,36 FRUITS AND VEGETABLES UNDER GLASS 



fore, it is not wise to dictate as to the amount of feeding tiiat siiall or shall not be 

 done through the season of activity, in order to get the best results. All I 

 can say here is: keep a close watch on your trees after feeding, both as to the 

 roots and the foliage, which are two of the principal life organs of the plant. 

 If we find roots coming to the surface soon after feeding, it is a sure sign that 

 it is agreeable and the tree is receiving sustenance. 



I think it a weakness of most writers on this interesting question that they 

 present the bright side, only dwelling on the benefits to be derived from the 

 food. Of course it is more pleasant to record our successes than our failures. 

 Still, if we look back over the years we have spent in cultivating plants, we 

 cannot close our eyes to the serious errors we may have committed through 

 over-feeding. I admit that I have been at fault here more than once, but I 

 have profited by what I have learned thereby, although it has often caused 

 me worry and annoyance. Defeat is a bitter pill, while success tastes sweet. 

 No young grower should lose heart, even though things do not at first come up 

 to his expectations. Whoever loses his grit is doomed to go down; the man who 

 is determined to profit by his mistakes will come out victorious in the end. 



Mistakes along these lines first turned my thoughts toward the study of 

 the foliage. This is a study worthy of the consideration of every grower. The 

 foliage is the life, or the lungs of the plant, and if it is not perfect, everjrthing 

 is lost. If we are carrying a heavy crop of fruit and the foliage goes wrong 

 before the fruit is fully developed or ripe, it will be a miserable failure. We 

 may be told that all foliage is green and looks alike. Study it closely and you 

 will frnd out the difference. As the mother of a family need only look at her 

 child in order to know whether it is well or ill, so the good florist and gardener 

 can judge his plants by their appearance. But the grower must love his plants 

 as a mother loves her child. We must keep our foliage full of sap and leathery 

 to the touch, full of substance, with the veins standing out pronounced. Such 

 foliage will help to produce good fruit of superior flavor. 



By way of preface to a brief explanation of systematic feeding, I may say 

 that it is far better not to feed at all than to over-feed. Feed to the limit and 

 no more. I do not advocate strong feeding at one time, but prefer it light 

 and often. There is not so much danger in light feeding, and more can be 

 administered to good advantage during the season in this way. I also advise 

 an occasional change of food. The main point in bringing a crop to a successful 

 issue is to keep the foots acti\e. Surface dressing, applied about every ten 

 days or two weeks, seems to gi\ e a new lease of life to the roots, for the feeding 

 roots w'ill absorb it within a few days. For this top dressing I have obtained 

 the best results with Thomson's manure and Ichthemic guano, used alternately. 

 Mix it in the proportion of eight or ten parts of soil to one of manure, and put 

 a light dressing on the surface of each pot or tub, a couple of handfuls to a 15-inch 

 tub. Apply this every ten days or two weeks if your trees are in a healthy 

 condition. 



Watering with manure water three or four times during the season is good. 

 The drainage from the farm barn is excellent for this purpose, weakened down 

 with clear water. I find occasionally that the foliage turns a bit yellow, or loses 



