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October 27, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



n27 



Harvestiog Field of Onion Seed at Gilroy Farm of G G Morse & G>., Santa Clara* CaL 



Vegetable Forcing. 



TEMPERATURES. 



Will you please let me know through 

 the Eeview at what temperature aspara- 

 gus and rhubarb can be grown in the 

 same house f Could bottom heat be used 

 successfully? Could beans and cauli- 

 flower be grown in one house? 



B. P. T. 



Asparagus requires a rather higher 

 temperature than rhubarb, but if both 

 are to be grown in one house they will 

 •do fairly well at a night temperature of 

 ■60 degrees. 



Beans and cauliflower can both be 

 grown in one house if a night tempera- 

 ture of 55 degrees is maintained. The 

 beans would grow faster at a tempera- 

 ture of 60 degrees, but they will pro- 

 duce just as good a crop at 55 degrees, 

 although the crop would, of course, take 

 j-atber longer to mature. 



W. S. Ceoydon. 



FORCING RHUBARB. 



Before beginning to force this plant 

 It is most essential that it be subjected 

 to suflScient frost so that the clumps will 

 be well frozen through. As it is neces- 

 sary to lift the earliest batch before the 

 frost is strong enough to penetrate to 

 fluffieient depth, the clumps had better be 

 lifted and left on the surface of the 

 ground for a night or two, where 10 to 

 12 degrees of frost will be sufficient to 

 freeze them hard enough. Before the 

 ground freezes too hard, all that are re- 

 quired for the winter supply should be 

 lifted and stored where they can be con- 

 veniently reached when wanted. The 

 clumps can either be placed in some 

 building where it will be likely to freeze 

 and, when covered up, will stay frozen, 

 or piled up outdoors, subjected to just 

 enough frost to freeze them through and 

 then covered up well with straw or lit- 

 ter, so that they will stay just about 

 as they are, neither freezing harder nor 



thawing out. Boards can be placed over 

 the litter to shed the rains, or if these 

 cannot conveniently be had, sufficient 

 soil can be thrown over the pUe to accom- 

 plish the purpose. 



Rhubarb can be forced under green- 

 house benches, but where it is intended 

 to go into the forcing of this subject to 

 any extent, it is better to have a place 

 fixed up for this purpose. A frost-proof 

 cellar with sufficient piping to maintain 

 a temperature of 55 to 60 degrees is an 

 ideal place, light being unnecessary. 



Quite a good deal of soil will adhere 

 to the roots and the clumps should be 

 set together as close as they can be 

 packed. Little covering will be neces- 

 sary, but we use leaf-mold or similar 

 light material to fill up the larger open- 

 ings, so as to retain an equal moisture 

 around the roots. For convenience in 

 watering and picking the crop we place 

 the clumps in beds four feet wide and 

 leave sufficient space for one to walk be- 

 tween the beds. 



Watering and dampening will have to 

 be regulated according to the tendency 

 of the atmosphere of the house. If 

 this dries up rather quickly, frequent 

 sprinkling will be necessary, possibly two 

 or three times a day, as a moist atmos- 

 phere must always be maintained. The 

 roots should be kept moist, but never 

 heavily soaked, and after the growth is 

 well started it can be strengthened by 

 frequent applications of weak liquid ma- 

 nure. 



In the gathering of the crop, experi- 

 ence is necessary to know just when it 

 is at its best. The length will vary with 

 the strength of the crowns. The idea is 

 to get the stalks as long as possible, but 

 yet while they are still crisp and firm, 

 but if pulling is delayed too long they 

 not only become tough and dry, but lose 

 in weight. 



After the best of the crop is gathered 

 it does not pay to wait for the weaker 

 stalks to gather strength, as they never 

 amount to much, and it is best to pull 

 them off and let them go for what they 

 will bring, so that the spent roots can 

 be removed and fresh ones put in the 

 place they occupy. W. S. Croydon. 



Seed Trade News. 



AMFRICAN SEED TRADE ASSOOATION. 



PreB.. C. N. Pare. Des Moines la : First Vlce- 

 Pree., L. L. May. St. Paul; S^-c y and Treas.. C. E. 

 Kendel, Cleveland. The Ztrd annual mpeting 

 will be held on the St. Lawrence, June, 1906. 



A TOUR AMONG CALIFORNIA 

 SEED GROWERS. 



Twenty-five years ago, in the middle 

 west, it was thought that seed not brand- 

 ed with an eastern label was below stand- 

 ard. The few seed stores that our 

 hustling western cities boasted of at that 

 time were hardly more than agencies for 

 eastern houses, and the majority of the 

 market gardeners of these cities sent east 

 for their seeds. Onion seed from New 

 England and other favored points on the 

 Atlantic coast was then considered the 

 only safe stock. California seed was 

 spoken of, but it was the bugbear of the 

 gardener and although a shrewd few of 

 the New England jobbers were "on" 

 that it was all right and did not hesi- 

 tate to secure good lumps of their stock 

 from California, they took good care to 

 brand it with their own eastern label 

 before sending it back to the planters of 

 the Mississippi Valley. It took years to 

 overcome the feeling against California 

 grown seed, not because of any prejudice 

 in the matter, but on account of the 

 well prepared early arguments of the 

 eastern travelers that climatic conditions 

 combined with the inexperience of the 

 California growers precluded the possi- 

 bility of producing a proper article there. 



This is somewhat ancient history, but 

 it will answer the purpose of calling at- 

 tention to the photographic views print- 

 ed herewith. We are indebted to C. C. 

 Morse & Co., Santa Clara, Cal., for the 

 originals of these views. They show parts 

 of the Gilroy seed farm, one of the Cali- 

 fornia ranches of this well known firm, 

 and represent in a fair way the general 

 appearance, at the stated times, of all 

 the seed farms in that great seed-growing 

 section of California that borders on the 

 Pacific coast, from Los Angeles north to 



