FKBBUAHY 29, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



13 



that each one is made to order to fit 

 the casket, exact measurements being 

 taken by the wire worker. The cross 

 is made the full length of the casket, 

 and the full width. The frame is made 

 vvith the ends of each of the four arms 

 turned down at the bevel of the casket, 

 go that the design fits perfectly and 

 will not fall off, even with rather in- 

 expert handling by the pall bearers. 

 The back of the frame is . protected 

 with green cloth to prevent any scratch- 

 ing. The frame is filled with foil and 

 nioss and then is made solid with white 

 ciirnations. Valley is stemmed without 

 any foliage and set as solidly as it can 

 W put in. In the cross photographed 

 there were 3,500 spikes of valley. Mr. 

 Samuelson received for the design 

 $250. Other crosses have been made 

 containing considerably more stock. 

 ]'or the funeral of the late Marshall 

 Field Mr. Samuelson made one of these 

 erosses containing 5,000 lilies of the 

 valley, for which he is said to have 

 received $500. 



THE ASTER AND ITS CULTimE. 



[A summary of a lecture by George Arnold, 

 of Rochester, N. T., delivered at the New 

 York State College of Agriculture at Cornell 

 University. Ithaca. N. Y., tn the Fifth Annual 

 Farmers' Week, February 10 to 24, 1912.] 



In the lecture on "The Ast^r and 

 Its Culture," by George Arnold, farm 

 superintendent for James Vick 's Sons, 

 Rochester, N. Y., the history of the 

 aster in Europe and America, and the 

 development of the different forms,. was 

 briefly given. The introduction of dou- 

 ble, quilled and variegated flowers was 

 noted, as well as that of dwarf and 

 semi-dwarf plants. Attention was 

 called to the fact that there are still 

 being offered in European catalogues a 

 proportionately large number of asters 

 that are dwarf or semi-dwarf, with 

 flowers that have petals that are either 

 quilled or comparatively short, and in 

 colors that are either variegated or of 

 shades that are unsalable in America. 



The importance of the aster in Amer- 

 ica as a commercial flower, Mr. Arnold 

 said, began with the introduction, be- 

 tween 1890 and 1895, of Queen of the 

 Market, Comet and Branching. These 

 asters all have petals that are long, 

 loosely and irregularly arranged, and 

 the flowers, when not fully double, 

 have the centers well covered. They 

 are thus splendidly adapted to the flo- 

 rists' uses, and the American amateur 

 is using practically the same varieties 

 and the same range of colors as the 

 professional grower. A number of the 

 I'rincipal types of flowers were illus- 

 trated by lantern slides. 



Soil and Cultivation. 



Early asters were declared to be the 

 I'Ost profitable if properly grown, but 

 liiose present were warned that they 

 r. ust be prepared to give early sowing, 

 ' rly planting, rich soil and good culti- 

 wition. It was useless, said the speak- 

 1 i, to grow early asters if these condi- 

 ; ons were not fulfilled. 



The plants should be hardened so 

 t'lat they could be set out before hard 

 f^iosts were past — in April for western 

 >«ew York. 



The liberal use of quantities of stable 

 ^lanure was recommended for both 

 <^arly and late asters, either well rotted 

 f r applied the previous year. The mar- 

 ket is always full of short-stemmed 

 asters from land insufficiently fertilized 

 and tilled. 



The use of a covering of sand or 



Casket Cross by Chas. A. Samuelson, Chicago. 



[The usual method of making a cross with valloy Is to stem the foHairo with the flowers, settlnR not Uio 

 thickly together, over a (freen base. In the cross Illustrated just the opposito course is pursued— the frame 

 Is filled with white carnations as a base, on which the valley Is set thickly, stemmed without the foliage, no 

 green showing.] 



