84 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



March 30, 1911. 



produce of the single plant found in 

 1908, 



The Branching Asters. 



When the branching asters were intro- 

 duced they became popular at once, by 

 reason of their large flowers and long 

 sterns^ For commercial use the great 

 number of lateral branches has been some- 

 thing of a drawback, many of the grow- 

 ers going to the expense of having all the 

 main branches disbudded. When I en- 

 tered upon my present work in 1906, I 

 found some selections of white branching 

 that had been made for earliness. The 

 plants were of a semi-upright habit, much 

 less spreading than the type. There were 

 but few branches and these were practi- 

 cally devoid of laterals. It struck me 

 that this feature was more valuable than 

 earliness, and since then we have worked 

 steadily to reduce the number of laterals 

 on all branching varieties. It is inter- 

 esting to note that when we have suc- 

 ceeded in getting non-lateral selections of 

 other varieties they have also been semi- 

 upright and early. Breeding off so many 

 flowers has proportionately reduced the 

 production of seed and has thus brought 

 up a serious commercial problem. 



Obtaining the Upright Form. 



In general, for commercial purposes, 

 an upright plant is more desirable than 

 one of a spreading habit. We now have 

 a large number of upright selections 

 taken from the spreading types. Several 

 of these are fixed and promise to become 

 good commercial varieties. There are also 

 a smaller number of early flowering forms 

 taken from late varieties. In the great 

 majority of cases, when we have found a 

 plant in one of the late varieties that was 

 early or non-lateral, or upright to semi- 

 upright in growth, it has appeared to be 

 a hybrid with one of the upright, mid- 

 season types — Giant Comet, Victoria or 

 Truffaut. 



To keep our trial plantings within lim- 

 its, we have saved each year only a few 

 plants of distinctly hybrid origin — plants 

 that were desirable both in flower and in 

 habit of plant. We have disregarded the 

 latent possibilities of the many combina- 

 tions that appeared in the second genera- 

 tion. For the same purpose of keeping 

 down our trial list, Ave have frequently 

 thrown together the seed from a number 

 of plants in a trial of hybrid origin, when 

 they have appeared to be similar. Some- 

 times this has worked out all right; more 

 frequently, I should say, it has not. If 

 the originating of new varieties were a 

 more important part of our business, we 

 should probably adhere quite rigidly to 

 the method of breeding from single plants 

 until the strain was well fixed. 



Turning now from a consideration of 

 the general scope of the work, we will 

 take up some of the minor details — the 

 mechanical part of the work. 



Planting in the Trial Grounds. 



Growing, as we did last summer, thirty- 

 seven acres of asters, in more than fifty 

 varieties, on one farm, we did not con- 

 sider it expedient to separate all the 

 varieties. We have, however, a gen- 

 eral scheme for planting, to which we 

 adhere as closely as circumstances per- 

 mit. Similar colors and types are as- 

 sociated in the field. Beginning on one 

 side of the field, the colors range in 

 somewhat regular gradations from light 

 to dark. We are not sure that this ten^s 

 to lessen the amount of hybridizing by 

 insects. We are inclined to think that 

 it does. We are sure that it minimizes 

 the damage done by such hybridizing. 



To grow the plants necessary for a 



411 Leading Varieties 



FLOWER SEEDS 



Vick*8 Asters, Sweet Peas, Nasturtiums, Poppies, 

 Marigolds, Gourds. 



VEGETABLE SEEDS 



Beans, Beets, Cabbage, Corn, Cucumber, Lettuce, Onions, 

 Peas, Radish, Squash. 



La^irn, Grass and Clover Seeds, Best Grades of Farm Seeds. 



Dahlias, Tuberoses, Gladioli, Tuberous Begonias, Lycoris. 

 Cannas, Coleus, Geraniums. 



Hardy Flowering and Foliage Plants. 

 Vines, Shrubs and Roses. 



. 



James Vick's Sons, Rocheste^rN. y 



Mention The Review when you wrif . 



CURRIE BROS. CO., 



MILWAUKEE'S lEADING 



RETAIL fLORISTS 



Trade Orders Solicited 



108 WISCONSIN STREET 



HIGH QUALITY FLOWER and VEGETABLE SEEDS 



Greenhnuse-grown Asparasius Plumosus, 1000 seeds, $3.50. Street Peas, early forcing 

 varieti»'8. Grand Rapids ForclnK Lettuce, extra selected, per pound. ll.OO. Scarlet Globe 



ForclnK Radisli, Carrie's extra-selected short^leaved stock, per pound, 60c: 5 pounds. |2.75. 



SKND FOR 1911 FLORISTS' WHOLKSALK CATALOGUE 



Currle Bros. Co./'s'zTo.t.MMIIwaukeejWIs. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Bridgeman's Seed Warehouse 



EstabUslied 1824. 



RICKARDS BROS., Props. 



Importers and Growers of Hleb-Krade 



SEEDS, BULBS, PLANTS, Etc 



87 East 19th Street, Telephone 4235 Gramercy, NEW YORK CITY 



Mention The Review when you write. 



GLADIOLUS 



Cinnamon Vines, Madeira Vines, 

 Lilies, Iris, Daphne Cneonim, 

 Syrinja Japonica and Wistarias. 



Write for Price List 



E. S. MILLER, Wading River, N.Y. 



Mention The Review when you writ>. 



If in need of Spring Bulbs, or Seeds 

 of Best quality and at reasonable price, 

 send for Special Quotations. Also 

 Reduced Stock of Coid Storage Lilies. 



—ADDRESS— 



H. H. BERGER & CO. 



70 Warren St.. NEW TOBK 



Mention The Review when you write. 



BURNETT BROS. 



SEEDS :: BULBS t: PLANTS 

 72 Ck>rtlaadt St., NEW TORE CUT 



Mention The Review when you write. 



VALLEY 

 CLUMPS 



The heavy kind, full of 

 leaders, $12.00 per 100. 



WN. ELLIOn & SONS 



42 Vesey Street, NEW YORK 



Always mention the Florists' Review when 

 writing advertisers* 



