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 March 2, 1911. 



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ThcWeekly Florists' Review. 



11 



The Modern Flower Store Provides for the Attractive Display of the Accessories. 



drudgery, connected with it, which, no 

 matter how learned a man may be, has 

 to be performed by everyone in most 

 commercial establishments. I have 

 failed to find or know of any one who 

 can recommend one comprehensive and 

 really practical work from the market 

 growing standpoint on the science of 

 the soil. I am as anxious as any one to 

 learn and improve my knowledge in this 

 line, but where are you to turn to. find 

 really reliable instruction? How many 

 of our growers have ever had a com- 

 plete analysis made of their soil, and, if 

 they have, know how to make practical 

 use of it in the growing of various 

 crops? I should like to see some letters 

 on these subjects in the columns of 

 The Review by more able men than I, 

 who am only a working florist. 



F. Williams. 



A great many people will differ with 

 the idea that those who go into the 

 florists' business should first gain a com- 

 prehensive knowledge of its details. The 

 fact is that until recent years few of 

 those who made a start in the trade had 

 any special knowledge of it. They sim- 

 ply made a start and worked out their 

 own salvation. Nor will there be agree- 

 ment that those who make a start and 

 then drop out reduce the profits of the 

 established florists. The man who isn't 

 making any too good progress is in no 

 position to undersell — not for long. The 

 consumption of plants and flowers is in- 

 creasing far too rapidly to have the 

 .mere presence of a few beginners affect 

 its profits to any appreciable extent. 



GIGANTEUM LILIES. 



What is the matter with my giganteum 

 lily bulbs? I sent my order in early to 

 one of the most reliable houses in the 

 country, but did not receive the bulbs 

 until November 3, when they were at once 

 potted and placed on a bed of cinders 

 under a bench, where there is no drip, 

 in a house run at a temperature of 40 

 to 45 degrees and covered with excelsior. 

 I have been careful about watering, so 

 as not to get them too wet. They are 

 only slightly rooted and have not shown 

 any signs of top growth. Under the same 

 bench and with exactly the same treat- 

 ment I have some Formosa and Harrisii 

 potted at the same time and they are 

 three inches high and finely rooted. 

 Kindly advise me what to do to get the 

 longiflorums in for Easter. I can give 

 any temperature from 35 to 90 degrees. 

 I have grown lilies for five years and 

 have not failed to have fine lilies and 

 on time too. E. W. H. 



growths have appeared above the ground. 

 Then move them into a house run at 60 

 to 65 degrees at night and you will have 

 your plants in nice shape. They will 

 be too late for Easter unless you can 

 count the buds early in March. If 

 late, better carry cool for Memorial 

 day than bring in just after Easter, 

 when demand is slow. 



The bulbs of Lilium longiflorum gigan- 

 teum are always later in arriving than 

 other varieties of the Easter lily. L. 

 Harrisii and Formosa L. longiflorum are 

 both naturally much earlier and are re- 

 ceived in the United States two to three 

 months earlier than the giganteums, and 

 the fact that they had been dormant 

 quite a long time before you received 

 them would make them form roots and 

 start to grow much more quickly than 

 the later form. Your treatment for the 

 giganteums has been quite right. Leave 

 them where they are until the pots are 

 well filled with active roots and the 



TO MAKE HYDRANGEAS BLUE. 



One of our customers writes us in- 

 quiring what chemical to use and in 

 what quantity to make Hydrangea pan- 

 iculata grandiflora and Hydrangea ar- 

 Borescens sterilis bloom blue. Can you 

 give us any information? 



W. B. N. C. 



I do not know the method whereby 

 H. arborescens and H. paniculata 

 grandiflora can be made to produce 

 blue, instead of white flowers. The 

 more tender H. Otaksa, a Japanese va- 

 riety, frequently produces blue instead 

 of pink flowers. Some varieties of this 

 are always blue. Some, again, will be 

 pink under glass and blue if grown 

 outside, and vice versa. Certain chem- 

 icals in the soil are believed to cause 

 the flowers to become blue. A little 

 broken alum mixed with the soil when 

 potting will assist in making the flow- 

 ers blue. Other growers have found 

 that the incorporation of iron filings 

 in the compost produces similar results. 

 I have no faith, however, in either 

 alum, iron filings, or any chemicals 

 turning the white varieties blue. 



C. W. 



