36 



The Florists' Review 



Hat 20, leib. 



FIRES 



La Orange, 111. — Fire which origi- 

 nated in the barn of John Gale, 626 

 North Kensington avenue, spread to 

 four sections of his greenhouses, caus- 

 ing a damage of about $600 recently. 

 There is no insurance. 



Newcastle, Ind. — In the interval be- 

 tween the departure of the night fire- 

 man and the arrival of the day fire- 

 man, about 6 a. m., May 8, a fire broke 

 out in the boiler room at the north end 

 of the range of the South Park Floral 

 Co. The shed was in flames when the 

 day fireman appeared, and hard work 

 by Superintendent Lennon and others 

 was necessary to keep the blaze from 

 reaching the houses. The damage con- 

 sisted of the destruction of the boiler 

 room and an end of one of the plant 

 houses, in which were several hundred 

 young plants of Hoosier Beauty rose. 

 Myer Heller estimates the loss at about 

 $1,500, covered by insurance. 



PELABGONIUM LEAVES RUSTY. 



Will you tell me how to grow Pelar- 

 gonium Easter Greeting so that the 

 leaves will not look rusty? "What is 

 the cause of this rusty appearance? 



C. F.— Ohio. 



The trouble in question may be due 

 to several causes. Injudicious watering, 

 both as to quantity and time, may be a 

 factor. Pelargoniums, like geraniums, 

 should be grown on the dry side. The 

 many queries in The Review regarding 

 diseased geraniums could be answered 

 quite largely by this: "Injudicious 

 watering." Never water at a time 

 when the conditions will prevent fo- 

 liage from drying before night. In 

 growing pelargoniums and geraniums, 

 be careful of night temperatures. Keep 

 close to 50 degrees, rather below than 

 above. The atmosphere should be as 

 dry as possible. A leaky pipe may 

 spell damage. 



Give your plants a balanced ration. 

 This may sound like a dairyman's ad- 

 vice. I believe it suits plants as well 

 as cows. I am sure that by injudicious 

 feeding we may grow a plant abnormal 

 in fiber and tissue, and thus invite dis- 

 ease. A normal plant has strong re- 

 sistant powers, and when we weaken 

 the tissue we weaken this resistance. 

 I believe you feed your plants too 

 strong food. In growing pelargoniums 

 and geraniums, I use a clay-loam-sod 

 compost, free of manure, and pot firmly. 

 This firm potting conserves the mois- 

 ture and seems to suit their .require- 

 ments. Give your plants light and air. 

 They will not thrive in a shaded, out- 

 of-the-way place. I believe there is no 

 plant 80 easily grown as Easter GrPet- 

 ing pelargonium. The constitution Va 

 strong and the habit is perfect. They 

 never need trimming to secure shapely 

 plants. 



I would like to remark here, in con- 

 nection with the balanced ration idea, 

 that greater care should be used in 

 feeding potted plants than bedded 

 plants. In the former case 'we confine 

 the roots, and compel them tb "eat 

 what we give them." In the latter, 

 they take their choice. What would 

 founder a potted plant might boost a 

 bedded one, S. C. Templin. 



UNDfR THE 

 SPREADING CHESTNUT TREE^ 



[Readers are Inrlted to contribute to this col- 

 Dmn. No story so old that It Isn't new to 

 someone, bnt the fresher the better. No bar 

 against originality. If ciipplnga are sent, add 

 Dame of paper.] 



The Popular Posies. 



Aunt Lindy had brought around her 

 three grandchildren for her mistress to 

 see. The three little darkies, in calico 

 smocks, stood squirming in line while 

 Lindy proudly surveyed them. 



"What are their names, Lindy?" her 

 mistress asked. 



"Dey's name' after flowers, ma'am. 

 De bigges' one name' Gladiola. De nex' 

 one, she name' Heliotrope." 



' * Those are very pretty, ' ' her mistress 

 said. "What is the littlest one 

 named?" 



"She name' Artuhficial, ma'am." — 

 Everybody's Magazine. 



As Maternally Interpreted. 



It is to be expected, perhaps, that 

 babies will become brighter and 

 brighter as the human race progresses 

 in intellectual development. 



"He is such a clever little dear," the 

 fond mother explained. "He had never 

 been told what flowers were, but the 

 moment he saw them he said, 

 'Bwobs.' " 



"Really! And what does 'bwobs' 

 mean?" inquired the caller. 



' ' Why, flowers, of course. ' ' — Chicago 

 Examiner. 



Wliy We Ask for Cash. 



It was a country editor who wrote: 

 "Brother, don't stop your paper just 

 because you don't agree with the edi- 

 tor. The last cabbage you sent us 

 didn't agree with us, either, but we 

 didn't drop you from our subscription 

 list on that account!" 



Vegetable Forcing 



EARLY OUTDOOR TOMATOES. 



We have a number of tomato plants^ 

 about twelve inches high, in bloom and 

 some with small tomatoes on them. If 

 these are placed in the garden now, 

 will they produce any earlier fruit than 

 the small transplanted plants about 

 four inches high? We are told these 

 blooms will blight when the plants are 

 placed in the garden. What is the 

 proper method to follow to get earlier 

 tomatoes than we get from the ordinary 

 small plants? These plants are in 3- 

 inch and 4-inch pots. S. E. C. — Kan. 



Give the tomato plants a shift into 

 pots a size larger, so that they will 

 not become too mutffi potbound before 

 being planted out. They will give fruit 

 quite a little in advance of the lat,er 

 transplanted stock, but you must not 

 allow them to become potbound before 

 planting out. Plant out just as soon 

 as danger from frost has passed. Do 

 not worry about the blooms blighting. 

 I have used plants treated in this way 

 for a quarter of a century and never 

 failed to have a crop much earlier than 

 from the later transplanted ones. 

 C. W. 



STUNTED TOMATOES. 



Will you tell us why our tomatoes 

 on benches and in beds formed only 

 small fruits, about the size of flat 

 marbles, for over six weeks? Some 

 of them have ripened at that size. The 

 plants were stunted before we planted 

 them from small pots over ten weeks 

 ago, but have since made a growth of 

 from four to six feet. I trained two 

 stems to each plant. The varieties are 

 Comet, Superior and Burpee's Best. 



A. W.— Okla. 



If your tomato plants were allowed 

 to become potbound and stunted before 

 being benched, there is little wonder 

 that the fruits are small. You cannot 

 get satisfactory results from any plants, 

 no matter whether they produce flow- 

 ers, fruits or vegetables, if the roots 

 have become matted before planting 

 out. There is nothing you can do now 

 to improve conditions, but another sea- 

 spn it will pay to pot the plants along 

 if your benches are not ready for them, 

 rather than run any risk of the balls 

 becoming matted with roots. C. W, 



" Did you water this rubber plant, Bridget?" 

 "I did not, ma'am; I thought them rubber plants wm 

 waterproof." 



— Cenhiry MaKOzine. 



QUANTITY OF LIME PER ACRE, 



How much lime per acre can be used 

 successfully, and what is the best way 

 to apply it? W. W. M.— Colo. 



Everything depends on the condition 

 of the soil. Use blue litmus paper and 

 ascertain whether your soil is really 

 acid. From 1,000 to 2,000 pounds per 

 acre can be used, sometimes 3,000 

 pounds. If a lime spreader operated 

 by a horse can be had, this is the best 

 means of distribution, but hand spread- 

 ing is often resorted to on small areas. 

 Fall is the best time to apply lime. 

 C. W. 



Walker, Minn. — Of the appropriation 

 of the last legislature for the state 

 sanatorium near here, $2,000 will be 

 expended for a greenhouse. 



