28 



The Florists' Review 



April 14, 1<J21 



iicss of field soils have been reported 

 and some have been earcfully investi- 

 gated. Tliose experiments liavc shown 

 two important facts; first, tliat there is 

 in sick soils a reduction in number of 

 the useful bacteria, and, secondly, that 

 the presence of large amounis of or- 

 ganic materials in soil favors soil siek- 

 nees. 



The theory often has been advanced 

 that soil sickness is due to tlie accumu- 

 lation of toxic or poisonous substances 

 in tlie soil. Some investigations seem 

 to have shown that the decomposition 

 of the organic material in soils results 

 in products which exert harmful effects 

 upon succeeding generations of the 

 same, or of different, plants. Others 

 have given some evidence that the plant 

 itself excretes into soil substances 

 which arc injurious to succeeding crops. 

 Whether these views are correct is not 

 known. At present the experimental 

 data and the resulting conclusions con- 

 cerning soil toxins are not yet accepted 

 without question by all investigators 

 and students of the problems of soil 

 productivity. There is much evidence 

 which apparently shows that soil toxins 

 are not involved, but, as pointed out 

 above, that the detrimental factor is a 

 biological one; that is, a living organ- 

 ism. We find justification for this view 

 in the fact that, when partial steriliza- 

 tion by means of heat is resorted to, or 

 when certain disinfectants are applied, 

 the detrimental factor disappears and 

 the productive powers of the soil rcajv 

 pear. In a short time after this treat- 

 ment, the useful bacteria increase rap- 

 idly in number. If a small amount of 

 untreated soil is added to the treated 

 soil, in a few weeks there is again a re- 

 duction in number of these bacteria. 

 In other words, this evidence seems to 

 show that whatever the harmful factor 

 may be, it is, presumably, living or bio- 

 logical ill character. 



Hope for a Remedy. 



The treatment of soils by means of 

 disinfectants must now be extensively 

 investigated in our greenhouses. It is 

 not unlikely that in course of lime, as 

 our studies continue, we shall be able 

 to find a definite treatment for the so- 

 called sick soils. And it is not un- 

 likely that in the application of the 

 above principles we sliall find ii solution 

 of the problem of the ill effects result- 

 ing from the continued use of soils in 

 our benches. 



At the present time the oiitstamliiiij 

 fact of these discoveries is that the soil 

 medium, in which our greenhouse ]dants 

 grow, is not n simple dead material, but 

 a living world in itself, inhaliited by 

 different groups of organisms, some es- 

 SRntial. others destructive. This im- 

 plies that, in the treatment of soils, the 

 jtroblem is not only one of the applica- 

 tion of proper fertilizers, but one much 

 greater and more difficult. It is the es- 

 tablishment of the proper balance in 

 the populations of the various forms of 

 soil inhabitants and, at the same time, 

 the maintenance of proper soil condi- 

 tions for the activities of the useful 

 ( grou])S. In other words, the soil is a 

 comjilcx of many factors, some useful, 

 some indifferent, otliei-s harmful. Some 

 of these are by nature living organisms 

 and, therefore, a mere quantitative 

 chemical analysis of soils is not a true 

 index of the productive ]i(iwer of the 

 soil. 



There is still aiuither line of thought 



I wish to present. I have pointed out 



the intimate relation that exists be- 

 tween plant growth and nutrients in the 

 soil on the one hand and the important 

 relations between these nutrients and 

 the soil bacteria on the other. The 

 plant also is intimately bound up with 

 the various factors which make up its 

 aerial environment; that is, with the 

 various conditions above soils. The 

 plant is a living organism. As such, it 

 is responsive to the various factors of 

 the environment to a marked, degree. 

 I need only recall such examples as the 

 mimosa, commonly called the sensitive 

 plant. This plant is truly sensitive, re- 

 sponding to the slightest touch by clos- 

 ing its leaflets. The common dandelion 

 opens its flowers only in the light; the 

 crocus, on the other hand, disregards 

 light and refuses to open its flowers un- 

 less there is a certain degree of warmth. 

 The opening and closing of the crocus 

 flower is a direct response to tempera- 

 ture. We all agree that the human eye 



Fond du Lac's New Mayor. 



is exceedingly sensitive to light; yet 

 some siHMlling jilants will respond to a 

 flicker of light which the human eye 

 (■;imi(it detect. 



The Plants' "Smoke Nuisance." 



The jjlant is ecpialiy sensitive to poi- 

 sons, j^et me illustrate this by means 

 of the sweet pea seedling. If we ex- 

 pose such a seedling to an atmosphere 

 which contains cigar smoke there will 

 be a definite reaction. In an atmos- 

 phere which contains 1,000 parts of 

 cigar smoke to 1,0(10,000 parts of air 

 the seedling will respond in three ways; 

 the tip of the stem will grow at right 

 angles, just below the tip the stem is 

 much enlarge<l and the stem as a whole 

 is shorter than one gi-owing in ])ure air. 

 Jf we liiive an atmosphere which con- 

 tains 5,0()0 iiarts of smoke to 1,000,000 

 parts of atinos])here, elongation of the 

 stem stops completely. 



1 am not advocating that ])laut grow- 

 ths should not smoke when working 

 with plants, neither am 1 in sympathy 

 with any aiiti smoking league. I am cit- 

 ing these facts merely as examples of 

 the sensitiveness of jdants. 



Let me illustrate again by means of 



illuminating gas. Flowers and buds of 

 carnations are extremely sensitive to 

 this gas in the air. One pwt of il- 

 luminating gas in 40,000 parts of air 

 will kill young buds in three days and 

 the same amount will prevent the open-, 

 ing of those which show color of the 

 petals. Carnation flowers close after an 

 exposure of twelve hours to one part of 

 illuminating gas in 80,000 parts of air. 

 And yet, some of our customers wonder 

 why the flowers which they purchased 

 only yesterday from the florist did not 

 keep better! 



One part of illuminating gas in 1,000 

 parts of air will cause the leaves of 

 salvia, tomato, hibiscus and other plants 

 to fall. In order to detect illuminating 

 gas by the sense of smell, at least one 

 I)art to 400 parts of air must be present. 



One of the constituents of illuminat- 

 ing gas is ethylene. . One part of ethy- 

 lene in 1,000,000 -parts of air prevents 

 opening of carnation buds after three 

 days, and one part in 2,000,000 causes 

 mature flowers to close in twelve hours. ■ 

 The sweet pea seedling will stoj) grow- 

 ing entirely when the air contains one 

 ])art of ethylene in 10,000,000 parts of 

 atmosphere. In fact, a sweet pea seed- 

 ling grown in the dark will detect 

 traces of ethylene that we cannot de- 

 tect by the most delicate chemical tests. 



Slightly Unfavorable Conditions. 



What do these facts and illustrations 

 indicate? They indicate that the plant, 

 because of its extreme sensitiveness, is 

 frequently subjected to conditions of 

 the air which do not permit maximum 

 growth. It need not be a ]ioisonous 

 substance; it may be an unfavorable 

 condition of light, of temperature or 

 of humidity. In other words, the soil 

 may contain abundant ])lant food mate- 

 rials and these in available form; the 

 soil may also contain the proper organ- 

 isms in adequate numbers ami yet the 

 ])lant fail to respond as it should. It 

 fails to respond possibly because of 

 some unfavorable factor, such as tem- 

 ]ierature, or moisture in the air, or 

 light, or a x'^culiar combination of 

 these which prevents the best growth. 



HIS HONOR THE MAYOR. 



Of Tend du Lac, Wis. 



Kichard D. llaentze was elected 

 mayor of Fond du Lac, Wis., April 5 by 

 a majority of 246, polling 2,890 votes 

 to his o]iponent^^ 2,i)44 and carrying 

 nine of the sixteen wards by a com- 

 fortable majority. 



Mr. llaentze is widely kiiow.n in the 

 florists' trade and was elected ' presi- 

 dent of the Wisconsin State Florists' 

 Association last September. 



The Fond du Lac Reporter charac- 

 terizes the mayoralty campaign as one 

 of the cleanest campaigns in the city's 

 history. In an editorial the day fol- 

 lowing the election it said: "Mr. 

 Haentze has been engaged in the flo- 

 rists' business for many years. He is 

 possessed of real executive ability and 

 l)usiness experience. He has served 

 the city in public office before with 

 credit to himself and the municipality 

 and thus equipped he will enter upon 

 the duties of mayor. It is interesting 

 to note that the city's new mayor-elect 

 is a brother of the late Robert Haentze, 

 Fond du Lac 's first commission maj'or, 

 who was held in the highest esteem and 

 affection by everyone." 



Mavor elect llaentze will assume 



