970 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



GARDENINGS" 1 * 



LASS 



Not long since, in London, there was 



an exhibition consisting entirely of a 

 display of vegetables, mostly produced 

 private gardeners. 



SOIL FOR VEGETABLES. 

 Suitable soil is oi the utmosl impor- 

 tance in the growing of anj crop, and 



as those growing vegetables under glass 



gether. h ts poor policy t,. handle tin- 

 soil when to., wet, but it is just as bad to 



is drj and powdery; hence the fall is the 

 host time to catch the soil in the right 

 condition. 



We make a compost for our vegetable 

 benches with just as much care as we 



that it pays. We change the soil every 

 year in tin- raised benches and in the 

 solid beds remove a few inches of the 

 old surface soil and replace with Eresh 



possible, 



we choose, if 

 to enable the 



moisture as 



ure. The amount of manure must be 

 regulated according to the quality of 

 ii e soil, but as a general rule about one 

 load of manure to fur of soil will be 

 al t rich enough for ordinary pur- 

 poses. Manure from the covi barn is 

 preferable to that from the horse stable, 

 as it is less liable to generate fungus. 

 The heap should be allowed to remain 

 Lntacl until tie- end of the Eollowing 

 summer or within a week ot two of the 

 time it is intended to be used. Then it 



should be turned at least 1 \\ ice and well 

 i hopped up, t" thoroughly mix the in- 

 gredients. For lei i u e, i anliflower and 

 such erops additioi - oi artificial ma- 

 nures »ill be unnecessary, but for 

 stronger feeders, like tomatoes and cu- 

 cumbers, the addition of bone meal will 

 be beneficial. This should be worked 

 into the soil at the first turning, which 

 had better be done about three weeks 

 before it is intended to be used, as the 

 bone will generate more nr less heat; 

 hence the necessity of allowing it time 

 to work oft' before the soil is used. 

 W. S. Croi do 



Cedar Rapids, Ii.— J. S. Crozer lias 



opened a flower store here. 



St. John'svilxe. N. Y.-»-John Stevens, 

 both gardener and florist, pii feed 

 strawberries October I'll. 



Xorth Olmsted, O— .T. B. ii 

 is starting in business with two houses, 

 s inn. the other 20x100. A. M. 

 jus! finished two houses, 'j.'iv"" 



Seed Trade News. 



AMERICAN SEED TRADE ASSOCIATION. 



Prea.. 9. F. Willard. Wetlierstioli! Conn.: Firsi 

 Vice-Pres., J. Ctiaa. McCullouph. Cinctnn-" ' 

 ' Treaa.. C. 



Kemlel. Cleveland, O 



,:,,u"u iii be iM'i'i at st. Lo'ula 



Mo.. June. 1SI0J. 



Teh Peat, Xorwalk. 0., is erecting a 



building in Which to start a seed store. 



.\ five per cent delivery on contract 

 orders seems to be the vogue in cucumber 

 seed. 



The coming of the California growers 

 is being heralded. The advance guard 

 should reach the east within the month. 



Peter Garton, seed merchant, of lav 

 erpool and Manchester, England, con- 

 templates establishing a s 1 and oxperi- 



iiiul farm in Canada. 



1 x formation - comes that Mr. Comont 

 will sail for home shortlj ; Mi. Dicks, Ji . 

 Inning already sailed, the field will lie 

 clear for the i lalifornians. 



The sweet eom and cucumbei seed 

 growers are backward in pushing them 

 selves forward just now. Things have 

 not been coming their way recently. 



"GIRLS wanted," is a seasonable 

 sign in front of the war. houses of the 

 bean and pea growers. With the mills 

 humming and the picking machines busy 



,h |ivi i ies ot peas should be well under 

 way by the end of the month. 



I IRI II MID graSS seed, W'llieh lias bei 11 



firmly held by the Kentucky growers for 

 several months for the price of $2 peT 

 bushel, now is coming freely into the 

 market at .lell'ei sonville, where T. .1. 

 l.indlev has bought nearly 20, I bush- 

 els at '$1.46. 



The question of raising cucumber seed 

 is getting to be serious. There is no like- 

 lihood that the pickle men will get more 



ing therefrom, makes an increased de- 

 mand for the seed and lessens the oppor- 

 tunities to secure it. The regulars in 

 eucumber seed growing have failed to 



meet the emergency, being in, better off 



this fear than last. Every effort has un 

 questionably been put forth by them. 

 and it may be that they will accomplish 

 something the coming year; as it stands 

 at present, however, the trad.- is up 

 againsl a hard proposition. 



Burpee & Co., in their advance whole- 

 sale price list, saj : "It is a most re- 

 markable coincidence that, owing to ex- 

 tremely unfavorable climatic conditions, 

 the shortages in seed crops the past sea- 



and many melons have produced only 

 one-fourth of an average yield, as have 

 also late varieties of sweel < orn; early 



varieties of sweel con have averaged 

 from 40 to 70 per cenl of a normal 

 crop. All first-early peas, except AJaskas, 

 are extremely short, -ev oral v a i ietiesaver 

 aging only half a crop, while many long- 

 l„idded late peas are almosl equally as 

 short. Wax bean- bid fair to rule as 

 high in price as last year, while of sei 

 era! green-podded bush beans there are 

 qoI ciough in sight to meet normal re- 



quirements. Tomatoes and sweet | s 



are also short, but not to such a distress 

 ing extent. 



IMPORTANT EXPERIMENTS. 



onion sets is being investigated at the 

 Illinois Agricultural College. Professor 



l.luvd, ..f that institution, is working on 

 samples sent to him by S. P. Leonard, ot 

 Chicago. The outcome of the lnvcstlgn 

 tion is likely to be quite interesting and 

 of much value. 



Up to the present many ideas have 



been advanced and many tl ries given 



as to causes for the onion disease men- 

 tioned, but nothing final as to cause and 

 nothing definite as to remedy has been 

 handed out. In connection with the ex- 

 periment on the bulbs, Professor Lloyd 

 has also, at the request of Mr. Leonard. 

 investigated the web like fungus that fro 

 quently appears when onion seed is being 

 tested' for germinating power. The seed 

 trade generally has held to the idea that 



this fungus has affected the sprouting 

 strength of the seed, and, that it proba 

 bly contained the germ- that caused the 

 dry rot. Microscopic investigation by 



the professor, however, shows that this 

 fungus does not affect the germination 



Of lie- seed, nor has it anything to do 

 with a dry rot or other disease which 

 mav develop in a crop. It is o reliable 

 that a report of these interesting investi- 

 gations will appear in pamphlet form 

 when the findings are completed. 



GOVERNMENT SEEDS. 



A Washington telegram under date of 



s 1 in the aggregate 



. iii progress in every 

 e anion by the Depart 



FERRY PROTEST SUSTAINED. 



Judge Waite. of the Hoard of United 

 states Genera] Appraisers, made a de- 

 cision today in tin- reappraisement protest 

 eases of I i. M. I'errv & Co. and the Loh- 

 man Seed Co., of Detroit, says the New 

 Fork Commercial, which seems to settle 

 the question of whether there is a whole- 

 sale nri.e for foreign garden seeds in 



personal cnarai terlstlc 



