

>x^ 



AOGqsT 3, 1916. 



The Florists' Review 



15 



state possible, both physically and 

 chemicallyt 



For Lasting Besults. 



Mr. Muncie seems to lay stress on th^ 

 idea that permanent benefits from any 

 method of fertilization are . not essen- 

 tial in greenhouse practice. This is 

 true in a measure with many of our 

 larger growers, who are fortunate 

 enough to have an inexhaustible sup- 

 ply of soil adjacent to their green- 

 houses. But is it always true in con- 

 nection with the much larger percent- 

 age of growers who are obliged -to buy 

 their new soil wherever they can, and 

 who, after using soil two or three years 

 for roses, must give it a short rest and 

 then use it in the chrysanthemum 

 benches, and finally, when the mums are 

 thrown out, must work it up in the 

 potting compost! 



These are conditions to be met with 

 on a large number of places; hence any 

 method of fertilization that prolongs 

 the life of the soil is of vital interest. 

 The fertilizers that are of the greatest 

 importance in performing this office are 

 such products, I believe, as steamed 

 ^bone meal, bone flour, blood and bone, 

 dried blood, tankage and the various 

 animal manures. These have seemed to 

 me to be of greater value to the major- 

 ity of growers than such mineral or 

 acidulated fertilizers as ammonium sul- 

 phate, nitrate of soda, muriate and sul- 

 phate of potash and acid phosphate. 



For Quick Results. 



At the oame time I recognize the 

 value of acid phosphate in certain soils 

 and under certain conditions, as a 

 means of supplying a quickly available 

 phosphoric acid, and, unlike the several 

 other mineral fertilizers mentioned, it 

 is perfectly safe for use in most cases. 



Begarding the use of lime carbonate, 

 I am aware of the observations of 

 "Schloesing, Jr.," as well as those of 

 "Nagaoka," of the University of 

 Tokyo, regarding the unfavorable ef- 

 fect of lime carbonate when used in 

 conjunction with either acid phosphate 

 or bone meal, but I also have the au- 

 thority of both Professor Hilgard, of 

 the State University of California, and 

 Professor Edward B. Voorhees, of 

 Rutgers College, to the effect that much 

 smaller percentages of phosphoric acid 

 and potash are adequate for the pro- 

 duction of crops in a soil with a high 

 content of lime. I have also found this 

 to be true in actual greenhouse prac- 

 tice with certain Wisconsin soils that 

 are low in phosphoric acid content and 

 high in lime carbonate and organic mat- 

 ter. However, I agree most heartily 

 with Mr. Muncie on the inadvisability 

 of mixing the lime carbonates with new 

 or virgin soil in direct conjunction with 

 phosphatic fertilizers. 



Judicious Use of Lime. 



This, however, may not always be ap- 

 plicable in the case of composting old 

 and more or less leached out soils, that 

 are deficient in lime content. For the 

 most part, my idea of the judicious use 

 of lime is identical with that of Mr. 

 Muncie. laght applications as needed, 

 in the form of top-dressings, are prefer- 

 able to incorporating the lime in the 

 original soil mixture. Wherever a pure 

 form of finely ground raw rock lime 

 is obtainable, I would not advise as 

 heavy an application in our western 

 soils as ten pounds per hundred square 



feet of bench surface. I would prefer 

 applications not exceeding five to eight 

 pounds per hundred square feet and 

 would repeat these applications as 

 needed. In my own practice I have 

 used the applications of lime at a period 

 of low crop production and at the end 

 of a period of heavy cropping, when but 

 > little feeding with other fertilizers was 

 being done. 



In my article of May 18 I did not in- 

 tend to imply that the phosphates I 

 depend upon for fertilization are in 

 the form of either ferrous phosphate or 

 aluminic phosphate. I did imply, how- 

 ever, that in soils containing appreci- 

 able amounts of finely divided ferrous 

 hydrate or aluminic hydrate the use of 

 lime carbonate prevents any added 

 phosphatic fertilizer from uniting with 

 these compounds in a practically in- 

 soluble form. 



Due to Decomposition. 



On the other hand, such phosphatic 

 fertilizers unite with the lime car- 

 bonate in the reverted form, and while 

 this compound is insoluble in pure 

 water, it becomes available to plant 



life through the agencies of decomposi- 

 tion. 



In conclusion, since the soils used in 

 the growing of roses should contain 

 large amounts of organic matter and 

 must be well supplied with humus, are 

 not the possible disadvantages that 

 may accrue from the use of lime car- 

 bonate completely offset in the many 

 resultant advantages, such as the neu- 

 tralization of injurious acids and pois- 

 onous excreta, the maintenance of neu- 

 tral humus in the soil, and the produc- 

 tion, in connection with proper heat and 

 moisture, of those conditions that are 

 conducive to abundant bacterial life, 

 especially those forms connected with 

 the processes of nitrification? 



It has, I believe, been proved by the 

 best authorities that the highly avail- 

 able forms of nitrogen carried in the 

 humus of soils are what really count in 

 the ^al productivity of the soil, aside 

 from an adequate supply of available 

 phosphoric acid. Hence it is exceed- 

 ingly important for us, as growers, 

 never to let the humus content of our 

 soils beconle depleted. 



H. E. Humiston. 



HiUegom, Holland.— Weather condi- 

 tions have been unfavorable for the 

 lifting, cleaning and during of bulbs, 

 cold and damp, rains having fallen 

 nearly every day in June in at least 

 some part of the bulb district. 



London, England. — The end of June 

 saw the fortieth annual show of the 

 National Rose Society and the first 

 days of July brought the annual Hol- 

 land House show, familiar to every 

 British gardener in America. Neither 

 show was expected to be up to the 

 scale of peaceful years, but each was an 

 excellent and successful exhibition nev- 

 ertheless. 



Hamburg, Germany. — The difficulties 

 attending the exporting of the 1915 val- 

 ley crop, an unusual percentage of 

 which still is in dealers' cold storage 

 here, resulted in a considerable reduc- 

 tion of the acreage planted for the 

 1916 crop, food crops being counted on 

 to pay better. It is hoped that by the 

 time the crop is ready to move, in Octo- 

 ber or November, conditions will be 

 such that American orders can be dis- 

 patched as usual. 



London, England. — During the recent 

 Holland House show two trade confer- 

 ences were held, one by leading fruit 

 tree growers, the other by rose grow- 

 ers. In each case steps were taken 

 toward the adoption of a scale of mini- 

 mum prices. The statement was made: 

 * ' That the present time marks the most 

 serious crisis in the history of the nurs- 

 ery trade which has ever occurred is 

 so obvious that we need not labor the 

 point. We hope also that it is equally 

 clear to everyone thdt the outcome of 

 the crisis depends largely on whether 

 the trade is prepared to work loyally to- 

 gether for the general good and abandon 

 the old policy of isolation and laissez- 

 faire, which has been our curse for 

 generations. ' ' 



London, England. — The government 

 has aroused great opposition in the 

 trade by announcing that Holland 

 bulbs will be admitted in the parcel 

 post, but not by freight. The bulb 

 dealers assert this is practically con- 

 fiscating their business and delivering 

 it to their foreign competitors. 



Hazebrouck, France.— In the district 

 north and west of this place, extending 

 into Belgium, there are many hundreds 

 of nurseries and glass-house establish- 

 ments, great numbers of which have 

 been destroyed by the armies. Not 

 only has glass been destroyed, but 

 plants have suffered, the asphyxiating 

 gas of the Germans having disastrous 

 effect on all plant life. In many cases 

 leaves became covered with great white 

 patches from which the color had com- 

 pletely disappeared; they did not re- 

 semble foliage discolored by the action 

 of gas proceeding from large factories 

 where hydrocyanic acid or sulphuric acid 

 is manufactured; but, after remaining 

 white for some time, they turned brown, 

 dried up and fell off. As a result of ex- 

 periments with the gas which produced 

 these results, it was found that it was 

 capable of penetrating into houses 

 of the nature of chlorine, the effects 

 being similar to those produced by free 

 chlorine. This asphyxiating gas proved 

 which were closely shut and produced 

 effects varying according to the stage 

 of growth attained by the plants and 

 the temperature of the house. In un- 

 heated houses, where the plants were 

 covered with morni^g dew, the dam- 

 age done was serious. In houses where 

 the atmosphere was dry, the gas did 

 not destroy the tissue of the plants, but 

 it caused a complete cessation of 

 growth for a week. When the fumes 

 of gas had cleared away, growth was 

 resumed, and continued in a normal 

 manner. 



