April 23, 1914. 



The Flori^ts^ Review 



H 



Unpacking a Carload of Phalaenopsis Plants from the Philippines. 



ican importer is paying more for his 

 stock, he is getting it with less per- 

 sonal effort. Many varieties are ad- 

 vancing in price because of increased 

 demand, the exhaustion of the regu- 

 larly hunted localities, and because of 

 the number of hands through which 

 the stock now passes. The customs 

 authorities are becoming more or less 

 familiar with the situation and they 

 are seeling to add the government 's 

 quota to the cost. There is little doubt 

 that the importer will have to submit 

 to increased duty, which he promptly 

 will pass on to tlie man in the grecMi- 

 house. 



A FEW PHAL^NOPSIS. 



In a talk before the Chicago Florists' 

 Club a few weeks ago, George L. Free- 

 man, Fall River, Mass., widely known 

 as an orchid expert, and then on his 

 way home from a visit to the principal 

 orchid growers as far west as the Pa- 

 cific, made the statement that San 

 Francisco not only uses more orchids 

 than any other city of equal size in 

 America, ]>ut tliat spray orchids have a 

 greater vogue at San Francisco than 

 anywhere else in the United States. Tlie 

 remark is recalled by news that a San 

 Francisco grower and dealer has just 

 received from the Philijipines the larg- 

 est shipment of pliala-nop-is that ever 

 came to this country. It tonsisted of a 

 solid carload of plants, over 1. 1,000 of 

 them. One of the accompanying illus- 

 trations shows the packing shed of the 

 MacKorie-McLaren Co., at San Mateo, 

 when the cases were being opened up 

 and tlie other picture shows one of the 

 company's houses of phalar-nopsis in 

 bloom. 



THRIPS ON CALLAS. 



I am enclosing a sample lily leaf to 

 show what has happened to my bed of 

 callas. Some little black insects seem 

 to be spreading all through the gera- 

 niums and other plants. I have tried 

 using nicotine and a heavy solution of 

 soap suds, but neither has any effect 



on them. The leaves are all turning 

 yellow. Would you kindly inform me 

 just what should be used? H. A. B. 



The plants have a bad dose df thrips. 

 Fumigate twice a week, continue spray- 

 ing with vigor and you should get the 

 better of these pests, though they are 

 not easy to dislodge. A mixture of 

 Paris green and sugar has been used 

 successfully as a remedy by some 

 growers. C. W. 



TUBEROSES FAILING TO GROW. 



I should like to get some information 

 in regard to growing tuberoses. Part 

 of my bulbs were potted and part put 

 in flats. They were then put in a cool 



cellar where I start my Formosa lilies, 

 freesias, etc. They were put there about 

 January 20 and left there until about 

 March 15, when they were placed under 

 a bench in a house which is run at about 

 58 degrees. At the present time there 

 is scarcely a sign of growth. What is 

 the trouble? The bulbs looked fine. I 

 want these to bloom for Memorial dav. 

 B. A. R."^ 



If you wanted tuberoses to flower for 

 Memorial day, which is not at all an 

 easy feat, your cultural methods could 

 hardly have been more radically wrong. 

 If you had given your flats a brisk bot- 

 tom heat in January to encourage root 

 formation, then potted your bulbs 

 singly, if too crowded in the flats, and 

 given them a really warm, moist house, 

 kept at 65 to 75 degrees at night, with 

 a corresponding rise in the daytime, 

 some few might have flowered on time, 

 but these early, hard-forced tuberoses 

 are at best an uncertain proposition. 

 You must give your bulbs considerably 

 more heat if you want them to make 

 any move, but you cannot possibly 

 flower any of these for Memorial dav. 



C. W. 



CINERARIAS FOR EASTER. 



When should I sow cineraria seed to 

 get blooming plants for Easter? 



W. E. H. 



Cineraria seeds to produce plants for 

 Easter, 1915, which will come April 4, 

 need not be sown before August 1. The 

 seeds germinate poorly in hot weather 

 and the plants do not make much 

 growth until the arrival of cool nights. 



C. W. 



THE ANGEL LILY. 



A subscriber asks The Review to tell 

 him where he can procui'e bulbs of Cri- 

 num fiinbriatulum, the angel lily, and 

 to state at what date they should be 

 planted in Texas. The variety is not 

 listed in the catalogues at hand. Any- 

 one who wants to make an offer can 

 have it forwarded to the subscriber. 



A House of PhalaencfTs'is Flowered by MacRorie-McLaren Co., San Francisco. 



