52 



The Florists^ Review 



Apbil 6. 1922 



the use of chemicals was damaging to 

 the natural fertilizing properties of leaf- 

 mold and sought for a method which 

 would produce a liquid concentration 

 without injurious ingredients. He has 

 now produced what he calls Liquid-Leaf- 

 Mold. 



Mr. Poock says that different kinds of 

 forest leaves contain the necessary fer- 

 tilizing elements in different forms and 

 to different degrees. It is, therefore, 

 necessary to mix the various kinds of 

 leaves in accordance with a formula to 

 obtain the proper results. 



At the Indianapolis flower show, Mr. 

 I'oock, now the president of the Liquid- 

 Leaf Fertilizer Co., showed the liquid, 

 which is sold to florists and gardeners, a 

 watery fluid of dark brown color. The 

 leaves from which the liquid has been 

 extracted are also sold, for use as humus. 



Experiments have been made for Mr. 

 l*o6ck on roses, carnations and other 

 plants. One gallon of his product is 

 lUluted with thirty gallons of water for 

 a rich feeding, and with fifty gallons of 

 water for a mild feeding. As experi- 

 ments continue to show the value of his 

 product, Mr. Poock intends to go into 

 the manufacture of it more extensively. 



GREEN APHIS ON SWEET PEAS. 



Our sweet pea vines are curled up and 

 when a bud is formed it dries up. Wliat 

 is the cause of this trouble? 



W. G.— la. 



Foliage curling up would seem to indi- 

 cate the presence of green aphis. If 

 this is the case, fumigate or spray with 

 a nicotine solution. Add a little soap 

 to make the spray more adhesive. Keep 

 a night temperature of 50 to 52 degrees 

 and avoid wide temperature fluctuations. 

 Careful ventilation and watering are 

 vital necessities if you want good sweet 

 peas, and cold drafts will bring mil- 

 dew. C. W. 



FERTILIZERS FOR GERANIUMS. 



It is impossible for me to procure cow 

 manure for geraniums. Will you please 

 tell me what I can use in place of it? 



P. R. I.— La. 



Cow manure is not necessary for ge- 

 raniums. A little sheep manure and 

 fine bone added to the soil answers just 

 as well, and a light top-dressing of bone 

 applied to plants when well rooted 

 tones them up nicely. C. W. 



CURING GERANIUM LEAF-SPOT. 



Will you kindly examine the geranium 

 leaves wliich I have mailed you, and de- 

 termine, if possible, what disease it is 

 that tlu'v have? The leaves becom<> 

 heavily sjiotted, dry up and then fall 

 off. What can I do to remedy this con- 

 dition? C. L. M. 



Judging from the specimen leaves re 

 ceivcd, the plants are affected with leaf- 

 spot, which may be caused by any one 

 of the following conditions: Rich soil, 

 too much heat and moisture, as well as 

 poor ventilation. Geraniums are com- 

 jmratively easy to handle, but when 

 abused, suffer quickly. In the future 

 when potting your geraniums, use a soil 

 tli.'it is not so rich. After the first wa- 

 tering, water only as the plants need it, 

 and ventilate freely when the weather 

 will permit. The temperature best suited 

 to geraniums is 50 to .12 degrees at night, 



54 to 56 degrees on dull, cloudy days, 

 with a rise of 4 to 6 degrees on bright 

 days, ventilating and using little if any 

 steam. M. P. 



VALLEY PIPS NOT FLOWERING. 



Last fall I dug a large bunch of 

 blooming lilies of the valley, which 

 were growing close to the house, and 

 planted them in pots. These I left out- 

 doors until December, when they were 

 taken into the cellar and later into a 

 room heated to 65 degrees. They made 

 good leaves, but not a single bloom ap- 

 peared. Is it because they were dug 

 from a location too close to the wall of 

 the house and, consequently, did not get 

 enough nourishment? 



R. E. II —Minn. 



likely to have carried as fine stalks as 

 imported pips, which are grown singly 

 in nursery rows, in fields, in beds an^ 

 especially for forcing purposes. An- 

 other season allow your pots to have 

 several freezings, then store in a cold 

 cellar or pit and do not place in the 

 heat before February 1. The plants 

 will then have had a good rest and 

 should start well. C. W. 



In all probability the pips were too 

 small and too crowded together to pro- 

 duce flowers. The nearer the house 

 they were growing the more likely it 

 is that they would have been flower- 

 less. If, instead of digging whole 

 clumps, strong individual pips or 

 shoots had been selected and a number 

 of these jdaced in 5-inch or 6-inch pots, 

 kept cool until early in February, and 

 then placed in the beat, they should have 

 flowered satisfactorily, but would be un- 



THIRTEEN THOUSAND DOES IT. 



It has been the purpose of The Re- 

 view to steadily increase the service 

 given the trade. To do this, the first 

 requisite has been to print a paper the 

 trade would buy to read. With a stead- 

 ily increasing number ' of interested 

 readers, results to advertisers were sure 

 to improve continuously as circulation 

 increased. This season has brought the 

 new mark of 13,000 subscribers, and 

 increased value to advertisers. It* 

 works like this: 



The Review has been all anyone could wish 

 as an advertising medium. My gladiolus bulbs 

 lire all sold and gone, except wbat we will plant. 

 —0. I. Hunt, Nunda, N. Y., March 27, 1922. 



If you hear a man complain of the 

 cost of advertising, you can be pretty 

 certain he spends a good bit of money 

 elsewhere than in The Review. 



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COLLEGE FLORISTS MEET. 



Consider Relation to Floriculture. 



The college florists' section of the 

 S. A. F. met during the national flower 

 show, at Indianapolis. Wednesday, 

 March 29, representatives from Illinois, 

 New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indi- 

 ana and Maryland met with S. S. Pen- 

 nock, president of the S. A. F., for the 

 consideration of reports and other busi- 

 ness pertaining to college work in flori- 

 culture. 



In the morning session, committee 

 reports on floricultural teacliing and on 

 research in floriculture were heard. 

 Much discussion as to the most satis- 

 factory methods for the practical train- 

 ing of students under the system of 

 floricultural teaching developed. A sur- 

 vey was given of the present work be- 

 ing done in experimental floriculture 

 and the possibilities for new work in 

 this line, as soon as funds are avail- 

 able. 



In the afternoon session the commit- 

 tees on college florii-ulturo and its rela- 

 tionship to the trade, floriculture in re- 

 lation to agriculture, and future poli- 

 cies in floriculture reported. It was 

 noted that the trade was interesting 

 itself more and more in the college de- 

 velopment of floriculture and that stu- 

 dents with college training were find- 

 ing places for themselves in the trade. 

 It was shown that, although floricul- 

 ture was still a pioneer course in most 

 of our colleges, in its development in 

 the last few years it compared favor- 

 ably with the other agricultural 

 courses, such as fruit growing, vege- 

 table gardening and dairying, consider- 

 ing that, as yet, it did not have the 

 general support which these others had. 

 It developed that some of the future 

 policies should include a balance be- 



tween theory and practice in our teach- 

 ing work; that we should develop train- 

 ing in business methods at the same 

 time we educate students as growers. 

 The possibilities for the establishment 

 of field workers to aid the florists, and 

 the great opportunity for increasing the 

 interest of the public generally in flow- 

 ers and the planting of flower gardens 

 by amateurs were brought out. 



Favor Quarantine. 



The college section was in favor of 

 plant quarantine, but agreed unani- 

 mously that it must be well regulated 

 and that changes in the present quaran- 

 tine were necessary to make it desir- 

 able. 



Professor H. B. Dorner, of the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois, was appointed vice- 

 chairman of the college section to serve 

 during the European absence of Prof. 

 A. H. Nehrling, of Cornell. 



Due to the distance of Kansas City 

 from most of the colleges doing flori- 

 cultural work, and in view of the fact 

 that only one or two members contem- 

 plated attending the S. A. F. convention 

 in August, it was decided not to plan 

 on a meeting at that time. The desir- 

 ability of the section's meeting some- 

 time during the coming year at one of 

 the agricultural colleges was favorably 

 looked upon. The section was unani- 

 mously of the opinion that there was 

 an immediate need for more experi- 

 mental work to be done in floriculture 

 and for field extension workers to visit 

 the growers and help them with their 

 troubles and that, as soon as the florists 

 felt the need of this aid and helped to 

 secure the funds necessary for these 

 purposes, it would be possible to de- 

 velop work which would be of direct 

 benefit to florists. 



A. S. Thurston, Sec 'y. 



