12 



The Florists^ Review 



February 27, 1913. 



While thus reviewing my entire argu- 

 ment I wish to express the hope that 

 those of you who have read these arti- 

 cles will accept them in the spirit in 

 which they have been oflfered, for they 

 have been written for the benefit of 

 those who are desirous of advancing 

 our trade. They have been written in 

 the hope of a greater awakening with 

 reference to the possibilities of Wir 

 materials and with reference to the im- 

 portance of common sense and reasQfn 

 in the construction of all our work. 

 They have been written in the hope of 

 creating, finally, a greater public inter- 

 est in our wares, an interest that would 

 natuvally result in great benefit to us 

 all. 



As to the illustrations that have ap- 

 peared in these articles, 1 tlo not make 

 any claim for the pictures or the things 

 pictured, beyond their [)ower to illus- 

 trate a point, but the principles of 

 which I have written are concrete and 

 fundamental, and scarcely admit of con 

 tradiction. Fied (5. W. Brown. 



SALTFOBD SAYS IT PAYS. 



"We are glad to see that you have 

 taken up the matter of special days for 

 the retailer and the diflferent ways that 

 he can help his own business, ' ' writes 

 W. A. Saltford, secretary and treasurer 

 of the Saltford Flower Shop, Pough- 

 keepsie, N. Y. "Commencing about 

 February ,1, we enclosed a St. Valentine's 

 day card with every box of flowers that 

 was sent out, and in every bill and let- 

 ter that left our oflfSce. Post cards were 

 sent out about February 10 to our mail- 

 ing list. We find it pays. 



"Referring to newspaper advertising, 

 we use a fixed space in our most prom- 



inent paper and change the copy every 

 day, keeping the copy right up to the 

 minute. We have found that it is a 

 lot of work to keep the copy alive, but 

 it has paid us big returns." 



The Saltford St. Valentine 's day cards 

 were neatly printed, of course. The 

 idea was conveyed simply and directly: 

 "Flowers make the best valentines." 

 In smaller type was the question, "Why 

 not send your message through us?" 

 Underneath the corporate name, the 

 Saltiord Flower Shop, were the words, 

 ' ' Petter known as the Shop Beautiful. ' ' 

 Similar cards are used in advance of all 

 special flower days. 



A OEOBOIA ORCHID WBEATH. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 a wreath of magnolia leaves embel- 

 lished with cattleyas, valley and Far- 

 leyense. It was made by the Idle fiour 

 Nurseries, Macon, Ga., of which D. C. 

 Morgan, well known in the trade, is 

 manager. They are.growing a house of 

 orchids and find thelfh extremely useful 

 in high class work of all kinds. The 

 wreath illustrated, on the easel, stood 

 five feet high. 



SCABIOSAS AND CENTAUBEAS. 



Flease advise me as to culture of 

 Scabiosa maxima plena, also Centaurea 

 iinperialis. I would like to have a cut 

 for Decoration d#\' if possible 



G. D. F. 



No time must be lost in sowing these 

 if you want a cut for Memorial day. A 

 house such as >ou would use for snap- 

 dragons, chrysanthemums or even vio- 

 lets will answer. TTse soil containing 



' 'r../ * 



plenty of well rotted manure. Sow 

 the seeds thinly in rows eighteen inches 

 apart. If they germinate thickly, thin 

 them out. Give the plants plenty of 

 fresh air; they will not stand anything 

 in the nature of coddling. A night 

 ♦ temperature of 45 to 48 degrees is suf- 

 ficient, and it should not exceed 50 de- 

 grees. Water carefully and lopsen the 

 soil between the rows frequiSiafcr. As 

 the plants commence to bloom^a top- 

 dressing of sheep manure scratched in 

 will be of benefit. Thegie plants are 

 not much subject to inse^H; attacks. If 

 fumigating, do it lightly, as they are 

 rather easily injured. C. W. 



GOOD DAHLIAS FOR CUTTING. 



Can you tell us what are the best 

 white, yellow and pink dahlias to grow 

 for cut flowers? G. V. B. & B. 



Wreath of Gittleyat and Valley by Idle Hour Nurteriet. 



In reference to the best white, yellow 

 and pink dahlias to grow for cut flow- 

 ers, it would be a hard matter for us 

 to center our opinion on just one par- 

 ticular variety for each color, consider- 

 ing we have so many diflferent varieties 

 and classes of dahlias. In order that 

 we may give the three ^principal classes, 

 cactus, decorative and show dahlias, 

 their proper credit, we list below what 

 we have found to be the finest in their 

 respective classes: 



Cactus Dahlias. — White, Rheinkonig 

 and Pius X; yellow, Prince of Yellows 

 and Mrs. Ed. Mawley; pink. Princess 

 and Rosine. 



Decorative Dahlias. — White, Henry 

 Patrick, Kaiserin Augusta Victoria and 

 Perle de Lyon; yellow. Yellow Duke; 

 pink, Delice and Sylvia. 



Show Dahlias. — White, John Walker, 

 White Swan and Storm King; yellow. 

 Lemon Beauty; pi-ok, John Thorpe and 

 A. D. Livoni. 



In selecting the foregoing list we 

 have taken into consideration every 

 point that goes to make up a truly com- 

 mercial variety, including freedom of 

 blooming, length of stem and good ship- 

 ping quality. The last mentioned is 

 an especially important point, unless 

 the flowers are to be disposed of lo- 

 cally, and in this event we could not 

 fail to mention the peony-flowered dah- 

 lias, which are the most artistically ar- 

 ranged of all dahlias, but, like all single 

 dahlias, are poor shippers, being par- 

 ticularly soft. 



David Herbert & Son. 



CHLORIDE OF LIME IN WATER. 



Many of our cities and towns are 

 using chloride of lime in the water now 

 supplied to consumers, for the purpose 

 of destroying bacteria injurious to hu- 

 man health. A question now arising 

 is: While this process may be beneficial 

 to animal life, may it not be injurious 

 to plant life? This question would ap- 

 ply especially to plants grown in pots, 

 where, on account of the restricted 

 space, a much stronger amount of the 

 chloride of lime may accumulate than 

 when ])lanta are grown in the open bed, 

 and this accumulation of the chloride 

 may destroy the bacteria so necessary 

 to the growth of plants. It is said that 

 the amount used by the water compa- 

 nies is from one-twenty-fifth to one- 

 tenth of a grain to the gallon, but it 

 has also been stated, and proved, that 

 frequently the solution is much strong- 

 er, and if the chloride accumulates in 

 the soil of pot-grbwn plants, riiay it not 

 be extremely injurious? 



