THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



bench of roses or carnations it is a 

 new lot of plants and new soil every 

 year, and if bone meal is a perfect 

 manure there can be no harm in using 

 it year after year. 



Guano was largely in use thirty 

 years ago when the supply was great- 

 er. It is the excrement of sea birds, 

 found on the islands off the coast of 

 Peru. It is difficult now to obtain and 

 what would be sold to you for Pe- 

 ruvian guano would be most likely an 

 imitation. The pure guano was one 

 of the most wonderful of manures. 

 We have used a 2-inch pot of guano 

 in four gallons of water and the ef- 

 fect of an occasional watering on soft- 

 wooded plants was marvelous. If 

 procurable it would, however, be too 

 expensive and not as complete a ma- 

 nure as bone meal. 



Of the animal manures the one 

 mostly in use by florists is that of 

 the cow stable. Why, I do not know, 

 as horse manure is richer in ammo- 

 nia. One of the best rose growers we 

 know, on being asked what manure 

 he used, answered, "Any I can get." 

 A few years ago my neighbor, Mr. W. 

 J. Palmer, showed me two houses of 

 Daybreak carnations that were for 

 general vigor, stout stem and large 

 flowers much superior to other houses 

 of the same variety. On being asked 

 to account for it, Mr. Palmer said he 

 could not, except that the best lot 

 had manure from his horse stable 

 while the poorer ones had only cow 

 manure. We believe that the cause 

 was explained. 



While certain animal manures may 

 have special fertilizing properties, for 

 our crops of roses and carnations it 

 would be perfectly safe, and I believe 

 beneficial, to use them mixed. There 

 is no doubt there is a difference in 

 the qualities of manure by the differ- 

 ence in the food of the animals. Ani- 

 mal or farm-yard manure should not 

 be allowed to lie in a great heap and 

 violently ferment, or much of its value 

 will be destroyed. 



With our roses there is a difference 

 of opinion as to quantity to use. Too 

 much manure in the soil for carna- 

 tions produces a rank, soft growth, 

 and if bone meal or superphosphate is 

 used a tenth of animal manure is suf- 

 ficient. With roses a sixth or seventh 

 is sometimes used, and more often 

 less. Sheep manure is much stronger 

 and a twentieth is as strong as it 

 should be used. In making up our 

 compost pile in the summer time for 

 use in the following winter and spring 

 we have often added a fourth of horse 

 or cow manure, and when chopped 

 down and thoroughly mixed with soil 

 it was not more than was beneficial to 

 our usual run of soft-wooded plants, 

 such as geraniums, coleus, cannas, etc. 



There is not any doubt that our ani- 

 mal manures, besides imparting ferti- 

 lizing properties to the soil, are often 

 of a mechanical benefit, making the 

 soil more porous and friable. 



We should remember, in discussing 

 the quantities and qualities of ma- 

 nures, that there is such a wide dif- 



ference, not only in the chemical prop- 

 erties of soils in different localities, 

 but in the condition of soils of the 

 same qualities. A meadow that has 

 been used as a pasture for ten or fif- 

 teen years will give you a sod that 

 must be rich in plant food over that 

 which has been laid down but two 

 years and previously was cropped year 

 after year. Or again, the soil of a 

 market garden that has annually re- 

 ceived a heavy dressing of manure 

 will grow any of our greenhouse crops, 

 while a worn-out garden, however 

 good naturally 'the texture of the soil, 

 will grow nothing ^without the aid of 

 some quick acting fertilizer. 



In concluding this chapter I would 

 remind you that soot (bituminous 

 only) is very largely used by the plant 

 growers of Europe, and Nicholson 

 says: "It has the advantage over oth- 

 er manures that it can hardly be mis- 

 appled." No soot is wasted in the 

 cities of Great Britain; it is all sold 

 to the farmer and gardener. It is not, 

 however, a flower producer, but adds 

 size and lustre to the leaf and flower. 

 It is used by all cyclamen growers, 

 mixed with the soil, and as a liquid. 

 And by chrysanthemum growers it is 

 highly valued. A peck of it is put 

 into a bag and placed in fifty gallons 

 of water, and the effect on the leaf and 

 color of the flower is most marked. 



Animal or organic manures can_ be 

 misapplied or used to excess in the 

 greenhouse, but in the field seldom 

 are, and it is generally a sign of a 



thrifty florist or gardener when you 

 see his place adorned with manure 

 piles; it is money well laid out; it is 

 an investment that with ordinary 

 management is sure to come back with 

 great interest. Millions of acres in 

 our eastern states are crying for ma- 

 nure to replace the properties of the 

 soil that lazy and careless tillage has 

 year after year taken from it. 



FICUS. 



A large genus of trees or shrubs 

 cultivated for their ornamental leaves, 

 F. elastica, familiarly known as the 

 rubber tree, is the species we are in- 

 terested in above all others, although 

 for private collections and botanical 

 gardens several others are noble 

 plants. F. repens (properly F. stipu- 

 lata) is a small-leaved, very useful 

 climbing plant, growing and adhering 

 closely to the walls of greenhouses, 

 making a very pretty appearance, and 

 will withstand a few degrees of frost. 



F. Parcelli has a very prettily vari- 

 egated leaf. It is very unlike elastica, 

 the plant being more branching and 

 slow growing. The leaves are sharp 

 pointed, three or four inches long and 

 very irregularly blotched. It is hand- 

 some when well grown, but is most 

 horribly addicted to thrip and red 

 spider. 



F. elastica is now a plant of the first 

 importance with all commercial plant 

 men. Tens of thousands are annually 

 sold. The "rubber" is known to all 

 as one of the very best house plants. 



Picas Elastica. 



