352 



HORTICULTURE 



September 12, 1908 



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HARDY FERNS ATTENTION! HARDY FERNS 



| \\IE wish to call the attention of the florists of the United States to the fact that we are | 



1 this year storing and collecting our own hardy ferns and galax, hence we are in a po- | 



1 sition to compete with anyone on price and quality. Special prices made to persons agree- | 



| ing to take a stipulated sum during the year while cold storage ferns last which is about the | 



| first of May. Write us the quantity you can use and we will quote you price. We trust | 



§ you will favor us with your future orders. S 



L 



N. F. MCCARTHY & CO., Largest Shippers of Florist Supplies in New England 



84 HAWLEY STREET, BOSTON, Mass. 



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occurrences which have been respon- 

 sible for our systems of rotation of 

 crops. 



The unsatisfactory part of this ex- 

 haustion theory is that no matter how 

 much fertilizer we may supply, we can 

 not get certain crops to succeed them- 

 selves annually through a long series 

 of years and give satisfactory returns; 

 while certain other crops can be grown 

 annually on the same plot for a gen- 

 eration and increase in fruitfulness 

 from year to year. In looking for an 

 explanation which explains, we natur- 

 ally recall the fact that all living 

 things in the course of their growth 

 use only certain portions of the crude 

 material which is taken into their 

 systems, and reject other portions more 

 or less changing in character. These 

 rejected, waste or by-products may be 

 thrown off from the organism or 

 packed away in some unoccupied cor- 

 ner. These refuse portions are often 

 useful as a food for other organisms 

 though some are very poisonous, par- 

 ticularly to the organism which pro- 

 duced it. You will doubtless remem- 

 ber that the bacteria and other micro- 

 organisms are notorious in this direc- 

 tion, they not only give off refuse 

 matters which are excessively poison- 

 ous to some other forms of life, but in 

 the end they destroy the bacteria from 

 whence they came. 



These secretions of waste matters 

 have been given the name of 

 ptomaines, and instances of severe ill- 

 ness or even death from the use of 

 ice cream or cheese containing these 

 ptomaines will perhaps be more or 

 less familiar to you. 



Now it is possible that our "Clover 

 Sickness" and other like occurrences 

 are due not to exhaustion but to the 

 presence in the soil of these ptomaine 

 poisons. Perhaps the clover itself may 

 not be the direct victim, but the nutri- 

 fying bacteria so necessary to the 

 growth of the plant may be killed by 

 their own toxic refuse. If this is true 

 of clover, it may be true of other 

 plants which decline to succeed them- 

 selves for any length of time. 



If this theory of ptomaines is ten- 

 able, we have an explanation of a 

 puzzle. There is of course a great 

 difference in various plants in the 

 character of their secretions. The 

 Rothamsted experiments showed, if I 

 remember rightly, that wheat could be 

 grown on the same land for at least 

 twenty years and the yield be on the 

 increase. 

 Some other crops are known to do 



well year after year in the same soil, 

 a fact well known to gardeners, and I 

 can recall one instance of rye being 

 grown on the same field for twenty 

 successive years without any apparent 

 loss of vigor. 



Regarding the behavior of many of 

 the flower crops which are grown un- 

 der glass, we have but comparatively 

 few facts available. The general im- 

 pression is, I think, that they will not 

 do their best unless the soil is entirely 

 renewed each season. Whether this 

 is due to poisoning of the soil or to 

 the exhaustion of some food element, 

 or to a change in the physical char- 

 acter of the soil, has not been deter- 

 mined as far as I am aware. If the 

 loss of fertility of the soil in our green- 

 house is due to physical changes, it is 

 a serious matter, for it means the re- 

 moval and renewal of the soil once or 

 twice a year, an operation both labori- 

 ous and costly. In the broader prac- 

 tice of field work these losses can be 

 more readily corrected, at least we 

 do not have to move our soil to the 

 crops, but can move our crops to the 

 soil, a comparatively easy matter. 

 Fertility can be maintained by proper 

 rotation and the recuperative forces 

 of Nature. 



We stand in need of more work in 

 the investigation of the losses in our 

 greenhouse work, and it seems to me 

 that the experiment stations might 

 help us in that direction. 



Horticulturists have, it is true, done 

 a great deal of experimenting along 

 these lines, but most of the work has 

 not been done in such a manner as to 

 render the results of any great value 

 to the public, nor have there been 

 records kept of the work which are 

 available for study and comparison. 



These are some of the factors which 

 we have to consider when attempting 

 to increase the fertility of our gar- 

 dens. We do not know just what is the 

 best thing to do; we must still ex- 

 periment a little. Fertilizers do not 

 act just the same every time, but we 

 must continue to use them, and our 

 experience is a pretty good, though 

 often costly guide in their applica- 

 tion. 



We must remember that fertilizers 

 do not always mean fertility; we need 

 good tillage, good cultivation and 

 common sense mixed with them. 



It seems to me that we stand today 

 unon the threshold of the door which 

 will lead us to a vastly better under- 

 standing, not only of the processes of 

 assimilation, but also a more perfect 



knowledge of the economical produc- 

 tion and use of fertilizing elements. 



DETROIT FLORISTS' CLUB. 



Many members of the club appeared 

 at the last meeting and listened to the 

 address of the newly-elected president, 

 Wm. B. Brown. Irrespective of the 

 usual way of throwing bouquets on 

 such occasions, we can say this time 

 that the new officers of the Detroit 

 Club are a positive guarantee for a 



very active year. 



A committee of three was appointed 

 to confer with such members as are 

 two or more years behind in dues for 

 the purpose of reinstating them again. 



NEWS NOTES. 



The display from the children's gar- 

 dens at Horticultural Hall, Boston, ou 

 September 5 was highly creditable and 

 the largest on record, with entries 

 from remote sections of the state. 

 Five prizes were awarded for collec- 

 tions grown in window boxes in the 

 city. 



The business carried on by Harry 

 Hoffman at Jacksonville, 111., has de-* 

 veloped so rapidly that a stock com- 

 pany has now been formed to be 

 known as the Harry Hoffman Floral 

 Co., and when, on Feb 1, they take 

 possession of the tract of land recently 

 purchased near Diamond and Michigan 

 avenues, they will erect a modern 

 range of houses. The salesroom at 25 

 South Side Square will be retained 

 under the management of Miss Nellie 

 Magill. 



We learn that the following trite 

 communication was found attached to 

 the door knob of the Florists' Club of 

 Philadelphia early one morning last 

 week: 



'William K. Harris nominated George C. 

 w it Mm for president at the last meeting 

 of I he Florists' Club of Philadelphia. This 

 deep laid and diabolical scheme to keep 

 Watson quiet and dignified for at least a 

 year met, and deservedly too, with a 

 prompt and energetic refusal. The palla- 

 dium of our liberties cannot be muzzled by 

 the bribe of earthly honor or reward." 



You will find something worth reading 

 on every page of HORTICULTURE. 



