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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



November 3, 1904. 



Field of Sweet Peas in Bloom at Gilroy Farm of G C Mone & Co^ Santa Clarat CaL 



Y^etable Forcing. 



RADISHES. 



Successional sowings of radishes 

 should be made, according to demand. 

 "When a continuous supply is to be kept 

 up a sowing will be necessary about 

 every week or ten days, as that is about 

 the length of time a crop will last from 

 the time gathering commences. If the 

 seed is sown thickly the time would be 

 considerably extended, but the result 

 would be a much inferior article. If 

 maturing is delayed through crowding, 

 soft, pithy, badly shaped radishes are 

 invariably the result. 



After making sure that the seed is 

 good or ascertaining just what per- 

 centage can safely be depended on to 

 germinate, the seed should be sown 

 just thick enough so that every individ- 

 ual radish will have room to develop 

 without being crowded. Sown thus the 

 whole crop should mature within a 

 week. Of course there will be a few 

 small ones left but it does not pay to 

 keep the bench waiting for them to 

 mature. Better sacrifice them and put 

 in another succession. 



Before sowing again the soil should 

 be forked over and well broken up and 

 if green fly has made its appearance 

 on the former crop, the surface of the 

 soil had better get a liberal dusting 

 of tobacco powder, which should be 

 left over night to kill any of the pests 

 that may be crawling around. When 

 the soil is forked over next day the 

 powder will necessarily be forked in, 

 but it will not do any harm and will 

 serve as a manure. 



Badishes being a quick maturing 

 crop, and what might be called a light 

 feeder, it is unnecessary to have a 

 heavy, rich soil for them. The lighter 

 and freer the soil is the nicer and 

 cleaner the product will be. A liberal 

 supply of water is necessary, but this 

 has to be regulated according to the 

 lightness or retentiveness of the soil. 

 Begarding temperature, I have found 



45 degrees by night, with a rise of 15 

 degrees by day, the most suitable. A 

 higher temperature will not facilitate 

 matters much, out is sure to be pro- 

 ductive of green fly and other insect 

 pests. 



Although I experimented with sev- 

 eral varieties during the last season I 

 found nothing better suited for forcing 

 than the variety I recommended last 

 year, Non Plus Ultra. This is a very 

 dwarf topped, quick maturing variety, 

 firm fleshed and well flavored. 



W. S. Croydon. 



TOMATOES. 



Please tell us of a good soil compost 

 for tomatoes. To what height do Eclipse, 

 Stirling Castle and Sutton's Best of All 

 grow if planted the first week in Novem- 

 ber? B. P. T. 



In mixing our compost for tomatoes 

 we use three loads of good fibrous sod 

 to one load of partially decomposed ma- 

 nure. This is composted at least six 

 months before being used, and is chopped 

 up and thoroughly mixed just previous 

 to using. 



The varieties of tomatoes mentioned 

 will grow to a height of eight feet or 

 over if trained to a single stem and al- 

 lowed to do so, but the tops can be 

 pinched out and the plants restricted to 

 any height desired over four feet. Un- 

 der this height the plants would be too 

 short to produce a profitable crop. 



W. S. Croydon. 



DATE OF EASTER. 



It is well to not lose sight of the fact 

 that next year Easter is very late, 

 April 23, three weeks later than in 

 1904. 



MOLES. 



I have moles in my lawn and would 

 like to have some one tell me how to 

 get rid of them. I have six mole traps, 

 each guaranteed to do the work, but 

 I cannot get one in them. J. A. B. 



Seed Trade News. 



AMERICAN SEED TRADE ASSOOATION. 



Pre8., 0. N. Pagre, Des Moines. la : First Vlce- 

 Pres., Li. L. May, St. Paul; Secy and Treas., C. E. 

 Kendel, Cleveland. The 23rd annual meeting 

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



A TOUR AMONG CALIFORNIA 

 SEED GROWERS. 



Continuing our tour of inspection 

 north' from Arroyo Grande, the next 

 point of interest is Gilroy. Here is lo- 

 lated an extensive ranch of C. C. Morse 

 & Co., who also have large interests at 

 Santa Clara and "up the river." The 

 test ground of this firm is carried out 

 on a large scale. There is not a va- 

 riety of lettuce but what is known to 

 them by actual test. New varieties of 

 sweet peas and special stocks of gar- 

 den seeds from all parts of the world 

 are tested by experts, and the differ- 

 ence, or no difference, as the case may 

 be, in this stock or that stock is tabu- 

 lated and recorded. Here the synonym 

 is found and the variety classed. The 

 proper information is handed out to 

 any who are considered entitled to it, 

 or kept in a sealed package for future 

 reference. 



The years of observation and experi- 

 ence of this firm place them at the 

 front among California seed growers, 

 and what is not known by them in rela- 

 tion to the business of seed growing in 

 California is hard to find out. Their 

 operations cover the whole field of the 

 standard seeds as grown in California, 

 and their inside label is thought to be 

 as safe a guarantee of the contents of 

 the bag as can be had. 



Six miles south of Gilroy is Sar- 

 gent, where Waldo Rohnert operates. 

 This young man has been quite suc- 

 cessful as a grower. Onion seed, let- 

 tuce, sweet peas, etc., are grown by 

 him in large quantities and the oppor- 

 tunities for branching out are of the 

 best. At the time of the writer's visit 

 to his place he had in addition to his 



