AuouST 4, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



465 



Vegetable Forcing. 



A. W. Crane, East Toledo, O., is 

 building a greenhouse 50x300 feet for 

 lettuce and tonaatoes. 



The vegetable growers north of Chi- 

 cago made good money the past season 

 and many of them are enlarging their 

 places this summer. Peter Weber, at 

 Bose Hill, is building seven good sized 

 houses and five are going up at Charles 

 Hengisch's place at Sogers Park. 



MAKING A HOTBED. 



Will you kindly inform me as to the 

 manner and time, also the sort of ma- 

 nure and depth, for making a hotbed for 

 cabbage plants for early spring. 



M. F. O'C. 



The beginning of March is about the 

 best time to make a hotbed for the 

 raising of cabbage plants and similar 

 subjects for spring. It is not advisable 

 to do it much before this, as if the 

 weather was very severe the bed would 

 hardly maintain sufficient heat to carry 

 your plants through. Previous to mak- 

 ing up the bed the material should be 

 gotten together, thoroughly mixed and 

 moistened if dry to insure an even heat. 

 The best material is a mixture of stable 

 litter and leaves. This will give a less 

 violent but more lasting heat than if 

 stable litter alone is used. 



The soil in the frame should be ex- 

 cavated to a depth of about four feet. 

 This space should be filled up with the 

 material, which should be firmly packed. 

 In filling have the material high enough 

 to allow for settling; it will probably 

 settle six or eight inches after it gets 

 thoroughly heated. The sashes should 

 be placed over the frame to keep oflf snow 

 and rains but vented a little top and 

 bottom to allow the steam to escape. 

 After a few days a covering of about 

 two inches of soil should be placed 

 evenly over the heating material to help 

 concentrate the heat. 



It will be too warm to place the seeds 

 in it at first, but a thermometer should 

 be placed in the frame and after the bot- 

 tom heat has receded to about 70 degrees, 

 which will probably be in about eight 

 or ten days, the seeds may safely be 

 sown. The upper temperature can be 

 regulated by air if the weather is mild 

 and by covering over the sash if the 

 weather is severe. A night temperature 

 of about 65 degrees wiU be high enough 

 after the seeds are started; higher than 

 this would make them drawn and 

 weakly. 



I prefer to sow the seeds in flats, using 

 a rather free but not over rich soil. In 

 these they are easier to handle when it 

 comes to the pricking over stage, as the 

 flats can be removed to some building 

 where the priciung over can be done into 

 other flats much easier and with less ex- 

 pense than if they had to be pricked over 

 into the frame during the prevalence of 

 cold, cutting weather. 



W. S, Croydon. 



HuNTsviLLE, Ala, — Gustav Hoffman 

 has just built a new house, 16x54. 



Portland, Me. — J. W. Minott & Son 

 have remodeled a house 170 feet long 

 and built an addition 30x60 feet. 



The Oriental Poppy. 



COPYRIGHT IN NOVELTIES. 



The French Society of Rose Grow- 

 ers has once again started the question 

 of protection for raisers of novelties. 

 This is a matter that has often been 

 discussed without any practical result, 

 some of those most concerned having ex- 

 pressed opposite opinions. The raiser 

 has, to a large extent, control over his 

 own destinies, and if he does not exer- 

 cise it he has no one to blame but him- 

 self. Happily for the world at large, 

 if not for the individual, it is not every 

 one who has the commercial instinct. At 

 the same time every one likes to see 

 merit adequately rewarded, and dislikes 

 fo see others reap the advantage they 

 have not earned. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



INSECT PESTS. 



The grower has need to be endowed 

 with more than the average amount of pa- 

 tience, for no sooner does he have the 

 promise of obtaining an exceptionally 

 good crop than some insect pest puts 

 in an appearance and makes a stren- 

 uous effort to share it with him. The 

 matter of sharing would not, perhaps, 

 be of great consequence, were it not that 

 the pest requires the greater part, and in 

 its endeavors to obtain it completely 

 ruins the crop unless kept in subjection. 



With a full knowledge of the difficulty 

 of dealing promptly with insect attacks, 

 we feel it our duty to point out that how- 

 ever difficult it may be, in the first in- 

 stance, to adopt repressive measures, the 

 difficulty in dealing with insect pests is 

 increased a hundred fold when they are 

 allowed to become established before any- 

 thing is done to check them. The golden 

 rule in all cases is, immediately insect 

 pests make their appearance, to take 

 steps for their eradication. To be in a 

 position to take full advantage of this 

 rule close observation is necessary, and it 

 is not less essential to be provided with a 



stock of the several preparations known 

 to be the most effectual in insect destmc- 

 tion. There should, for instance, be on 

 hand a liberal supply of such things as 

 soft soap, quassia and some form of 

 nicotine ready for use. For the applica- 

 tion of insecticides a spraying machine 

 is most economical and efficient. There 

 should also be at command a liberal sup- 

 ply of soot and lime for the prevention 

 of attacks of snails and slugs, which this 

 season are very plentiful and most de- 

 structive to vegetable crops in their ear- 

 lier stages of development. It should 

 be remembered in this connection that in 

 keeping pests of all kinds in subjection, 

 not only are the present crops saved, but 

 subsequent ones are less likely to suffer 

 damage. — Gardeners ' Magazine. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market 



The week has brought very little 

 change with regard to the staple stock 

 in the market. Roses from old plants 

 have almost disappeared and the receipts 

 of young stock show very little increase. 

 There is still an active demand for the 

 better grade of goods and all clean roses 

 are bringing comparatively good prices. 

 Carnations are scarce. The benches have 

 practically all been cleared and the out- 

 door stock is not much in evidence as 

 yet. What few blooms come in are very 

 poor. The receipts of asters have shown 

 the anticipated increase and there are 

 now large quantities in all wholesale 

 houses. The quality in general is not 

 very good and prices are low in conse- 

 quence. What good stock there is bring* 

 fair money. Receipts of sweet peas are 

 again on the increase, but there is fair 

 sale of this item at moderate prices, as 

 there is very little else which can be used 

 in wedding work. The supplies of aura- 

 tura lilies have increased and gales are 



