SZOPTEMBEK 'JO, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



9 



School Children at Christ Winterich's for Start in Geranium Growing Contest. 



luMi tho leading retail lady florist of 

 ^[>ringfield, and two lively young hoys 



low make life interesting to botli. 



Mr. Schmidt is an athletic entiuisiast, 

 ivas at one time president of the local 

 i)eutsche Turnverein, devotes Saturday 



ifternoon to baseball during its season, 

 •nul an evening or two a week in the 



'vmnasium of the Y. M. C. A. 



Ge Dale. 



WINTERICH'S BRIGHT IDEA. 



Did you ever get a whole summer's 

 ;iilvertising out of a few hundred 2 inch 

 lirraniums? If you didn't, this is how 

 7t may be done. Christ \Vinteric,h, 

 Defiance, ()., originated the process, but 

 it is not covered either by patent or 

 .-opyright, nor would he patent it if he 

 .ould. Everybody is welcome. 



.\n annual event at Defiance is tlie 

 fall festival; pretty nearly every tosvn 

 has something similar, a county fair or 

 >ome other t>vent at about this date. 

 Knowing that the fall festival would 

 take place in Sc^ptember, last sjiring 

 Mr. Winterich advertised in his local 

 paper that on a certain afternoon he 

 would give to each school chilil five "J- 

 inch geraniums, these to be grown on 

 for exhibition at the festival in Sc[itom- 

 her, when prizes would be awarded to 

 those showing the best plants. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 a part of those who came for the jdants 

 in the spring. The picture is so much 

 reduced it may not be apparent, but 

 each child in the group has a package 

 of geraniums in his hand. You can 

 imagine the talk in that town when so 

 many youngsters lined up at the wire 

 to get their start in the race. 



When the fall festival came around 

 the school children's exhibitions were 

 one of the star features. Quite natiir- 

 rilly it was the center of interest for 

 the children, and consequently for their 

 parents. Those whose geraniums liad 

 •^n.ioyed only a fleeting existence were 

 on hand to see what the more successful 

 ones had accomplished, and it is just 

 witliin the possibilities that some of 

 the plants Mr. Winterich sold in 3 inch 

 and 4 inch pots during summer were 

 bought to take the place of one or more 

 of those given away that had not with- 

 stood amateur cultural methods. 



Anyway, it was a big ad for Mr. 

 Winterich; a big ad in the spring, a 

 good ad all summer long, and an- 

 other big ad in the fall. The 

 local newspaper gave the display half 

 a column write-up. from which it is 

 gleaned that "Lois Stonebreaker won 



the first prize, a large palm. She had 

 five plants which were uniform in size. 

 Paul Fahy won the second prize, a large 

 fern. Clarence Eost won third prize, a 

 beautiful cyclamen. Tsabelle Lavis 

 won fourth prize, a bed of geraniums. 

 Lucile Schlembaugh won fifth prize, a 

 bed of cannas. Irene and Edmund 

 Nickle won a special prize of a large 

 fern. They had grown their ten plants 

 in one large tub. Paul Duerk has the 

 best single plant. Many of the children 

 had less than five plants, and for these 

 honorable mention was given to sev- 

 eral." Their names followed. 

 Next season the show will grow. 



PACKING VIOLET PLANTS. 



Wliatisthe best way of jiaeking field- 

 grown violet jilants for shipment ? Some 

 of them measure ten to fourteen inches 

 diameter. Should 1 leave much soil 



in 



on the roots .' 



E. A. P 



A good way in which to pack violet 

 l)lants for shipment is to put a thin 

 layer of excelsior in the bottom of the 

 box, and then pack the plants upright 

 in straight rows across the box, press- 

 ing the roots firmly together in the 

 row. If the plants" are to be shipped 

 far. there should be a narrow wooden 

 cleat nailed across the box between 

 everv other row, in order to keep the 

 j)lants in place. Then nail a slat cover 

 on the top of the box. so that the 

 plants will have plenty of ventilation. 



Do not remove all the soil from the 

 roots. In case the soil is light and falls 

 away from the roots too much, it is 

 best to i>ack a thin layer of damp ex- 

 celsior between each row of plants m 

 the box. Pack tightly, but give the 

 foliage all the air you can. to avoid 

 heating in the box. W. H. T. 



AUCUBA JAPONICA. 



< ;in you give me some information 

 regarding the summer treatment of 

 Aucuba .Taponica. both gr(>en and 

 variegated? I have had some fine [dants 

 turn black and die. and .'im at a loss to 

 know how to jtrevent the sami' thing 

 occurring again. P. X. I). 



Wakefield, Mass.— Otto Runge has 

 opened a new store on Albion stre«>t and 

 is enjoying a marked increase 

 ' business. 



.ViU'ubas, both green and variegated, 

 will do well jilant('(l in ;iny good garden 

 soil in sumnit>r. where they will get full 

 sun. It' placed with azaleas, ericas and 

 other hard-wooded greenhouse })lants, 

 within reach of the hose, they will make 

 sj)lendid growth. If kept in tubs, all 

 they require is plenty of water and 

 an occasional dose of litpiid manure. 

 Probably your plants wimc kept too 

 dry in winter, which would cause their 

 turning black wIkmi tlie warm weather 

 came on. Keep them in a temperature 

 just clear of freezing in winter. Some 

 frost will not hurt them. C. W. 



PALMS. 



Which is considered to be the best 

 :ill round palm for florists' use. for 

 decorations indoors and outdoors.' Is a 

 house running east and west or one 

 running north and south best adapted 

 for growing palms? Is a solid concrete 

 bed tilled with ashes considered goo<I 

 to grow them on? F. II. W. 



If limite(l to one species of palm for 

 general decorativ(> utility. Kentia 

 I'orsteiiana would doubth'ss receive the 

 most votes ill its favor. 



Houses running east and west .are 

 favorecl liy nuist palm growers, but 

 fruiii the fact that most palm houses 

 are shaded to some extent for a large 

 part of the year, the direction does not 

 make so much dilferenc(\ 



A sidid IkmI filled with ashes is ex- 

 cellent for growing j>alms in (i-incii 

 pots or larger, but the young stock is 

 more under control when grown on side 

 benches, wheic they will have the 

 benefit of the heating pipes beneath 

 them. W. II. T. 



in his 



Hot Springs, Ark.— The Johnson 



Floral Co. says that trade is i;ither (piiet 

 at prestMit, and it takes only a little 

 stock to sup)dy the demand. A funeral 

 now and then is about all. but they are 

 busy rejiairing and fixing up for the 

 coming seasiui. This month being just 

 between seasons here they do not expect 

 much real business. Flowers are scarce. 



