20 



The Rorists' Review 



DeciCMBKK 29. 1921 



There Are 13,000 Plants of Asparagus Plumosus Nanus in this House> Contained in Nine Beds^ Each 5x220 feet. 



moisture. Therefore, wnteriiii^s need 

 not be so frequent in wiiitiT, when wet 

 l'iili;i<^e overniglit e;uises loss of spriiys. 

 To i)r('vent tlie spr:iys from fallinj: 

 into the \v;(lks ;uul being tramped, wires 

 sliouhl lie striiii]^ aloni,' the sides of the 

 beds, one .•ihout ei^'ht inches above the 

 board and ancdher about twenty-four 

 intdies hi<,'her. An idlicieiit and eeo- 

 nomincal way of wiring: is as follows: 

 Old 1-ineh j/ipe whieh has been taken 

 from water or steam systems, and which 

 a florist usually has a sto(d< of, is cut 

 into i)ieces about four feet lon<:, to serve 

 as posts. Two holes— about three-six- 

 teenths of an inch is larjre enou<;h— 

 are then drilled throuf;h the posts, one 

 close to the upper end and the other 

 two feet from it. The posts are then 

 driven inside the ben(di side until the 

 lower liole is eiijht iiudies above the 

 board. The jiosts are si)ac(>d about 

 twelve or fifteen fe.t aj^art. The wires 

 are then drawn tlirou<;li the holes and 

 fastened securely to posts at each eiul 

 of the beil. If the posts are driven into 

 the ground deep enough to be fairly 

 solid, no cross wires or braces are 

 needed. No longiluilinal or cross wires 

 are needed iif the beds, as the foli.-ige 

 usually is so dense that it does not fall 

 unless' it is hit too bard in watering. 



Pinching the Tops. 



As the plants throw up long, rank 

 slioots, the tops should be pinched when 

 about three feet high. This prevents 

 vining and encourages branching. I'lu- 

 mnsus is by nature a climber and the 

 grower shouhl be exceedingly careful 

 that his beils do not become one scdid, 

 tangled mass, for after the sprays 



branch 't is nearly impossible to separate 

 them. 



Green aphis, red spider and sow bugs 

 are the nu)st conimon jiests, ;ind the only 

 serious ones, tli;it infest jiluinosus. Green 

 aphis is easily held in check by spray- 

 ing with a nicotine solution, or by burn- 

 ing nicotine pafiers or toltacco. Of the 

 three nu'thods, spr;iying is most success- 

 ful, lied sjiider, which is rarely found 

 during the winter, may be cmitrolled by 

 syringing with plain water. The sow 

 bugs destroy the teiuler shoots, usually 

 biting out the tojis ;is they come through 

 the soil. Sliiiuld the bugs become numer- 

 ous, great damage will follow and only 

 incessant feeding with a good Paris 

 green mixture — several formulas for 

 which have apjiearcd in these columns — 

 will finally succeed in ridding the beds 

 of this, the worst pest known to growers 

 of Asparagus plumosus. 



Beginning to Cut Sprays. 



Plumosus will do its best in a light, 

 high house, with a night teni[ierature of 

 '>'> degrees, but may h.ave a higher tem- 

 jier.-iture than th.at and will jiroduce more 

 accordingly. Souje growers dry their 

 be<ls clnring the summer, but this has 

 l)een found not entirely successful and 

 not at all profitable. 



Cutting should not begin until the 

 second summer or early autumn, when 

 the p1:nifs have become firmly estab- 

 lished in the s'dl and have thrown up a 

 good number of sjirays. Then they will 

 not be so much afl'ected by cutting as 

 they would be if the cutting h;id begun 

 soon after planting. Care should be 

 exercised at all times that the jilants 

 are not cut too hard, for excessive cut- 



ting always leaves its mark. Beds fron- 

 which the spraj's are cut as soon as tliev 

 art! developed, aiul on which this is nutdi 

 a regular practice, will never jiroduc'- 

 the desired (]uantity or quality, nor will 

 the life of the beds be half so long 

 The grower will find that it pays to bi' 

 in no hurry in cutting a new bed. 



Although there are several other spe 

 cies of ornamental asparagus, A. plu 

 mosus is the best of them all and lead." 

 all other greens for florists' use. 



HOUSE OF ASPARAGUS. 



The illustration on this page shows .'- 

 hou.se of Asp.'iragus plumosus nanus .i' 

 the range of J. N. 8iianabel & Sons, Co- 

 lumbiana, O. It contains nine beds, 

 each JJxJOi) feet, which hold api)roxi 

 niately 1,3,000 plants. The height of th. 

 plants may be determined by comparisoi: 

 with the he.ad of the firm and father o; 

 the author of this arti(de, whose figur<. 

 apj)ears in the cmter of the house. 



NEWARK. N. J. 



Considering tlie general state of busi- 

 ness conditions, most of the Newark 

 florists had a satisfactory Christ tna.-* 

 trade. The range of prices was higher 

 than it was thouglit some time ago tha" 

 they might be and the high cost of flow 

 ers caused many persons to buy plant.^ 

 The outlook is good for a brisk Nc" 

 Year's trade and (uie whicdi will be a 

 satisfactory as that of (Jhristmas. Th- 

 year, as a whole, has been rather sIon^ 

 with most of the florists and profits have 

 been correspondingly small. 



The Terminal Flower Shop had au 

 excellent Christmas trade. B. B. M. 



