JULT 11, 1912. 



The Florists' Review 



18 



Cyclamen House of C. F. Mahan, Dayton, O. 



CHICAGO TRADE COMMITTEES. 



The trade committees appointed un- 

 der the auspices of the Chicago Flo- 

 rist's Club to handle the local arrange- 

 ments for the S. A. F. convention at 

 Chicago, August 20 to 23, are as fol- 

 lows: 



Executive committee, August F. 

 Poehlmann, chairman. 



Finance committee, J. C. Vaughan, 

 chairman. 



Entertainment committee, P. J. 

 Foley, chairman. 



Eeception committee, Ernst Wien- 

 hoeber and J. F. Kidwell, chairmen. 



Decorations committee, Louis Witt- 

 bold, chairman. 



Press and advertising, Michael 

 Barker, chairman. 



Sports committee, E. F. Winterson, 

 chairman. 



Badge and ticket committee, W. N. 

 Eudd, chairman. 



Hotel accommodations committee, 

 Bobert Newcomb, chairman. 



Souvenir album committee, George 

 Asmus, chairman. 



A HOUSE OF CYCLAMENS. 



The two photographs here reproduced 

 givd^ an interi(jr and exterior view of 

 one of the cyclamen houses of C. F. 

 Mahan, Dayton, O. The interior view 

 showB^he plants as they appeared De- 

 cember 2, 1911. 



These beautiful winter-blooming 

 plants are Mr. Mahan 's specialty. Last 

 year, as grown by him, they were rec- 

 ord-breakers for early bloom, and the 

 crop of 1912 promises even greater 

 things. He grows the plants in the 

 houses from start to finish and has no 

 trouble, he says, with drawn foliage. 

 In his compost he uses plenty of sand, 

 well rotted cow manure and clay sod, 

 adding just enough peat to lighten the 

 mixture sufficiently. 



The plants are transplanted twice, 

 then potted and allowed to stand close- 

 ly in the rows until they begin to 

 crowd, when they are spaced just 

 enough to prevent drawing up and not 

 enough to permit them to dry out too 

 much, as this undue dryness, he says, 

 would cause them to throw buds too 

 soon. Care is taken to give space as 

 needed, little by little, until the plants 

 are shijfted. Then the same process is 

 continued. Of course, a much more 

 even heat can thus be maintained than 

 when the stock is outdoors and exposed 



to wind and rain. As to shading, he 

 never uses a brush to smear it on, as 

 he believes a spray is better. 



Mr. Mahan admits that the growing 

 of first-class indoor cyclamens would 

 be something of a problem in small, 

 poorly ventilated houses. His present 

 houses are of Lord & Burnham semi- 

 iron construction, with continuous ven- 

 tilation at the top, doors in front and 

 back and side vent sashes the full 

 length, giving a bounteous supply of 

 air at all times. He also grows con- 

 siderable quantities of Vinca variegata 

 in connection with the cyclamens. 



YELLOW KING HUMBEBT CANNA. 



Last summer we had several hundred 

 cannas that were grown entirely from 

 King Humbert seed and one of them 

 came up with green foliage and bore 

 a yellow flower. The plant is exactly 

 a King Humbert in style of growth, 

 size of flower, etc. We kept it growing 

 in our greenhouses all winter and now 

 we have ten plants, perfectly pure in 

 all ways. Is there any such canna on 

 the market now, or is this something 

 new, and will it not be a good canna 



to go with King Humbert! Any in- 

 formation you can give us will be great- 

 ly appreciated. A. J. B. 



Canna King Humbert has orange- 

 scarlet flowers and bronze foliage, and 

 if your sport or seedling comes true, as 

 it evidently does, with yellow flowers 

 and green foliage, it should prove an 

 excellent acquisition. I do not know 

 of any other of the Italian or orchid- 

 flowering cannas which would be iden-, 

 tical with your variety, and I would 

 certainly work up a good stock of it 

 and place it on the market later. 



C. W. 



HOBNED TOADS IN GBEENH0USE8. 



"There are probably few visitors at 

 J. H. Shelton's greenhouses in this city 

 who ever see the horned toads that are 

 there," says the Evening Sentinel, of 

 Eochester, Ind., "but nevertheless the 

 little animals are there just the same, 

 in plentiful numbers. Eecently Mr. 

 Shelton 's brother-in-law, Dr. B. F. Daw- 

 son, of San Luis Obispo, Cal., sent him 

 a consignment of the toads, which were 

 placed in one of the greenhouses at 

 once. The reason for their being there 

 is that a single horned toad will eat 

 500 insects in a single night, which goes 

 a long way toward protecting the plant 

 life. Besides the toads, Florist Shelton 

 also has a large number of bullfrogs in 

 the house, and these, too, eat many 

 insects. 



"Eecently one of the horned toads 

 escaped from the house and was found 

 a mile and a half west of this city by a 

 boy, who came past the greenhouses 

 with his find in a basket. The animals 

 can get out of the smallest hole and 

 lose no opportunity to do so." 



Lewiston, Me. — Ernest Saunders is 

 planning to build an addition to his 

 greenhouses. The new section will prob- 

 ably be used for roses. 



Bockton, HI. — The greenhouses of 

 J. H. Farnsworth were struck by light- 

 ning on the evening of June 29, and 

 two of the older houses, with their con- 

 tents, were destroyed. The loss was 

 l)artly covered by insurance. 



Interior View of C F. Mahan'i Greenhotnes, Dayton, O. 



