ThcWcekly Florists^ Review. 



•JJ.WJIiJI^V 



Dbcember 1, 1910. 



VALLEY UNDER A BENCH. 



What was the matter with my valley? 

 I had it under a greenhouse bench, 

 where the temperature was about 48 

 degrees at night and 68 degrees at 

 noon. Carnations and sweet peas did 

 well on the benches. The valley came 

 on somewhat slowly, but in first-rate 

 shape, with good, erect stalks of leaves, 

 and the blooms then appeared — about 

 three weeks after planting — but then, 

 instead of developing, they apparently 

 •damped off. W. D. H. 



The night temperature is too low for 

 your vallej'. it requires a steady bot- 

 tom heat "of 85 to 90 degrees and a 

 top heat of 58 to 60 degrees, to grow 

 it successfully. You can hardly get 

 anything approximating these condi- 

 tions at this season in a carnation 

 house. 



You should liave a case built over the 

 heating pipes. Enclose theso and, after 

 boarding the bottom, lay five to six 

 inches of sand in it. Plant your pips 

 directly in the sand and water well 

 until the flower stalks push. No water 

 must be given after any of the flowers 

 are opening, or they will decay. Per- 

 haps your atmosphere has been too cool 

 and damp for the valley, but more 

 probably you have overwatered it in the 

 later stages of growth. The plants, of 

 course, must be darkened until they are 

 well drawn up; then give more light 

 gradually, in order to give substance 

 to the flowers. The specialists have an 

 advantage over small growers, as they 

 are able to have a separate house, with 

 ideal conditions in temperature of both 

 sand and atmosphere. C. W. 



WHAT IS THE VALUE? 



As you are aware, the federal cor- 

 poration tax law requires all corpora- 

 tions to make a report in January of 

 the condition of their business at the 

 -iloae of the same, December 31 of each 

 year. This is done for the purpose of 

 taxation and requires an inventory to 

 be taken as of date December 31. 



The writer is somewhat at sea as to 

 just how to proceed to take an in- 

 ventory of the contents of a green- 

 house on the last day of December. 

 What is the inventory value of 1,000 

 Eichmond rose bushes in the bench 

 that day; of 1,000 Enchantress carna- 

 tions in bench; of 1,000 violet plants 

 in bench; of 1,000 Easter lilies in pots? 



Our practice in the past has been to 

 take an account of stock June SO, when, 

 of course, houses ard at their lowest 



point. 



If not too niueh trouble, will you 

 kindly advise along these lines? This 

 same question may be agitating other 

 readers of your paper, as all corpora- 

 tions are in the same fix that we are. 

 Hoskins Floral Co. 



Tliis doesn't seem so diflBcult. In 

 most if not all of the states the farm- 

 er's growing crops are not assessed for 



taxation and in these states the florist 

 generally is put on the same basis as 

 the farmer, and in other states the as- 

 sessment placed on the crops growing 

 in greenhouse benches is so low as to 

 be not worth contesting. The theory 

 is that crops not yet developed to the 

 point of marketability have no value. 

 It seems fairly well established, there- 

 fore, that a florist will be justified in 

 inventorying at the selling value of a 

 given date, though if his patriotism 

 leads him to wish to swell Uncle Sam's 

 income he can write down something 

 for what he hopes, with good culture, 

 to be able to realize from the crop in 

 the next six months. 



The Keview will be glad to print the 

 letter of any florist who has gone into 

 this special feature of the subject of 

 taxation 



THE PARTING OF THE WAYS. 



He was standing in the greenhouse, 

 with his loose flannel shirt rolled at the 

 sleeves, showing strong muscular de- 

 velopment. The position of foreman 

 had just been offered him. He was 

 young, and the offer was a compliment 

 in itself, brought about partly by cir- 

 cumstances and partly by his ability. 

 He had ability, he knew that; he had 



learned the knack of making his work 

 tell, a knack that many, many men 

 never acquire. Without fuss he could 

 accomplish things, accomplish them 

 quickly and well. Plants prospered 

 under his care; he had the faculty of 

 telling when a plant was dry — a simple 

 thing that many men can never tell. 



He knew all this, knew that he could 

 do all that was required of him and 

 more. He liked the idea of power and 

 of an increase in his salary, with fur- 

 ther increase not far ahead, but he was 

 fond of pleasure; he liked to be 

 through at half past five in the after- 

 noon; he liked baseball; he liked to go 

 sporting. 



He hesitated. 



Was it worth the price? No; you 

 can only be young once; better enjoy 

 life while you can. The chance that 

 never comes to many a young man was 

 declined. 



A few months later he had a row 

 with the new foreman, a grievance, a 

 flare-up, and the work of three years 

 was thrown away. Phil. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 



Work of the Committees. 



Exhibited by A. N. Pierson, Crom- 

 well, Conn., variety Chadwick Supreme, 

 a pink sport from W. H. Chadwick. At 

 Chicago, scored commercial scale, color, 

 18; form, 13; fullness, 9; stem, 14; 

 foliage, 13; substance, 13; size, 7; 

 total, 87. At Cincinnati, color, 15; 

 form, 10; fullness, 9; stem, 14; foliage, 

 13; substance, 13; size, 8; total, 82. 

 At New York, color, 17; form, 10; full- 

 ness, 8; stem, 13; foliage, 13; sub- 

 stance, 13; size, 5; total, 79. 



Chas. W. Johnson, Sec'y, 



HILDA AT HOME. 



Hilda was looking fine. There was 

 evidence on every one of the 5,000 

 plants of the cutting of a heavy crop; 

 stems with that white look, evidence of 

 a recent visit of a sharp knife, stood 

 erect on all sides, while thickly scat- 

 tered among them were other stems now 

 dark at the cut, with the eyes breaking 

 nicely just below. There were other 

 shoots further advanced and a few near- 

 ing maturity. 



Hilda was off crop, yet every plant 

 was clothed with luxuriant green foli- 

 age right down to the base, foliage of 

 such a rich green that it bore eloquent 

 testimony to the care bestowed on cul- 

 ture. For, as every grower knows, the 

 plants that have just yielded a heavy 



crop have suffered a shock and arfe apt 

 to show it. The remaining foliage loses 

 luster, yields to some insect or fungous 

 attack, often dropping here and there. 

 Skill is required to avoid this, but skill 

 can do little without the aid of a rugged 

 constitution. It is clear that Hilda has 

 a splendid constitution. It is also clear 

 that Myers & Samtman are giving 

 Hilda the best of care. They have had 

 splendid results from My Maryland and 

 propose achieving even better results 

 from Hilda, which they believe is a 

 better rose, owing to its darker color. 

 The plants are growing on tables in 

 their next to last new range in the same 

 temperature as the Beauties that fill the 

 remainder of the house, a temperature 

 that is now, Mr. Samtman said, 58 de- 

 grees at night. Phil. 



DOUBLE KILLARNEY. 



The only fault which has been found 

 with Killarney is that it is too single. 

 For this reason Robert Scott & Son, of 



