88 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



plants grown in a cold frame and watered regularly. Hereafter we 

 will continue to plant a goodly lot in the field but we will also make sure 

 by planting a couple of frames also. 



We sow the seed in series of plantings about three weeks apart. The 

 first sowing about the first of February. This is a small lot of some early 

 flowering white sort, and the plants are shifted along as is necessary until 

 room can be found to plant them into a partly empty pansy frame or on 

 the bench inside. For this very early sowing, it is well to avoid getting 

 more than can be taken care of conveniently. They will run up to a 

 flower if allowed to become root bound in the flat or small pot, and they 

 are practically worthless. 



Our second planting consists of Queen of the Market in the three col- 

 ors, white, pink and purple. There are a number of other shades of this 

 type, but we think it better to have a few colors and lots of them than 

 the reverse. About March 1st, we sow a crop for the retail plant trade. 

 For this we use Semples Branching, and all the shades we can get, — 

 white, light blue, pink, red, lavender and purple. Last year we made a 

 special low price on the plants by the dozen and found they sold rapidly 

 and generally gave satisfaction. 



For our own flowering the Queen of the Market are followed by white 

 and pink Crego, and they by the Peona Flowered, in white, pink and pur- 

 ple. There are a number of other sorts or types, other than the ones I 

 have named here, equally good perhaps, possibly better. "We saw what 

 is perhaps the newest of the improved sorts at the Florists' Sawyer As- 

 termum. They were Crego or comet type, very large with good centers. 

 The white and lavender were better than the pink of the lot we saw. 



The seed may be sown either in flats or in soil on a bench. We pre- 

 fer the bench seed bed to the flats as it is easier to control the moisture. 

 We sow in rows an inch and a half to two inches apart, in preference to 

 broadcast, as it gives us a chance to stir the soil occasionally. 



The first planting is made in the field and tlie last week in April or 

 early in May and the later ones follow along through May as the weather, 

 our judgment and convenience may prescribe. 



We do not make a practice of watering the plants in the field, al- 

 though we have facilities for doing so, as we believe that careful and con- 

 stant cultivation of the soil is just as good, if not better. Those grown 

 in frames on the other hand we give plenty of water. 



Next to the asters in importance, we would place the gladiolus. They 

 are easily grown, the bulbs are not expensive, and the blooms are very 

 satisfactory to the buyer. They are showy enough to be useful for store 

 window decoration, and are in season when material for this purpose is 

 none too plentiful. 



The blooming season can be prolonged by planting in succession dur- 

 ing the month of May. We dig the bulbs after they have ripened well 

 in the fall and store them under a carnation bench until spring. 



We sell quite a number of bulbs during the spring plant season, which 



