THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



95 



ents may have a chance to hasten 

 maturity. Too much nitrogen, or nitro- 

 gen applied late in the season, will 

 cause a large growth of stem, and pre- 

 vent the setting and development of 

 fruit. 



Regarding the value of the various 

 forms in which the different constitu- 

 ents exist in mixed fertihzers, it may 

 be said that m:)st soluble and active 

 manures produce; their principal effect 

 at once and are of little benefit to sub- 

 sequent crops. .Vmmonium salts or 

 nitrates give all their effects the first 

 year. Sparingly soluble substances, and 

 those that must suffer decomposition 

 in the soil before they are of service to 

 the plant, as coarse tankage, ground 

 bone, and Thomas phosphate, will, on 

 the contrary, continue to produce an 

 effect over many years. Consequently, 

 the soluble substances give the quickest 

 returns for the money invested. It is 

 hardly necessary to say that soluble 

 manures, as nitrate of soda, should not 

 be ^applied until planting time, and 

 even then it is best to save part of the 

 fertilizer and apply small portions at 

 intervals of two or three weeks. 



\A.s the vegetable growers understand 

 the true nature of the fertihzers and the 

 needs of the soil and crop, the tend- 

 ency will be to buy a fertilizer contain- 

 ing a single constituent to supply the 

 known deficiency of the soil or the 

 element particularly required by the 

 crop. At present, too frequently so- 

 called complete fertilizers, which are 

 specially recommended for certain crops, 

 are purchased. These may or may not 

 answer the purpose under the particular 

 conditions. Fertilizers are too expen- 

 sive to be applied at random. It is 

 essential that a clear conception of what 

 is required be formed and then that 

 the constituents that will produce the 

 required effect be purchased. To do 

 this a gardener must study his soil and 

 crops and understand the fertilizer or 

 mixture of fertilizers he intends using. 



During the last three months we have 

 received a number of requests to analyze 

 mixed fertilizers. It does not seem to 

 be generally known that according to 

 a law enacted by the Dominion Govern- 

 ment at Ottawa, no fertilizer selling at 

 more than $10 a ton can legally be sold 

 in Canada without a guarantee giving 

 the percentage amount of the various 

 constituents contained in it. While 

 we are willing to do all we can to help 

 the vegetable growers with their fertilizer 

 problems, we must refer this i)ortion 

 of the work to the Inland Revenue 

 Department of Ottawa, and we would 

 advise all purchasers to demand the 

 results of the analysis made in that 

 department.^ 



Guarantees alone will not, however, 

 wholly protect the buyer. He must 

 not only know the percentage com- 

 position of the fertilizer and the nature 



of the materials from which it was 

 prepared, but he must also be able to 

 determine from the analysis whether 

 there is a proper relation between the 

 guarantee and the selling price. 



There appears to be a growing ten- 

 dency on the part of the vegetable 

 growers to use fertilizers. Before in- 

 vesting much money in th6m let the 

 grower study his conditions and study 

 the fertilizer. There is a place for 

 them when properly used, but when 

 improperly applied, they fail to give 

 results. They will not take the place 

 of cultivation, and should be looked 

 upon as adjuncts to good general 

 manuring and cultivation. 



Gro-wing Cxicumbers 



"My cucumbers are started about 

 April I in six inch pots," said Mr. Geo. 

 Benner, of Burlington, to The Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist recently. "They 

 need very careful watching for the first 

 three weeks, as too much water when 

 the plants are young is sure to cause 

 damping off. The plants should not be 

 set out before May 24, because a slight 

 cold snap so checks them that much 

 time is needed by them to revive from 

 the setback. When transplanted from 

 the pots without disturbing the roots, 

 the plants go right ahead. 



"I set them out in rows five feet apart 

 and four feet apart in the row. When 

 set in this way the runners can be turned 

 to one side and cultivation be kept up 

 longer one way. They need a rich soil 

 of sandy loam that retains moisture 

 well. 



"Early White Spine," continued Mr. 

 Benner, "is the best all-round table 

 cucumber. It holds its color well and 

 suits the early market. Last year I let 

 many of my cucumbers' ripen and sup- 

 plied Ontario seedsmen with about 300 

 pounds of first-class seed." 



Fertilizer Formulae 



Frank T. Shutt, M.A., Chemist, Dominion 

 Experimental Farms 



With rich garden loam, reinforced 

 with well-rotted manure, there is seldom 

 occasion to use fertilizers. In many 

 instances, experiments alone can answer 

 the question if fertilizers are necessary 

 or will prove profitable. In many mar- 

 ket gardens and orchards, however, the 

 soil has become so depleted that special 

 fertilizers are frequently used. Flower 

 beds, and lawns, too, require special 

 applications if satisfactory results are 

 to be obtained. A careful study has 

 shown that the use of the following mix- 

 tures gives satisfactory returns. 



For general garden crops, including 

 vegetables, small fruits, etc. : Bone meal, 

 IJ parts: superphosphate of Hmc, IJ 

 parts; sulphate of potash, 1 part. This 

 should be applied at the rate of 800 to 

 1,500 pounds per acre, according to the 



condition of the soil. Thoroughly in- 

 corporate with the surface soil at the 

 opening of the season. After growth 

 has commenced top dress with 100 

 pounds of nitrate of soda per acre. If 

 the foliage is yellowish, or the growth 

 lacks vigor, repeat the application of 

 nitrate three weeks later. 



For flower beds : Bone meal, 4 parts ; 

 sulphate of potash, 1 part. Work well 

 into the soil at the rate of 4 pounds per 

 square rod. During the early part of 

 the season top dress with nitrate of soda 

 at the rate of one-third to two-thirds of 

 a pound per square rod. 



For lawns : Bone meal, 2 parts ; sup- 

 erphosphate of lime, 2 parts; muriate 

 of potash, 1 part. Apply at the rate of 

 five pounds per square rod. At inter- 

 vals of two to three weeks during the 

 earlier part of the season top dress with 

 nitrate of soda at the rate of half a 

 pound per square rod. 



TKe Seed Control Act 



The question of guaranteed seeds is 

 one of great interest to the market 

 gardener. In some sections a few gar- 

 deners beheve that the Seed Control Act 

 passed by the Dominion Government 

 in 1905 protects them against impure 

 seeds, seeds that are not true to name 

 or seeds that do not germinate. The 

 Horticulturist recently wrote to Mr. 

 G. H. Clark, seed commissioner for 

 Canada, asking for particulars regard- 

 ing this bill and its relation to market 

 garden seeds. In return a copy of the 

 Seed Control Act was sent. Section 3 

 reads: "Any seeds of cereals, grasses, 

 clovers or forage plants," and section 4 

 refers to "timothy, red clover and 

 alsike seeds," but no provision is made 

 in the bill that will apply to the seeds 

 of any kinds of crops that are gener- 

 ally considered to come under the cate- 

 gory of hoed crops. 



In answer to questions asked him. 

 Seed Commissioner Clark wrote: "Judg- 

 ing from the development of the guar- 

 antee system in foreign countries, it 

 would seem clear that as soon as there 

 is a sufficiently strong demand on the 

 part of gardeners for seeds of guaran- 

 teed germination qualities, so soon will 

 we have Canadian seed merchants rise 

 to the occasion and cater to those de- 

 mands. As to whether the seed user 

 could secure conviction and damages 

 against the seed merchant, on account 

 of supph'ing seeds not true to name, 

 would depend largely on the contract 

 between them. Seed merchants, as 

 a rule, take every precaution to guard 

 themselves against liability because of 

 such conditions." 



Spraying is becoming more popular 

 every year and every fruit grower in this 

 section will soon own a sprayer. — (C. P. 

 Bailey. Coldbrook, N.S. 



