1902 



i'he Weekly Florists' Review. 



665 



View in Pennoclc Brcs'., Philadelphia, at Easier. 



follow cultural notes as given iu an earlier 

 issue of this paper, he should 156 able 

 to get rid of his troubles. Give abundant 

 ventilation and keep the surface of the 

 soil stirred up, and above all keep the 

 leaves of the plants as dry as possible. 



Soil will quickly become lettuce sick 

 if the same soil is used continually, but 

 if soil was new last fall, this does not ap- 

 ply to this ease. Sterilized soil is used 

 with great success by large growers as a 

 preventive of rot and mildew. J. W. N. 

 ivould find a layer of sterilized soil on 

 his beds would serve the same purpose as 

 new soil and there would be no need to 

 change the houses over to new ground. 

 Sterilizing can be done by using a box, 

 say five feet square and three feet deep, 

 with a coil of perforated steam pipes in 

 the bottom, heating the soil up to 200 

 degrees. This will kill the germs of dis- 

 ease and lettuce planted in this soil makes 

 .a clean, healthy growth. Some grower.s 

 claim that they would rather have an inch 

 ■of sterilized soil on their beds than any 

 kind of manure. 



Fumigation with tobacco is necessary 

 to keep down aphis, but so far as fumi- 

 gating with brimstone is concerned I 

 would say that the cure would be worse 

 than the disease. Proper treatment of 

 the plants as regards watering and ven- 

 tilating will be found more efficacious 

 than any patent remedies. Prevention is 

 ■better than cure. Chas. H. Totty. 



DUTCH HYACINTHS. 



A sam]de of hyacinth buds, or, rather, 

 nndevelojied spikes not over two inches 

 long, arrives from "J. J., " with a re- 

 ■quest that we explain the cause, if known. 



Without passing this along to some one 

 who may be able to speak with certainty 

 about this trouble, I will merely say^- 

 and this may bring out expressions from 

 others — that I don't know. It occurred 

 on my place some seven or eight years 



ago. Not witii every batch brought in, 

 but with one lot of 200 during early 

 March. It was particularly bad when 

 the plants had been in the house about 

 a week and the spike was some two inches 

 long. They broke off at the base of 

 the stem just as in the case of the sam- 

 ples sent, and on examining others they 

 just lifted out, being entirely severed. 



The treatment and the soil was not 

 different that year from any other, and 

 I would not say it was the fault of the 

 bulbs. It is up to some one else. W. S. 



CORRECTION. 



In my notes on a visit to Mr. John 

 Dunlop, Toronto, in .speaking of his new 

 range of five or six connecting houses, 

 equal span, with gutters seven feet high 

 and no partitions, I said : ' ' They of 

 course run north and south. ' ' That was 

 a slip of the pen, for they of course run 

 cast and west. No one would think of 

 building such a range other than east and 

 west. W. S. 



THE BLUE SALVIA. 

 ( Salvia patens. ) 



The blue salvia does not seem to be 

 so well known as the scarlet (Salvia splen- 

 dens). Treated as an annual it does not 

 give as good satisfaction as the flower de- 

 serves. In order to develop plants and 

 blossoms seed should be sown early. The 

 small plants must be potted as soon as 

 large enough to handle and frequently 

 shifted until the planting season arrives. 

 The young plants are sensitive to mois- 

 ture and care must be exercised to avoid 

 overwatering in pots. 



In all stages of growth, either in or 

 out of doors, they require the full sun. 

 Young plants should be planted in a mod- 

 erately rich soil with free drainage in a 

 sunny situation. In order to induce a 

 bushy growth plants should be pinched 

 back until flower spikes develop. With- 



out pinching the plants make a straggling 

 growth and produce weak and drooping 

 flower spikes, while otherwise they devel- 

 op into strong, bushy, well shapecl plants. 



The flowers, which are of an intense 

 blue, known to the world of colors as 

 cobalt blue, appear in July and continue 

 through the months of July and August. 

 These bright blue flowers coming at a 

 season when the prevailing colors are of 

 the yellow and scarlet shades make it very 

 useful to use in bouquets in connection 

 with white flowers. The beautiful color, 

 long stems, and graceful spikes repder it 

 a very attractive color plant. 



They are usually classed as annuals, 

 but the plants develop fleshy roots, a fact 

 not generally known, which can be win- 

 tered in a semi-dry condition, as cannas, 

 in sand. In order to have very early 

 flowers pot in fall, cut old flower stalks 

 down and let them grow over winter. 

 They will make good growth and begin 

 flowering very early, thus giving better 

 results than the first year. The growth 

 of the blue salvia is entirely different 

 from the red ones as they make growth 

 and throw out flower spikes directly from 

 fleshy roots and must be treated accord- 

 ingly by cutting each disbloomed spike to 

 allow it to develop a new one from the 

 root. To attain their best growth and 

 beauty they should not be crowded. 

 These flowers are sure to attract atteji- 

 tion wherever seen as their color is so 

 entirely distinct from all other bhie flow- 

 ers. C. M. Hemala. 



JoLtET, III. — J. Ernest Jensen, for 

 two and one-half years foreman for 

 Peter i'isher, Ellis, Mass.. has arrived 

 to take a position as foreman and grow- 

 er for the J. D. Thompso-.i Carnation 

 Co. , , 



Columbus. 0. — John Drei cr lias been 

 appointed florist at city park vice ,T. R. 

 Gibson, resigned. 



