22 



The Florists^ Review 



January 27. 1921 



handles du ciich side, I'ov i-arryinj; j)iir- 

 poses wlien hot. Hut you can have your 

 pans any size suitable for any number 

 of shifts, whieh will cover the length 

 of the house and not leave any space 

 unsterilized. '|'he ])ans are set over the 

 bench bottom side uji, and connected 

 by unions. Through the center of each 

 pan runs a IVi-inch ])ipe with holes 

 drilled through the jiijie one foot apart, 

 horizontal to the pipe, so the steam will 

 rtow freely into the soil. The steam is 

 taken from one of the main pipes into 

 the second union, thus having two ]ians 

 on each side of the intake, which allows 

 good, dry steam to go twenty-five feet 

 each way. In this way the steam will 

 be evenly distributed all the way 

 througli the four pans. After the pans 

 are connected we take some soil and 

 bank it around between the pans and 

 the bench so the steam will not oscaj)e 

 from the sides. Steam is turned on to 

 live pounds of pressure. Less than five 

 pounds gives too much moisture for the 

 soil, and more than five is liable to bake 

 the soil. The main thing is to have good, 

 dry steam work its way through the 

 soil and come out around the bottom of 

 the bench. This usually takes about 

 half an hour. Thus all injurious 

 germs, insects, etc., are destroyed, yet 

 certain organisms needed for the proper 

 growth of the plants are not injured. 

 After the soil is steamed, it aliould be 

 worked up as soon as possible, so that 



in case of a little too much moisture, 

 the fresh air will keep it sweet and 

 friable. Thus the soil is kept from 

 becoming waterlogged and sticky, or 

 burned and brittle, as is often the case 

 when a large amount of soil is steamed 

 inside a cement or similar tank, when 

 ■continued heating is necessary, thereby 

 destroying the texture and, at the same 

 time, killing the micro-organisms which 

 are so necessiiry for the development of 

 jilant life. Although these beneficial 

 organisms will stand more heat than 

 will the spores of fungi or various bac- 

 teria in any stage of development, these 

 beneficial organisms win~~irtHO be de- 

 stroyed if the heat is too great or is 

 kejjt up too long. Meanwhile, four men 

 have fifty feet more of soil worked up 

 into a go.od, loose condition, ready to 

 shift the pans. In this way no time is 

 lost except in the actual time it takes 

 to shift the pans to the other fifty feet 

 of soil that is ready for the process. 

 After the soil is sterilized, it should be 

 treated as new soil and the needed fer- 

 tilizers added. 



We have found by actual experience 

 that while sterilized soil is not as good 

 as new, it is a great improvement over 

 the old, as we have proven by using 

 new soil, old soil sterilized, and old soil 

 not sterilized, in the same bed side by 

 side. 



The actual cost is about one-half of 

 that of changing the soil. 



TEEASURER'S REPORT. 



[The following is the report of V. E. Donier, 

 treiisuriT of the Ameiiraii Carnaticni Society, 

 presented ut the Wushington convention, Jun-" 

 UHi-y I'O, 1921.] 



GENERAL FLXD. 

 Expenses. 



Orders on treasurer paid $1,773.29 



Jan. 17, 1921. lialance 402.08 



$2,175.37 



licceipts. 



Jan. 12, 1920. fash on hand $ 804.21 



Cash received 1.371.16 



.S2 175 37 

 PEUMANE.VT KIND. 



Jan. 12, 1920. Halaucu $2,625.31 



Feb. 2,1920. Cash 100.00 



Mar. 17, 1920. Cash 60.00 



Jan. 1, 1921. Interest 110.91 



$2,886.22 

 Jan. 5, 1921. Transferred to General 



Fund "73 110.91 



Jan. 17, 1921. Balance 2.775.31 



$2,886.22 

 DORNER MEMORIAL FIND. 



Jan. 12, 1920. Ralauce $1,003.47 



Jan. 1, 1921. Interest 40.52 



Jan. 5, 1921. Interest 10.00 



$1.0.'>3.99 



Jan. IT, 1921. Ralaiicc in fund 1,053.99 



TbXAL OF ALL FINDS. 



General fund $ 402.08 



Permanent fund .- 2.775.31 



Corner memorial fund 1 1,053.99 



Total $4,231.38 



SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



(Tlie followiiiK is tlie report of A. F. J. Raur, 

 secretary of the American Carnation Society, 

 presented at the Washington convention, Jan- 

 uary 20, 1921.] 



Our society has had a good year, just 

 ended. With a profitable market for 

 their product, our members have pros- 

 pered and, naturally, our society has 

 felt the stimulus in various ways. Our 

 meeting in Chicago last January was 

 really a surprise in point of attend- 

 ance, but the abnormally high prices 



prevailing at the time prevented a sat- 

 isfactory entry in the exhibition. This 

 year, market conditions are more nearly 

 normal and the exhibit should be more 

 complete. Attention should be called 

 to the Texas special prize class. Last 

 year exhibits from Maine and from Col- 

 orado met at Chicago and competed 

 for this prize. The offer being repeated 

 this year, we have entries coming from 

 as far as Colorado to Washington, D. 

 C, to compete. This is probably a 

 record distance for shipping carnation 

 blooms. The premiums in sections A 

 and R have been increased again and 

 it is to be hoped that the society's 

 funds will permit their being kept 

 up to where they now are. We rec- 

 ommend the addition of a class for 

 fifty assorted blooms of standard sorts, 

 with not less than six varieties nor 

 more than ten blooms of a variety, to 

 be staged in one vase. 



Membership High. 



Our membership is now as high as it 

 has ever been and the delinquents last 

 year were fewer than for many years. 

 With a view to increasing our member- 

 ship, we have this year distributed 

 more than double the usual number of 

 premium schedules, sending more than 

 ,"500 to non-members. The results have 

 not as yet been marked, but persever- 

 ance in this plan will, no doubt, bring 

 results in time. Our membership now 

 stands at 348, thirteen of these being 

 life members. During the past year 

 we have lost by death P. O'Mara, who 

 died May 25; C. W. Ward, wfTo died 

 June 2l, and Jacob Schulz, who died 

 July 21. These three men were among 

 our oldest members and were known to 



almost all of you. Mention should also 

 be made of the passing away of Mrs. 

 Dorner, widow of the late Frederick 

 Dorner, who died June 25, and Mrs. 

 Nicholson, wife of our esteemed mem- 

 ber, William Nicholson, who died July 

 31. Many of you have enjoyed the 

 hospitality of their homes in years 

 past. We now have 253 members on 

 the S. A. F. roster and President Charles 

 W. Johnson has been named as director 

 for the year 1921. 



A resolution' was introduced in our 

 meeting last January to change our by- 

 laws to permit the changing of the an- 

 nual dues to suit the exigencies of the 

 times. This resolution was printed in 

 the annual report and again circulated 

 with the premium schedule in Decem- 

 ber. Provision must be made for mere 

 funds to meet the expenses of the so- 

 ciety, which will probably not be much 

 less for some time to come. We should 

 also not lose sight of the fact that ad- 

 ditional funds will enable the society 

 to expand its activities and to do some 

 things which had to go undone for lack 

 of funds. The receipts of the secre- 

 tary's office during the past year were: 



For 3 life memberships $150.00 



For annual dues 733.00 



For advertising 461.00 



For miscellaneous 108.25 



Total $1,452.25 



All of this was turned over to the 

 treasurer. The books of the secretary 

 and the treasurer were audited by a 

 public accountant and found correct. 



Exhibitions and Shows. 



The annual report was issued and dis- 

 tributed at the regular time, following 

 the annual meeting. The premium 

 schedule was delayed a few days on 

 account of delay in the transmitting 

 of copy for the advertising section. 

 The advertising rates were ordered in- 

 creased by the board of directors and 

 we are pleased to note that all of our 

 regular advertisers recognized the jus- 

 tice in the increase and responded 

 cheerfully. So this department vdll 

 again show its usual profit to the 

 society. Our members should recipro- 

 cate this generous spirit. Special an- 

 nouncements were printed free of 

 charge by the trade press, for which 

 our thanks are due. 



During the past year there have been 

 offered for registration six seedling 

 and seven sport varieties. We desire 

 to impress upon our members the neces- 

 sity of submitting blooms of sport varie- 

 ties for inspection by our judges before 

 registration can be completed. We now 

 have on file a number of such varieties 

 which cannot be placed on the register 

 for the above reason. Our system is 

 simple and practical. 



The fifth national flower show date 

 has been definitely set for March 25 to 

 April 1, 1922. The special committee 

 will submit a premium schedule for 

 your approval. The final drafting of 

 all premium schedules being under the 

 control of the board of directors, sug- 

 gestions and recommendations from this 

 meeting will be in order. We suggest 

 that our members underwrite a portion 

 of the carnation schedule. Due credit 

 is to be given each contributor. 



Your board of directors held its usual 

 meetings. One was at Chicago imme- 

 diately after the annual meeting and 

 the other was at Cleveland, O., last 

 August. 



