w 



The Pldriste' 



Jolt 2. I»i4. 



have asked the legislature for, whether 

 we won nr fort, becatree the Ohio tax 

 commrssion had already recommended 

 that nursery stock be taxed." 



AlAE&ICAN CASKATIOIT SOCIETY. 

 Herman C, G. Schwarz, Central Park, 



N. Y., reeisters Siren, a seedling cross 

 with Encnantress; color, brilliant flesh 

 pink; size, three and one-half to four 

 inches; ideal, upright grower and easy 

 rooter; dark green foliage and no sur- 

 plus grass; produces flowers freely on 

 long, strong stems. 



A. F. J. Baur, Sec 'y. 



PLANTINO IN THE HOUSE. 



Planning the Work in Advance. 



With the passing of the commence- 

 ment and June wedding season, the 

 demand for carnations begins to slack- 

 en, and there is little pleasure or profit 

 in prolonging the cut of inferior car- 

 nation blooms. In our latitude we are 

 able to keep up the quality until well 

 into June, but after the middle of the 

 month the intense heat gets away with 

 them and the size of the blooms can be 

 seen to diminish from day to day. Ex- 

 cept for the continued failure of the 

 aster crop throughout this section year 

 after year, we would pull out the en- 

 tire lot of carnations soon after Me- 

 morial day. The scarcity of lowers, 

 hotvever, makes such a course impossi- 

 ble and makes it necessary for us to 

 do a little extra planning in the plac- 

 ing of the varieties on the ' benches. 

 We find it expedient to select a certain 

 portion of the place to be run later 

 into the summer than the rest of the 

 place, and naturally we seiect that por- 

 tion which is the coolest. 

 ^ Every grdwer encounters this prepo- 

 sition each season to a greater or less 

 degree and now is the tiftie to do yotir 

 planning. Before we set a single plant, 

 we draw a sketch of the houses, show- 

 ing each "bed and the number of plants 

 it wUi bold. On each bed in the sketch 

 is marked the variety or varieties to 

 be planted on it. In this way we avoid 

 the co^lfttsioii and mistakes that are 

 sure to creep in if you plan your plant- 

 ing as you plant. I mention this so 

 early because, if you do your planning 

 nowj it will give you time to place your 

 order for any plants you may need to 

 make up the number of each variety 

 you wish to bench, and to get them 

 shipped to you at the time you are 

 benching your plants, which you will 

 find to be a great advantage. 



Cleaning and Fumigating. 



I presume that you have procured 

 an ample supply of well prepared soil 

 for filling the benches. If you have 

 been negligent in this, you are starting 

 under a big handicap, as high-grade 

 stock can be grown only under favor- 

 able circumstances and good soil is the 

 foundation on which good growing must 

 be built. After you have taken the old 

 soil out of the beds and made what re- 

 pairs are necessary to run them through 

 the next season, it is well to thoroughly 

 fumigate the houses to kill all insects 

 and vermin that have accumulated and 

 bred during the season. The intensity 



of the fumigatio6 will necessarily de- 

 pend on whether you can empty the 

 hbuses entirely of stock. Where de- 

 tached houses are used, this can fre- 

 quently be done, but if the place is 

 built in ranges of houses, as many are 

 built now, there is sure to be growing 

 stock somewhere, which will be dam- 

 aged if the fumigating is too severe. 

 Hydrocyanic acid gas will destroy about 

 as much insect life as anything I know 

 of now, and with perhaps less danger to 

 any growing stock that may be exposed 

 to it. 



After the beds have been filled and 

 leveled, clean the walks and the spaces 

 under the benches, if raised benches are 

 used, removing anything in the way of 

 old soil or litter that may have accu- 



mulated. A good sprinkling of hydrated 

 lime will help to purify the place and 

 make it more wholesome for the plfthts. 

 Close attention to this will greatly less- 

 en the danger frotn leaf-spot and kin- 

 dred diseases which start from a foul 

 atmosphere while you are doing a great 

 deal of syringing during the time you 

 are reestablishing the plants on the 

 benches. 



Filling the Beds. 



" '^^ . 



In filling the beds, be sure yOu pul- 

 verize the soil well. Lumpy soil is bad 

 both for the plants and for the temper 

 of the men who set the plants. Fill the 

 beds even with the sides and see that 

 they are well filled along the edges, lev- 

 eling the soil- evenly all over the bed, so 

 that, in watering, the water will not col- 

 lect in pools and leave part of the soil 

 dry While other parts may he getting 

 too wet. We place a layer of long 

 stable manure on the beds before put- 

 ting in the soil. We find this aids the 

 drainage and helps to feed the plants 

 later on, when the roots have worked 

 through the soil. 



If possible, arrange to refill at least a 

 whole house at one time, so that the 

 whole house may be planted at one time. 

 The atmospheric conditions necessary 

 while the plants are getting reestab- 

 lished are good for them only during 

 that period, and it is taking chances 

 with established plants to subject them 

 to those conditions; hence the advan- 

 tage in refilling a whole house at a 

 time. A. F. J. Baur. 



GASDEN SOIL FOB BENCHES. 



Please let me kirow whether chrys- 

 anthemums will grow satisfactorily in 

 soil taketi from a gttrdeh, if the soil 

 has been well fed but inclines to be 

 heavy a^d, if left standing in piles, 

 becomes a little green on the surface. 

 I expect to plant within tbe next ten 

 days, using cow manure. First I put in 

 a layer of soil, then a layer of mantire 

 and then another of soil. Will the use 

 of sheep manure, after the plants are 

 put in, produce good results, or would 

 you suggest something else? 



A. B. L. 



thoroughly established and growing^ 

 vigorously; then feeding will do them 

 some good. I have found liquid manure 

 made from sheep in 'inure to be much 

 better than the same manore used as a 

 top-dressing. Chas. H. Totty. 



Chrysanthemums are not so particu- 

 lar as to soil conditions as are some 

 other plants, and soil taken from the 

 garden as suggested will grow fairly 

 good mums. Since the soil is inclined 

 to be heavy, it should, of course, be 

 more carefully watered than soil in- 

 clined to be light. I notice that A. B. 

 L. says he puts in one layer of soil and 

 then a layer of manure on top of that, 

 in the benches. I believe in incorpo- 

 rating the soil and manure thoroughly 

 together before placing any of it in the 

 benches. 



Sheep manure is valuable for mums, 

 but should not be used until the plants 

 are growing well and are thoroughly 

 established. Too much feed before the 

 plants are well rooted, as has so often 

 been stated, is like feeding beefsteak 

 to a baby. First get your plants rooted, 



MO^H BALLS FOB PESTS. 



A few weeks ago the following ques- 

 tion was submitted to The Beview: 

 "Do you know whether moth balls will 

 be safe to use around the roots of 

 chrysanthemum plants to get rid of 

 white ants?" In my reply to the in- 

 quiry, in The Review of June 18, I 

 stated that I knew of no reason why 

 moth balls would be injurious, but 

 neither did I know that they would be 

 helpful, since I had never put them to 

 the test as a remedy.. <• However, since 

 my reply was published, I have re- 

 ceived a letter on the subject from one 

 of The Review's readers. A. H. Pike, 

 proprietor of the Bryn Mawr Flower 

 Shop, Bryn Mawr, Pa: He says: 



"Having seen the article on moth 

 balls in The Review, I beg to say that 

 I have found them useful in keeping 

 away slugs and small snails from chry- 

 santhemums and all kinds of seedlings. 

 Where I first used them was at W. K. 

 Harris' place, in Philadelphia. An- 

 other man used them scattered over the 

 fern seedlings and he said they were 

 the greatest thing out to keep pests 

 away." Chas. H. Totty. 



