'.^ F I" "fa; ^.W11W1>W« 



8 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Fbbbuaby 9, 1011. 



ters' ink, but in actual energy in their 

 display of flowers and in the class of 

 goods furnished. All of those men- 

 tioned and others receive the support of 

 the public if done in an energetic man- 

 ner and supported in actual facts. 



One of the most promising institutions 

 — the florists' telegraph delivery — is 

 still in its infancy. The amount of 

 business transacted mutually between 

 cities is no small one, and with the 

 plan outlined by the president of the 

 association, J. A. Valentiae, generally 

 accepted this source of revenue should 

 be greatly increased. No retail florist 

 in the larger cities could afford to be 

 without the protection and advantages 

 thus offered at a minimum cost. 



Orchids and gardenias, articles de 

 luxe a few years ago, have become 

 staple articles in cities with over 200,- 

 000 population. Customers may com- 

 plain at times that prices are high for 

 fancy flowers, but still it is seemingly 

 the unusual and the higher priced 

 goods which satisfy. 



The Growth of Riches. 



The llower ttandard grows higher 

 each year, so the retailer in a city of 

 500,000 sells more than twice as much 

 as when the city was half that size, as 

 the patrons have grown proportionately 

 richor. When recognition is taken that 

 New York city's millionaires are now 

 to be counted in the thousands, whereas 

 twenty years ago there were perhaps 

 less than 100, we can see the direct 

 reasons for changing our business meth- 

 ods and look forward to standards which 

 will place the retail florist in the front 

 row of industrial pursuits and gain re- 

 spect as a representative type of Ameri- 

 can business men. 



A progressive flower store, tasteful 

 in appointment, absolutely clean, with 

 efficient salesmen and flower workers 

 attaining the reputation of handling 

 meritorious goods, must be ably man- 

 aged. The ideal manager, a rare in- 

 dividual, must possess the executive 

 qualities usually attributed to him. Fur- 

 ther, he should have the fine artistic 

 ability of a Thorley, Battles, Palmer or 

 a score of others who have won distinc- 

 tion for their class and whose work 

 stands forth as a challenge to all who 

 v/ould do better. 



GIGANTEUMS FOR EASTER. 



We have planted some Lilium gigan- 

 teum and some are slower than the 

 others. What can I do to force them 

 along so they will be in for Easter! 

 They are now about two and one-half 

 to three inches above the pots. H. B. 



Place the lilies in a house which you 

 can keep at 60 to 65 degrees at night. 

 The higher figure will be the better. 

 Spray them overhead once or twice a 

 day with clear water and once a week 

 with nicotine to keep aphis in check. 

 To be quite sure of having our lilies on 

 time you should be able to see the buds 

 when Lent arrives, which is this year 

 the first week in March. Do not, how- 

 ever, despair of them if the buds do 

 not show then. In a brisk, moist heat 

 they can be had in thirty-five days' 

 time, but it is far better to be able 

 to keep the plants a little cooler just 

 before Easter, when the flowers are 

 open. It makes the blooms of greater 

 substance and gives them better keep- 

 ing qualities than those which have to 

 be forced to the utmost limit to get 

 them in on time. C. W. 



FLOWERS FOR MEMORIAL DAY. 



What kind of ten weeks' stocks are 

 best? We have an empty greenhouse 

 and wish to start it the last of Febru- 

 ary and cut flowers for Memorial day. 

 Would that be in time for gladioli, zin- 

 nias and ten weeks ' stocks? A. A. S. 



To have ten weeks' stocks in flower 

 for Memorial day, seed should be sown 

 at once in a temperature of 55 to 60 

 degrees. The giant ten weeks' is an 

 excellent strain. If sown now the 

 plants will flower at the end of May. 

 Sow in flats; then transplant into other 

 flats, or, better still, pot off singly, later 

 transferring to the benches. Gladioli 

 of the large flowered types will be in 

 good season planted at the end of Feb- 

 ruary. Spiraeas planted in the benches 

 seven weeks before Memorial day will 

 be on time and will prove a paying crop. 

 If you have any good doubld feverfews 

 in pots, they can also be relied upon 

 for an abundance of flowers. C. W. 



CULTURE OF SNAPDRAGONS. 



I wish to get some information about 

 the culture of snapdragons. When 

 should seed be sown to have the plants 

 ready to go on benches after early 

 chrysanthemums? How far apart should 

 they be planted on the benches? Please 

 give general instructions about the cul- 

 ture of snapdragons. B. W. 



Snapdragons can be propagated by 

 either cuttings or seeds. Your best plan 

 would be to sow a batch of seed, com- 

 prising the best selling colors in sepa- 

 rate shades, which are pure white, yel- 

 low, clear pink and scarlet. Plant 

 these outdoors. Mark the plants car- 

 rying the finest spikes. Cut them back 

 and take cuttings from them early in 

 August, rooting them in a north house 

 or coldframe. Seed of a reliable strain 

 will give flowers pretty true to color. 

 Sow these early in August. Pot off 

 singly when of sufficient size, using 

 2-ineh pots. Later shift into 4-ineh 

 pots. This will give you strong plants 

 for benching late in October. 



Pinch the top out of the young plants, 

 so that they will break and send up 

 four to six shoots each. If you want 

 fancy spikes, reduce the number to 



three. Soil which has been used for 

 mums, if given a coating of cow 

 manure and some fine bone, will grow 

 good snapdragons. Place the plants 

 twelve inches apart each way. As the 

 shoots run up, stake them, as those with 

 twisted stems will be unsalable. Eub 

 all the side shoots off the flowering 

 stems, in order to give all possible 

 strength to the flowers. Feed when the 

 plants are in active growth. Fumigate 

 to keep down aphis, but never use gas, 

 as snapdragons will not stand it. 



Snapdragons should have a night 

 temperature not exceeding 50 degrees; 

 at 5 degrees lower than this, while they 

 will develop more slowly, they will give 

 stronger spikes. It is a good plan to 

 propagate from the best plants you 

 have of any particular color, planting 

 these out in the field in May in order to 

 get stock from them. C. W. 



TIME TO SOW ZINNIAS. 



What kind of zinnia seeds should I 

 buy and when should they be planted! 



A. A. S. 



Zinnia seeds germinate quickly and 

 grow so rapidly that it is better not to 

 sow them before the end of March, or 

 early in April. If started earlier they 

 will become rather unwieldy before 

 planting-out time arrives. About every 

 seedsman carries a good strain of Zinnia 

 elegans and you can purchase it either 

 mixed or in separate colors. Purchase 

 a good strain and you are then certain 

 of having few singles. C. W. 



DAHLIAS AT DES MOINES. 



The dahlia is becoming a commercial- 

 ly important plant throughout practical- 

 ly the entire country. The accompany- 

 ing illustration shows one of the dahlia 

 fields at the establishment of W. K. 

 Fletcher, Des Moines, la. Mr. Fletcher 

 grows, in addition to dahlias, gladioli, 

 Shasta daisies, sweet peas and other 

 hardy bulbs and plants. He grows both 

 for stock, for wholesale and for cut 

 flowers for the local and other mar- 

 kets. Mr. Fletcher reports a fine sea- 

 son for the sale of gladiolus bulbs, 

 saying: "I have been getting from 

 two to a dozen letters each mail in 

 response to the classified ad in The 

 Review. ' ' 



Dahlia* on the Grounds of W. K. Fletcher, Des Moines, Iowa. 



