IIS 



HORTICULTURE 



August 9, 1919 



If the plants of the first group were 

 again crossed with Madonna, they 

 would break up and we might get a 

 fine Madonna with the vigor of Regale. 



At present the departure from white 

 is so little they might serve for 

 Easter lilies. 



A distinguished authority has re- 

 cently stated in Hobtictjlttjb that rich 

 manure and fertilizers are fatal to Re- 

 gale. This statement requires to be 

 modified under some climate and soil 

 conditions, especially where we wish 

 to try to make the flower sport. In 

 this climate they do well with fertili- 

 zer. Manure is disliked by both lilies 

 and iris in my garden unless it is in 

 the condition described by Celia 

 Thaxter in that charming book — An 

 Island Garden. This work is now a 

 garden classic for the author was a 

 poet as well as a skilful gardener. The 

 hybrid lilies described in this letter 

 were all grown in soil which was 

 treated with the following fertilizer 

 and stimulant before the seeds were 

 planted; using it at the rate of one 

 pound to ten square feet. The seeds 

 were always planted in the open 

 ground in May. 



Formula — Basic Slag or Acid Phos- 

 phate, 20 pounds; Nitrate of Soda, 10 



pounds; Sulphate of Potash, 10 

 pounds; Oxide of Iron, 10 pounds; Ox- 

 ide of Manganese, 10 pounds; Perman- 

 ganate of Potash, 1 pound; Thorium 

 oxide, 1 ounce. 



To thoroughly mix the ingredients a 

 barrel churn was used. This queer 

 combination was one of the many ex- 

 periments tried here, and as it hap- 

 pened to be the one on which this par- 

 ticular hybrid was raised it is given 

 without making any claim to its being 

 a scientific mixture. 



When the seedlings were about six 

 inches high they were watered with a 

 liquid fertilizer containing one ounce 

 of nitrate of soda and the same 

 amount of sulphate of potash in a com- 

 mon garden watering pot. 



William Rollins, 



SPRAYING APPARATUS. 



If there is any one thing a florist 

 and gardener should have properly 

 fitted to do the work verv thoroughly 

 and with the least lost motion it is 

 the spray rig. 



Ninety per cent, of the insects and 

 parasitic fungus diseases injurious to 

 trees and plants are hatched or devel- 

 oped under the foliage and during the 

 period of development derive their 



nourishment from the under side of the 

 foliage. As the insects mature they 

 wander a little further away in search 

 of new feeding places. But the canker- 

 ous growth of the fungus remains root- 

 ed, so to speak, on the under side of the 

 foliage slowly eating its way to the 



upper surface of the foliage when it 

 comes to full development and ready 

 to spread its millions of spores unless 

 checked. 



The compressed sprayer holding 

 from 3 to 3>j gallons is the one most 

 generally used by florists and garden- 

 ers and is usually fitted with a short 

 piece of hose to which a spray nozzle 

 is attached; this is all right for spray- 

 ing potatoes, cabbage, etc., but when 

 you must hit the underside of the 

 foliage your requirements are a piece 

 of hose at least 30 inches in length 

 to which is attached an extension pipe 

 2 feet in length fitted with an elbow 

 to which the spray nozzle is attached. 

 With your spray tank thus fitted you 

 can do much better work with less 

 exertion on your part and cover all 

 the plants with the spraying solution. 



