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Mabch 23, 1005. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



1003 



ariuB are equally good and will be hard 

 to beat at the coming spring show. Cal- 

 ceolarias and pelargoniums are also 

 promising some startling plants. Some 

 fine acacias were noted in bloom, indu- 

 ing A. pubescens. In the carnation 

 house Etaehantress, Lawson, Flamingo 

 and Sunbird looked well. Batches of 

 cattleyas and other orchids looked ex- 

 tremely well and everything on the place 

 denoted that a good grower was in 

 charge. W. N. Craiq. 



y^etable Forcing. 



Vegetable forcers will be interested 

 in the note on W. W. Eawson's place in 

 the Boston letter in this issue. 



The Chicago market has been heavily 

 supplied with mushrooms this season and 

 returns have not been satisfactory. 

 Stock put up in fancy packages has 

 fared the best. 



At about this season of the year 

 there generally comes an advance in the 

 value of lettuce in the principal mar- 

 kets. At Chicago the price of leaf let- 

 tuce has doubled within a fortnight, due 

 to lighter receipts. 



Forcers of vegetables under glass will 

 gain some idea, from the note on winter 

 market gardening in Texas, published on 

 the Seed Trade pages in this issue, of 

 the competition they are now only begin- 

 ning to feel, for the industry in the 

 south is in its infancy. 



In the New York market there are 

 gathered vegetables from widely sepa- 

 rated sources. For instance, tomatoes 

 art offered from Florida, Cuba, Califor- 

 nia and local greenhouse grown. The 

 latter fetch from 10c to 30c per pound, 

 as against $1 to $4 per carrier for the 

 outdoor product. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, March 22. — Head lettuce, $2 

 to $5 bbl. ; leaf lettuce, 35e to 40c; cu- 

 cumbers, 35c to $1.75 doz.; cauliflower, 

 $2.75 bbl. 



Boston, March 21. — Tomatoes, 50c to 

 60c lb. ; mushrooms, $1 lb. ; radishes, 

 25c doz. bunches; rhubarb, 5c to 6c lb.; 

 cucumbers, $5 to $10 box; lettuce, 50c 

 to $1.75 box of three doz. 



New York, March 20. — Cucumbers, 

 fancy, $1.25 to $1.50 doz.; head lettuce, 

 30c to $1.25 doz.; mushrooms, 25c to 

 65c lb.; radishes, $3 to $4 per 100 

 bunches; tomatoes, 10c to 30c lb. 



CONFINING TOMATO ROOTS. 



The consensus of opinion among toma- 

 to growers is that a certain confinement 

 of the roots of tomato plants is neces- 

 sary to the best development of the crop, 

 but quite a diversity of opinion exists 

 regarding the amount of root space re- 

 quired for each plant. Our experience 

 is that with a depth of six inches of 

 soil, in a space twelve inches square, the 

 plants seem to do better than when more 

 or less root space is given. In this they 

 make a good, free growth without any 

 tendency to grossneas and reach a 

 height of about six feet without any 

 perceptible weakening of the growth. 

 Six truflsea of , fruit can usually^ be set 



The Phoenix after Lowerins; Fifteen Feet. 



on each plant before the above height is 

 reached. 



When we allow more root space than 

 this we find that there is a tendency to 

 grossness of growth, which condition 

 results in more or less trouble with the 

 setting of the fruit, and in the develop- 

 ment of windy or hollow fruits. When 

 rePs root space than above designated is 

 allowed we find that the plants begin 

 to show a weakness of growth after a 

 height of about four feet is reached and 

 although setting freely enough, the fruit 

 never develops so well, nor does it reach 

 the same size as it would when an even 

 strength of growth is maintained. 



The growth could of course be assisted 

 by fertilizers, either in the shape of a 

 top dressing or in liquid form, but it is 

 far preferable to have suflBcient soil to 

 sustain the plants until all growth is 

 practically made and all fruit set before 

 it is necessary to apply fertilizers in 

 any form. These can be more profitably 

 applied as an assistant to the develop- 

 ment of the fruit and the plants will 

 be in better form to utilize them for 

 this purpose than they would be if feed- 

 ing had bepn necessary previous to the 

 completion of growth. W. S. Croydon. 



cess you would need a bottom heat of 

 about 65 degrees and you would require 

 to maintain a moist, humid atmosphere 

 until the sprouts appear, after which 

 more air and a less humid atmosphere 

 will be found better, as a safeguard 

 against the attacks of fungus. 



W. S. Croydon. 



HEATING. 



STARTING SWEET POTATOES. 



Can sweet potato plants be success- 

 fully grown under glass in a greenhouse 

 or is it better to start them outside in 

 an ordinary hotbed f G. W. L. 



The conditions in a hotbed are gener- 

 ally more congenial for the starting of 

 the tubers, but they can be successfully 

 started in a greenhouse. To insure suc- 



I am to build another greenhouse this 

 spring, 20x50 feet. I expect to get a 

 hot water boiler. Would you recommend 

 cast-iron or steel f Soft coal is to be 

 used. How many feet of 4-inch cast-iron 

 pipe will be required to heat this house 

 in weather often below zero? 



G. W. K. 



Cast-iron boilers are undoubtedly 

 somewhat longer-lived than steel boilers 

 under ordinary greenhouse conditions. 

 There are so many good heating boilers 

 now upon the market that one can hardly 

 give an expression or their comparative 

 merits. You should get a boiler of am- 

 ple size. One with a capacity for 600 or 

 800 feet of radiation vrill be more eco- 

 nomical than one too small, particu- 

 larly with soft coal. You do not state 

 the temperature desired, so I have as- 

 sumed 68 to 70 degrees is the probable 

 temperature, in which case your house 

 should be provided with seven 4-inch 

 pipes, or 350 feet. I think you could 

 pipe the house more economically with 2- 

 inch gas pipe if new pipe has to be pur- 

 chased? The first cost of the gas pipe 

 will be slightly less, as it would require 

 640 feet of 2-inch pipe to give the same 

 results, -The fittings and cost of install- 



