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June 15, 1916. 



The Florists' Review 



17 



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ACID PHOSPHATE 

 OR BONE MEAL? 



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WH7 ACID PHOSPHATE LEADS. 



Its Action Quick. 



H, E. Humiston, in an article in The 

 Eeview for May 18, entitled "Building 

 Up Our Soils," while expressing his 

 personal opinion that the use of bone 

 meal is preferable to that of acid phos- 

 phate, has stated two qualities in which 

 acid phosphate is superior to bone meal. 



That acid phosphate acts more quick- 

 ly than bone meal, is a fact which rests 

 on a sound chemical basis and is borne 

 out by numerous comparative experi- 

 ments, reports of which make up a con- 

 siderable portion of the agricultural 

 literature of the last two decades. And 

 its rapidity of action has a greater prac- 

 tical significance to the florist than to 

 any other agriculturist, since a layer 

 of soil in the bench five or six inches 

 in depth is used as a home for the plant 

 roots, and changing the soil wholly or 

 largely every year forces us to use 

 every means of drawing from it during 

 that year the maximum amount of nu- 

 triment for the plant. 



The viewpoint of permanent benefit, 

 which can well be kept in mind in en- 

 riching the soil in the field, is hardly 

 one that concerns the florist under con- 

 ditions of greenhouse practice, so long 

 as the fertilizer applied can be de- 

 pended upon to give maximum results 

 during the limited time in which the 

 floil-fertilizer mixture remains the basis 

 of nutrition of the plant. 



Safest of Commercial Fertilizers. 



Acid phosphate has the advantage not 

 only of acting more quickly than bone 

 meal, but is safer to use. In the course 

 of rose growing during the last three 

 years, I have applied to the soil mix- 

 ture more than a pound and a half of 

 commercial acid phosphate to every foot 

 of soil in a 5-inch bench, equivalent to 

 more than thirty-five tons of it per 

 acre, with at most only slight indica- 

 tion of injury to the plants. Surely 

 among commercial fertilizers there is 

 not one, unless ground limestone be in- 

 cluded in the list, for which the same 

 guarantee of safety can be given. At 

 the same time, it is not my purpose to 

 advocate the use of acid phosphate in 

 preference to that of bone meal, but to 

 supplement Mr. Humiston 's opinion 

 with our eight years of experience with 

 acid phosphate. Choice between the 

 two is a question of whether the fiorist 

 is willing to accustom himself or his 

 men to the use of a new fertilizer and 

 of the relative price of phosphorus in 

 the two fertilizers. 



If acid phosphate containing seven 

 per cent phosphorus sells for $14 per 

 ton and bone meal containing fourteen 

 per cent phosphorus sells at $28 per 

 ton, the price per pound of phosphorus 

 — 140 and 280 pounds per ton respec- 

 tively — is the same, the odds, so far as 

 freight is concerned, being in favor of 

 the bone meal, and, in consideration of 

 the more rapid action of acid phos- 



phate, somewhat in favor of that fer- 

 tilizer. The calculation is equally sim- 

 ple for any content and price of the 

 two fertilizers. The introduction of 

 acid phosphate into the list of fer- 

 tilizers applicable to greenhouse use en- 

 larges possible sources of fertilizer 

 available to florists, thus keeping in 

 step with the rapid advance of the 

 floricultural industry in this country. 



Permanent Benefits Not Essential. 



Neither acid phosphate nor bone meal 

 puddles the soil; acid phosphate causes 

 it to become so pulverulent that proper 

 drying and satisfactory drainage condi- 

 tions are greatly promoted by its use. 

 This third advantage from the use of 

 acid phosphate, the effect on the phys- 

 ical properties of the soil, is one of im- 

 portance to the florist. 



Commercial acid phosphate contains 

 some fifty per cent of gypsum, which is 

 known to hasten the decomposition of 

 organic matter in the soil and so result 

 in stimulation to plant growth. Where 

 immediate benefits of fertilizing are re- 

 quired, not effects of several years' 

 duration, stimulation of the soil is con- 

 sistent with good floricultural practice. 



I am heartily in sympathy with Mr. 

 Humiston 's remarks regarding the ad- 

 vantage of applying animal manures, 

 apart from their strict fertilizing value. 

 Not only may organic matter be ap- 

 plied in this form to good advantage, 



but the preparation of the soil in the 

 field by green manuring with legume 

 crops is, I believe, the cheapest and a 

 most satisfactory method of supplying 

 the soil which is intended for green- 

 house use with organic matter and rap- 

 idly available nitrogenous constituents. 

 I do not believe, however, that sufficient 

 phosphate for a good rose soil can be 

 applied by either method, but recourse 

 must be had to commercial fertilizers. 



Umestone as a Top-Dressing. 



In stating the benefits from applica- 

 tions of limestone, or carbonate of lime, 

 Mr. Humiston shows a thorough knowl- 

 edge of soils and of the function of 

 limestone, with the exception that one 

 disadvantage of applications of lime is 

 omitted, a disadvantage that in all 

 probability outweighs the advantages 

 which he has named. This is, that 

 where phosphate is in the form of cal- 

 cium compound the addition of lime- 

 stone tends to a marked degree to cause 

 it to assume an insoluble form, which 

 cannot be used by the plant. 



In rose soils, where phosphate is add- 

 ed in the form of either bone meal or 

 acid phosphate, both of which are phos- 

 phates of calcium, it is the phosphate 

 of calcium that is depended upon to a 

 large extent to supply the plants, and 

 not phosphates of iron and alumina. 

 So that the use of limestone as a means 

 of releasing phosphate under these cir- 

 cumstances can hardly be recommended. 

 And I have found that limestone, when 

 mixed thoroughly with the soil, does 

 decrease the production of roses. At 

 the same time, limestone is of benefit 

 in neutralizing too great an acidity of 

 the soil and preventing fungous growths 

 on its surface. For this purpose lime- 

 stone should be applied as top-dressings 

 from time to time. This is the practice 

 I would regard as a judicious use of 

 limestone. F. W. Muncie. 



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PORTLAND'S 



BIG SHOW 



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THE ROSE FESTIVAL. 



Tenth Annual Fete Best of All. 



The tenth annual celebration of Port- 

 land 's June festival began at 6 p. m., 

 June 6; and continued until the eve- 

 ning of June 9. 



The opening of the floral center and 

 crowning of the queen and king were 

 the features of the first day. The school 

 children's parade and dedication of the 

 Columbia highway June 7, the deco- 

 rated vehicle parade June 8 and indus- 

 trial parade June 9 were the main 

 events. 



For the third time in four years the 

 decorated vehicle winning the grand 

 prize was the product of Clarke Bros.' 

 Outdoor roses were not so abundant 

 as usual and were not used so exten- 

 sively. 



The car decorated with Gorgeous car- 

 nations by the Martin & Forbes Co. 



won first prize in the class of private 

 vehicles. The weather was perfect and 

 all the events of the festival were 

 viewed by record-breaking crowds. It is 

 estimated that more than 400,000 peo- 

 ple entered the floral center during the 

 festival. 



The Floral Center. 



This year, for the second time, the 

 Portland Floral Society cooperated with 

 the festival governors in establishing 

 a floral center, in which all sorts of 

 flowers and plants were exhibited. 

 James O. Convill, superintendent of 

 parks and one of the festival gov- 

 ernors, was placed in charge of the 

 center and given authority to enlarge 

 it and make it the chief feature of the 

 festival. The accepted plan covered 

 the two park blocks used last year and, 

 in addition, the streets along both 

 sides. The Floral Society was repre- 

 sented by its committee on exhibitions. 



