June li;, 1920 



HORTICULTURE 



473 



RENOVATING OLD POTTING SOIL. 



To the Editor: — 



How I'liii a HiuiiU tlorlst. witli ii llmltt-il 

 amuiiut <pf liinil. renew bis puttliii; soil 

 from year to year".' Some soil in luirehased 

 euih year. Iiut lie wuiils to renew old. spent 

 mill liy Hiireailllii; ">i a lot ami t'lowlllK 

 some leKlime ero|i. llow sbolllil lie ilo tlllH 

 to best ailvaiitaKe'.' 



Answer; — How can a small tlorist 

 renew his potting soil — or ratlier the 

 life of the soil, so that it can be used 

 ii second, and possibly a third and 

 fourth time without the expense of 

 purchasing new soil, is quite a ques- 

 tion. We have never given this matter 

 serious thought, as we have plenty ot 

 soil to allow all old, partially exliaust- 

 ed soil plenty of time to recuperate, by 

 simply placing it where it will he used 

 for a few years to produce general 

 farm crops. It has often appeared to 

 me that probably as good crops could 

 be grown several seasons in succession 

 where the soil has not been renewed 

 as where it is renewed for every crop. 

 Last Spring I was in a Rose house that 

 had one of the finest crops of Roses 

 coming on for Easter that I have ever 

 seen. The plants were in the same soil 

 for 14 years. This grower has prob- 

 ably taken more prizes at flower shows 

 in the last ten years than any other 

 grower in tlie Philadelphia district. 



.Ml commercial Roses at present are 

 allowed to remain in the same soil, 

 without any renewal, either of soil or 

 stock, for from four to seven years, 

 and wo never hear of soil exhaustion. 

 I have read of wonderful crops of Car- 

 nations being grown in the same soil 

 lor five or six years in succession. We 

 grow Carnations — a little better than 

 some that I have seen, though not 

 nearly as good as a lot ot others that 

 1 have looked over. We have e.\perl- 

 inented with soil that was in the 

 houses a number of years, and new soil 

 taken in the house especially for the 

 crop, with the result that experts, later 

 in the season could not determine 

 which was the old or the new. It is 

 generally conceded that there is less 

 danger of loss to the crop when the 

 soil Is renewed. 



We have been growing Sweet Peas in 

 the same soil for five or six years, and 

 do not see any necessity for renewing 

 it for some time to come. If proper 

 care is taken to have the fertilizers 

 complete and plenty of humus is add- 

 ed, with sufficient lime to correct acid- 

 ity, there should be no trouble in using 

 the same soil several years in succes- 

 sion, even on a bench. If fertilizer 

 that is not complete is used rontinu- 

 ously, trouble will l>e encountered 

 eventually. Some florists use nothing 

 but tankage, while others use nothing 

 but bone meal. This practice will soon 



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create a great deficiency of potash. 

 Soil that is apparently worn out could 

 be greatly benefited by spreading about 

 the depth of an ordinary plow furrow, 

 and If in the Spring get a good heavy 

 crop of Canada field peas and oats 

 started as early as possible. Plow this 

 i:rop under the end ot May and seed to 

 Soy beans. The end of August plow 

 the beans, apply a ton of lime to the 

 acre, or more if the soil is rather acid, 

 and seed to rye and Hairy or Winter 

 vetch. Your plot will likely be small 

 and the expense of seed will not ba 

 very much even if you were to use 

 double the quantity the farmer would 

 use on the same area. Try to get aj 

 good stand each time you sow a crop, 

 especially the vetch and rye. The soil 

 should be in good shape to use the fol- 

 lowing season, unless it is very l)adly 

 exhausted, in which case give it the 

 same treatment the following season. 

 Where so much humus is incorpor- 



ated in the soil quite a lot of lime will 

 be needed to overcome the acidity this 

 decaying vegetable matter will develop. 

 A nuxture of raw bone and potash 

 would be beneficial before the soil is 

 used, though not in very large quanti- 

 ties. Belter apply such concentrated 

 fertilizer soon as the plants start 

 growth, and stir the soil slightly before 

 watering. — Elmer ./. Weaver in Rural 

 .Yric Yorker. 



.Mr. Harry Katz, of Greenwich, Ct., 

 has purchased the Mead flower busi- 

 ness at 277 Greenwich Ave. The pur- 

 chasing price is said to have been in 

 the neighborhood of $2.5.000. Mr. Katz 

 ha.'i engaged Wesley Thomas to con- 

 duct the flower shop, and particular 

 attention will be given outside land- 

 scape work and general ganlening, 

 with Frederick Detmar of Portchester 

 in charge. 



