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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Afbil 15, 1909. 



I SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



i 



Spiraeas. 



There is always a good call for spiraea 

 in a cut state for Memorial day, the 

 sprays being excellent in bouquet or de- 

 sign work. Now that Easter is over and 

 more bench room is at disposal, the 

 plants should be given a light position 

 and encouraged in every possible way. 

 If the young leaves are just pushing up 

 they can be flowered all right by the 

 end of May, as spiraea takes kindly to 

 quite hard forcing, provided it always 

 gets an abundance of water at the roots. 



The old S. Japonica is now largely dis- 

 placed in favor of improved varieties, 

 but for bouquet work is still good. Of 

 the newer sorts, S. astilboides is much 

 the best, either for cutting or as a pot 

 plant. S. grandiflora compacta and 

 Gladstone produce dense spikes, which 

 renders them less desirable for bouquets. 



Always remember that spiraeas are eas- 

 ily injured by tobacco smoke. The 

 warmer the weather, the greater the dan- 

 ger of injury. If you must fumigate, 

 let the doses be light or cover the plants 

 with paper. If stood on the floor, they 

 escape injury, unless you are giving the 

 house a heavy dose. It is always safest, 

 however, not to use smoke in any form 

 where spiraeas are being forced. 



Candytuft and Feverfew. 



Those two useful Memorial day crops, 

 the candytuft and feverfew, should now 

 receive close attention. Keep the surface 

 soil scratched over, weeds removed and, 

 as the plants begin to fill the benches 

 with roots, apply a mulch of well rotted 

 manure. This helps to keep the soil 

 moist and reduces the necessity for such 

 constant watering. Do not on any ac- 

 count try to force either of these crops. 

 If planted when previously advised, they 

 should come along for Memorial day in 

 any ordinary greenhouse. Let them have 

 an abundance of ventilation and do not 

 apply any shading until the flowers are 

 well open, when a little coating helps to 

 keep the houses cooler. 



Gladioli. 



The early forcing varieties of gladio- 

 lus, such as Colviliei The Bride, Peach 

 Blossom, Ackermanni and others of the 

 nanus or cardinalis section, are now sell- 

 ing well and are in steady demand at all 

 the better class stores. If you grow 

 these, you probably have them in flats, 

 which is preferable to bench culture, as 

 you can then move them around at will. 

 It is an advantage to be able to place a 

 few flats in warmth each week to keep 

 up a steady succession. For Memorial 

 day this section of gladioli is not half 

 enough grown. It is easy to hold them 

 back for that day, using a cold house or 

 frame, and they will bring even better 

 prices then than at Easter. 



The large-flowered, or Gandavensis sec- 

 tion, growing in benches, usually make 

 their appearance in the markets about 

 March 20 each year. Those planted in 

 February should be in season for Me- 



morial day, but it is impossible to get a 

 whole bench ready at once, the bulbs 

 flowering a month apart. Any which are 

 running up to flower Jiad better have a 

 wire stake to support them. If allowed to 

 fall over and become twisted, their sell- 

 ing qualities are practically nil. 



The first batch of outdoor gladioli 

 should be planted as soon as the ground 

 is in condition. Always give them an 

 open, sunny spot and land which has 

 been liberally manured. Do not make 

 the mistake of planting all your bulbs at 

 one time, but put in successional batches 

 until June. Keep the bulbs in a cool, 

 dry shed or cellar and spread them out 

 thinly, so that they do not become an 

 entangled mass of roots. 



Do not fail to plant a good batch of 



that finest of all varieties, America, now 

 that its price has become so moderate. 

 No other sort will sell in the market like 

 it. Choose either named varieties if you 

 are growing for market, or particular 

 shades of color; pink, white and clear 

 scarlet are the best sellers. 



Ten Weeks Stock. 



There is never an oversupply of cut 

 flowers at Memorial day and, while the 

 rather fommonplace stocks may be a -^ 

 drug at times in the flower markets, they 

 will always sell at Memorial day. Stocks 

 can be produced cheaply and to those 

 looking for a large bunch of flowers for 

 their money, stocks will always appeal. 

 Such varieties as the beautiful Beauty 

 of Nice and the giant forms of ten weeks' 

 stocks, when well grown, will attract 

 anyone's attention. The plants, even if 

 but recently benched from 3 -inch pots, 

 should flower for May 30 if well looked 

 after. Eemove all singles as soon aa you 

 can detect them. They are of little 

 value, and the space they take up will be 

 more profitably used for the doubles. A 

 good water supply, when well estab- 

 lished, loosening up the surface soil, and 

 plenty of sunshine and fresh air are 

 what the plants need. Never try to cod- 

 dle them. 



THE ROSE GROWERS' PROBLEMS. 



[A paper by W. H. Elliott, of Brighton, 

 Mass., read before the New York Florists' Club, 

 April 12, 1909.] 



I do not think there was ever a time 

 when I felt so hopelessly unable to 

 rise to the demands of the occasion as 

 at the present. To interest in any way 

 the members of this club, or the rose 

 growers of this, the greatest flower 

 center in the world, would seem 

 enough to undertake under ordinary 

 conditions; but it seems hard indeed, 

 coming as I do now, with a sorrowful 

 and heavy heart caused by the going 

 out of that brilliantly beautiful per- 

 sonality that it has been our great 

 privilege to know, to honor and to love. 

 No matter how bright the light of his 

 genial, kindly countenance shines in 

 our hearts and memory, or how thank- 

 ful we may feel to have known him, 

 it will be impossible to go on with our 

 ordinary, everyday affairs without 

 something of that serious and thought- 

 ful life entering into our thoughts and 

 meditations. 



Under these conditions I know you 

 will expect the few words I have to say 

 to you tonight will be a deeper, more 



serious view of the rose grower's prob- 

 lems. 



You who are rose growers know, and 

 those thinking of entering upon that 

 career should know, that it is necessary 

 to consecrate your lives to this work. 

 It must not be taken up without very 

 serious consideration. The only way 

 to succeed is to pay the price, and that 

 is an overwhelming and everlasting de- 

 termination to put forth every ounce of 

 energy you have. You must make it 

 your religion and your life, — and why 

 not? You must enter into partnership 

 with the power that moves the uni- 

 verse. What grander work than de- 

 veloping the beauties of nature that 

 thousands may have pleasure! 



Site of First Importance. 



To those starting new, and to many 

 who are not well located, a proper site 

 for a rose growing plant is of the great- 

 est importance. First, a good soil, an 

 abundant water supply, a large, level 

 tract of land near the railroad station. 

 It is better to go twenty-five miles 

 farther out into the country, if you 

 can get two miles nearer the railroad 

 station, as the extra cost of teaming 

 coal over that two miles will a great 

 deal more than make up for the extra 

 expense in express. A large farm in 

 a small toi^n will usually solve this 

 problem best, as in larger towns, .farms 



