900 



The Weejdy Florists^ Review. 



Septembeb 29, 1904. 



y^etable Forcing. 



TOMATOES. 



Plants uuder way should be kept grow- 

 ing freely. If stunted now fox want 

 of pot room, or checked by any other 

 means, it will mean loss of time and 

 considerable trouble may be experienced 

 in getting them back into a free-growing, 

 healthy condition. They should be kept 

 fully exposed to light and erowdihg 

 should be guarded against, so that the 

 plants will not become "drawn. The more 

 compact ana stocky the plants can be kept 

 the quicker they will flower and set fruit 

 after they are planted in the benched. 

 Plants that are drawn and weakly for 

 want of sufficient light and space in the '■ 

 earlier stages of their growth will usu- 

 ally be bare of fruit for nearly two feet 

 up from the soil. 



Much diversity of opinion exists re- 

 garding the distance at which the plants' 

 should be set in the benches. Some con- 

 tend that where two square feet bench 

 space is allowed per plant they giye the 

 largest yield for the total space occu- 

 pied, but I prefer to allow two and a 

 half feet and consider that the larger 

 yield per plant, and the better fruit re- 

 sulting, amply makes up for the slight 

 loss in weight of yield. 



Last year a query appeared in th6 

 Review regarding windy or hollow to- 

 matoes. At the time I said that the 

 trouble was new to me and was inclined 

 to lay the cause to the variety grown 

 being unsuitable for forcing. Other 

 writers gave their experience and seemed 

 to think that too much root room was a 

 cause. The confining of the roots will, 

 of course, induce a firmer growth in the 

 plants, which firmness will naturally be 

 imparted to the fruits. The freedom 

 from this disease in our own case is 

 probably due to the fact that we have 

 always confined the roots to a limited 

 space. 



The mid-winter crop we grow in a 

 house fitted with raised benches and it 

 is more convenient for us' to set the 

 plants in boxes than to have the trouble 

 of filling the benches and emptying them 

 for the one crop. Our boxes are one 

 foot wide, nine inches deep and thirty 

 inches long. In each we grow three plants 

 and have always obtained satisfactory 

 results. If anyone troubled with windy 

 or hollow fruits will try this or some 

 other means of confining the roots I 

 think that he will find that little or no 

 trouble will be had. 



In substantiation of the soft growth 

 theory as the cause of windy or hollow 

 fruit, I have observed that this summer 



quite a few of the outdoor tomatoes have 

 been affected in this way and that' the 

 trouble was most apparent after pro- 

 tracted spells of dull, damp weather, 

 such weather naturally inducing soft 

 growth in the plants. W. S. Cboydon. 



SEASONABLE WORK. 



The time of year has again arrived 

 for most violet growers, when you have 

 to exercise greater care in watering, 

 not to overdo it, than you have had to 

 exercise for the past month or so, as 

 from now on you can never tell how 

 quickly you may have a change in 

 weather from these beautiful warm days 

 to several days of cold rain. For this 

 reason the watering should be done early 

 in the day, and very thoroughly, on 

 a day that promiq|ps to be bright and 

 fair. Then do not water again until 

 tb6 plants are rather on the dry side. 



For the very reason that you are not 

 watering as freely as heretofore, you 

 will have to observe renewed vigilance 

 in watching for that subtle enemy, the 

 red spider, lest h© succeed in acquiring 

 a foothold and the weather become 

 such that you will not be able to syringe 

 freely enough to eradicate him, to the 

 detriment of your future crop and the 

 ruination of the leaves, thus not only 

 hurting the lungs of the plants, but also 

 causing a deficiency of foliage for prop- 

 erly bunching the blooms when you 

 commence to pick. Therefore, once or 

 twice a week, when watering, be sure 

 and spray the plants from underneath 

 from all fides and thus destroy any be- 

 ginning of the pests. As I have before 

 said, this should be done on a bright 

 day, that thev may soon dry off. 



Another thing that should be aimed 

 at is to firm up the growth from this 

 time forward. Naturally the plants 

 have made a comparatively rank, soft 

 growth during the warm weather, and 

 this would be more susceptible to disease 

 of any kind were the conditions such 

 as to check growth. Consequently strive 

 to hav? the growth as hard and firm as 

 is possible, although T do not mean by 

 this to in any way stunt it. 



The ventilation will also begin to have 

 to be more closelv attended to, but do 



not make the error of closing up at 

 all until you are sure of a good hard 

 frost. Give all the air that is possible, 

 both day and night, as this is one of 

 your best aids in getting that stocky, 

 hard growth. When you do get up to a 

 night that you have to fire a little, be 

 sure and leave your ventilators up four 

 to six inches. 



Do not forget to spread your feast of 

 Paris green and sugar for the delecta- 

 tion of the sow bugs and centipedes, 

 yes, and stray snails, that may be travel- 

 ing about seeking what they may de- 

 vour. You also have to watch out for. 

 aphides. Dust the plant over with to- 

 bacco dust and to get the dust where 

 it is effective you will have to hold 

 apart the leaves so as to get the dust 

 on the crown and young new growth 

 where the aphides love to .congregate. 

 Do not leave this on over two or three 

 hours and thiem wash off thoroughly 

 with the spray. 



And right here I might say that if 

 you wonder what to use as a duster, you 

 can take any good -sized tin can and 

 punch the bottom full of holes with a 

 shingle nail. This will prove equally as 

 good as a more costly sifter and is 

 easily obtained. Dusting is one of the 

 jobs that must be thoroughly done and 

 should not be left to "the boy" but 

 looked after personally, that the aphides 

 may get no foothold, as it is surely 

 "good-bye crop" if they do. 



Then there are those ever present jobs 

 that are never done, picking off the old 

 leaves, trimming off the runners, stir- 

 ring the top soil and generally keeping 

 them in the finest of condition. It is 

 well to keep the buds off for some time 

 yet, excepting, of course, with anyone 

 who has a special demand and trade 

 calling for early flowers; otherwise the 

 strength of the plant is better conserved 

 for the holiday crop, which it is the 

 aspiration of every grower to have as 

 large as possible. E. E. Shuphelt. 



GLADIOLI AT ST. LOUIS. 



As at the Pan-American Exposition, 

 so at the St. Louis World's Fair, in 

 the Horticulture building, the chief 

 autumnal attraction in the cut flower de- 

 partment is the gladiolus exhibit from 

 Meadowvale farm, Berlin, N. Y., con- 

 sisting of 725 vases containing 8,000 

 spikes. The principal strains shown are 

 the Groff's hybrids in their several sec- 

 tions. The arrangement on circular 

 shelves between which are mirrors, in- 

 creases the attractiveness of the exhibit 

 and is a credit to Mr. Cowee. All of 

 the material used in constructing the 

 rustic booth in the center, as well as the 

 outside circle, came from Meadowvale 

 farm. 



Weekly shipments are made from the 



Arthur G)wee's Exhibit of Gladioli in the Horticulture Building, St. Louis World's Fair, 



