February 22, 1908 



HORTICULTURE, 



233 



AFTER ADJOURNMENT. 



What a niagnificeut. record carnation 

 Winsor is making! Seldom do we find 

 exhibition standard and commercial 

 availability so fully united in one 

 flower. 



The philosopher of one of our ex- 

 changes remarks that "They's jest ez 

 much loom at the top ez they ever 

 wuz, on'y it's further off." This con- 

 dition is the penalty the rank and file 

 must pay to their ambitious and pro- 

 gressive fellows. The man who is con- 

 tent to stay in the '-average" class 

 must pay this tribute in ever-increas- 

 ing ratio. The only escape is to "get 

 a move on." do things a little better 

 than the other fellow and also see to 

 it that the world knows it, by adver- 

 tising, advertising, advertising, liber- 

 ally and persistently. The "room at 

 the top" will then come nearer and 

 nearer, and it's largely your own fault 

 if you don't get there. 



COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS SIZED 

 UP. 



Bulletin No. 119 of the Mass. Experi- 

 ment Station gives the tabulated re- 

 sults of the analyses of commercial 

 fertilizers during the season of 1907. 

 The addition to the fertilizer law re- 

 quiring the publication of valuations is 

 stated, and the dealer's cash price, 

 valuation and percentage of difference 

 are placed opposite every fertilizer ex- 

 amined. The bulletin also gives the 

 names of all fertilizer manufacturer.s 

 selling in the state, as well as a com- 

 plete list of the brands offered. Ex- 

 planations malie clear the character of 

 the crude materials of which fertiliii- 

 ers are composed: the relative stand- 

 ing of the numerous firms is summar- 

 ized in a table, and much other infor- 

 mation is given that will prove of 

 value to all buyers of commercial plant 

 food. Those who have not received 

 copies of these bulletins can have the 

 same upon application. Requests 

 should be addressed to the Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, Amherst, Mass. 

 Every man who uses fertilizers, out- 

 doors or under glass, should read No. 

 119 carefully. He will find some sur- 

 prises fbere. 



A QUESTION FOR DR. GALLOWAY. 



Editor HORTICULTURE: Being 

 keenly interested in fertilizers and 

 having a "penchant" for the clean, 

 odorless, soluble kind, the work 

 on carnations by the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry excited me with the 

 possibility that these modern agents 

 may have been used in this case. The 

 article on Experiments in Carnation 

 Growing by the U. S. Dept. of Agricul- 

 ture, as printed in the issue of Feb. 

 1.5. page 201 of HORTICULTURE, gives 

 a complete fertilizer, which means 

 one having these three principal ingre- 

 dients, thus: N. 8 per cent., available 

 phos. acid 12 per cent, and potash S per 

 cent. Now here are the facts that the 

 readers of your paper nray be glad to 

 know. This fertilizer was made up of 

 nitrate of soda, nitrate of potash, dis- 

 solved South Carolina rock and sul- 

 phate of potash. This, then, is not a 

 commercial fertilizer but mainly a 

 mixture of soluble chemicals. We do 

 not at this writing know how this was 

 applied; when, how strong or how of- 

 ten, but must await more light from 

 the doctor. 



The report says that Dr. Galloway 

 "cautioned the grower to go slow on 

 commercial fertilizers and to put their 

 ftiilh and work into good composts." 

 We admit that this staggers us, for by 

 the table before us the complete fertili- 

 ze'' beats the rest six times in eight, 

 and in every case where flat soil was 

 used. 



We think the doctor really meant to 

 say that good organic rotted matter 

 was best to start with and then not to 

 feed with commercial but with solu- 

 ble chemicals, as probably was done in 

 this case, but we will await further 

 advices from the Bureau. 



DUDLEY M. PRAY. 



A DISTHORNING INSTRUMENT 

 FOR ROSES. 



Every rose specialist knows how 

 hindering to the work of preparing 

 rose stocks are the strong thorns, and 

 he will welcome an instrument that 

 will render the work safer and more 

 rapid, with at the same time freedom 

 from danger to the stocks, etc., and 

 the man who works it. Three hundred 

 stocks per day was the output for one 

 man working in the old manner, 

 whereas from :5,000 and more can 

 readily be cleared of thorns by the in- 

 strument. In the interior of the in- 

 strument there are six knives arranged 

 in a circle. The apparatus 'oeing 

 opened the rose stock is laid in a 

 trough, and on closing the stock is 

 clasped by the six knives, and pushed 

 backwards and forwards twice or 

 thrice, the thorns falling through an 

 opening on the undei-slde. It can be 

 fixed by means of four screws to a 

 heavy, or immovable bench or table. — 

 Horticultural Trade Journal, London. 



CARNATION TEMPERATURES. 



To the Editor of HORTICULTURE: 



Bein.g in the commercial business 

 and growing flowers, etc., for the New 

 York wholesale market, I would like 

 to know through the valuable columns 

 of your paper what the best tempera- 

 ture would be day and night to grow 

 the following varieties of carnations: 

 Enchantress, Helen Gould. White En- 

 chantress, Rose Pink Enchantress, 

 Beacon, Victory, Robt. Craig, White 

 Perfection, Mrs,. Patten, Winsor, Gov. 

 Roosevelt, Afterglow, Sarah Hill, Bos- 

 ton Market, Lieut. Peary. My Lieut 

 Peary is inclined to go to sleep on the 

 plant. What is the reason, and do you 

 think it is a good commercial variety? 



LIBRARY NOTES. 



[Any of the books mentioned in Mr. 

 Payne's reviews ran be supplied at pub- 

 lisliers' price from tlie office of Horticul- 

 ture.] 



My Rock Garden by Reginald Far- 

 rer. (Edward Arnold, London). This 

 is a rather more imposing volume than 

 the preceding, for it runs into more 

 than 300 pages. Mr. Farrer writes in 

 a most readable style and the book 

 as a literary production deserves our 

 warmest praise. From a practical 

 point of view the lover of a rock gar- 

 den, and there are many, will derive 

 much instniction from a perusal of its 

 pages. Price, $2.00. 



The Gardens of England. (The 

 Studio, London, Paris and New York). 

 A very attractive volume Issued as the 

 winter number of "The Studio," a 

 monthly periodical devoted to art. It 

 is almost wholly composed of full 

 paged, beautifully executed photo- 

 graphic views in the gardens of Eng- 

 land in the southern and western 

 counties. The letterpress, which 

 only forms a quarter of the volume, 

 deals with the history and principles 

 of garden making and notes on the 

 numerous illustrations. Simply speak- 

 ing from the florists' standpoint we 

 must express the pleasure that we de- 

 I'ive from looking at such interesting 

 garden views as Stratton Park, Hanks, 

 Herbaceous flower border at Orchard- 

 leigh Park, Rock Garden at Killerton, 

 Pampas Walk at Hinton Admiral Gar- 

 den front at Daw's Hill Lodge, Blen- 

 heim Palace, Gardener's Cottage at 

 Ashridge Park, The formal garden at 

 Taplow Court, Old place, Lindfield, 

 Old orangery at Ham House. 



C. HARMAN PAYNE. 



A subscriber to HORTICULTURE, 

 one of the most successful growers of 

 carnations, who prefers his name 

 should not be mentioned, replies to the 

 above as follows: "Most carnations do 

 well at a night temperature of .50 to 

 52 degrees, and a day temperature of 

 10 to 15 degrees higher; Winsor, 53 to 

 55. Afterglow and Sarah Hill have not 

 been grown by the fade yr-t. Lieut. 

 Peary is inclined in some places to be 

 sleepy, ;n others does very well and 

 is considered a profitable variety." 



It should be remembered the suc- 

 cessful growers do not all travel in the 

 same beaten track, and we would ad- 

 vise the inquire! to visit Cottage Gar- 

 dens Co., Dailledouze Bros, or F. R. 

 Piersou Co.. at all of which places he 

 will see carnations at their be.st. 



PERSONAL. 



The trip to Richmond, Ind., by the 

 Indianapolis florists has been post- 

 poned to February 26. 



Visitors fn Boston this week: Alex. 

 McW'illiams, Wm. Boyd and J. H. Da- 

 vidson, all of Newport, R. I.; Henry 

 Wild, Greenwich, Conn. 



Jesse Pierce, nurseryman, Beverly 

 Farms, Mass., has purchased an ad- 

 ditional tract of land to accommodate 

 his increasing business. 



A. R. ■ Rohbins, of Robbins Bros., 

 florists, Cambridge, Mass., while cross- 

 ing the street on the evening of Feb- 

 ruary 4, was struck by an auto and 

 severely bruised. 



Arthur G. Macdonald, head gardener 

 to Mr. Luther Kountze, Morristown, 

 N. J., will sail from New York March 

 1 for Blairgowrie, Perth, Scotland, for 

 an extended stay. 



Visitors in Chicago: A. C. Beal, 

 Champaign, 111.; Heinl Bros., Jackson- 

 ville, 111.: Martin Reukauf, represent- 

 ing H. Bayersdorfer & Co., Philadel- 

 phia; Henri Killen, New York. 



A FRANK TESTIMONIAL. 

 My ad. with you has proved the 

 most effective of any thus far. 



CHAS. A. KIBBE. 

 Elmhurst 111. 



