20 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



March 7, 1912. 



an unusually dry season, I constructed 

 a reservoir on the hill near the trout 

 brook which crosses my farm, turning 

 the water by means of a dam and 

 canal, for spring freshets would not 

 permit of large storage on the brook. 

 From this reservoir a sufficient supply 

 of water for irrigating purposes could 

 be taken. On account of the rotation 

 of crops and the fact that some of my 

 fields were too distant to be reached 

 by my pipe line economically, I was 

 compelled to partially abandon irriga- 

 tion. Nothing was lost, however, by 

 the installation of this reservoir and 

 pipe line, for the reservoir now fur- 

 nishes us with plenty of ice, and the 

 water through a 10-inch pipe, with a 

 200-foot head, develops sufficient power 

 for lighting all of my buildings, and 

 for the operation of my saw mill, 

 where trays for the storage of bulbs 

 and crates for the shipping of flowers 

 are prepared. Custom sawing is also 

 done, for the accommodation of the 

 farmers of the town. 



Every season, soon after planting 

 time, inquiries begin to arrive from the 

 surrounding summer resorts: "When 

 will your fields begin to bloom?" 

 "When will your fields be at their 

 best?" and other questions of similar 

 purport. Even before there is much 

 color in sight, automobiles, tally-ho 

 coaches and vehicles of all descriptions 

 begin their trips, which are continued 

 throughout the season of blooming. 

 Convenient roadways through the fields 

 permit the visitors to examine more 

 closely the different blocks of color and 

 individual flowers, and, so far as it is 

 practical, the plantings are arranged 

 so as to show the colors in harmony. 



One enthusiastic annual visitor to my 

 fields, an elderly gentleman who is an 

 invalid, has his chauffeur station his 

 auto up on the bank above the large 

 field, where he can secure the best view, 

 and he will sit there and gaze over the 

 mass of color until the ladies of his 

 party become impatient to return to 

 their summer home in the Berkshires. 

 A few years ago a moving picture was 

 taken of my fields during a large cut- 

 ting of flowers and was reproduced 

 about the country for some time after. 



Cutting and Shipping. 



At the beginning of the blooming 

 season shipments of cut spikes are made 

 in lots of 100, in half-barrel baskets, 

 but as the season advances these ship- 

 ments are increased, requiring crates 

 in which the spikes are packed standing 

 upright. The spikes are cut when but 

 one or two buds are developed, care 

 being taken to cut little foliage, for if 

 due consideration to this point is not 

 given, the bulb is weakened. The flow- 

 ers are allowed to wither, lying upon 

 the ground for an hour or two, accord- 

 ing to the temperature, and are then 

 packed and taken to the station for 

 shipment that night. 



Hotel dining tables throughout the 

 country are kept supplied, from our 

 fields, with shipments which, with 

 proper care, furnish a creditable decora- 

 tion for an entire week. The whole- 

 sale and large retail florists in the 

 city come in for their share of ship- 

 ments, as this flower is most valuable 

 for them at that season of the year, 

 it being so hardy that it can be satis- 

 factorily developed after having jour- 

 neyed a distance requiring as long as 

 forty-eight hours. The east side New 

 [Oontlnned on page 46.] 



SOCIETY OF AMEBICAN FLORISTS. 



Department of Begistration. 



Public notice is hereby given that 

 the E. G. Hill Co., Richmond, Ind., 

 offers for registration the following 

 carnation. Any person objecting to 

 the registration, or to the use of the 

 proposed name, is requested to com- 

 municate with the secretary at once. 

 Failing to receive objection to the reg- 

 istration, the same will be made three 

 weeks from this date. Raiser's descrip- 

 tion: Victory x red seedling; good, 

 compact habit ; blue-green foliage of 

 medium size; stiff stem; perfect calyx; 

 velvety crimson scarlet; dazzling; 

 flower full; of good average size; very 

 strong constitution; one of the most 

 productive. Name: Commodore. 



John Young, Sec'y. 



February 22. 1912. 



TOO WITHERED TO BE NAMED. 



Will you please examine the enclosed 

 package of violets and tell what kind 

 they are? They came with some Calif or- 

 nia violets. We. bought a variety for 

 Princess of Wales, but they were small 

 and of light color. This is a heavy 

 bloomer. The stems were longer and 

 the flowers larger than now. S. H. B. 



The flowers came much dried out and 

 could not be named. If the Princess 

 of Wales was small and light colored 

 it was not true to name. This is the 

 finest of all single violets, is dark blue 

 and produced on long stems. Too early 

 housing of single violets will cause the 

 flowers to come paler in color and be 

 produced less freely. On^ or two light 

 freezings should always be given the 

 plants before they are lifted; other- 

 wise they will produce far too much 

 foliage and the flowers will be of in- 

 ferior quality. A suitable night tem- 

 perature is 40 degrees as a minimum, 

 C. W. 



VIOLETS FOR IDENTIFICATION. 



I bought some violets last spring, 

 thinking I was getting Princess of 

 Wales, I have been told, however, 

 that they are not that variety and if 

 they are not, I want to know it, I am 

 sending under separate cover a sample 

 of the blooms and leaves. You will 

 see that some of the leaves are not 

 perfect. They are dry about the edges 

 and I do not know what to do for this. 

 I have cleaned the leaves two or three 

 times, but they become the same way 

 again, S, M, 



The flowers were completely shriveled 

 on arrival and could not be identified. 

 It is necessary, in sending these or 

 other flowers a considerable distance, to 

 wrap damp cotton-wool or moss about 



the stems and they should also have 

 been in water some hours before being 

 packed. Tin or light wooden boxes are 

 preferable to cardboard ones, which 

 usually arrive crushed. 



The disease which affects the edges 

 of the leaves is common among double 

 violets. Single varieties are more im- 

 mune from it. Better get new stock 

 from a really reliable specialist for 

 another year. Princess of Wales is a 

 large, dark violet, produced on long 

 stems. It succeeds best in solid beds, 

 and the night temperature should run 

 as near 40 degrees as possible in win- 

 ter. The plants, to give the best re- 

 sults, should be left out until they have 

 had one or two moderate freezings. It 

 is a great mistake to house them early, 

 as they will then make a lot of rank 

 foliage and bloom poorly. C. W, 



PRESIDENT VINOENT'S HOPES. 



President Vincent, of the S. A. F., 

 purposes making organization the bat- 

 tle-cry of his administration. That it 

 is no new subject with him is shown 

 by the fact that almost fifteen years 

 ago, at the Providence convention of 

 1897, the question "Would Organizing 

 State Societies of Florists Be of Any 

 Benefit to the Florists or the Society 

 of American Florists?" being up, Mr. 

 Vincent spoke as follows: 



"Having been a worker for many 

 years in an organization of the tillers 

 of the soil, an organization that places 

 its faith in the Giver of all things, and 

 cooperation of all engaged in the culti- 

 vation of whatever can be grown in the 

 soil, a worker and not a leader or lee-, 

 turer, I feel out of place to stand be- 

 fore so critical an audience as I, see 

 facing me. But having only been asked 

 for suggestions, I simply give you my 

 ideas on the subject and if there is any- 

 thing in them worthy of your attention 

 you wUl, I hope, adopt them, or any- 

 thing that .will help the success of our 

 association. 



"Yes; just as soon doubt the advis- 

 ability of combination among other 

 trades and pursuits. No vocation, no 

 profession but is promoted by the coop- 

 eration of those engaged in it. To say 

 otherwise, to believe otherwise, would 

 be to have the hands on the dial of 

 progress moved .backwards, 



"Associations of those engaged in 

 the same pursuits, with common inter- 

 ests and with mutual aims, is the watch- 

 word of the day. Whether it is the 

 laborer in the mine, the shop, or the 

 factory, the farmer in the field, physi- 

 cian, lawyer or in whatever calling men 

 may engage, the first step towards inde- 

 pendence, advancement, self-protection 

 and defense is the union of segregated 

 individuals into a compact and mobile 

 force, whose vital influence and efi&- 

 cient power may be wielded as an ener- 

 getic unit for the good of all. 



"Should the florist be an exception? 

 Hath not a florist eyes? Hath not a 

 florist hands, organs, dimensions, senses, 

 affections, passions, fed with the same 

 food, hurt with the same weapons, sub- 

 ject to the same diseases, healed by the 

 same means, warmed and cooled by the 

 same summer sun and winter breezes as 

 any other tradesman? If you prick us, 

 do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do 

 we not laugh? If you poison us, do we 

 not die? And if you wrong us, shall 

 we not have revenge? 



' ' The effect upon the national society 



