Sbftembkb 14, 1911. 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



HOW TO MAKE THEM PAY. 



Make Haste Slowly. 



Many of the Dutch bulbs are already 

 at hand and the balance will be here 

 shortly. Bulbs, generally speaking, are 

 this season of good quality and the new 

 specific rates of duty, at so much per 

 thousand instead of the former twenty- 

 five per cent advalorem, have in some 

 cases reduced prices and encouraged 

 dealers to import more heavily. Taken 

 all in all, Dutch bulbs last season paid 

 quite well the growers who specialize 

 in them. Of course there are times of 

 glut, just as in the case of mums, 

 violets, roses and carnations, but any- 

 one growing in quantity who possesses 

 good cold cellar facilities can easily 

 hold his tulips, narcissi and hyacinths 

 back for a few days. The average 

 country florist having considerable 

 retail trade cannot get along without 

 bulbs. There are many occasions, when 

 other flowers are quite scarce, when a 

 nice batch of bulbous flowers helps out 

 wonderfully. Not only for cutting are 

 they good, but pots and pans command 

 a considerable sale all through the late 

 winter and early spring. In order to 

 have early flowers, bulbs must be put 

 in the soil right away. For extra early 

 forcing no doubt some are already in 

 the flats, especially if wanted for the 

 holidays, but it does not pay the small 

 grower to force his bulbs hard with 

 the idea of getting a few for Christ- 

 mas. The prices may be higher, but 

 stems will be short, flowers small and 

 quite a few bulbs will come blind. 



Tulips. 



There are more tulips grown than any 

 other Dutch bulb. For cutting, narcissi 

 have advantages, but tulips are more 

 popular in pots and pans. There are 

 probably more of the La Reine (Queen 

 Victoria) forced than of all others com- 

 bined. It is of a charming delicate 

 pink color in winter, coming pure white 

 toward spring. For a later sort, "White 

 Pottebakker is fine, but should not be 

 forced so early as La Eeine. In pots 

 we have Eose Grisdelin, delicate pink, 

 and Proserpine, silky rose, both good 

 forcers. Cottage Maid also does well 

 under glass. In the way of compara- 

 tive novelties, somewhat higher priced 

 but grand in quality, are Queen of the 

 Netherlands, satiny pink, a glorious 

 sort; Pink Beauty, glowing rose pink, 

 and Flamingo, light rose shaded white, 

 a striking sort. AH of these force welL 



In yellows. Yellow Prince is inex- 

 pensive and good, Mon Tressor, rich 

 golden in color, forces well also, while 

 Golden Queen should be tried where a 

 big, handsome yellow is wanted. Scarlets 

 are not in heavy demand as cut flowers. 

 Vermilipn Brilliant and Belle Alliance 

 are the best for early work. Scarlet 

 Pottebakker is good later. The orange 

 shades are quite popular. Thomas 



Moore, a sweet scented sort, is the best. 

 Duchess of Parma is rather high in 

 price and not any better in quality. 

 The showy Keizerskroou is an excel- 

 lent forcer and its color, red with a 

 broad yellow edge, is striking. 



If a boiled down list of forcing tulips 

 is wanted the following half dozen will 

 fill the bill acceptably: La Eeine, Cott- 

 age Maid or Eose Grisdelin, Keizers- 

 kroou, Belle Alliance, Yellow Prince 

 and Thomas Moore. 



Narcissi. 



The French grown Trumpet Majors, 

 Golden Spurs and Emperors are the 

 narcissi to grow for Christmas and 

 early January flowering. They average 

 dwarfer in habit and have smaller 

 flowers than thq Dutch stock, however. 

 Trumpet Major, also called Single Von 

 Sion, should be planted in quantity for 

 early work. The flowers are clear 

 golden yellow. There is no better sort 

 to follow it than the well known Gold- 

 en Spur. This is, taken all in all, the 

 best of all the trumpet daffodils for 

 forcing. Emperor, with its immense 

 trumpets of golden yellow flowers, is 

 a robust grower and sells well after 

 the end of January. Victoria is the 

 best of the bicolored trumpet sorts 

 and- its price is now reasonable. 

 Princeps is a cheap and popular forcing 

 daffodil. The flowers, however, lack 

 texture. 



There are some of the short trumpet 

 sorts which cannot be overlooked. 

 Among these are Sir Watkin, the giant 

 Welsh daffodil, with flowers four to 

 five inches across; Leedsii Mrs. Langtry 

 and Minnie Hume, with broad white 

 perianths and pale primrose cups, 

 charming and popular sorts; and of 

 course, poeticus ornatus, for early forc- 

 ing, and the old poeticus for later 

 work are indispensable. All the narcissi 

 and tulips succeed well in flats contain- 

 ing four to five inches of soil. A con- 

 venient size is 12x24x4 inches. When 

 in pots or pans, place the bulbs as 

 close together as ■ they will stand apd 

 let the soil just cover them. 



Hyacintlis. 



In pots, pans and glasses, hyacinths 

 sell better than in a cut state. The 

 miniature and second sizes are some- 

 times boxed and forced, but the sale 

 for these is limited when compared with 

 tulips and narcissi. It is better to buy 

 named varieties for pot and pen culture 

 in order to get exactly the same shaae 

 of color in each. A 5-inch pot will 

 hold one good hyacinth bulb, a 6-inch 

 pot, three bulbs. The special pans and 

 pots for bulbs, which are deeper than 

 those in ordinary use, are best for 

 hyacinths. In flowering in glasses use 

 clear, cold water and place a lump of 

 charcoal in each glass to assist in 

 keeping the water pure. Let the bulbs 

 •stand just clear of the water and 



change the water if it shows signs of 

 foulness. Keep in a dark closet or 

 room until the roots have run to the 

 bottom of the water and the growths 

 are started at least two inches. 



Before planting hyacinths, rub off all 

 the small offsets on them, as they are 

 of no use. 



A few good cheap hyacinths, all 

 single flowered, are as follows: White 

 or tinted. La Grandesse, Baroness Van 

 Tuyll, L 'Innocence and Grandeur a 

 Meerville; pink and rose, Gertrude, 

 Charles Dickens, Moreno, Gigantea; 

 blue. King of the Blues, Queen of the 

 Blues, Leonidas, Marie; yellow, Ida, 

 Yellow Hammer. The double hyacinths 

 are less useful than the singles 'and 

 should not be used for glass culture, 

 owing to the greater liability of the 

 flowers to damp. 



Spanish Iris." 



Spanish irises are splendid for cut- 

 ting. They cannot be subjected to hard 

 forcing, like some other bulbs, but in a 

 temperature of 45 to 50 degrees at night 

 do well. They often are grown in 

 benches, but culture in flats is better 

 and permits retarding them over a 

 longer season. A few fine varieties are: 

 Cajanus and Chrysolora, clear yellow ; 

 Louise, beautiful pale blue; Midley, 

 dark blue; British Queen, pure white. 



Spanish iris starts to grow soon after 

 being placed in the house. Put them 

 in a coldframe and do not cover with 

 ashes, as in the case of tulips, narcissi 

 and hyacinths. It is easy to keep them 

 in frames until wanted for forcing, as 

 they are perfectly hardy bulbs. 



Gladioli. 



Increasing in popularity each year 

 are the small, early flowering gladioli, 

 which are splendid for cutting. These 

 can be had in bloom from the end of 

 March until July. Treat them the 

 same as Spanish iris, covering the bulbs 

 two inches deep. The bulbs are small 

 and a flat of the size previously named 

 will hold seventy-five bulbs. Colvillei 

 alba The Bride is an old favorite for 

 forcing, flowers pure white. The cardi- 

 nalis section contains some gems, 

 among which the following half dozen 

 will be found excellent: Peach Blossom, 

 delicate pink, the most beautiful of all, 

 should be largely grown for Easter and 

 Memorial day trade; Blushing Bride, 

 white, crimson blotches, showy; Apollo, 

 salmon orange; Mathilde, white tinged 

 lavender, fine; Ackermanni, salmon 

 flaked carmine, striking; Fink Perfec- 

 tion, bright rose. 



Miscellaneous Bulbs. 



Under the head of miscellaneous 

 bulbs comes a number of pretty things 

 that are popular at the up-to-date 

 stores. Among these are ixias, good 

 varieties of which are I. rosea plena 

 Wonder and I. craterioides major. These 







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