,yr. » 



40 



The Florists^ Review 



May 11, 1922 



Farms, Bridgeton, N. J., showed moving 

 pictures of the Seabrook vegetable 

 growing establishment and gave a run- 

 ning description of the pictures. The 

 various details of the operation of this 

 mammoth farm were admirably de- 

 scribed and proved mbst interesting to 

 the audience. He also showed views of 

 P. M. Roster's grounds, in the same 

 neighborhood, where conifers and other 

 horticultural material were being pro- 

 duced in quantity. 



Theodore Outerbridge, of Sunnylands, 

 Bermuda, was present and made a short 

 address covering problems he was called 

 upon to meet in trading with the United 

 States under present horticultural con- 

 ditions. 



New Members. 



The following were elected to mem- 

 bership in the club: Joseph Hahn, 30 

 Barclay street, New York; Emil Bar- 

 tels, 43 West Eighteenth street, New 

 York; Morris Gross, 40 Crescent street, 

 Long Island City; Frank Valentine, 165 

 East One Hundred and Tenth street, 



New York; George A. Burnett, 92 

 Chambers street. New York; Walter H. 

 Barnwell, 92 Chambers street. New 

 York. 



Mr. Bartels and Mr. Hahn, being pres- 

 ent, were formally introduced to the 

 club. 



Considerable time was taken up with 

 the presentation and adoption of amend- 

 ments to the by-laws of the club, all 

 taken up separately, and adopted on mo- 

 tions made by C. B. Weathered. 



A. N. Pierson, Inc., Cromwell, Conn., 

 exhibited a splendid vase of the new 

 rose, Mrs. Warren G. Harding. T. A. 

 Weston showed some hybrid tulips, the 

 results of crosses between Darwin and 

 early-flowering varieties. Both exhibits 

 wore awarded votes of thanks. 



The secretary announced the death, 

 since last meeting, of John I. Kaynor, 

 a life member of the club, and, on mo- 

 tion, the chair appointed P. J. Smith, 

 F. H. Traendly and A. S. Burns, Jr., a 

 committee to prepare memorial resolu- 

 tions for presentation at the next meet- 

 ing. J. H. P. 



i.TXr*TiTi.Ti.T-T-T.Ti.T_TJT«Ti^^^^ 



GROWING ASTERS UNDER CLOTH. 



Please give me any information you 

 can in regard to growing asters under 

 cloth shade. What is the best grade of 

 muslin to use for this purpose, how 

 should the supports be put up and at 

 what time should the cloth be put on? 

 J. P.— 0. 



You will understand, of course, that 

 growing asters under cloth shades is 

 a great deal like growing asters in the 

 gre«3nh^usc, and there is always a ques- 

 tion as to whether or not it pays. That 

 depends/ as with all other crops, on the 

 kind of crop you get and the kind of 

 market you get for the crop. There 

 is no doubt that it has its advantages. 

 In the first place, the cloth shades the 

 plants from the heat of the sun, which 

 is a big advantage with asters, and 

 growing them under cloth has its ad- 

 vantages over growing them in the 

 greenhouse, because the former method 

 allows more circulation and freer evapo- 

 ration, reducing to a minimum the dan- 

 ger of damping off and retarding the 

 development of fungus, which is so lia- 

 ble to reduce the yield of a crop grown 

 under glass. 



The supports for the shade should 

 be put up just as soon after the plants 

 are established as convenient. Any 

 width of bed may be covered and 1x2- 

 inch lumber is heavy enough to use. 

 We should advise using a frame around 

 each bed any desired length and in 

 width anywhere from twenty to fifty 

 feet, with height sufficient to clear at 

 least six feet, so that a man can walk 

 under the frame for cultivation and 

 for picking flowers. 



The use of side muslins would depend 

 on whether a grower is bothered by bee- 

 tles or other insects. In some sections 

 you cannot grow asters on account of 

 beetles. If the muslin is put on early 

 enough and side cloths are used, one 

 will, of course, have protection from 

 beetles, such as cannot be secured any 

 other way. At any rate, the covering 



should be put on before the hot sun sets 

 in; certainly before the buds appear. 



Of course, only the best ground 

 should be selected for anything of this 

 kind. The ground should be well fer- 

 tilized with thoroughly rotted stable 

 manure — in no case should fresh stable 

 manure be used — or enriched by a 

 heavy application of sheep manure or 

 pulverized poultry manure. The latter 

 should be used more sparingly, on ac- 

 count of its high content of nitrate. 



It does not pay to go to the expense 

 of covering plants that will not return 

 the maximum yield for the plants that 

 are cultivated. If an upright type of 

 plant is used, such as Perfection, it will 

 permit much closer spacing than if 

 the branching type is used, and a great 

 many more flowers can be picked to the 

 square foot. If I were growing asters 

 under cover, I should use the Dutch 

 bed system and set my plants about 

 fifteen inches apart each way, with an 

 18-inch walk every six feet. If cross- 

 pieces are used every four or five feet 

 and the muslin sown together on 

 the edges, the first length of the muslin 

 being attached to the frame on one 

 side, it can then be rolled over the en- 

 tire bed like an awning and rolled back 

 again at any time desired. Of course, 

 it would have to be put on in overlap- 

 ping sections as far as the length of the 

 piece would be concerned, so that each 

 twelve or fifteen feet of length could 

 be rolled across separately. 



James A. Wiebens. 



ASTERS AFTER TOMATOES. 



I am growing tomatoes in my green- 

 houses. This crop will be over about 

 August 1. Could I grow asters or mums 

 on solid beds after this crop is gonef 

 If so, what temperature would the 

 asters or the mums require t The soil 

 here is quite rich. F. L. S. — Mass. 



The early part of August is late to 

 plant out chrysanthemums and expect 



much from them; a month earlier would 

 give you pretty good results. You could 

 lift strong plants of asters from the 

 field and plant inside, and these would 

 give you flowers from the middle of 

 September onwards. White would be 

 probably the best paying color, next to 

 that pink and lavender. In the event 

 of an early frost cutting off outdoor 

 supplies, you could undoubtedly market 

 asters at profitable prices; but if, on 

 the other hand, the fall proves, as it 

 now often does in your state, an open 

 one, the asters would, I fear, not net 

 you much money, especially as they 

 would have to face competition in Oc- 

 tober from chrysanthemums, in addi- 

 tion to outdoor flowers, like asters, cos- 

 mos, dahlias, late gladioli, etc. 



You could grow single violets or pan- 

 sies; the former need not be planted 

 until late in October. The pansies can 

 go in a month earlier. These crops can 

 be grown as cool as 40 to 42 degrees at 

 night in winter. Given suflScient head 

 room, sweet peas of the winter-flower- 

 ing type could be started as soon as 

 your tomatoes were cleared. They need 

 45 degrees at night and 50 degrees when 

 flowering commences. Chrysanthemums 

 and asters need cool culture, with an 

 abundance of air. A temperature of 40 

 to 45 degrees at night as fall advances 

 is ample on cold nights, as a minimum. 

 Tomatoes exhaust the soil a great deal 

 and I should not attempt to plant an- 

 other crop without forking in a liberal 

 top-dressing of well rotted stable or 



cow manure. 



C. W. 



BEETLES ON ASTERS. 



What is the best method of combat- 

 ing the black beetle which attacks 

 asters from June onwards. We have 

 tried various remedies, but find them 

 worse than the disease. The sprays dis- 

 figure and burn the plants and blooms, 

 and some, such as the whale oil spray 

 preparations, add an evil smell. 



N. B.— Del. 



The blister beetle, which feeds on the 

 flowers of asters, is a voracious feeder, 

 and if in large numbers can devour or 

 ruin all flowers as fast as they show 

 color. The insect is a good-sized beetle 

 of a uniform black color, with a rather 

 soft body, one-half inch or more in 

 length. Of the poison sprays recom- 

 mended to exterminate this pest, the 

 best success has been reported with a 

 spray containing three pounds of arsen- 

 ate of lead in fifty gallons of water. 

 Much injury, however, is caused by the 

 beetles feeding to get the poison, and 

 on small areas of asters it is best to 

 knock the beetles off into a shallow pan 

 of kerosene. If one goes over the plants 

 each morning for a few days as the 

 plants come into bloom, the insects can 

 all be collected. With a little expe- 

 rience one becomes sufficiently skillfal 

 that little time is required even for a 

 considerable number of plants. 



Quay, Okla. — R. R. Nichols expects to 

 go into the florists' business soon. 



Cambridge, O. — iJen years ago Fred 

 W. Arnold, a letter carrier, engaged in 

 the florists' business, purchasing the 

 stock and renting the Oldham green- 

 houses. Later he built a range of 

 houses and went into debt for more than 

 $20,000. Last week he paid the last 

 dollar. He has 42,000 feet of glass and 

 thirty acres of land. 



/ 



