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July 28, 1004. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



4J9 



DEPTH OF SOIL ON BENCHES. 



Eef erring to Mr, Baur's article July 

 14, on the best depth for soil in carna- 

 tion growing, my opinion is that three 

 to four inches of firm fioil is ample up 

 to April 1, when a little more should 

 be added, if not mulched previously, to 

 prevent too rapid drying out. With 

 three inches of soil plants will dry out 

 more evenly than with four or five inches, 

 and they can be fed with less danger, 

 especially through the winter months. 

 It is in the spring that the extra inch 

 comes in handy. Therefore, I conclude 

 that if blooms are wanted as late as 

 July and August, use at least four to 

 five inches of soil. If you throw out 

 and replant early, use less. 



I think water costs more than soil 

 to the average grower, so that there are 

 several things to take into consideration 

 besides cost of soil. We use fencing for 

 side boards and level off the bench evenly 

 with soil. This settles to about four 

 inches in a few months, allowing room 

 for top dressing or manure watering if 

 desired. Continual watering washes the 

 soil through the benches, so that in 

 spring about three and one-half inches 

 of soil is left to which, of cooxrse, is 

 added the loose top dressing. 



As the benches by this time are full 

 of roots, about April 1 an extra one-half 

 or three-quarters of an inch of additional 

 fresh soil, one-half manure, will help 

 the plants greatly. Did you ever notice 

 how a top dressing of about a half 

 inch of old cow manure and a half inch 

 of soil helps o^t roses during the hot 

 months? Why shouldn't it he equally 

 as good for carnations? It isn't neces- 

 sary, however, if you have proper ar- 

 rangements for manure watering, as it 

 requires a lot of labor. Still, what are 

 the results unless you put in time? 



The whole thing really simmers down 

 to this, that if watered and fed properly 

 and in time less soil can be used than 

 if the plants are left half the time to 

 ''are for themselvee. One thing is cer- 

 tain, you cannot plant 3%-inch plants 

 in three inches of loose soil, nor is it 

 advisable to plant such stock in four 

 inches of loose soil; iieither can you 

 plant field-grown plants iii soil of that 

 depth unless the soil shakes off the roots 

 pretty well, so that many will have to 

 be guided by outside conditions. If 

 blood and bone, sheep manure, and other 

 good fertilizers are ased, three inches 

 of solid soil is ample. It is surprising 

 how a plant will eat if fed properly. 



I will add that if less than three 

 inches of solid soil is on the benches 

 during May, June, July and August, it 

 will necessitate a lot of extra water- 

 ing. The air itself, with the strong 

 action of the sun, will abstract too much 

 moisture and not leave enough fer the 

 plants. Then even the liquid manure 

 ^11 not be as beneficial as the extra 

 inch of soil, so that, in a general way, 

 I believe each grower has to decide his 

 owTi caae and plant accordingly. 

 , It is well not to have too much soil 

 in winter, as the quicker the bench dries 



out the sweeter the soil will remain. You 

 can go to extremes either way. The 

 watering part alono would decide my 

 case. August Poehlmann. 



I have never experimented with less 

 than foxir inches of soil for growing car- 

 nations, but I coincide with Mir. Baur's 

 opinion that four inches is much better 

 than six inches. Our soil is a trifle 

 heavy and with six inches of it in the 

 benches it will get sour before we are 

 aware of it, especially in the months of 

 November, December and January. 



S. J. GODDARD. 



CARNATION NOTES-EAST. 



Soil and Planting:. 



Nature of soil plays its part in car- 

 nation culture, though I am inclined to 

 think some of us are apt to attach too 

 much importance to this point. Of course 

 we would not choose an extremely sandy 

 soil, or a very heavy clay one, but would 

 prefer a happy medium. 



In visiting different growers throughout 

 the country one finds soils of widely dif- 

 ferent nature, but invariably the careful 

 grower turns out good stock, showing 

 that it is not so much the nature of the 

 soil as it is the nature of the man who 

 studies and prepares it. He must make 

 himself familiar with its whole make-up 

 and decide what is needed to add to its 

 fertility, at the same time improving its 

 mechanical condition if need be. 



A soil may bei ever so fertile and con- 

 tain every element needed in exactly the 

 right proportions, a balanced ration, as it 

 were, and still have a tendency to get 

 into bad mechanical condition through 

 handling and watering. If your soil bears 

 strongly on clay I trust when you rolled 

 up the pile, a good quantity, of horse 

 manure was added and some that was 

 neither fire fanged nor rotted beyond rec- 

 ognition. Soil of a sandy nature needs 

 cow manure rather than that of the horse, 

 but in either case it is advisable to em- 

 ploy both to some extent. 



Remember that air-slaked lime has the 

 property of greatly improving the me- 

 chanical condition of soil, be it clayey or 

 sandy, besides neutralizing any acidity 

 that may occur. Soils having the ten- 

 dency above referred to should be rem- 

 edied before planting or trouble of the 

 chronic kind will result. 



There are those who advocate using the 

 same soil the second year, allowing it to 

 dry out in the benches and adding fresh 

 fertilizers previous to replanting. While 

 fair success has attended my several trials 

 made along this line, I cannot endorse the 

 method; in fact, my opinion has been 

 that owing to our having! an extra depth 

 (ten inches) of soil in the benches tried, 

 this circumstance was the main reason 

 of the degree of success attained. These 

 benches were later reduced to a depth of 

 five inches. 



The advice given to a grower by Mr. 

 Baur and mysdf a year ago against using 

 soil frozen in a house during the late 

 coal strike, proved sound. The grower 

 in question removed the greater part, re- 

 filling with new soil, leaving a small sec- 

 tion of old soil for trial. The result 



showed such a marked difference between 

 plants in fresh soil and) those planted in 

 the trial section that no doubt remained 

 as to the false economy and great risk 

 in using the same soil a second year. 



Good planters, like artists and wat^rers, 

 as Brother Scott says, are born and not 

 made, but the main features are to plant 

 firmly and no deeper than they stood in 

 the field, rather less. 



I have always held that the carnation 

 is not unlike the strawberry in that its 

 roots should be carefully arranged when 

 planted and not dropped into a hole in a 

 tangled mass. To do this properly and 

 handily, dig a hole of good size, forming 

 a mound in the center, on which arrange 

 the roots to radiate in every direction. 

 When covered in with soil and firmly 

 pressed down, every root and its tribu- 

 taries should have good contact with the 

 soil and will cover sufficient area to draw 

 a good food supply. 



Plant in straight rows each way to 

 facilitate putting on supports and culti- 

 vation between the rows. Do not plant 

 too many before watering and in no case 

 soak the soil to the point of saturation. 

 A pint of water applied directly around 

 the stem is sufficient for the first water- 

 ing. Frequent spraying .luring the next 

 few days after planting will assist in the 

 establishment of the plants, at the same 

 time wetting the soil more or less. 



When digging plants in the field do not 

 fail to leave a few to replace those which 

 may die or do not give 7>roniise of doing 

 well. These can be lifted and potted 

 later for use as required. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION NOTES.-WEST. 



Preparations for Planting. 



When you house your plants you 

 should use a good deal of foresight in 

 deciding where you plant the different 

 varieties so that later on you will not 

 be wishing that you had planted 8om.e 

 of the varieties on another bed or in 

 another house. Of course, we cannot 

 tell what conditions may arise a year or 

 six months ahead, but every grower 

 knows that he will want a certain amount 

 of space the next spring for his young 

 stock and he also knows which bed or 

 bench he would prefer for it, and by 

 planting on that space a variety which 

 he can dispense with after January 15 

 he can save himself much worry. Some 

 growers plant without any such fore- 

 thought, depending on some bench or 

 bed to prove unprofitable for space for 

 the young stock. That works all right 

 whenever you happen to have such a 

 bed, but suppose all your beds are in 

 fine shape just when you want the room 

 for the young stock? The plants you ex- 

 pected to discard about that time may 

 be planted on a bed which is not very 

 well suited for the young plants and so 

 you will either have to place them in an 

 inferior position or else throw out a bed 

 of plants which are in good shape and 

 profitable. As I said before, it will 

 pay you well to bear this in mind. 



If your houses are modem you will 

 have no trouble about head room, but 

 many of the older houses have beds too 

 close to the glass to grow many of the 

 varieties. Plant such varieties as Lawson 

 and Glacier where there is the least head- 

 room and such varieties as Loma and 

 Harlowarden where there are at least 

 four feet between the bed and the glass. 

 Then, again, don't plant a short-growing 

 variety on the same bed with a very 

 tall variety ui^ess you use individual 



