January 16, 1913; 



The Florists' Review 



17 



One of the Fields of Creeo Asters Grown by Herbert & Fleishauer, McMinnville, Ore. 



HUSBAND, WIFE AND ASTEBS. 



One's attention naturally is arrested 

 by the discovery that the partnership 

 of Herbert & Fleishauer, McMinnville, 

 Ore., consists of Herbert T. Fleishauer 

 and Mrs. Fleishauer — when visitors ask 

 for Mr. Herbert they discover that he 

 is Mrs. Fleishauer 's husband, whose 

 first name is used in the firm designa- 

 tion. And then one's attention is 

 gained for the fact that as growers of 

 asters for the Portland cut flower mar- 

 ket Herbert & Fleishauer made a 

 name for themselves that has resulted 

 in a seed business of more than local 

 extent. 



It was ten years ago that the Fleish- 

 auers undertook the growing of asters 

 for the market. The first crops were 

 from seed purchased from American 

 seed houses and the varieties used at 

 that time were Giant Comet, Peony 

 Perfection, Vick's Branching and 

 Vick's Upright, the Semple asters and 

 Queen of the Market, but some diffi- 

 culty was experienced in finding a 

 ready market, owing to the fact that 

 other established growers were then 

 using seed from the same sources and 

 had the advantage of being acquainted 

 with the trade. Apparently impelled 

 by the determination that overcomes 

 all obstacles, Mr. and Mrs. Fleishauer 

 began the study of the aster with a 

 view to the development of a strain 

 that would command a market, and 

 soon found conditions favorable as to 

 soil and climate. In 1908 seed was ob- 

 tained of the Crego aster, in white and 

 shell pink only. This proved to be an 

 attractive flower and received the ap- 

 proval of the retail florists in Portland. 

 Since that time this aster has much 

 improved under their rigid selection 

 and is now produced in white, shell 



pink, rose pink, purple and deep 

 lavender. 



During the ten years Herbert & 

 Fleishauer have been making asters a 

 specialty they have grown nearly every 

 variety advertised. American and Eu- 

 ropean seed has been tested side by 

 side with the Oregon grown stock, with 

 a view to obtaining the best asters for 

 their purpose. Twenty-five or thirty 

 new varieties have resulted from cross 

 fertilization, some of which are im- 

 provements over the older types of this 

 flower and have become quite generally 

 grown on the coast. Mrs. Fleishauer 

 takes pleasure in giving, to those inter- 

 ested in the work, a history of how 

 they have carried on the development 

 for many years, the results obtained by 

 constant attention to selection, feeding, 

 etc., and "Mr. Herbert" says the 

 one great secret of the success of the 

 firm as aster specialists is the fact that 

 a woman is interested in it. 



The most prominent type of aster 

 seen in these fields last season was a 

 new early aster that originated with 

 Herbert & Fleishauer four years ago. 

 It is fully as large as their Crego, or 

 any of the Comet type of aster, is full 

 to the center, on long, graceful stems, 

 and comes into bloom two to three 

 weeks ahead of any of the large-flower- 

 ing asters. They had it in white, shell 

 pink, rose pink, purple and lavender. 

 Second in prominence was Oregon Mon- 

 arch, a new midseason aster which they 

 say is ahead of them all for their use. 

 The flowers average from five to seven 

 inches and contain more petals than 

 any other aster. The colors are white, 

 a fine shade of deep lavender, rose 

 pink, blush pink, and purple. This 

 novelty is a cross between the Semple 

 and Vick's Rochester. Among the late 

 asters was the Crego in all standard 



colors, and a true deep lavender, a new 

 shade with the Crego. By careful selec- 

 tion Smith's Peerless is also promising 

 good results as a la'te aster. But the 

 best of the Semple type was the new 

 Oregon Queen, with broad, heavy pet- 

 als, many in number to each flower, 

 making it full to the center and aver- 

 aging four and one-half to five and one- 

 half inches in diameter and three to 

 three and one-half inches in depth. 

 This they had in all colors except 

 white. Many other new types promise 

 much for the future and an especially 

 attractive pair was found in a pink and 

 white stripe and a purple and white 

 stripe, both of which seem to take well 

 in the market as a novelty and come 

 surprisingly true to type each year. 



"The aster is only one of the many 

 crops which could be handled success- 

 fully in the great Willamette valley of 

 Oregon," says Mr. Fleishauer. "In- 

 stead of our seed houses depending on 

 foreign growers to supply so much seed, 

 our people should get busy. We find 

 ideal conditions for the successful pro- 

 duction of garden peas, lettuce, onions, 

 radishes, turnips, sweet peas and other 

 seeds of that class. The time is coming 

 when this will be a great gardening 

 section. Its mild winters and cool sum- 

 mers make it a pleasant place to live in 

 and the rich clay soil seems to produce 

 everything except tropical plants. 

 Hardly anybody who spends a year in 

 the valley can be persuaded to make 

 his home elsewhere." 



Monticello, la.— C. L. Van Meter re- 

 cently fell from the top of a high 

 ladder to the cement pavement, and, as 

 a result, was unable to attend to busi- 

 ness for some time, though it was not 

 believed that any of his injuries were 

 dangerous. 



