Sbftembbb 18, 1913. 



The Florists^ Review 



15 



Vegetable Forcings 



TOMATOES ON THE SIDE. 



When the outdoor crops are bad on 

 account of unfavorable weather, the 

 florist with some space to spare in his 

 greenhouses has an opportunity to 

 gather in extra money on a side-line. 

 Tomatoes are good for this purpose, 

 for those grown under glass are always 

 sure of a ready sale. The amount that 

 ;an be gained in this way may be sur- 

 mised from the fine appearance of the 

 t'ruit in the photograph of the house of 

 A. Linke & Son, Alpena, Mich., which 

 is here reproduced. This greenhouse is 

 primarily a carnation house ant^ these 

 plants can be seen in the center bench. 

 The tomatoes have been grown on the 

 side, both figuratively and literally 

 speaking. At the right is Arthur Linke, 

 the latter half of the firm name. Be- 

 hind the sign, at the left, is Reinhold 

 Behnke, who for the last five years has 

 been in the employ of this firm. 



liETTUCE IN TENNESSEE. 



Please tell me what is the best let- 

 tuce for early winter under glass in 

 Tennessee. Mention the best varieties 

 of head lettuce and of leaf lettuce. 



M. S. 



As to the best variety of lettuce to 

 grow for early winter in TenneBsee, 

 there is little else grown near the large 

 cities than Grand Bapids. This variety 

 has been grown so long that it sells 

 more readily than any other. It grows 

 rapidly and is less subject to rot than 

 most others. It is well to be sure to 

 get the seed from a reliable source and 

 to get a strain that has been grown 

 especially for forcing. Of course, the 

 plants should be transplanted. Green 

 fly is the principal pest to contend 

 with. 



Head lettuce is little grown in Ten- 

 nessee under glass. The Nashville 

 growers who grow head lettuce at all 

 use Big Boston largely, though some 

 May King and Simpson are used. May 

 King is the earliest of the lot and 

 'Simpson is the easiest to handle, while 

 Big Boston commands the best prices. 



F. B. 



ONIONS FOE FALL PLANTING. 



I want to sow some onion seed this 

 fall to leave in the ground all winter 

 and have the bulbs to bunch in the 

 t^arly spring. Please tell me what is the 

 hest variety to sow, when to plant, and 

 whether it is necessary to cover or not. 

 I -should prefer a white onion. 



E. L. B. 



There is no onion, properly so called, 

 that will safely withstand the winter if 

 Ljrown from seed. There is a variety of 

 "lion called the White Welsh onion 

 'hat can be seeded in the fall, and that 

 vill withstand the winter, but it does 

 "ot make a proper bulb; it forms a 



'ullion only. Then there is the va- 

 I't'ty known as the Winter Top onion, 



ut this variety is propagated from 

 i "'lbs, or sets. This variety makes a 



unch of scullions that are sold in the 

 ' irly spring as green onions. The seed 

 " t: the Welsh onion and the bulbs of the 

 inter Top onion are planted from Au- 

 ^ 1st 15 until September 20 with good 

 -'■ocess. Occasionally truckers have suc- 



Tomatoes and Carnationi, an Unusual Combination, at Alpena, Mich. 



cess with the regular White Globe 

 onion planted in the fall and the plants 

 covered during the winter, but it is not 

 a sure process, as in most cases the 

 plants are killed during the winter. 

 When successfully done, however, it 

 pays well for the experiment. 



J. M. C. 



DEOP-LEAF OF LETTUCE. 



Will you please tell me what to do 

 for drop"-leaf of lettuce? C. M. S. 



For the drop-leaf, or wilt, which is 

 common among lettuces outdoors during 

 hot weather, I do not know of any 

 remedy. It is worse on plants which are 

 not freely cultivated, and is much less 

 prevalent where the soil is kept con- 

 stantly stirred. It seems to be insep- 

 arable from the hot, humid climatic 

 conditions existing during July and the 

 first half of August. C. W. 



CUCUMBEE WILT. 



I have a house of cucumbers which 

 are affected with wilt. A half dozen 

 or more plants wilt and die every day. 

 This house was planted after a crop 

 of early tomatoes, and the plants have 

 just begun bearing. What can I doT 

 J. M. B. 



I am afraid there is no method of 

 treatment that can do much to check 

 the wilt, except the radi<;al method 

 of pulling up all plants as soon as 

 they show any signs of it. This may 

 mean the partial or almost entire loss 

 of your crop. The wilt is not at all 

 uncommon in early fall, before fire 

 heat is used. I would advise using fire 

 lieat, to maintain a more buoyant and 

 warm atmosphere. Shutting the houses 

 tightly at night when the outside tem- 

 perature is low, producing a damp, 

 clammy feeling in the houses, followed 

 by clear, hot days, will start the 

 trouble. 



Wilted plants will often be found 

 aflfected by root gall. When the soil "has 

 been thoroughly frozen or properly 

 sterilized, the plants are usually im- 

 mune from this wilt. If you do not 

 sterilize your soil, by all means do so 



another season, not only for cucumbers, 

 but also for lettuce. The increased re- 

 turns will far more than repay you for 

 any expense incurred. C. W. 



PEEPAEINO LETTUCE BEDS. 



I am getting ready for lettuce plant- 

 ing and should like to get some in- 

 formation as to the beds. What depth 

 should the manure be — as deep as five 

 or six inches? What depth should the 

 earth be over the manure? Shall I 

 use horse or cow manure, and should 

 it be fresh? W. A. 



Unless you are planning to grow let- 

 tuces in frames, with a bed of warm 

 manure below them, I would not advise 

 using the manure in any other way 

 than mixed with the soil. Lettuces like 

 a soil twelve to fourteen inches deep, 

 and it should be well manured. I have 

 found that horse manure about half 

 decayed proves fully as satisfactory as 

 that which is thoroughly rotted. The 

 manure must be well incorporated with 

 the soil and a fresh top-dressing of it 

 should be applied for each new plant- 

 ing. 



All the large lettuce growers now 

 sterilize their soil. This kills all in- 

 sects, larvffi, weed seeds, etc., and plants 

 grown in such soil rarely take the dis 

 ease commonly known as leaf-burn or 

 leaf-scald. Cow manure is not con- 

 sidered as good as horse manure by the 

 lettuce specialists, although for many 

 vegetable crops it is preferred. 



C. W. 



DISEASED TOMATOES. 



We are sending you under separate 

 cover two tomato plants; one is the 

 Comet and the other is the Best of All 

 Forcing. TJie earth is a light carna- 

 tion soil. I have sixty-eight plants in 

 solid beds, many of which are set in 

 bud. I also have quite a few in 8-inch 

 pots. They all appear to have the 

 same disease, but those in the solid 

 beds appear to be the worst affected. 

 The ground is not wet and soggy, but is 

 nice and moist. It seems now that we 

 shall lose our whole crop. We took 

 the soil up for a foot or more around 



