March 4, 1915. 



The Florists^ Review 



15 



seems to die out in the house, reap- 

 pearing in the field during the late 

 summer. 



Mr. Rees published an account of 

 this trouble last fall in all the trade 

 papers, which no doubt moat of you 

 have read. 



Aster Diseases. 



During the current year, a large 

 number of inquiries relating to various 

 plant diseases were answered. The 

 troubles most commonly reported last 

 summer were stem rot and yellows of 

 asters. We are planning to carry on 

 some experimental work for several 

 seasons, on the aster troubles, particu- 

 larly the two mentioned above. 

 Dry Bot of aioxinias. 



We are also planning some work on 

 a dry rot of gloxinia bulbs, a disease 

 which has recently been brought to our 

 attention and which appears to be 

 quite serious. 



EXPEEIMENTS ON FERTILIZERS. 



[The report of F. W. Muncle, of Urbana, 111., 

 on fertilizer work at the Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, University of Illinois, presented before 

 the convention of the Illinois State Florists' 

 Association at Urbana, March 2.] 



Bulletin 176 of the University of 

 Illinois, on "The Use of Commercial 

 Fertilizers in Growing Carnations," 

 has just been issued and may be ob- 

 tained by application to the Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, University 

 of Illinois, Urbana, 111. It contains 

 the results of experiments upon the use 

 of dried blood, acid phosphate and po- 

 tassium sulphate in carnation growing, 

 which have appeased from time to 

 time in previous reports in the trade 

 papers. The most important points are, 

 briefly, that dried blood or ammonium 

 sulphate can be used with benefit on 

 soils naturally moderately well sup- 

 plied with organic matter; that no 

 benefit has so far been found from the 

 use of potassium sulphate on a brown 

 silt loam soil, and that an increase in* 

 production was noted when acid phos- 

 phate was supplied in addition to dried 

 blood, particularly with the variety 

 Enchantress, less so with White Per- 

 fection. Comparative experiments, also, 

 have shown that these commercial fer- 

 tilizers may be used in moderation 

 with the assurance of producing a crop 

 as large and of as good a quality as 

 with manure exclusively. 



The carnation experiments during the 

 present as well as last year have been 

 ones on a more extensive scale in re- 

 gard to the value of acid phosphate, 

 in this experiment as a supplement to 

 sulphate of ammonia. The varieties 

 White Perfection and Rosette have 

 been used and with these varieties no 

 increase has been found. This contra- 

 diction of the experiment of 1912-13 

 (Bui. 176) may be due to the use of 

 sulphate of ammonia in place of dried 

 blood ' used that year or to the fact 

 that the varieties used are not respon- 

 sive to its use as Enchantress is. It 

 looks as if it were necessary in this 

 connection to study closely the differ- 

 ence in response to fertilizers of the 

 variety type represented by Enchant- 

 ress and Beacon, which stool rather 

 profusely, and of the type represented 

 by Rosette and White Perfection. 



Overfeeding Carnations. 



Continued experiments in the over- 

 feeding of carnations have shown that 

 the danger from overfeeding with com- 

 mercial fertilizers can be roughly pre- 



$8.70 SOLD THIS 100,000 BULBS 



GEORGE J. JOERG 

 Grower of Choice Gladioli 



All QuoUlions Sllb)«t to Slock Bang 



UiuolJ on Recap! ol Ordfr 

 All Coodi Shipprd at Purcluin's Rfcit 



New Hyde Park. L I.. N. Y.. 



March 1, 1915, 



FloriBts' Review, 

 Chicago, 111. 

 Gentlemen: - 



Enclosed find my check for $3.50, for which 

 continue my gladiolus ad another five weeks. 



Quality bulbs and a little Classified ad does 

 the trick. I sold over 100,000 bulbs through this little 

 ad. Well satisfied. 



Very truly yours. 





*■• /.. ^ * *ii 



dieted from a knowledge of their sol- 

 ubility in water. For instance, sul- 

 phate of ammonia, of which about six 

 pounds dissolve in a gallon of water, 

 is markedly injurious, while acid phos- 

 phate, of which one-sixth pound dis- 

 solves in a gallon of water, shows no, 

 or almost no, injury in heavy applica- 

 tions. The injury from equal applica- 

 tions of potassium sulphate, of which 



« two-thirds pound dissolves in a gal- 

 lon, is less than that from ammonium 

 •sulphate, but is still severe enough, 

 if large amounts are used, to cause 

 complete ruin of the crop. 

 A careful comparison of weather 



. conditions daily with daily production 

 records has given data that clearly es- 

 tablish the relation between periods 

 of cloudy weather and splitting carna- 

 tions. The long period of continued 

 cloudy weather of the fall of 1914 

 (about three weeks) was followed, for 

 instance, by an increase in the per- 

 centage of splits up to as much as 

 twenty-five per cent. The increased 

 splitting is not coincident with the 

 period of cloudy weather, however, but 

 follows it by a week or two. The 

 records showing how ' these conclusions 

 were obtained will be published in 

 detail. 



Excessively high applications of 

 acid phosphate to first-year roses have 

 caused slight injury, . more marked 

 with Eichmonds than Killarneys. But 

 amounts up to forty pounds per hun- 

 dred square feet of bench space, which 

 are equivalent to one pound per cubic 

 foot of soil if a compost is made, or 

 about nine tons per acre, have given a 

 larger number of flowers than the soil 

 to which none was applied. The need 

 for acid phosphate is most marked in 

 the later part of the season, and the 

 increase due to its use is greatest at 

 that time. No benefit from the use 

 of dried blood has been found on the 

 soil at the experiment station, a brown 



A^^^^^ 



silt loam, until the spring of the year 

 after the plants were set in the pre- 

 vious summer. The results seem to 

 show a decrease from its use in fall 

 or winter on fresh soil. In the spring, 

 however, the plants show the nitrogen 

 starvation by the yellowing of the 

 foliage and increased production fol- 

 lows the use of a nitrogenous fer- 

 tilizer. 



Liquid Manures. 



A study is being made in the chem- 

 ical laboratory of the value of liquid 

 manure made (1) from fresh drop- 

 pings, (2) from barnyard manure, and 

 (3) from shredded manure. The rela- 

 tive values of steaming and of fer- 

 mentation in preparing it also are 

 being worked out. This is a practical 

 problem, the results of which can be 

 of immediate use to the florist. In 

 connection with this and other work, 

 a study is being made of the variation 

 of temperature and humidity in green- 

 houses and their relation to growth 

 as measured by the growth records of 

 roses. The results obtained, on these 

 subjects up to the present are inter- 

 esting but hardly complete enough for 

 publication. In the latter study, the 

 experiment station has been assisted 

 by several florists and opportunity is 

 taken at this time to acknowledge 

 their kind cooperation in thi»- difficult 

 problem. 



Hannibal, Mo.— J. E. Null, for nine 

 years in business at Murphysboro, 111., 

 has moved here, with his wife and two 

 children, Edward and Elizabeth, and en- 

 gaged in the cut flower business. 



Port Huron, Mich.— The recent heavy 

 rains and imperfect sewerage drain- 

 age caused the flooding of the green- 

 houses of Matthias Ullenbruch recent- 

 ly, resulting in several hundreds of 

 dollars damage. This is a repetition of 

 last spring's occurrence. 



