66 



EXPERLMEXT STATION, 



[Jan. 



Most of the lettuce soils in the greenhouses in this State have 

 never been changed, and some of them are very old. The older 

 such soils arc the better for lettuce and market-garden crops 

 in general although tomatoes do the best when the soil is 

 changed occasionally. 



After the rose soils were washed out no further dying of 

 the plants occurred; on the other hand, they developed quite 

 rapidly and the crop matured. The trouble was with the roots 

 and was caused by an abnormal chemical condition of the soil. 

 When this occurs, as it does quite commonly in gi'eeuhouses, 

 washing out the soil is a corrective. Sometimes the trouble 

 can be remedied by placing a new layer of soil on top of the 

 bed, in which case new roots will form in the top layer of soil. 



The development of the plants in the second crop was not 

 as good as in the first, but the same characteristic growth in 

 the different beds was noticeable. The washing out of the soil 

 improved the condition of the j^lants to quite a remarkable 

 degree, especially in soil l^o. 69, which appeared to be more 

 acid than that in the other beds. The plants in soil Xo. 67, 

 however, as in the preceding experiments, showed the best de- 

 velopment. 



At this point it might be well to compare the texture of 

 other rose soils with that of those with which we experimented. 

 The following table gives the results of the analyses of some 

 of the best and most typical rose soils found in the eastern 

 States. 



Table 3. — Showing Mechanical Anah/sis of some of the Best Rose Soils 

 obtainable from the Rose Houses of the Eastern United States 



