1062 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



October 20, 1904. 



of its total mineial substance. Phos- 

 iphoric acid is also a conspicuous element, 

 while potash ranges third. Soda and 

 magnesia come fourth on the list and 

 are nearly equal in their proportions. 

 The element nitrogen forms 2.92 per 

 cent of the organic substance of the 

 plant. 



The chemical composition of the 

 'Chrysanthemum seems to point, therefore, 

 to the requirement of a fairly complete 

 ananure, of which superphosphate or bone 

 imeal should form a prominent part. The 

 ■excellence of any crop does not resolve 

 itself entirely into questions of the kind 

 and amount of manure used. This is 

 particularly true of the chrysanthemum. 

 Consideration must be given to the va- 

 riety of the plant and the character of 

 the cutting. That a weak cutting or 

 variety must receive different treatment 

 JEzem a hardy one is self-evident. 



The physical condition of the soil is 

 rof almost as much moment as its chemi- 

 cal constitution. It is of prime impor- 

 tance that the soil should be porous, in 

 -order that thorough drainage and aera- 

 tion be obtained. For this purpose it is 

 ■well to mix with the soil a certain amount 

 of sharp sand and charcoal, the presence 

 of the latter being particularly desir- 

 able. The nature of the soil, too, gov- 

 •ems the manner of potting. For a 

 flturdy prowth, light soil should be very 

 firmly packed, while heavy soils require 

 only loose packing. 



The question of the feeding of the 

 -chrysanthemum resolves itself into two 

 parts, namely, the nature of the compost 

 and of the subsequent feeding which 

 takes place when the flower-buds appear. 

 It is commonly held that the basis of the 

 compost should' consist of a good fibrous 

 loam. The use of a very heavy clay 



loam brings with it the danger of water- 

 logged roots, while a very light saridy 

 soil permits excessive drainage and con- 

 sequent root starvation. It is prefer- 

 able to err on the side of lightness rather 

 than of heaviness. 



With the loam, well-rotted stable ma- 

 nure may be mixed in various propor- 

 tions, although the ratio of one part ma- 

 nure tcf, three parts loam will probably 

 give, the best results. Horse, cow and 

 sheep ^manure can all be used with good 

 results, but cow manure is usually pre- 

 ferred, as it gives up its fertilizing prop- 

 erties gradually. 



It is often advantageous to add to the 

 compost one part in four of good leaf- 

 mold; with the lighter soils this is par- 

 ticularly desirable, not so much because 

 of any addition of nutrient material, 

 but because of its power of retaining 

 water and plant food. 



Various animal as well as mineral fer- 

 tilizers have frequently been added to 

 the compost, and sometimes even used as 

 substitutes for the stable manure. Ouano 

 has thus been used with good results; 

 so has fish manure and dried blood. A 

 very good practice is to add to every 

 cubic yard (20 bushels) of feompost forty 

 pounds of finely ground bone, which not 

 only serves as a source of phosphoric 

 acid and lime, but also furnishes some 

 nitrogen. Soot also has with advantage 

 been made a part of the compost. This 

 furnishes as much as three per cent ni- 

 trogen, chiefly as sulphate of ammonia, 

 as well as small quantities of phosphoric 

 acid and potash. It may be used at the 

 rate of one to five pounds of soot to 100 

 pounds of the compost. Should the loam 

 be at all deficient in lime, the deficiency 

 should be corrected by the addition of a 

 few haudfuls of slaked lime (two or 



Rambler Rose Helene. 



three pounds) per cubic yard of soil. ' 

 A lack of lime will cause soft stems and 

 flabby leaves. Its importance is shown 

 by the foregoing chemical analysis. 



Nitrate of soda and sulphate of am- 

 monia have been recommended by some 

 growers as a part of the compost. The 

 evidence in favor of this practice is at 

 present insufScient to commend it. It 

 seems an unnecessary addition, with dan- 

 ger of a too concentrated soil solution, 

 and waste of nitrogen through rapid 

 drainage. Excessive concentration of 

 nutrients in the soil solution is more in- 

 jurious than a deficiency, because of the 

 inability of the roots to absorb solutions 

 above a certain degree of concentration. 

 The result is that the plant starves. 

 This fact has been very strikingly shown 

 by some chrysanthemum cultures seen 

 by the writer within the past few weeks. 

 Again, in the presence of an excess of 

 nutrients a good ball of roots is not pro- 

 duced, even though the cencentration of 

 the soil solution is not too great for ab- 

 sorption by the roots; and, further, the 

 roots are not in a condition to take up 

 the subsequent liquid manure. The 

 best plan is to have a moderately rich 

 compost, thereby obtaining healthy roots, 

 stems, and leaves, and then, when flower 

 buds appear, to apply the rich liquid 

 manures. Experiments have shown that 

 nitrate of soda anu sulphate of ammonia 

 may be used as a substitute for stable 

 manure, although not as an addition to 

 it. Still, this does not at present seem 

 practicable, the better plan being to re- 

 serve these for the subsequent feeding as 

 liquid fertilizers. — J. J. Willis, in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. 



THE MARKET FOR MUMS. 



Ed. Keview: — In the market notes of 

 a contemporary I see that a correspond- 

 ent signing himself E. G. G. takes a 

 shot at us in Chicago, saying that we 

 are "blowing our horn" about selling 

 mums at $4 a dozen; he says he wonders 

 if they were not sold to some retail cus- 

 tomer. As my name was mentioned in 

 the news item which provoked this com- 

 ment, I feel that I am privileged to rise 

 to the defense of Chicago. In the first 

 place, we wish to have it understood 

 that we sell to the trade only. The 

 chrysanthemums in question were Mon- 

 rovia, grown by Gunnar Teilmann, 

 Marion, Ind., and Mr. Teilmann has a 

 statement which shows that for thirty- 

 two dozen shipped between September 

 24 and October 3 his gross sales were 

 $127.50, only one dozen of the thirty- 

 two being sold for less than $4, and 

 that brought $3.50. Such customers as 

 Wienhoeber, Smyth, Samuelson, Mangel 

 and Muir bought the stock. Our prices 

 are governed by grade of goods, sup- 

 ply and demand. These mums were all 

 sold to the trade and were worth the 

 money at the time. E. C. Amling. 



RAMBLER ROSE HELENE. 

 The new rambler rose, Helene, is a 

 very strong grower. It originated with 

 Peter Lambert, Trier, Germany, in 1897, 

 and he says of it that it has in one 

 season made several growths four meters 

 (ten feet) long. It is a seedling from an 

 unnamed seedling of Aglaia, crossed 

 with Crimson Rambler. In growth it 

 excels its parent and the flowers are 

 larger in size. Lambert describes the 

 color as clean, soft violet rose. It 

 blooms early and freely, twenty to fifty 

 flowers on a branch. The illustration 

 is from a plant of Helene at the nurs- 

 ery of Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester. 



