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DXCBMBBB 15, 1010. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



41 



Use a pointed hardwood Btick to thor- 

 oughly firm the fern fiber. AH plants 

 must be firmly potted, or they will 

 never thrive. The crowns of the plants 

 should be slightly elevated above the 

 rim of the pot. Water sparingly at 

 first, and until roots are being freely 

 produced and new growths pushing it 

 is safer to run the plants on the dry 

 side. 



Plants can be divided with a sharp 

 knife, always leaving one or more 

 sound eyes or leads on each division. 

 Qive the plants a winter minimum of 

 55 to 58 degrees. Anything higher will 

 be injurious. I would prefer 52 to 62 

 degrees. Plants should be overhauled 

 every year after blooming. The bulk of 

 them will be benefited by potting. 



I know of no good American work on 

 orchids. There are several excellent 

 English works by W. Watson, B, S. 

 Williams and H. A. Burberry. Their 

 cultural conditions, however, are radi- 

 cally different from ours and these 

 books would not give you the right cul- 

 ture for America. Bailey's Encyclo- 

 pedia treats on orchids quite fully 

 from an American standpoint, however. 

 0. W. 



CYPBIPEDIUM BOTHSCHILDIANXTM 



Cypripedium Bothschildianum, which 

 caused quite a sensation when first in- 

 troduced in 1887, is a native of Borneo. 

 It is named in honor of Baron Ferdi- 

 nand de Bothschild, a noted amateur 

 orchid enthusiast. Hybridists have not 

 been slow to use this remarkable va- 

 riety and there are now some fine 

 Bothschildianum crosses. The foliage 

 is glossy green and remarkably strong, 

 attaining a length of eighteen to 

 twenty-four inches in well established 

 plants. The leaves are also quite 

 thick. The scape is reddish brown and 

 carries several flowers. The dorsal 

 sepal of the flower is yellowish, with 

 dark longitudinal stripes and white 

 borders. The petals are spreading and 

 of a yellowish color, striped and spot- 

 ted with dark purple. The lip is cinna- 

 mon brown. It is strong and leathery. 

 The labellum Is of slipper form and 

 brownish, with the margin light yel- 

 low. The staminode has a projecting 

 beak. 



C. Bothschildianum is a winter- 

 blooming variety. It succeeds well at 

 the warm end of the cypripedium 

 house, in a compost of osmunda fiber 

 and sphagnum, with plenty of drain- 

 age in the pots. This is one of the 

 boldest and most striking of the nu- 

 merous varieties of cypripediums. 



W. N. Craig. 



CATTIiSYA DOWIANA AUKEA. 



Please give me some information as 

 to how to grow Cattleya Dowiana after 

 the plants ^re through blooming. 

 Should I reduce the water, as with C. 

 labiata, and should they be kept warm? 



H. B. 



Beduce the water supply after flow- 

 ering, as in the case of C. labiata and 

 other cattleyas. Any potting .or basket- 

 ing should be done after flowering. 

 Keep the plants at the warmest end of 

 the house. They like 5 degrees more 

 heat than C. labiata and at this season 

 need no shade at all. C. Dowiana, if 

 grown shaded, will make fine growths 

 and dark foliage, but i^ you want it to 

 bloom well, hang the plants well up to 

 the light and give only a thin shading. 



Cypripedium Rothschildianum. 



even in summer. The foliage will look 

 yellow, but you will get what you espe- 

 cially desire, viz., flowers. C. W. 



MARGUERITES AT CHRISTMAS. 



In The Beview of December 1, page 12, 

 I noticed an article about marguerites, 

 in which it states that the marguerites 

 may be had in fine flower for Christ- 

 mas. Please tell me what varieties that 

 has reference to, as I cannot manage 

 my Queen Alexandra so as to get 

 flowers at that time. S. G. 



Marguerite Queen Alexandra is not 

 an early bloomer and will not flower 

 for Christmas satisfactorily. The old, 

 silvery-leaved form of Chrysanthemum 

 frutescens, with much smaller flowers 

 than Queen Alexandra, blooms well at 

 Christmas in pots. Young plants are of 

 no use for this purpose, however. 

 Plants propagated the previous winter, 

 which have been planted outdoors all 

 summer and lifted early in September, 

 will flower satisfactorily if given a 

 sunny house in a night temperature of 

 50 degrees. Of course, these plants will 

 not bloom as heavily as at their natu- 

 ral flowering time, which is in the 

 spring. If carried over summer in pots 

 of a good size under glass, both the 

 yellow variety, Etoile d'Or, and the 

 improvements on it, as well as the 

 white sorts, will give a fair Christmas 



crop. In fact, marguerites are now 

 procurable from Thanksgiving until 

 July. To bloom well in winter, the 

 roots must be restricted. Planted out, 

 they make too rank a growth and will 

 not bloom until spring. C. W. 



BUFFALO. 



The Market. 



The first real winter blizzard struck 

 Buffalo early last week and the coun- 

 try has been covered ever since. Ideal 

 Christmas weather prevails and the 

 temperature has been mild enough so 

 as not to cause too much trouble. The 

 dark weather continues and stock has 

 never been so scarce, especially carna- 

 tions. Boses are not any too plentiful, 

 but the scarcity is not so marked as 

 in the carnations. If these conditions 

 continue, the cut will only equal about 

 forty per cent of the demand. 



Sweet peas are slow in opening and 

 the shortage is marked. Beauties are 

 poor, excepting the long stems. Plants 

 largely have taken the place of cut 

 stock, and begonias and azaleas have 

 sold the best at this date. Poinsettias 

 have made their appearance, but the 

 bulk will be shown a little later. Green 

 stock and holly have arrived on the 

 market, and the abundance of cheap 

 stock gives promise of an oversupply 

 again this year. Nearly every commis- 



