CROP ROTATION 115 



hold plants there until the harvesting of another crop makes room 

 inside. 



Both a coldhouse and frames are essential for the retail grower, 

 no matter how small his establishment, if he wants to get the most 

 out of it. With their help it is easier for him to figure out ways of 

 keeping his house or houses which can be kept at 50 or 60 deg., 

 busy all the time and thereby bringing in results. 



GETTING FOUR CROPS A YEAR 



As an example, let us take a bench of Geraniums, which by 

 June is emptied. Chrysanthemums, consisting of early varieties, 

 can be planted out of 2j^s and will be out of the way by the first 

 of November. These can be followed by Freesias, started in pots 

 in August and kept up to that time, properly protected, in a cold- 

 frame. These Freesias will flower starting toward the end of 

 December and are ready to be thrown out by the end of January. 

 It would hardly pay to keep them any longer for the sake of the 

 few buds remaining. By that time another lot of Freesias, grown 

 on in a cool house from bulbs planted the first of November, can be 

 planted out to flower in early March, after which you will want the 

 bench for bedding plants. Or the bench, after the Chrysanthemums 

 are through, may be planted with 4-in. pot plants of Snapdragon 

 which have been kept in a frame. These Snapdragons won't be 

 quite through by the time you give your Geraniums their final 

 shift, but if you have good luck, they will have paid for themselves 

 and you won't be justified in letting them take up any longer the 

 space the Geraniums should have. 



Another way would be to empty the soil out of the bench when 

 through with the Chrysanthemums and bring in flats of Paper- 

 whites from the frames, Stevias in pots from the coldhouse, Cinerarias, 

 Primulas, Freesias to be grown on and flowered in pots, formosum 

 Lilies kept under the bench up to that time, or Geraniums which 

 have been rooted during September and carried in a frame. 



Field-grown Carnations potted up in September into 5s and 

 carried in a frame, can follow early or even midseason Chrysanthe- 

 mums and bring returns from the end of January up to the time you 

 need the space. 



Pansies and Forget-me-nots are two useful flowers for the retail 

 grower and might be planted on the bench after the Chrysanthemums 

 where they will flower all Winter not much before Christmas, but 

 heavily during February and March. 



For those who plant Carnations for Winter flowering and have 

 to use the benches for bedding stock, the sooner the plants are 

 benched after the first of July the better, for you want them to be 

 well enough established by September to produce good sized flowers 



