J 084 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



May 21, 1903. 



not seen any mention of it in any of the 

 correspondence in the florists' journals. 



A question arises right here; it is 

 tills: If rose plants that have been 

 forced under glass for a year or so can 

 be lifted and set in the open ground 

 and continue to bloom satisfactorily 

 through the summer, why would they 

 not do equally well if they were lifted 

 and I'eset in new soil in the greenhouse? 



Peihaps I ought to have said that our 

 customers do not cut the plants back, 

 but leave them as they were in the bench. 

 They save a good many of their rose 

 bushes over winter by some protection. 

 The varieties used are those most com- 

 nionlj- grown, such as Bride, Brides- 

 maid, Perle and Wootton. 



J. W. Maegrave. 



ROSES FOR SIMILAR TREATMENT. 



Can I grow Bride or Kaiserin. Brides- 

 maid, Golden Gate and Perle with suc- 

 cess in the same house? If not, please 

 give a list that can be grown in the 

 same house. L. K. A. 



Bride, Bridesmaid, Golden Gate, Ivory 

 and Liberty can be grown with success 

 in the same house, the same temperature 

 and atmospheric conditions being re- 

 quired by those varieties. Beauties can 

 also be successfully grown under the 

 same conditions. During the win* — 

 months some of these varieties require 

 more care in watering than do the otli- 

 ers. Kaiserins and Perles for winter 

 blooming are more productive if grown 

 at 62 or 6i degrees. Eibes. 



CARNATION NOTES— EAST. 



Watering in the Field. 



The present dry spell, coming as it 

 has, directly the young stock has been 

 planted out. has caused no little anxi- 

 ety among the growers in this section. 

 It has been imperative to do a certain 

 amount of watering, and while I am 

 decidedly against watering in the field, in 

 extreme cases set rules often have to be 

 put aside or the result will be a heavy 

 loss. I believe, in the case of young 

 plants recently transferred from the 

 greenhouse to the field, no harm will 

 result in helping them through a diy 

 spell by intelligent watering. 



It is quite a task, as well as an ex- 

 pensive operation to water a large field, 

 however laid out, but with our system 

 of planting in long beds I think we 

 have sonic advantage over tliose who 

 plant simply in rows. We also plant 

 quite closely, which is preferable to the 

 method of planting far enough apart to 

 allow of the use of horse cultivators, on 

 account of less area requiring water, 

 w'ith consequent less expense. 



The expense, however, is inconsider- 

 able compared to the loss sustained 

 should a large percentage of plants per- 

 ish b.y drought. Then the further ne- 

 cessity of purchasing plants at housing 

 time would be quite an outlay. 



Thus far this season we have done no 

 more than to carry the hose through a 

 path to tlie far side of the lot. one man 

 watering two beds from this path, an- 

 other drawing the hose back as the 

 work proceeds, and so on through the 

 field. 



This, however, was only done directly 

 after planting out and would be tedious 

 work to continue; besides it is not in 

 any great degree practical, so I will 

 describe the method, referred to in my 

 notes of JMareh 26. of using the paths 

 as irrigation ditches. Although the 

 plan cannot be called true irrigation, 

 as practiced in California and other 

 states, it has proved to be practical 

 and as inexpensive as any method we 

 have tried. 



Our lot slopes slightly towards what 

 is termed the far side. The land is 



naturally heavy, so that from walking 

 ill the paths at planting time the soil 

 has become solidly packed, allowing 

 very little water to soak aw-ay. A 

 temporary clay dam is constructed at 

 the far side across each path, the hose 

 is carried down a path to within about 

 fifty feet of the dam, where another is 

 made. 



As soon as the space between dams 

 is filled with water two men with square 

 pointed shovels distribute the water by 

 splashing or throwing it each way half 

 across the two adjoining beds. While 

 this is being done another like space 

 can be filling, ready for distribution. 



Circumstances may require that these 

 spaces be twice filled and likewise 

 thrown over the beds. In any event, 

 make a thorough job of watering, filling 

 each path in turn as many times as 

 your judgment will tell you that the 

 soil demands. 



Next comes the most important part 

 of the operation, namely, to break up 

 the surface soil with the hand culti- 

 vator as soon as the water disappears, 

 which it will do in a short time. It is 

 of no use to water unless cultivation 

 of the soil immediately follows. In 

 fact, the conditions would be worse 

 than before if it were not done. 



Although an expensive piece of work, 

 it is not likely that a repetition will 

 be needed if thoroughly done ; for once 

 the plants get well started, repeated 

 cultivation between the rows, rain or 

 no rain, will keep the plants in growing 

 condition. 



Speaking of the availability of lione 

 meal last week, the "still later applica- 

 tions of liquid manure, etc.," were 

 made while growing carnations and not 

 while experimenting with other plants, 

 a,s the wording would imply. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



OLD ROSE SOIL FOR CARNATIONS. 



Is soil that has been on the rose 

 benches the past season desirable for use 

 on the benches for carnations for next 

 season? W. O. S. 



LTp to about ten years ago most grow- 

 ers benched their carnations in old rose 

 soil, and not infrequently they were 

 planted in soil that had grown roses the 



previous winter. Some verj-' fair car- 

 nations were grown in this kind of soil 

 when it had been left to lie exposed to 

 the weather a year or two, but I never 

 saw a good lot of carnations grown in 

 soil that had roses on it the winter be- 

 fore. In all such cases the soil would 

 most likely be sour and exhausted. 

 About ten years ago some of the lead- 

 ing carnation growers began using only 

 new soil for their carnations, and it did 

 not take them very long to demonstrate 

 at the exhibitions that it was far bet- 

 ter than soil that had been used shortly 

 before. 



I have used soil that had grown roses, 

 and with good results, after it had lain 

 exposed to the weather about three years 

 and I have done the same with soil that 

 had grown carnations. By handling your 

 soil properly yo'u can use it over about 

 every four years, and it will be ias good 

 as any you can get. By handling it 

 properly I do not mean to simply dump 

 it on a large pile and let it lie three 

 years and then wheel it back into the 

 house. Such soil should be spread out 

 in a fiile about a foot deep. In the fall 

 sow it down in rye and when the rye 

 is about eight inches high in the spring 

 it should lie plowed over and the rye 

 turned under. After plowing it you 

 can sow it down in clover and let it lie 

 until the fall before you want to use it, 

 at which time you should turn the 

 clover under and spread over a good 

 coat of cow manure and let it lie until 

 the next spring. As soon as you can 

 handle it you should rick it up. thor- 

 oughly mixing the soil and the manure. 

 I like to rick it up in the spring, be- 

 cause it does not dry out so much as it 

 does when spread out. and there will 

 not be so many weeds growing on it 

 and taking out the plant food. 



This may seem like putting a lot of 

 work on old soil, but it will pay to do 

 it, and when handled this way it will 

 be almost as good as new soil, if not 

 quite as good. If you are able to get as 

 much new soil as you need it will, of 

 course, be easier and quicker, and pos- 

 sibly cheaper, to get new soil each year, 

 but there are places where it is almost 

 impossible for the florists to get a good 

 supply of new soil each year, and in 

 such cases the above method can be 

 worked to advantage. 



If it is the correspondent's purpose 

 to escape changing the soil on his 

 benches, I should advise him to by all 

 means change it if he values his next 

 season's crop. A. F. J. Baur. 



LIME AND BONE MEAL. 



There are a great many angle worms 

 in the compost pile made up last fall 

 for use the coming season for carna- 

 tions. I am told to mix lime with it 

 to get rid of the worms, but I want to 

 turn it in .June and mix a lot of bone 

 meal. Will the lime kill the worms, 

 and will it not at the same time pre- 

 vent the bone from being as useful a 

 fertilizer as it would otherwise be? 



Inquirer. 



It is not generally considered best to 

 mix your bone meal into the soil before 

 it is on the greenhouse benches, and 

 unless you want to do it for some spe- 

 cific purpose I would advise you not 

 to mix it in outside. For several weeks 

 after planting the carnation plants on 

 the benches they require mostly nitrog- 

 enoiis foods, and as bone meal is espe- 

 cially rich in phosphoric acid it is 

 needed most \\'lien the plants are pro- 



