May 12, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



1321 



Vegetable Forcing. 



THE MARKETS, 



Chicago, May 11. — Eadishes, ^.^(a^oc 

 doz. bunches; lettuce, heads, 50(ai75e 

 bushel, leaf, 1.5@25e case; cucumbers, 

 50@75c doz. There are many southern 

 cucumbers. 



Boston, ilay 10. — All kinds of [u-o- 

 duce is in brisker demand but the warm- 

 er weather has heavily increased supplies 

 and prices are on the downward grade. 

 Cucumbers have sold at from $2 to $4 a 

 bushel and quality is very tine. Rhubarb 

 from outdoors is now plentiful and 

 prices are only 1 to 3 cents per pound. 

 Lettuce continues fine, at 30 to 75 cents a 

 dozen. Watercress, 30 to 50 cents a doz. 

 Badishes 20 cents a dozen. Parsley, $1 

 per bushel. Mushrooms very scarce, at 

 $1 a pound, the best coming from Phila- 

 delphia. Tomatoes hold up well, tlie best 

 bringing 2-5 to 40 cents a pound. 



HOUSE FOR CUCUMBERS. 



I wi-h \V. S. Croydon would give his 

 opinion of an ideal house for commercial 

 cucumber glowing. Please give dimen- 

 sions and best arrangement of pipes. 



X. 



An ideal house for growing commercial 

 cucumbers is one where the greatest pos- 

 sible amount of light can be procured and 

 the proper temperature maintained. The 

 construction of the house depends largely 

 on the system adopted in training. If the 

 plants are to he allowed to spread over 

 the benches, any ordinary width or length 

 of house provided as above would be all 

 right if the benches are about four feet 

 wide, with pipes under same to insure 

 enough bottom heat. Personally I prefer 

 to train to trellises, as I consider that I 

 "have the jjlants better under control and 

 have less trouble keeping them clean. A 

 house in which I have been verj' success- 

 ful in the growing of cucumbers, though 

 it may not strike some as an ideal house, 

 is an even-span house running north and 

 south, width twelve feet, height to ridge 

 eight feet and length seA-enty-four feet, 

 but this could, of course, be extended as 

 desired. The height of the sides is four 

 feet, two feet being glass. The in-side 

 space allows of ample passage room and 

 two benches four feet wide. Heat is pro- 

 vided by two coils of six 2%-inch pipes, 

 one coil under each bench, which is suffi- 

 cient to maintain a temperature of G5 de- 

 grees during severe weather. 



W. S. Ceoydon. 



CROOKED CUCUMBERS. 



Crooked or imperfectly developed cu- 

 cumbers are not infrequently produced. 

 It is maintained by some authorities that 

 crooked or ill-formed fruit is the result 

 of imperfect fertilization. In many in- 

 stances this is no doubt the case, but 

 there are other causes underlying the pro- 

 duction of poorly formed fruit. It can 

 be safely stated, however, that good 

 plants are endowed with the capacity to 

 produce good fruit, and, conversely, that 

 it must not be expected that perfect fruit 

 will be produced on weak plants. From 

 our observations we are led to believe 

 that crooked or imperfectly developed cu- 

 cumbers are in the largest number of 

 oases produced by plants which are not, 

 normal. For example, jdants affected 



with nematode galls, or weakened by 

 thrips, etc., will develop poor fruit. Any- 

 thing, in fact, that affects assimilation 

 or interferes with the normal function 

 of the plant weakens it, and the result 

 is poorly developed cucumbers. Since 

 cucumbers are sorted into what is known 

 as No. 1 and No. 2, which bring a dif- 

 ferent^ price, the prnduetion of straight 

 fruit IS a thing to be desired from a 

 fin.aneial point of view. 



One grower, however, informs mo that 

 he has no seconds, as he practices a 

 method of treatment which will develop 

 inferior into perfect fruit. His method 

 consists in the manipulation of the spines. 

 For example, if the fruit is growing too 

 large at either end, the spines are rubbed 

 away on that portion which shows the 

 greatest development. This, it is main- 

 tained, will cause the undeveloped por- 

 tion to fill out and result in a perfectly 

 formed fruit. In the same manner, if 

 one side is developing faster than the 

 other, the spines of that side should be 

 destroyed, wdiich results in stimulating 

 the undeveloped side. As far as I am 

 aware this theory is original with my 

 informer, and we have never discovered 

 any one else who practiced it. It should 

 therefore be accepted for what it is 

 worth. — George E. Stone, in Bulletin of 

 Hatch Experiment Station. 



PEONIES AT ST, LOUIS. 



There will be a special exhibition of 

 peonies in the Horticultural building at 

 the St. Louis World's Fair, May 28 to 

 June 7. Entries nrast be received by the 

 superintendent, .1. H. Hadkinson. not 

 later than May 25. The following is the 

 schedule. 



General collection of Tree or Montan varieties. 



General collection of Officinalis type. 



Chinese or herbaceous section: 



Vase of 25 blooms pure white. 



Vase of 2,=i blooms white, shaded pink. 



Vase of 2.1 blooms light pink. 



Vase of 2.5 blooms dark pink. 



Vase of 23 blooms crimson. 



General collection of Chinese, not less than 

 five blooms of one variety. 



General collection of Chinese single varieties, 

 nut less than five blooms of one variety. 



THE READERS' CORNER. 



Moss in Flower Pots. 



I notic-e in one of your recent issues 

 an article dealing with moss on flower 

 pots, and I would like to offer one or 

 two suggestions in regard to the same. 



I take it that the moss here represent- 

 ed include algae, which very frequently 

 grow on the exterior of pots and on the 

 soil. Tlie algae most common on pots 

 are cladaphora. ulathrix, vaucheria, also 

 various t3'pes of blue green algae such as 

 oscillaria and anabaena, etc. Blue green 

 algae can usually be distinguished by 

 the dark, blue-green cast which they give 

 to the pot, although the yellowish-green 

 and blue-green forms are frequently in- 

 termixed, giving a combination of color 

 between the yellow-green and blue-green. 

 Most of tlie true mosses present a sim- 

 ilar appearance to the yellow-green al- 

 gae in their younger stage, although 

 with the aid of a good hand lens they 

 can usually be distinguished from one 

 another. 



Certain fertilizers, especially those 

 frequently recommended for forcing 

 flowers, are noted as inducing the gi'owth 

 of algae on the soil and pot. These 

 fertilizers are usually quick-acting ones, 

 especially predominating in ammonia 

 compounds. A small quantity of lime 



IWANTED 



FIGUSand BOSTON FERNS I 



WHITE, STATINQ SIZES, 

 QUANTITIES and PRICES 

 FOR IMMEDIATE ORDER. 



Geo. Wittbold Co. 



1657 

 BncUng'bam PL, 



CHICAGO 



M»-ritinn Tlif Uovir-w when .you write. 



TO Ivy Gioweis 



WANT TO BLY at once 



all the Ivies I can get hold of. 

 Write or call. Will be to your 

 advantage. 



Charles Millang, 



West 29th St., NEW YORKi 



WANTED TO EXCHANGE. 



1500 Golden Gate or Ivory for same 

 number of Bride plants. Ours are good 

 plants, 2%-\n. pots, and want good ones 

 in return. 



BENJAMIN DORRANCE, 



DORRANCETON, PA. 



M.-iilinii TIm' Urvi■^^^ wh'-n yii write. 



Over $65,000 '"V\''oki?ts'? ^Ji^ 



ASSOCIATION for glass broken by hall. 

 I'or particulars address John G. Esler, Sec'y.t 

 Saddle Blver, N. J. 



Mentlnn The Review when Ton write 



added to the «oil prevents to a large 

 extent the growth of algae. In cases 

 where lime does not act injuriously to 

 plants it would be an excellent idea to 

 use it to prevent the grottd.!! of algae 

 and moss on flower pots. G. E. S. 



How to Retain Help. 



Noticing an article in tlie issue nf May 

 .') headed "The Problem of Help," I wish 

 to say that if the Californians would 

 have better accommodations for their em- 

 ployes, such as sleeping quarters, and not 

 put them in an old barn to sleep, not even 

 furnishing a blanket, also give them bet- 

 ter food and not beans three times a day 

 for 36.> days of each year, I think the 

 labor proVilem would be solved. I am one 

 of the many who have been there and 

 taken a liking to the country, but not to 

 the accommodations. So the Californians 

 cannot blame the easterner for being of a 

 roving disposition while there. 



Carl Hass. 



Nevada, Mo. — .7. W. Primmer has had 

 good results with carnations and is get- 

 ting a big crop now. 



ilARiETTA, O. — James Clinton died at 

 his home near Little Hocking May 1. 

 He was 84 years of age and a florist 

 at Wheeling and Parkersburg during the 

 active period of his life. 



