February 2, 1907 



HORTICULTURE, 



127 



The Cyclamen for Christmas 



The cyclamen will repay the grower for any thought 

 or care he may expend and to have a full bloom for 

 the Christmas sales no detail should be neglected. Our 

 method which has given us 'a good measure of success 

 is as follows : We get the very best seed obtainable 

 and sow about August 1st. We find seed pans better 

 than boxes for seed sowing. Use a compost consisting 

 of one part loam, one part sand (not too finely 

 screened) and three parts leaf mould. Place the seed 

 one-half inch apart over the surface,, cover lightly and 

 firm the soil and water in. The pans should be on a 

 shady bench with a temperature of about 60 degrees. 

 Cover with glass or sifted sphagnum until the seed comes 

 through, then remove to a bench where there is more 

 light, but the same temperature. Our especial aim at 

 this stage of growth is to keep the young plants stocky. 

 Wlien they have two or three leaves they are ready for 

 two-inch pots and the .soil should be the same as before. 

 If the potting is carefully attended to the plants will 

 scarcely feel the shift and in about six weeks the 

 strongest may be taken out and potted up. Watering 

 is a most important matter at all times. We depend 

 entirely on syringing ujitil the plants are in three-inch 

 pots, going over them two or three times a day accord- 

 ing to the weather. 



From January on the young cyclamens make a rapid 

 growlli, A certain percentage always stronger than the 

 rest, and the potting should he carried on as required, 

 never letting any become pot-bound. Towards the end 

 of May we remove to the frame house with sides open 

 and through the hottest part of the day we use shading 

 cloth, say from 10 A. M. till 4 P. M.^ Careful water- 

 ing and syringing are essential points during the hot 

 months and we have found plunging the pots half way 

 in peat moss a great saving of labor as it reduces the 

 watering one-half. July brings to the final potting of 

 ihe earliest planis and for this we use the following 

 soil: Three parts leaf mould, two of fibrous loam, one 

 of well-decayed cow manure and one part sand. Care 

 should be taken not to pot deeply; half the corm should 

 be left above the soil. We use new pots for this shift, 

 giving a generous amount of drainage, say, one large 

 crock and some charcoal. As the nights begin to get 

 cool we remove to a light airy house giving the plants 

 plenty of room and all the sunlight possible. The 

 night temperature from 55 degrees to 58 degrees with 

 a rise of from 10 degrees to 15 degrees in the daytime. 

 When the buds begin to show we give weak manure 

 water once a week, using sheep manure. Clay's fertilizer 

 and soot as a change. It is never wise to give strong 

 manure in any form. "nor to raise the temperature high. 



Tlie treatment descril^ed above matures our plants by 

 Chrislmas but should you want the bloom to be later 50 

 degrees of heat through the night will be ample. 



'di^- //^ ^ 



yZ^^^CA^, 



Growers' Organizations 



The banding together of growers has met with such 

 dismal failure in so many cases that to reopen the sub- 

 ject may cause many to smile. But the Kogue Eiver 

 apple growers of Oregon have a society which has been 

 a success for so many years that one is led to believe 

 that they have hit upon one or two essential points. 



As a rule the apple growers, the pear men, the peach 

 raisers or whoever they may be have, after uniting in 

 some kind of a society, by mutual agreement tried to 

 boost prices. As a result they have been mired by the 

 largeness of the task. They have not encouraged com- 

 petition, in fact, they have fought rather shy of it. 

 And here is the first point scored by the Rogue Eiv- 

 erites. Instead of going to their local buyer and say- 

 ing, "Take it at our price, or leave it," they begin to 

 estimate the crop as soon as the thinning is done, and 

 then send a statement of the exact conditions broad- 

 cast throughout the country, asking everybody who is 

 interested in fruit buying to come and bid for the entire 

 crop. Thus the gi'owers protect themselves by calling 

 into play competition among the liuyers. It may be 

 said that the buyers will combine. Even if this is done 

 the growers will obtain the best prices. Such combina- 

 tion has not occurred, however, the instinct of self- 

 preservation still being strong, especially in the heart 

 of a fruit buyer. 



A second point, and one well worthy of considera- 

 tion is the sorting. No Bogue Eiver man sorts his own 

 fruit. He calls in his neighbor who will sort much 

 closer because of his unbiased judgment. A box marked 

 with the society's stamp is known to tell the truth 

 about the contents, and such confidence commands the 

 very highest prices. 



It is too often true that the commercial fruit buyer 

 will take advantage but he is only human, and too often 

 has been educated into it by the tactics of his growers. 

 Every man with a little fruit tries to gamble as hard as 

 he can with it and he looks on the buyer as legitimate 

 prey. 



Grow a good article, stand bfihind it, affix a fair 

 price and when you get it don't be like the young 

 woman who told her uncle she would be perfectly happy 

 with two hundred dollars. He, wishing to see such a 

 sight as a thoroughly satisfied woman, gave her the 

 money only to hear her remark as she left the room, "I 

 wish I had made it three hundred." 



a^ 



Overbrool-, Pa. 



Let Horticulture Work For You 



If you have anything to sell to florists, gardeners, 

 park superintendents, seedsmen, let this paper sell it 

 for you. It is the cheapest representative you can send 

 out for it reaches thousands of good buyers once a week 

 and the cost is only a trifle. Tell your story in Hor- 

 ticulture's advertising columns and the best people 

 in the profession will surely see it and read it. 



