18 



The Florists^ Review 



Ji'NE 28. 1917. 



Work nloufjf oxjttMiinoiitnl lines is car- 

 ried on by an organization closef^ 

 allied to the college, still a separate 

 organization, known ns the ex]u'riiiieut 

 st.ntion. and there are sjx'cial I'etleral 

 apjirojiriat ions for this work. It is the 

 o)>je(t and duty of these experiment 

 stations 1() carry on original researches 

 or verify exjieriinents on the physiology 

 of jdants and aniiii;iis, the (iise;ises to 

 wliich llicy are subject, with the reme- 

 dies; the rheniical composition of useful 

 [dants at th(dr different stages of 

 growth; the testing of new varieties; 

 tlie rajiacity of new ]>Iants or trees for 

 ac(dimati(in; tli(> (hemical composition 

 of manures, natural oi' artificial, "with 

 eXjieiimeMts designecl to test their com- 

 par;iti\(' elfects on crojis of dilfi'rent 

 kinds; tlie analysis i\\' snil and watei". 

 etc. <)\\ing to the t'act that other lines 

 of worl\ aic consideicij more imjiortant 

 and liec.ause \ve hi( k men. money and 

 facilities, work ahtng lloricidtural lines 

 had not been carried on by oui' station. 

 In f.act. it Avas not until recently that 

 the llorists' business in this country 

 w;ts thought to be (d' sufficient impor- 

 tanc<> to recei\(^ tlie sjiecial attcuition 

 of invest ig.ators in these ]iiddic institu- 

 tions. TluM'e are liundreiis and thou- 

 sands of luilletins and «Mrcul;irs on other 

 subjects, but not over iifty esjKM'ially 

 designed to be of assistance to the 

 florist ov~-y-;<jiiener. 'i'his is largely due 

 to the fact fliat the llorists themselves 

 ha\e not until recently maile any de- 

 mands ujjon the (wperiment station. 

 Cfu-neil. Illinois, N(mv .lersey and Dela- 

 ware ;\vi' at the pre--ent time carrying 

 on reseaiidi wf)rk on an e\tensi\(> scale. 

 Our eorrt>spondence shows that ther(> 

 are m.any ]iroblems confronting us her(> 

 in M assachusidt s \\hi(di could be solved 

 liy (uir experiment station. 8ome of 

 the iiKiic imjiortant problcMtis offering 

 a field tor ('xiMM-inuMitation are varietal 

 stmlies. the iisi' (d' < liemic.al fertilizers 

 in the cultiii'e id' grcenhou'^e jdants. a 

 study of tlie relation ot' plant t'ood and 

 tem)H'ratuit' to the keeping (jualities of 

 cut flowers, handling of cut flowers for 

 markol. etc. 



THE COURSE AT AMES. 



Scope of the Studies. 



The work in the deji.artment of horti- 

 culture oi' the jow.a State College at 

 A?m's lia^ been in.ateiially strengthened 

 by the development ot' n major course 

 of studv in tloricnltiire. Sinc(> Prof. A. 

 S. 'rimrston li.as taken (diarge of the 

 Avork a numbei' ot' new courses h.ave 

 Iteen added, and the ^tmlents now have 

 an ojiportunity to acipiii'e ;i goo(| knowl- 

 edge (d' jodfession.al tbuicult are. botli in 

 tlieoiy and in jiractice. Huring the 

 fii'st two \'ears i>\' their colleee work the 

 lloricult nral stmlents are ie(|uiicd to 

 t.ake work in the f umlanu'ntal S(dences, 

 among which might be mentioneil (doMU- 

 istr\, botaii\', jdiysics, entom(dogy, soils 

 and fertilizers. Students then devote 

 the remaining two year^ to spe(d;ilized 

 work in lloiicult lire ami to siiidi (dher 

 work a-- will supplement the floricultural 

 coiirsi's. 



The fidlowing courses in floriculture 

 are offered: 



1. lin-.iiliiiu--"' iiiaiiiii-'eiiii'iif Till' !nMii;iteiiifiir 

 of irri cnlinii-e^ .-iiicl Ihf luUiii'.-il rciiniri'iin-Tils (if 

 crii|i< iMnlir uhi-^, iiii liiiliiiL' proiiM^.-ition. i">ttiiiL'. 

 w.-itiTiiii;. Miilil.itiiMi, infill and discn-c cniitnil 

 :iii<l lii'^itiiiL'. 



L'. liiciiihou^i' iii:oi.iL'iMiii lit A r-c->iiit>in;iti(iii of 



tlie )iree'-(lllli; l --e. c Ic '^ i L' I Hi I t'l L'iVe till' -.|l|i|..nl 



|iriii-lii-;il kiiii« IiiIl'i- "f tl rL'.-iMiz.-itimi of irrcrii- 



Imiiv,' work :inil tin \:irinii^ ciilturiil ii|iiT.it imi-i 



Mild mi'tlioils enu'lo.vcil tliroimlioiit tin- cutirc 

 .vi'iir. 



;{. (Ircciiliousc coiistnictiiiii 'I'lic various tyiies 

 (if liouscs. their construction. I'rinciiilcs iind 

 nictlioiN of hciitini;. I'rcimration of jilans and 

 spiciliiatioris for coniincrciiil and private ranuos. 

 lOst iina tinu of ■•osts. 



I. (iiinincrcial lloriciiltiirc -Special coiisidcra 

 lion of the cultural rciiiOi-eincnts and methods of 

 Krowliij; llorists' liciich crops and potted plants. 

 Specilic iirolilcins in the estalilishnieiit of de 

 tailed plans for the .vcar in a llorist's Imsiness, 

 with fstiinatcs of the initial (.'ost and running; 

 expenses, as \v(dl as an a|iproxiination of re- 

 I urns. 



."). t'oininorcial lloriiiiltiire -.V continuation of 

 the preceding course. .Siiecial attention will he 

 uiven to the in.-irketiuK of cut flowers, also to the 

 orKani/.ation and iiianaKeiiieiit of the retail store. 



ti. Floral arrangement and judKinj: -I'rinciiiles 

 and methods of cut flower .•irr.-inuement. Inle 

 rior decoration. 'I'he exhihitiiif? and judKinjr of 

 cut llowers and iilants. 



7. (Jarden llowers -'Plie selection, c.are and 

 uses of garden llowers, ineliidiiiK annuals, herlia- 

 ceous iiereiinials. Iiullis, liedilinj; plants and roses. 

 'I'he nurser.v as .•in adjunct for the llorist. 



s. Special prohlems -Special investi;.'at ion of 

 cultural methods. 



!t. Thesis .V special suh.ieet reiiuiriuK inde- 

 pendent invest ij;atiiiii and stud.v: the results to 

 he iiresented in the form of a written report. 



1(1. Floriculture practice - Carden :iiiil green- 

 house work. 



II. Floriculture lu-actice -I'ractic.nl work in 

 the colle^'e (.'reenliouses in the maiiiltrenieiit of 

 houses ;iiii| tile (.■rowiiu; of llorists' crops. 



IL'. Floriculture practice .\ coiitinii;itioii of the 

 lireeediim course, so tli.it the student ina.v have 

 a eiiiiiplete knowled;.'e throiiKli practical expe- 

 rience of the work tlirou^rhiiiit the year. 



The students are reipiired to take, in 

 addition to the courses outlined, con- 



siderable work in laiulseai)0 gardening, 

 including three courses in landscape de- 

 sign, two courses in plant materials, one 

 course in landscape architecture and 

 one course in constructiou and niaiu- 

 tt'iiance. 



Other Requirements. 



IMant breeding, horticultural ma- 

 idiinery, diseases of horticultural plants, 

 liorticultural entomology, greenhouse 

 pests, market gardening and vegetable 

 fortdng are other supi)loinentary courses 

 ie(|uired during the last two years. 



In addition to the laboratory work, 

 three courses in floriculture ])ractice, 

 wdiitdi are of an ajiprentice nature, give 

 the student an op]iortiinity to get good 

 working km)w ledge. Jn addition to 

 these |ir;ictic;il courses the students are 

 re(|uired to liaxc six months' jiractical 

 ex|ierience with some commercial florist 

 btd'ore Ixdng allowed to graduate, 

 ("oiirse 7 in floriculture jiractice is given 

 ill the sojdiomore year. It jirevents mis- 

 fits, as it offers an ojiportuiiity for 

 students to find out by practical ex- 

 jierieiice what floriculture is and 

 wind her or not they are ailaptcd for 

 this kind of work. 



PEONIES AT ITHACA. 



The season is uiijirecedcntedly hate at 

 Ithaca, .\'. \.. and the jdants in the 

 trial grounds ni,aint;i i iicd jointly b.v the 

 New \i<yk St.ate ('(illeo(: ot' .\griciilture 

 ;it ('oriudl I'liiv crsit \' and the .\mericau 

 I'eoiiv" Socitdy, will not he in bloom 

 this ye.ar until the first week in duly. 

 It is the first time since the trials were 

 started that the jieonies lia\e failed to 

 be in bloom bv the middle of .June. 



STEMS OF PEONIES ROT. 



W'li.at causes Jieonies to rot off ;it the 

 siiif.ace ot' the erouiid and how shoiihl 

 one jiiex eiit it .' When a few iiodies in 

 height the branches |';ill o\er ;ind rot 

 just at the suit';iee ot' the griiUlld. I 

 li;i\'e dug .around the pl.ants, hut this 

 comlition seems to be s|ire;iding to other 

 (liimiis. A. i;. \V. Minn. 



Too ileeji jihantini^. excessi \(dy sour 

 Soil and the use ol' manure wliiidi is too 

 t'lesli iii;i\'. ill jiart, be resjioiisi ble for 

 the rotting of your jiemiy stems. This 

 trouble is beliexed to be dlle to a tllllgllS 

 whi(di can lie blown .about ;iiiil jiioji.a 

 gated, aiol for that reason it is necessary 

 to cut off and burn all affected stems. 

 Idiiiin;: ot' the sdil to swe<den it will 

 hidji; s(i will t lansjil;! nt iii^ once in three 

 or four \c;irs and the use ot' coinineia ial 

 fertili/ei or \\(dl dee.'iyed bamyiird m;i 

 niire. I would siiMni.vf tli.at \dii lit't .'tnd 



rejilanf your stofdx in new soil in late 

 .Vu^iist or e.arly Sejitember. ( '. W. 



A PRETTY PEONY STORY. 



.Not all jieony Lirowers will agree as 

 to the (|uality .-ind value ol' tin' jieouy 

 uaineil .liibilee, but (M cryoiie will con- 

 cede that its story, .as jirinted in a 

 I'liiladidjdii:! jiajier during the recent 

 jieoiiy <-oii\ cntiou. is nicidy told: 



''The stoi\\' of this new jieoiiy is told 

 by Lee K. lionnewitz, its exhibitor, ot' 

 \'aii Wert, O. Mr. Ihiiinewitz i< a dry- 

 ^ooils mercdiant, who grows jieonies for 

 the lo\ (' of it. 



".\bout fifty years ago. Mis. Sarah 

 .\. I'leas, then lixiiig in Sjiic(daiid, Ind., 

 had a back y.ard g.ardeii where she cul- 

 tixated. ainoii;^ other llowers. some jieo- 

 nies. ()ne sjiiing she noticed some 

 strange jil.ants iiiishiiiL; their way above 

 the soil. .\ wiiin.an's curiosit.v. jios- 

 siblx-. caused her to jiiit these jd.ants in 

 another jiart of the g;irden ;ind nurse 

 tlieiii to m;iturit\. 



'■'i'lie strange jil.ants were jieonies, 

 which had sjiiiinL; from seed drojijied 

 b\- the Jieonies ot' the sen^oll bid'ore. 

 'idiey were iiiiusiial Jieonies. howc\'er. 

 .\I I -. Picas |i;hI iie\crseen auyfhing like 

 them. .\t'ter they tlowered, she chose 

 se\er:il of the better \arieties und de- 

 stroyed till others. 



'■Tlii< ;ieeidental discoxery was the 

 Iiidi.an;! woman "^ introduction to the 



