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12 



The Florists^ Review 



Febkuary 4, 1915. 



A BAD CASE OF STIGMONOSE. 



Please state the name and cause of 

 the disease on the carnation leaves 

 which are enclosed. The soil in which 

 the plants are now growing is on raised 

 benches and is the same as was used 

 during the seasons of 1912 and 1913. 

 It was taken out of the bench and 

 stacked in a pile six feet high, about 

 fifteen feet wide and about thirty feet 

 long, with the addition of a little ma- 

 nure. The plants were benched in the 

 middle of September. The night tem- 

 perature is 50 degrees, with 10 to 15 

 degrees of a rise in the daytime. The 

 varieties are the Enchantress family, 

 Beacon and White Wonder. At this 

 time of the year a good watering will 

 keep the soil wet from twenty-one to 

 ■• twenty-five days. J. N. 



The specimens submitted showed a 

 bad case of stigmonose, the disease that 

 is making such inroads on the vitality 

 of carnations, especially the Enchant- 

 ress family, all over the country. I 

 have noted it also on Beacon, but have 

 seen little of it on White Wonder. 



The fact that the soil you are using 

 is old, and requires three weeks or more 

 to dry out on your raised beds, would 

 indicate that it is in a condition not 

 congenial to the plants. This lack of 

 drainage might be the cause of your 

 trouble, or at least would aggravate it. 

 I have seen numerous attempts at grow- 

 ing carnations in old* soil, but seldom 

 with anythiilg like fair success. The 

 number of successes are so few that I 

 am inclined to look on the whole propo- 

 sition with disfavor. I would not think 

 of using a batch of soil a second time 

 without having spread it out and grown 

 on it a good sod for at least two or 

 more years. Even then I would doubt 

 its value as compared with new sod. 



A. F. J. B. 



SHEEP MANURE IN COMPOST. 



We should like to know what ferti- 

 lizer is best for carnations in benches. 

 We are referring to the soil for next 

 spring. We have a compost in which, 

 for every four loads of sandy soil, we 

 used one load of sheep manure. Do you 

 think that will do as well as any other 

 animal fertilizer? We have been told 

 that it is not the best for the purpose; 

 so we decided to get your advice before 

 using the compost. M. C. J. & S. 



Under ordinary conditions, I would 

 not consider sheep manure a good sub- 

 stitutiB for cattle or stable manure in 

 preparing your compost for next year. 

 It might be all right to supplement the 

 other manure with a moderate, amount 

 of sheep manure, in case the soil lacked 

 in fertility. Sheep manure is rich in 

 nitrogen and is one of the best manures 

 to use for adding that necessary ele- 

 ment to the soil, but the soil needs more 

 humus than would thus be provided. 

 This, by the way, is one of the main 



reasons why chemical manures alone 

 have not been found satisfactory. 



If you are unable to secure as much 

 cattle or stable manure as you require 

 for preparing your compost, you can 

 help matters somewhat by preparing the 

 soil before it is composted. For this 

 you can use some of the green manures, 

 such as soy beans or red clover, in addi- 

 tion to what , manure you can get. I 

 do not know what kind of sheep manure 

 you propose to use, but if it is the kind 

 we use — that is, pulverized and dried — 

 then the proportion you propose is far 

 too much. One to twenty would be 

 plenty. A. F..J. B. 



HELPING ONE ANOTHER. 



Opportunity, it has been remarked, 

 has a fine shock of hair in front but is 

 exceedingly bald behind, and Albert 

 Pochelon is one of those who hope the 

 trade will seize while the seizing is 

 good — and take a lot of telegraph or- 

 ders to send out for St. Valentine's 

 day. Mr. Rpchelon, as nearly every- 

 one knows, is all wrapped up in the 

 F. T. D., of which he is secretary. He 

 has put a vast amount of effort into 

 acquainting the trade with the possi- 

 bilities that lie in the business of ex- 

 changing orders among retailers. Until 

 quite recently the work has been to 

 get florists interested; now it is to get 

 florists to interest the public. "Only 

 a small portion of the possible flower 



buying public has been reached," said 

 Mr. Pochelon the other day, "but the 

 volume of exchange ord^ers has in- 

 creased wonderfully. Business condi- 

 tions at the best have necessitated 

 earnest efforts, but with a sure return 

 for earnest effort in this direction dur- 

 ing the coming St. Valentine's period, 

 unusual appeals for telegraph orders 

 should be resorted to. Travel in the 

 United States will undoubtedly be 

 heavier during the coming season than 

 ever before. The relationship of peo- 

 ple living in the United States will 

 be closer than ever, and the resultant 

 benefits to the flower business are obvi- 

 ous."/^ 



Mr. Pochelon is able to report fre- 

 quent additions to the membership in 

 the Florists' Telegraph Delivery and 

 is receiving many letters showing that 

 genuine interest is being taken in the 

 movement to work up orders of this 

 character. "The effort at Christmas 

 was unpreeedentedly successful; why 

 not do the same thing for St. Valen- 

 tine's day and make it stand forth a 

 winner^" he says. 



PALMS USED FOB DECORATING. 



Please let me know how to handle 

 old palms that have been used for 

 decorating. - Some of the leaves are 

 lost and the others are damaged to a 

 greater or less extent. Please tell me 

 how to treat the plants so that the 

 foliage will be renewed as quickly as 

 possible. I have all the necessary heat 

 and moisture at my disposal, but can 

 not get the plants to grow leaves fast 

 enough to make the work pay. 



C. H. P. 



At this season the palms that have 

 been used for decorating will not re- 

 cover rapidly from their injuries, from 

 the fact that the present is the resting 



Caraation Laura Weber as Shown at Buffalo. 



