At CI ST 4. 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



9 



an 

 Til 



Ai. 



\n 



[he 5-iuch bulbs from eight to ten." 

 tew samples of this lily received in 

 ilea last year proved to be some- 

 .; fine, the flower being superior to 

 iiteum in texture and more star- 

 ed in appearance. The plant pic- 

 .] is five feet high, has a flat stem 

 nianv flov^'ers. 



A ROCHESTER SEED FIRM. 



'le thoughts of many members of 

 ill. trade are now drawn toward Koches- 

 i, to which, if they are fortunate 

 iMi \'^h, they will soon travel in reality 

 :i^ veil as in thought. Their nimble 

 It! i;inations are making many visits 

 Id he convention city before the actual, 

 |,1 >ieal pilgrimage begins. Kochestcr 

 ,it present is the great center of attcn- 

 li II. and ought to be so, since they wlio 

 !r 111 most about the city and its sur- 

 111, tidings before going to the conven- 

 li.i are likely to derive most profit and 

 |.i; u.sure from tiie trip. The Review, 

 III icfore, has recently been giving con- 

 simnable space to descriptions of trade 

 rniiditions at Rochester. This time the 

 -.iiiijoct is the farms of the Vick & 



iiiii Co. 



The farms of the Vick & Hill Co. are 

 Im-ated at Barnard, just north of 

 Ivochester, and are easil}' reached by 

 tiolley, or by the New York Central & 

 Hudson River railroad. One of the two 

 r.irins comprises thirteen acres, and on 

 ii are located the greenhouses, cellars 

 I lid other buildings. On the other farm, 

 wliich consists of twenty acres, are 

 •410WU the asters, of which this com- 

 |F.tny makes a specialty'. No asters are 

 u:iown for cutting purposes; the entire 

 <iop is for seed, which is grown for the 

 tiorists' trade and on contract for seeds- 

 men. 



One interesting feature of the astor 

 r.irm is the portion devoted to the trial 

 it tlie firm's own seedlings and the 

 standard varieties. Here may be seen 

 I fair test of the many different varie- 

 ties, growing side by side and under the 

 -.line conditions. These trial beds are 

 "I great assistance to visiting florists 

 111(1 arc freely used by them in making 

 ^I'h'ctions for future orders. 



This company has originated and in- 



I iiKJuced many new varieties of asters, 



iiiiong which may be mentioned Day- 



'ncak and Purity, both of which are 



iiown to the florists the world over. 



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



The main varieties of asters grown are 

 the Early and Late Branching, botli 

 Scrapie's and Vick's; Earh' and Late 

 HohenzoUern and others of the Comet 

 type; the Daybreak section of eight 

 varieties; Upright Growing; Crego; 

 Queen of the Market, and many others. 



GERANIUMS FOR MEMORIAL DAY. 



Is there anything to be lost or gained 

 n potting geraniums in 4-inch pots as 

 -^oon as cuttings are rooted and keeping 

 fliem 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 sales? J. T. T. 



Tt would be bad policy to put gera- 

 nium cuttings, when rooted, directly 

 into 4-iuch pots. This is much too large 



a size for them and the probability is 

 that many would damp otT, 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 dav sales, no mat- 



ter how well you trotited them with 

 fertilizers. 



Fine bone is the best fertilizer to 

 use in geranium compost. This keeps 

 the wood hard and makes the plants 

 llower 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 

 he 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 

 (loses of nitrate of soda (in water) or 

 li(inid cow manure. C. W. 



TROUBLE WITH GERANIUMS. 



Will you kindly inform me as to 

 what 3'ou 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 tlie foliage. The leaves 



