20 



The Florists' Review 



May 22, 1913. 



these difficulties can be surmounted, 

 but is it really essential to carry the 

 standardization scheme as far as this? 

 Could not each manufacturer, accept- 

 ing the standard widths as finally de- 

 cided on, make his own standard de- 

 signs, using his own individual pat- 

 terns? Would this not be practical, 

 anyway? 



Sections and Size of Glass. 



The size of glass for greenhouses is 

 probably more standard than any 

 other thing. It is probably safe to say 

 that seventy-five to eighty per cent of 

 all the greenhouses built in the United 

 States in 1912 were glazed with 16x18 

 glass, and probably eighty-five to 

 ninety per cent were glazed with six- 

 teen inches between the roof sashbars. 

 This width of sixteen inches seems to 

 be the happy medium, for it permits 

 the use of 14x16, 16x18, 16x20 and 

 16x24 glass. The same number of 

 square feet of glass in the first two 

 sizes would be the same price, while 

 in the next two sizes the price runs 

 from 20 to 35 cents per box more. The 

 size of glass has much to do with the 



length of the sections. If greenhouses 

 can be manufactured and put up in 

 sections, these sections must be stand- 

 ard. Using 16-inch glass permits 

 making standard sections approximately 

 eight feet four inches in length for 

 all iron frame houses. 



Growers and manufacturers should 

 all get together on this question of the 

 width of glass and then the manufac- 

 turers can easily decide on the stand- 

 ard sections. 



One of the prime objects in writing 

 this article has been to start a dis- 

 cussion on the subject. The writer 

 hardly presumes the scheme, as out- 

 lined, could be adopted in its entirety. 

 There are many things to be decided on 

 and the subject requires the thought 

 and attention of the best minds in 

 this line of industry. It is the writ- 

 er's hope that 80%iething may come 

 of this and that the day is not far 

 distant when both the manufacturer 

 and the consumer shall reap the benefit 

 of a standardization scheme. There 

 is no doubt whatever that standardiza- 

 tion will benefit everyone concerned. 



*<S*lSiMip-^^^ 



MMii^ 



SEASONABLE CULTURAL NOTES. 



Winter Oeraniums. 



Work on Memorial day stock will 

 occupy most of the time at the disposal 

 of the average country florists these 

 days, but it is well not to neglect other 

 plants which are to do service later 

 in the year. Do not overlook the gera- 

 niums which you may wish to have 

 in flower for next Thanksgiving or 

 Christmas. Once they get badly pot- 

 bound and dried up a few times, they 

 are of little further value for grow- 

 ing along. Give them a shift, no 

 matter if it is quite a small one, just 

 to keep the little roots active. Use 

 some well decayed manure in the com- 

 post and a little fine bone, and firm the 

 compost well. If you have a coldframe 

 at your disposal, where these gera- 

 niums can be plunged to their brims in 

 fine coal ashes, they will not require so 

 much water and will grow vastly better 

 than on a hot greenhouse bench. 



The varieties to be grown for Christ- 

 mas flowering must depend on the col- 

 ors usually in demand. As a rule, such 

 reds as S. A. Nutt, Jacquerie, Paul 

 Crampel, Ricard, The Sirdar, Grant 

 and Maxime Kovalevski are in greatest 

 demand, with a moderate call for the 

 pink shades, and few wanting the 

 whites. Next to scarlet, the salmon 

 orange shades will be found the most 

 popular and growers will not go far 

 wrong in stocking up on them. 



Geraniums for Stock. 



Often florists sell out' tlteir gera- 

 niums too closely, leaving ^an insufii- 

 cient number to plant out for stock 

 or for beds as an ornamentation to the 

 entrance to the establishment. The 



grower who will fill a good-sized bed 

 or border with each of the geraniums 

 he grows, and label them so that he 

 who runs may read, will not only beau- 

 tify his home grounds but advertise 

 his stock and educate the public on 

 varieties they will want another season. 

 It is a big blunder to wait until 

 every late customer is satisfied and 

 then plant out the hard, dried up rem- 

 nants for stock. They probably will 

 live and grow, but will never give the 

 cuttings you ought to have. It is as 

 necessary with geraniums as with other 

 plants to have clean, thrifty stock for 



propagating purposes. The grower 

 failing to do these things is likely 

 sooner or later to have much trouble 

 with diseased plants, which intelligent 

 foresight could have obviated. 



Oeraniums for Simmier Flowering. 



At most of the summer resorts there 

 is considerable call quite late in the 

 season for geraniums and such custom- 

 ers are generally willing to pay a good 

 price for plants which will give some 

 immediate effect in beds, boxes or 

 vases. Some growers make up fancy 

 earthenware vases of one color aud 

 find they sell well. These are filled 

 some time before they are likely to be 

 wanted and are, or should be, well 

 bloomed when customers come looking 

 for them. The ivy varieties and others, 

 the result of crosses between the ivy 

 and zonale sorts, are splendid for this 

 work and the singles are just as good 

 as the doubles in many ways, especially 

 for window and piazza boxes, as they 

 bloom even more persistently. 



BBEMOND FBEBES' NEW FBEESIA. 



Albert & Leon Bremond Freres, of 

 Ollioules, South France, who succeeded 

 to the bulb growing and exporting busi- 

 ness of the late Louis Bremond, their 

 father, are about to introduce a new 

 variety of freesia, which they call Ex- 

 celsior. They claim that it is superior 

 in every way to Freesia refracta alba. 

 The bulbs and blooms of the new va- 

 riety are said to be much larger than 

 those of F. refracta alba, the bulbs 

 being often as large as eleven centi- 

 meters in circumference, or somewhat 

 in excess of four inches, while the flow- 

 ers are from three to four times larger 

 than those of F. refracta alba. The 

 originator describes the foliage of Ex- 

 celsior as elegant, the fragrance strong 

 and the stems long. It usually is grown 

 in the open, but also can be forced. 



Pocatello, Idaho. — W. A. Worel has 

 embarked in the trade, opening a store 

 at 636 North Grant avenue. 



Clean, N. Y. — Frederick A. Hamm, of 

 Allegany, N. Y., has secured possession 

 of the lease and fixtures of the Olean 

 Butter & Egg Co., on North Union 

 street, and will establish a florists' 

 store there. 



New Freesia Ezccliior at Ollioules, France. 



