

 An.erica last year proved to be some- 

 thing fine, the flower being superior to 

 trigmteum in texture and more star- 

 shiiped in appearance. The plant pic- 

 tured is five feet high, has a flat stem 

 anu many flowers. 



A BOCHESTEB SEED FIBM. 



The thoughts of many members of 

 the trade are now drawn toward Eoches- 

 tei to which, if they are fortunate 

 em High, they will soon travel in reality 

 as well as in thought. Their nimble 

 im -ginations are making many visits 

 to the convention city before the actual, 

 physical pilgrimage begins. Rochester 

 at present is the great center of atten- 

 tion, and ought to be so, since they who 

 learn most about the city and its sur- 

 roundings before going to the conven- 

 tion are likely to derive most profit and 

 pleasure from the trip. The Eeview, 

 therefore, has recently been giving con- 

 siderable space to descriptions of trade 

 conditions at Rochester. This time the 

 subject is the farms of the Vick & 

 Hill Co. 



The farms of the Vick & Hill Co. are 

 located at Barnard, just north of 

 Rochester, and are easily reached by 

 trolley, or by the New York Central & 

 Hudson River railroad. One of the two 

 farms comprises thirteen acres, and on 

 it are located the greenhouses, cellars 

 and other buildings. On the other farm, 

 which consists of twenty acres, are 

 grown the asters, of which this com- 

 jjany makes a specialty. No asters are 

 grown for cutting purposes; the entire 

 crop is for seed, which is grown for the 

 florists ' trade and on contract for seeds- 

 men. 



One interesting feature of the aster 

 farm is the portion devoted to the trial 

 of the firm's own seedlings and the 

 standard varieties. Here may be seen 

 a fair test of the many different varie- 

 ties, growing side by side and under the 

 same conditions. These trial beds are 

 of great assistance to visiting florists 

 and are freely used by them in making 

 selections for future orders. 



This company has originated and in- 

 troduced many new varieties of asters, 

 among which may be mentioned Day- 

 break and Purity, both of which are 

 known to the florists the world orer. 



i ,f..V.'. 



Vick & Hill's Field of Asters, Barnard, N. Y. 



The main varieties of asters grown are 

 the Early and Late Branching, both 

 Semple's and Vick's; Early and Late 

 Hohenzollern and others of the Comet 

 type; the Daybreak section of eight 

 varieties; Upright Growing; Crego; 

 Queen of the Market, and many others. 



.^.?*^^>.>^.^>^->^^ 



GEEANIUMS FOE MEMORIAL DAY. 



Is there anything to be lost or gained 

 in potting geraniums in 4-inch pots as 

 soon as cuttings are rooted and keeping 

 them there until their blooming period? 

 Will the soil be of sufficient strength 

 and what mixture of earth and fer- 

 tilizers would you use in geranium cul- 

 ture? to get the best plants for Memorial 

 day skies f J. T. T. 



It would be bad policy to put gera- 

 nium cuttings, when rooted, directly 

 into 4-inch pots. This is much too large 



a size for them and the probability is 

 that many would damp off, unless 

 watered carefully. For the best results, 

 put the rooted cuttings first in 2-inch 

 pots. Later give these a shift to 3-inch 

 and later to 4-inch, in which they are 

 flowered and sold. The various shifts 

 mean some extra labor, but it pays to 

 treat them thus, as it insures nice, 

 stocky plants, which will do you credit. 

 If you placed your geraniums in 4-inch 

 pots, say in November, and carried 

 them some six months in the same pots, 

 you would have pretty miserable starve- 

 lings for Memorial day sales, no mat- 



ter how well you treated them with 

 fertilizers. 



Fine bone is the best fertilizer to 

 use in geranium compost. This keeps 

 the wood hard and makes the plants 

 flower freely. On the other hand, a lot 

 of rotted cow manure will promote a 

 rank growth of wood at the expense of 

 flowers. A 4-inch pot of fine bone may 

 be added to each wheelbarrow load of 

 loam. A little old, well decayed ma- 

 nure can be used, but never take any 

 that is at all fresh. Sickly plants may 

 need stimulating occasionally with weak 

 doses of nitrate of soda (in water) or 

 liquid cow manure. C. W. 



TROUBLE WITH OERANIUMS. 



Will you kindly inform me as to 

 what you consider is the trouble with 

 my geraniums? They are planted out- 

 side and did finely until the last week 

 or ten days, and then all at once the 

 leaves became spotted and turned yel- 

 low. They have been kept quite damp 

 and have been frequently sprinkled 

 during sunshine. Would that hurt 

 them? Which do you consider the best 

 varieties of dark and medium red 

 geraniums, next to S. A. Nutt, for bed- 

 ding? C. G. J. 



Your trouble has undoubtedly been 

 caused by keeping them too damp at 

 the root and on the foliage. The leaves 



