14 



The Weddy Florists' Review. 



Decbmbeb 21, 1011. 



suggest the^welves to ^ny experienced 

 observer a-i^^l am confident the* long 

 wished fdr'sweet-scented varieties will 

 be perfected in the hands of Lemoine, 

 Burbank or Van Fleet. Much has al- 

 ready been done; more will be accom- 

 plished by careful and patient workers 

 in the development of the flower. 



AMEBIOAN BULBS. 



[A paper by E. S. Thompson, of Benton 

 Harbor, Mich., read at the meeting of the 

 Western Dahlia and Gladiolus Association, 

 In Chicago, December 15, 1911.] 



Perhaps this subject may not appeal 

 to many of you as being of special 

 importance, but to me it is of wide 

 significance. Always, as far as our his- 

 tory is concerned, we have looked to 

 Europe for our bulbs. There were a 

 few, of course, in the homes of the 

 people, but as for growing thom on a 

 scale commensurate with the demand, 

 it was hardly thought of till close to 

 the date of the original world's fair 

 at Chicago, 1893. Since that date, how- 

 ever, business has grown by leaps and 

 bounds, till today we are largely sup- 

 plying our own country and also ex- 

 porting by the million. In tuberose 

 bulbs we beat the world. From the 

 south Atlantic coast and from Long 



work is the desire of some to be exclu- 

 sively superior tp their fellow mortals, 

 and it applies to the bulb business as 

 well as to a host of other lines. But 

 '-Results," from the standpoint of The 

 Review, come to both by joint effort, 

 and when men who specialize in any 

 one line join together and work for 

 mutual advancement, all are benefited. 



Of late years our leading seedsmen 

 have been sending all over the world 

 for new and rare things. Childs has 

 done this to a large extent, and we 

 are greatly indebted to him for the 

 marvelous advance in the gladiolus. 

 Farquhar, of Boston, has been doing 

 valuable work with lilies. "With the 

 aid of Burbank and Groff, as well as 

 our own Kunderd and Koerner, prog- 

 ress is pushed on apace with the glo- 

 rious gladiolus. What we need now is 

 cooperation among growers and a dis- 

 position to play fair with results, and 

 by this means gain for ourselves the 

 advantages that should accrue to the 

 hybridizer and grower. 



Tbe Bright Outlook in America. 



Our country can produce almost any- 

 thing in the bulb line the world pro- 

 duces and we are truly only on the brink 



Exhibits of A. E. Kunderd and H. W. Koerner at Chicago Bulb Sbow. 



Island, thanks to the enterprise of John 

 Lewis Childs, millions of gladiolus bulbs 

 are exported to Europe and other coun- 

 tries. 



The greatest difficulty seems to be 

 to grow what is known as the Dutch 

 bulbs and lilies. However, we are find- 

 ing that the Pacific northwest, in the 

 vicinity of Puget Sound, is well adapted 

 to the growing of this class of bulbs, 

 as also is the Richmond district, on 

 the Atlantic coast. The United States 

 has climatic advantages excelled by 

 none, and it needs only the careful push 

 of Yankee ingenuity to develop other 

 lines fully as much. Tiger lilies can be 

 f^rown on the east Lake Michigan coast 

 as cheaply and as well as in Holland. 

 Of course we have to contend with the 

 cheap labor of other countries, but we 

 have an offset in the saving of freights 

 and the decreased loss in carriage, 

 which often leaves a good margin of 

 profit of itself. 



Results from United Effort. 



One of the greatest difficulties we 

 have to encounter is the slogan dear 

 to the heart of many, "Importer," as 

 though something imported was vastly 

 superior to anything grown in the usual, 

 everyday way, at home. One of the 

 obstacles to progress in any line of 



of the great stream of success, not only 

 with the gladiolus and dahlia, but with 

 numerous others of the world 's favor- 

 ites in flowers produced from a bulbous 

 or rhizome root. California and the 

 Pacific coast, the fruit belt of Michi- 

 gan, Long Island and the south Atlantic 

 coast, are producing today vast quan- 

 tities of bulbs that know no superior, 

 and other i)arts of our country are com- 

 ing to the front in an equally meri- 

 torious manner. 



Brothers, let us go at this matter 

 with a determination to get the best 

 out of it and nothing will stop the 

 progress. Our slogan should be "Grow 

 our own stuff," and we can if we will. 

 I believe our catalogue men would 

 gladly patroiiize home growers, did we 

 but produce as well and as reasonably. 

 A Long Island grower, now in France, 

 wrote a letter deploring the shortage 

 of seeds in European markets this sea- 

 son and saying that "America must 

 grow her own seeds. ' ' How about our 

 own bulbs f They are of equal impor- 

 tance and deserve equal attention. The 

 field is broad and valuable, and by no 

 means occupied. Let us, during the 

 coming year, try out more of the varie- 

 ties sold by seedsmen in this country 

 and come up here another season with 

 a show of bulbs that will fairly take 

 the trade off their feet, for value. 



Seasonable Suggestions 



Gardenias. 



To successfully flower gardenias in 

 midwinter requires considerable skill. 

 The idea that plenty of heat and mois- 

 ture are the two essentials to success is 

 entirely wrong. Proper soil, which 

 passes the water readily through it, is 

 one necessity. If the least pasty it is 

 sure to become more or less sour and 

 this will mean a heavy dropping of 

 buds. Water must be carefully given 

 during the short days, always allowing 

 the benches to dry out well between 

 waterings. A night temperature of 65 

 degrees to 68 degrees should be main- 

 tained and the plants should be sprayed 

 well twice or three times a week to 

 keep bugs and scale in check. Do not 

 keep the house too stuffy and moist. 

 Raise the ventilators a little at a time 

 and close in the same way. Those hav- 

 ing some bottom heat for the plants 

 are least likely to have the yellows 

 and drop the buds, as the roots of 

 gardenias like to be warm. In pots 

 the roots are under better control than 

 when in benches and bud dropping is 

 less likely to occur. Avoid heavy syring- 

 ing. Always use a spray nozzle and 

 see that the foliage dries out before 

 night. 



Show Pelargoniums. 



This is the season of rapid growth 

 with the show pelargoniums or Lady 

 Washington geraniums, as they are still 

 commonly called by many. Unless the 



Exhibit of Central Seed and Bulb Co. at Chicago Bulb Show. 



• J, - *-■ xtya^AaatJaatr AtM^xach.- 



