THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



June, 1909 



The Proper Fertilizers 



um at a loss to know what kind of ferti- 

 is required for different varieties of 

 rs and vegetables. My soil is a light 

 and for three years I have been put- 

 cow manure on it, as much as I could 

 in, so that it is perhaps rich enough 

 that fertilizer. But I do not know 

 plants require lime or ashes or bone- 

 and so forth, and therefore cannot 

 he best results. Kindly give me the 

 f vegetables for a small family garden 

 ;ho kinds of nutriment each requires, 

 you please tell me the kind of fertiliz- 

 lich will best produce flowers. — C. E. 

 ondon, Ont. 



many cases it is quite impossible 

 1 what a soil is deficient in without 

 imenting, that is, applying certain 

 zers and noting the results obtained. 

 ;getables and flowers require three 

 fertilizing materials, — nitrogen, 

 horic acid and potash. A fourth 

 be added, namely, lime, but this 

 tuent is generally present in ordin- 

 oil in sufficient quantity, although 

 instances are known in which lime 

 ;en proven to be deficient. Where 

 s lacking, the effect of an applica- 

 may be most readily observed 

 ^h the use of a small quantity on a 

 plot. 



garden crops, such as cab- 

 cauliflowers, celery, tomatoes, 

 onions, carrots and potatoes, fer- 

 ; ! applied at the following rates (in 

 ' s per acre) have given good re- 



; bage, cauliflower, celery : — Nitro- 

 ; n the form of nitrate of soda, 200- 

 ihosphoric acid in the form of sup- 

 phate 400-600; potash, in the form 

 ■iate of potash, 150-250. 

 :s and carrots : — Nitrate of soda, 

 superphosphate, 400 ; muriate of 

 , 140. 



atoes : — Nitrate of soda, 120; sup- 

 phate, 400; muriate of potash, 



I ins : — Nitrate of soda, 100; super- 

 ate, 500; muriate of potash, 160. 

 toes : — Nitrate of soda, 100 ; super- 

 ate, 400; sulphate of potash, 200. 

 ill notice that in the case of pota- 

 he sulphate of potash is used in- 

 if the muriate form, 

 iree of the essential plant food in- 

 its must be applied to the soil 

 in the proportions indicated in or- 

 get the best results, but it must 

 jmbered that no hard and fast rule 

 given as to the quantities of fer- 

 to apply,- as these depend upon 

 number of factors over which the 

 jisr has no control. 



r ordinary conditions fertilizers 



[ibe applied sometime before seed- 



ept'in the case of nitrate of soda. 



fertilizer is very soluble, and, 



e, liable to be washed out of the 



■ore the crop is able to make use 



le larger part of the application 



be made after the plants are 



out. The fertilizers should be 



sown broadcast either by hand or by a 

 fertilizer distributor, and wherever possi- 

 ble harrowed in lightly. A further com- 

 ment I would add here is that careful 

 ob.servation of the tests on his own gar- 

 den will enable the producer to follow 

 such a system of fertilizing as will give 

 him the most satisfactory results. 



For flowers or pot plants, it has been 

 advised to apply the fertilizer in liquid 

 form, as the plants have such a small soil 

 space. In some cases good results have 

 been obtained by simply applying the 

 fertilizers and watering frequently. The 

 following quantities per rod have, in 

 some cases, given very satisfactory re- 

 sults : Three pounds of superphosphate, 

 two pounds of sulphate of potash and two 

 pounds of nitrate of soda. 



For pot plants the following quanti- 

 ties may be tried : One part of nitrate of 

 soda, two parts of acid phosphate, and 

 one part of sulphate of potash. These 

 should be applied once every fortnight 

 or so at the rate of one-half to three- 

 qijarters of an ounce to the gallon of 

 water. 



In conpection with these last quanti- 

 ties (namely, for flowers) I may say that 

 the experimental work that has been 

 done along this line has not sufficiently 

 demonstrated the exact quantities of the 

 materials to be used and I mention these 

 amounts simply as an indication of what 

 might be tried by way of experiment. — 

 Prof. W. P. Gamble, Ontario Agricul- 

 tural College. 



The Time to Plant Ginseng 



Ginseng growers recommend that gin- 

 seng be planted in the fall and not in 

 spring. A number of enquiries about 

 this point have been received by The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. In reply to 

 the question, Mr. J. E. Janelle, Caugh- 

 nawaga. Que., writes as follows: "The 

 spring season in Canada is not the pro- 

 per time for ginseng planting. I would 

 not recommend that seeds or plants be 

 purchased in spring, particularly by be- 

 ginners. Send your orders at any time, 

 but they will be filled only in the fall." 



The following letter was received from 

 Mr. A. Twiner, Saugatuck, Mich : 

 "Stratified ginseng seed planted in the 

 fall will come up the following spring. 

 When the plants first come up they re- 

 semble newly-sprouted beans, on ac- 

 count of having one little leaf stem and 

 two leaves. During the first year, the 

 plant attains a height of two or three 

 inches. The work of the plant the first 

 year, seems to be to develop the root 

 and the bud at the top of the root, which 

 produces the next season's stem and 

 leaves. In the spring of the second year 

 this bud produces a single straig|it stem 

 which has two or three leaves on it and 

 three leaves to a stem. During the sec- 

 ond year, the plant grows four or five 

 inches high. During the third year, the 

 main stem has three leaf stems with gen- 



erally five leaves to a stem, and the plant 

 grows from six to nine inches in height. 

 After the third year, some plants will 

 have more leaf stems and leaves and 

 they will grow higher. Last fall the 

 writer dug a plant that was four feet one 

 inch from the tip of the root to the top 

 of the main stem." 



Location for Ginseng 



Would it be advisable to plant ginseng 

 in the bush or woods? It is Nature's method. 

 — H. R., Perth, Ont. 



By planting ginseng in the bush it 

 would ha' e the natural shade, but let us 

 see how it would work out in practice. 

 Let us suppose that a farmer planted 

 1000 one-year-old roots in his wood-lot 

 and, say, 1000 seeds. Now, nature has 

 the birds and small animals, such as 

 squirrels, to feed. These would be apt to 

 take the larger share of the seed each 

 year, and in the course of four or five 

 years, there would be quite a number of 

 young trees growing in that ginseng 

 garden. We will imagine that farmer 

 arriving in the bush some morning in 

 September armed with a spade or fork 

 to dig his ginseng. I think he would 

 require an axe and pick to aid him to 

 extract the ginseng out of a network 

 of forest roots and bush. The orchard 

 would be objectionable for similar rea- 

 sons. The seeds would be exposed to 

 the same enemies and the fruit falling on 

 the beds would break the plants and 

 the pickers would trample the beds more 

 or less. Plant your ginseng at least fif- 

 teen feet away from trees. Tree roots 

 rob the soil of moisture and plant food. 

 Ginseng thrives better, grows larger 

 and firmer and shrinks less in drying 

 than wild roots. We can regulate artific- 

 ial shade to suit existing conditions. — 

 Wm. Gilgore, Peterboro, Ont. 



Articles on the cost of growing an 

 acre of tomatoes for the canning factory 

 with profits are requested for publica- 

 tion. 



The matter of drainage is very im- 

 portant in the market garden, for no 

 soil, unless well drained, will yield satis- 

 factory garden crops. 



Gardeners in Canada, who have test- 

 ed mulching with straw or other material 

 between the rows of vegetables instead 

 of cultivation, are requested to tell then- 

 opinions of the operation in a letter for 

 publication in The Canadian Horticul- 

 turist. 



Market gardeners in Quebec and the 

 maritime provinces are requested to con- 

 tribute articles for publication. Tell your 

 experiences with the crop that you grow 

 most extensively. State the condition of 

 the market in your province, and the 

 outlook. Send some photographs of 

 your garden, if you can. 



