14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Mat 11, leil. 



is to dig up the bulb and see that it is 

 destroyed, though spraying with arse- 

 nate of lead and fungicides is a pre- 

 ventive measure. The percentage of 

 this "Ward's disease, however, was very 

 small. 



Lilium Jamesii was looking fine at 

 Mr. James' Longbird Farm. This lily 

 is almost disease-proof. It has extra 

 fine foliage, and flowers under Bermuda 

 conditions one week to ten days later 

 than Lilium Harrisii. The bloom is 

 slightly shorter and not so large as 

 Lilium Harrisii, but it is S robust type 

 and well worth growing. Furthermore, 

 this lot had been thoroughly rogued 

 and were true to name. , * •* 



Careful Boguias> 



A point in favor of the Bermuda 

 lilies as grown at Smith's Island, Long- 

 bird and at Wfestmeath, is the fact that 

 these growers have eliminated all 

 hybrid types. I do noit think that in 

 the pure Harrisii grown otx these estab- 

 lishments there could be seen more than 

 one hybrid in a, hundred bulbs. These 

 hybrids were plain to be seen by the 

 fact that they were only beginning to 

 turn do^n their buds, whereas the true 

 Harrisii -were in full bloom. The method 

 of roguing i» as follows: The men go 

 through the fields with paint brushes 

 and daub the foliage of all plants that 

 are to be discarded, such as hybrids, 

 Ward's disease plants and "kyoudles. " 

 The plants cannot be removed in April, 

 as it would cause too much injury to 

 the good stock. Lilium Harrisii is par- 

 ticularly sensitive to any disturbance 

 of its surface roots. 



I have been doing my best to urge 

 the Bermuda growers to still further 

 improve their stock and to endeavor to 

 get Lilium Harrisii back to where it 

 was twenty-five years ago. This is be- 

 ing done by careful and painstaking 

 methods. There is no doubt in my mind 

 that the progressive florist of the United 

 States would gladly pay fifty per cent 

 more than the present price for Lilium 

 Harrisii bulbs if the stock could be 

 improved still further. 



The great trouble has been that 

 plants afflicted with Ward's disease will 

 produce just as handsome, and fine look- 

 ing bulbs as the healthy plants do. 

 Further, a crop of lily bulbs may be 

 well grown and be absolutely ruined 

 by rough handling in digging, in pack- 

 ing, or in the hands of the bulb dealer, 

 or even in the hands of the florists. 



Orowers Should Establish Brands. 



1 think that the Bermuda methods of 

 selling lily bulbs have been entirely 

 wrong, or, perhaps I should say the 

 methods of the American bulb dealer in 

 buying them. Under conditions as they 

 have been, the man who grew good lily 

 bulbs in Bermuda and looked after them 

 carefully got no more for his product 

 than the grower that was careless. I 

 often think that the selling of lily bulbs 

 shoiild be a good deal like the cigar 

 business. It is pretty hard to tell what 

 a cigar is until you smoke it, and for 

 that reason the cigar manufacturer sells 

 his goods under a brand. He takes 

 every care that no cigars go into a box 

 bearing his brand unless they will up- 

 hold tne reputation of the brand he 

 spent his money to establish. This 

 same condition should apply to lily 

 bulbs and the man who grows the extra 

 fine article should be suitably recom- 

 pensed for the trouble and care he has 

 gone to. There are some stocks of lily 



bulbs on the island of Bermuda which 

 are cheap at the price they are sold for, 

 and there are other stocks which are 

 dear at any price, but the bulbs, when 

 they come to New York next July and 

 August, will all look about the same. 



I have spoken only of the good fields 

 which I saw. I saw many small patches 

 which were looking badly, but on the 

 whole both Lilium Harrisii and Lilium 

 Jamesii are showing much improvement 

 in spite of a rather cold, dry and un- 

 favorable growing season. I think that 

 any florist whfi buys Bermudai bulbs 

 from dealers y^o are earnestly trying 

 to encourage the Bermudians by paying 

 liberally for well grown stock will get 

 his money's worth this 'season. 



^^ * Ck)od Work Deserves Beward.'^^ 



Ihie to the painstaking care of such 

 men as E. H. James, of St. George's; 

 W. H. Conyers, of Hamilton, the vigor 

 of Lilium Harrisii is coining back. It 



Tbe Editor is pleased 

 Vhen a Reader 'f 



presents Iiis ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



As experience is the best 

 teacber, so do 'we 

 leam fastest by an 

 ezcbaneo of experiences. 

 Many valuable points 

 are brougbt out 

 by discussion. 



Good pemnanship, spelling and 

 grammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write 'as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WE SHALL. BE GLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM TOU 



only remains for the bulb dealers to 

 give these gentlemen proper support. 



As regards the shipping of lily flow- 

 ers, this pernicious practice was going 

 on to a limited extent and was being 

 carried on mainly by people who do not 

 grow bulbs. Quite a business is being 

 done in Hamilton now in sweet peas, 

 iris flowers, roses, etc., and last but not 

 least, cut lilies. The large hotels were 

 entirely filled up most of the winter 

 with American visitors and we cannot 

 blame the Bermuda florist for taking 

 advantage of the situation, so long as 

 he does not cut flowers from bulbs 

 which he afterwards intends to ship up 

 to his American brother florists to 

 grow. 



To me, Lilium Harrisii is the grand- 

 est and noblest of the Easter lilies. 

 Furthermore, a well grown plant of 5 

 to 7-inch Lilium Harrisii will produce 

 about as many flowers as a 7 to 9-inch 

 Japanese giganteum and for this reason 

 I contend that Lilium Harrisii is not 

 any more expensive. I hope within the 

 next few years to see Lilium Harrisii 

 come back and take its rightful place 

 among the commercial lilies grown by 

 the florists of the United States. This, 



however, can only be accomplished by 

 the greatest care on the part of the 

 Bermuda growers and by the establish- 

 ing of brands, so that when a florist in 

 the United States buys a case of bulbs 

 of a brand with a high reputation he 

 can depend on getting 900 good plants 

 out of 1,000 bulbs, with proper caire 

 and attention on his part. ■ 



WINDOW BOXES. 



Coming Into Greater I'avdr' 



It is encouraging to note the advance 

 being made in the use of window boxes, 

 not only at private residences, but al^o 

 hotels and th6 large dry goods stores, 

 some of the latter using hundreds auQu- 

 ally. There is a fine opportunity hetre 

 for wide-awake retailers to branch otit 

 and do a lucra;tiv« business. Illustrated 

 circulars mailed to desirable parties, 

 boxes of suitable size being shown filled 

 with plants, sample boxes neatly filled 

 being also on exhibition at the store or 

 greenhouses, will bring business. We 

 still are far behind European cities in 

 the use of these boxes. Anyone visit- 

 ing London for coronation week will be 

 struck by the immense number of these 

 seen on every hand. It is the same in 

 Paris, Berlin and other big cities and 

 there is no reason whatever why more 

 should not be seen here. Passers-by will 

 always pause and admire a store with 

 window box adornment and those who 

 have used them once use them again, 

 showing that not only does it improve 

 the attractiveness of the outside of the 

 store, but it encourages customers to 

 come inside. 



For Larger Business Buildings. 



It is noticed that on stores running 

 eight to ten stories in height the plants 

 generally used are scarlet geraniums 

 and variegated vincas. These two plants 

 withstand hot and at times arid condi- 

 tions as well as anything. S. A. Nutt 

 and Ricard seem to be favorites, but 

 the finest display seen last season was 

 of the single Jacquerie, with which 

 green vinca was used. This far out- 

 classed any of the doubles. It is, of 

 course, well understood that the soil 

 must be rich and boxes must not be 

 shallow or too narrow; six to seven 

 inches deep, or even eight inches, and 

 a similar width as a minimum will give 

 a sufficient rooting space for ordinary 

 plants if water is supplied in necessary 

 quantities. 



One color of geranium to a box is of 

 course best, and where large numbers 

 are used on a building uniformity is 

 perhaps necessary. In private houses, 

 however, greater variety should be in- 

 troduced and the number of plants 

 usable in the make-up of boxes is 

 legion. Geraniums, petunias, nastur- 

 tiums, verbenas, cannas of dwarf habit, 

 and Lobelia gracilis all stand the sun 

 well, while ivy geraniums, hydrangeas, 

 fuchsias, tuberous begonias and show 

 pelargoniums need some shade. 



Other Good Material. 

 As a general rule, a better eflfect'as 

 produced by using one or two varieties 

 of plants than a miscellaneous mixture. 

 For heavily shaded places, where boxes 

 of considerable size are permissible, 

 green plants alone can be planted and 

 here such palms as Kentia Belmoreana 

 and K. Forsteriana, Phoenix rupicola, 

 P. Canariensis, P. Ecebelenii, Areca lu- 

 tescens, Cureuligo recurvata, fieus, cro- 

 tons, dracsenas of the colored-leaved 



