January 14. 1904. 



TheAVeekly Florists' Review. 



367 



Vegetable Forcing. 



Chicago. Jan. 13. — Eadishes, per \M., 

 $2 to $5. Lettuce, head, per bbl., $1 to 

 $1.25. Cucumbers, per doz., 50 cents to 

 $1.25. 



In the last three months of 1903 Paul 

 Swanson, Chicago, says he picked 3,200 

 pounds of mushrooms from 4,500 square 

 feet of beds. 



Prof. Galloway, of the bureau of 

 plant industry of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, has asked for 

 an appropriation of $10,000 to be ex- 

 pended in the study of means to amelio- 

 rate the iUs with which the crops of 

 vegetables forced under glass are af- 

 flicted. 



CUCUMBERS. 



Where a grower 's facilities are not 

 of the best or the houses not of the 

 bright, up-to-date build it is rather up- 

 hill work to handle a crop of cucum- 

 bers through the dull months of the 

 year, but if started now, by the time 

 they get well under way the days will 

 be growing longer and brighter and the 

 handling of the crop will be compara- 

 tively easy. 



In a former article I gave my ideas 

 regarding the starting of the seeds, but 

 foT the information of beginners who 

 may not have seen the article mentioned 

 and who may want a little enlighteu- 

 ment, a few hints may not be out of 

 place. 



The White Spine variety seems to 

 take the market best and is the easiest 

 to handle. Starting them now, I would 

 place three or four seeds in a 4inch 

 pot in a light, free soil, such as one 

 composed of equal parts of sand, leaf- 

 mold and loam finely sifted. Care 

 should be taken to place the seeds with 

 the thin, flat end downward, as the root 

 is emitted from this end, and they will 

 start quicker and stronger if the seeds 

 are properly placed than they will if 

 carelessly thrown in. 



A propagating pit, where a bottom 

 heat of about 75 degrees can be main- 

 tained, will be a good place to start 

 them. Cover the pots with glass to 

 help conserve the heat, and also keep 

 mice from getting at the seeds, for 

 which they seem to have an especial 

 fancy; if there are any mice around, 

 they will quickly find the seeds and root 

 them out. 



When well started remove to lighter 

 quarters to prevent drawing, but shade 

 from strong sunlight for a few days, 

 then gradually wear the shading off. 

 They should not be allowed to become 

 pot-bound OT a check may result. Don't 

 attempt to divide the potful, but plant 

 it in as it is, and if four plants are in 

 the pot thin out to three after they 

 have got a hold of the new soil. 



Cucumbers require a fairly rich soil. 

 One composed of good, fibrous loam, not 

 too finely broken up, with a liberal ad- 

 dition of old cow manure, will suit 

 , them. The old custom of placing a few 

 I shovelfulls of soil in a hill and plant- 

 ! ing in this in place of filling the bench 

 up at once is, I think, a good one, as 

 when water is applied it quickly drains 

 off and elminiates the danger of stem- 

 rot, which is sometimes troublesome if 

 the soil around the plants is kept too 

 wet before the plants are strong enough 



to take up the moisture. Fresh soil can 

 be added from time to time, as the roots 

 appear on the outside of the hills. Only 

 a little need be added at a time. This 

 system seems to coax the plants along. 

 Probably the freer admission of air to 

 the soil has much to do with it, but cer- 

 tainly the plants come along quicker 

 and grow stronger than when the bed 

 is filled up at once. 



About four feet apart is the best dis- 

 tance for the hills. When a growth of 

 about two feet has been made the points 

 of the leading shoots should be taken 

 out to throw the strength into the side 

 shoots, as it is on the latter almost ex- 

 clusively that the female flowers axe 

 produced. 



Hand pollination is necessary to in- 

 sure a good set and the operation will 

 be most successful if done when both 

 the flowers and the atmosphere of the 

 house are dry. The simplest means of 

 pollination is to pull off the male flow- 

 er, first making sure that the pollen is 



ripe, and shake on to or rub lightly over 

 the pistil of the female flower. If prop- 

 erly handled, fruit should set at almost 

 eveiy joint. The pinching off of the 

 lateral shoots will need frequent atten- 

 tion to prevent the plants from becom- 

 ing too thick and the shoots from crowd- 

 ing one another. 



The atmosphere of the house should 

 be kept damp and the plants syringed 

 on bright days to prevent the attacks 

 of red spider. Regarding temperature, 

 they can be grown at 60 degrees by 

 night, but if 65 can be kept up, so much 

 the better. It won't do any harm to 

 run them up 20 degrees higher by sun 

 heat, as long as a little air can be 

 kept on. 



When the plants are carrying a heavy 

 crop they can be assisted by the appli- 

 cation of liquid manure. It is better 

 to apply this often and weak rather 

 than run the risk of causing injury by 

 making the liquid too strong. 



W. S. Ckoydon. 



Batside, L. I. — The greenhouses of 

 William Bell were burned January 6, the 

 loss being $2,000 on buildings and $6,000 

 on stock, all insured. 



Lebanon, Ind. — W. A. Bilger, for- 

 merly owner of the local greenhouses and 

 lately a resident of St. Louis, has been 

 employed as florist at Oak Hill ceme- 

 tery. 



Bluffton, Ind. — As a result of the 

 brisk Christmas trade Myers & Co. will 

 double their planting of carnations next 

 year, with Lawson and Wolcott predomi- 

 nating. 



Cleveland, O. — The Cleveland Cut 

 Flower Company, $10,000, has been in- 

 corporated by George Bate, F. E. Will- 

 iams, H. G. Cause, J. M. Eaton and E. 

 S. Park. 



Springfield. O. — There is a suit pend- 

 ing between C. A. Allen and B. F. and 

 Lidia A. Halev, of the i'airview Floral 

 Co., owing to a disagreement as to the 

 dissolution of relations. 



Cambridge Citt, Ind. — Owing to the 

 increasing business of Howard & Lively, 

 Oscar Howard has resigned his place 

 with Bertsch & Co. to give his entire 

 time to the greenhouses. 



Denver, Colo. — Thomas Woolen, 20 

 years old, turned off a light in the green- 

 house at Elitch's Garden and received 

 an electric shock which rendered him 

 unconscious for several minutes. Eegain- 

 ing consciousness he took hold of an- 

 other light to show a fellow employe how 

 it happened and received a shock which 

 was instantly fatal. 



Des Moines. Ia. — The united retail 

 businesses of W. L. Morris and R. L. 

 Blair will be carried on at the old Mor- 

 ris stand, 609 Walnut street, as the 

 Morris-Blair Floral Co., with Mr. Blair 

 in charge. Mr. Morris will devote his 

 time to the management of his green- 

 houses. W. E. Kemble, of Oskaloosa, is 

 also a partner in the new firm and 

 much of the stock handled will come from 

 his place. 



Leadville, Colo. — The City Green- 

 house, conducted by Mrs. A. E. Johnson, 

 is doing a nice trade. 



Hillsdale. Mich. — Carl Hirsch has 

 established a branch store at Jackson, 

 in the drug store of Waldron & Todd. 



Kingston, Ont. — George Lloyd, for- 

 merly with L. O 'Sullivan, West Superior, 

 Wis., has gone into business for himself 

 here with 3,000 feet of glass and an 

 acre of land. 



Philadelphia, Pa. — Godfrey Asch- 

 mann writes that he is working up the 

 largest stock of Easter plants he has 

 ever had. His specialties are azaleas 

 and araucarias. 



Decatur, Ind. — Jacob Closs, Jr., has 

 a Ponderosa lemon in his greenhouse 

 with a fruit measuring eleven inches in 

 circumference. He obtained the plant 

 from Springfield, Ohio, last spring. 



Grand Island, Neb.— The Ellsworth 

 Greenhouses renort the business for 1903 

 as fully double that of any preceding 

 year. They have recently completed the 

 entire reconstruction of their houses to 

 obtain facilities equal to the require- 

 ments of their increasing trade. 



Reading, Pa. — Henry J. Huesman & 

 Son have bought out the well known 

 Brookside cut ilower store at Fifth and 

 Franklin streets, and will continue it in 

 connection with their greenhouses at 

 Schuylkill and Greenwich streets. The 

 firm enjoys a large retail plant and cut 

 flower trade. 



Savannah. Ga. — Christmas and New 

 Year's trade was considerably better 

 this year than ever before, good stock, 

 plenty of it and good prices. Everyone 

 sold out clean. A, C. Oelscnig says flow- 

 ering plants went better than ever. This 

 has been the coldest winter on recoru; 

 since the middle of November the fur- 

 nace has never been out of use, but for- 

 tunately we have coal this season. 



