394 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JANUARY 27, 



to fourteen days earlier than those 

 which I grew for comparison in pre- 

 pared loam. 



Outside of Europe I have never seen 

 really good Tuberous Begonias; this 

 year I potted them all tip in Jadoo and 

 they are magnificeut to-day — large 

 flowers of fine color and immense foli- 

 age — just as I love to see them, and 

 they are selling rapidly. Our only re- 

 gret is that we did not grow more of 

 them. 



The Gloxinias are coming along in 

 the same manner, and Fuchsias grow 

 and bloom in it in fine style. Picus elas- 

 tica has the size and dark green to the 

 foliage not obtainable with ordinary 

 soil. You say roses require a heavy 

 soil; that is the general opinion and 

 practice, I know, but I can show you 

 President Carnot rose growing in Ja- 

 doo, and foliage, stem and flower attest 

 its superiority over heavy soil. Cro- 

 tons flourish and color immediately 

 they are removed from the cutting 

 bench. 



Last Easter week saw our Hydran- 

 geas unsurpassed, if equalled, in Phil- 

 adelphia. I attribute it to Jadoo Li- 

 quid applied once a week — one part 

 liquid to forty-eight parts clear water. 

 It is without doubt the cheapest and 

 most efficient, and what is more, saf- 

 est, liquid fertilizer on the market to- 

 day. All the species of Asparagus 

 make a rich growth in Jadoo, and for 

 hanging baskets it is unsurpassed. 



To the amateur I would say, grow all 

 your plants in Jadoo. It is cleanly to 

 handle and you don't have to stand 

 over it with a watering pot. You can 

 go away for a day and come back and 

 find them moist and fresh — not dried 

 out and dead or permanently injured, 

 as has been too often your experience 

 with soil, and during the winter 

 months in rooms heated with hot, dry 

 air you will find that Jadoo Fibre and 

 Jadoo Liquid is all I have found them 

 to be. 



James S. Reid. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



(Extract from the "Florists' Ex- 

 change," Sept. 25th, 1897.) 



EXPERIENCE WITH JADOO. 



"In the early part of 1896 I was the 

 recipient of a new soil (if I may so 

 term it), called "Jadoo Fibre," and 

 along with the fibre was a quart of 

 liquid manure, called "Jadoo Liquid." 

 (Jadoo, I think, is the Hindustanee 

 word for Magic), and accompanying 

 the goods was the request to subject 

 them to a fair trial. To speak the 

 truth, I was rather sketptical of Its use- 

 fulness as a medium in which to grow 

 plants, even though it had the unani- 

 mous endorsements of many noted hor- 

 ticulturists at home and abroad. Hav- 

 ing the appearance of fibrous peat, I 

 resolved to grow a few palms, ferns 

 and pandanus in it, and carefully watch 

 developments. In a few weeks the 

 plants I had placed in Jadoo, by their 



clean vigorous growth, clearly dem- 

 onstrated its superiority over soil pre- 

 pared in the usual way for such plants. 

 After the pots were well filled with 

 roots, I applied Jadoo Liquid, in the 

 propiiitions of one part liquid to 48 

 parts clear water, and these few plants 

 continued to flourish, when under or- 

 dinary conditions a shift to a larger 

 pot would be imperative. My employer 

 and myself were fully convinced of the 

 great merit of this new introduction, 

 and the result of our conviction was 

 the placing of an order for a larger 

 quantity of Jadoo P'ibre and a hogs- 

 head of Jadoo Liquid, and from that 

 day we began to use it in earnest. 



"Some growers assert that it is un- 

 necessary to use a compost of peat 

 loam and sand in which to .grow palm?, 

 ferns, and kindred subjects of the 

 stovehouse. My experience has taught 

 me different, and the most successful 

 growers of palms and ferns that I know 

 to-day say such a compost is necessary. 

 But since the introduction of Jadoo 

 Fibre, I have abandoned peat and sand 

 as too costly and use the flbre almost 

 exclusively. My reasons for so doing 

 are: It requires no preparation, being 

 always ready for use, it retains mois- 

 ture tor a mucft longer period, it en- 

 courages better root action, and as a 

 natural sequence the top growth is bet- 

 ter, larger leaves of strong texture and 

 deep green color, offering greater resis- 

 tance to insects; it does not become 

 sour or soggy. I find Jadoo admirably 

 adapted for decorative plants of every 

 description. They keep moist and fresh 

 for days at a time in rooms heated to 

 a high temperature by steam or hot 

 air, whereas those giown in soil dry 

 out very rapidly under those condi- 

 tions, and soon become unsightly and 

 unfit for decorating. Such is the ex- 

 perience of all who decorate to any ex- 

 tent with plants. I have used 'Jadoo' 

 very successfully for hanging baskets 

 and vases in cemeteries, plant boxes for 

 windows and porches. It retains the 

 moisture for a long time in situations 

 exposed to the direct rays of the sun. 



"I use it entirely for germinating 

 seeds of every kind grown in a green- 

 house. The surface never becomes 

 hard or caked, and the most delicate 

 seeds can push their way through it, 

 besides it contains no weeds; and it 

 seems to be free from fungus of any 

 kind whatever. 



"We have not yet commenced to 

 grow orchids, but when the time comes 

 for us to do it, Jadoo Fibre will be my 

 choice of material in which to grow 

 them. Throughout the past winter and 

 spring I used Jadoo for our Hydran- 

 geas, Begonias, both tuberous and 

 fibrous rooted. Gloxinias, Crotons, 

 Geraniums, Fuchsias, Ficus, Pandanus, 

 Lilies, Roses, Carnations, and the host 

 of other plants usually grown by the 

 commercial florist, and it proved all 

 that was claimed for it by the introdu- 

 cer, the plants grown in Jadoo being 

 uniformly superior to those grown mi 

 ordinary loam. 



"Our Hydrangeas were especially fine 



at Easter; to them I applied Jadoo Li- 

 quid once a week from the time the 

 buds set until they began to assume 

 color, with the result that the flower 

 heads were of immense size; conse- 

 quently we sold them all. My method 

 of application is as follows: I have a 

 tank in each house; I flll each tank 

 with liquid and water and then apply 

 through the Kinney pump at the rate 

 of 16 to 1, maintaining the correct pro- 

 portions of 48 to 1. I find it a cheap, 

 efficient and safe liquid manure, which 

 will give equally good results when ap- 

 plied to soil. 



"In using Jadoo Fibre care should be 

 taken to use smaller pots than you 

 would naturally use for soil, and be- 

 cause of its spongy nature it requires 

 to be packed firmly around the roots 

 of all plants. Lastly, use common sense 

 when watering, for I find it the easiest 

 thing in the world to give it too much." 

 "James S. Reid." 



(Extract from "American Gardening," 



Sept. 4, 1S07. 



JADOO FIBRE AND LIQUID. 



"To tlie Editor of American Garden- 

 ing: 



"The workings of the human mind 

 are siinil.-ir among all the sons (and 

 daughters) of Adam. We read an ad- 

 vertisement for months, for years per- 

 haps, without taking in its full signi- 

 fication. Suddenly we are seized with 

 the tcinidation to prove the merits of 

 tlie advertised article, and we send 

 our order forthwith. The above bit of 

 philosophy is introductory to the story 

 of an amateur's experience with Jadoo 

 Fibre and Jadoo I/iquid. 



"The word 'Jadoo' was graven on m.v 

 mind from having seen it in this paper 

 every week for months. In the earl.v 

 part of July the thought struck me 

 suddenly that I ought to give it a trial. 

 1 sent for a 120-pound bale of the Fibre 

 and a 2-gallon can of the Liquid. Just 

 at the time I received them, I also re- 

 ceived from Costa Rica some tubers 

 of fancy Caladiums which a friend 

 sent me, thinking they were something 

 indigenous to that country. Packed in 

 wet spliaguum. they had made during 

 their two or three weeks' journey a 

 frail, sickly gmwth of about three or 

 four inches. Two of the tubers were 

 planted in rich soil and four in the 

 Jadoo Fibre. Those planted in the 

 Fibre immediately grew, the sickly 

 white growth changing quickly to 

 healthy green, handsome spotted 

 leaves. Those in the soil made no ad- 

 ditional growth, and finally died down 

 entirely. I thought they were dead, 

 but they sprouted again, and are now 

 growing well, but not so freely as those 

 in the Fibre. 



"A Latania borbonica had been per- 

 ishing for years from inanition, or 

 some other occult cause, until it had 

 dwindled down to nothing, and naught 

 but a single point of green could be 



