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JUNE 29, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



30J 



Decoration for Lawn FetCt ^ Flowers and Foliage in Trees Being Part of the 'Work of C H. FoXt Philadelphia. 



pans in a pail of water and allow it to 

 soak through from the bottom, rather 

 than watering overhead at this stage. 



As soon as possible to handle the seed- 

 lings, with a piece of pointed stick, they 

 should be pricked off into 5-inch pots, 

 a couple of dozen or so in a pot, using 

 the same light sandy mixture as before 

 and watering with a very fine rose. It 

 is always advisable to prick off about 

 double the number it is intended to 

 grow, as these young plants are very lia- 

 ble to damp off. 



This damping is, I consider, one of 

 the greatest difficulties the cultivator has 

 to contend with, and this is the reason I 

 prefer to prick them off into small pots 

 rather than boxes. You get more 

 chances, for if a box once starts to damp 

 it takes a lot of stopping and you are 

 likely to lose the entire box. If the 

 grower can keep the young seedlings just 

 moving and healthy until the cooler 

 nights of late September and October he 

 will have made a good start. 



When the plants are large enough 

 and nicely rooted they should be .trans- 

 ferred singly to the smallest size pots, 

 still using the same light sandy soil. 

 They must always be placed in a shady 

 position on a moist bottom and have a 

 fine syringing overhead several times a 

 day in hot, bright weather. A mean 

 temperature of from 45 to 50 degrees 

 from now on through the winter will 

 suit them admirably. 



As soon as the small pots are well 

 fijled with roots shift to 3-inch and at 

 jnis stage some well rotted cow manure 

 in the proportion of one-fifth may be 

 mixod with the soil to advantage. Later 

 pottings in January and February may 

 ■^ to 6, 8 and 10-inch pots for the more 

 ^.ig' rous specimens. For the final pot- 

 ting cow manure well rotted in the pro- 

 portion of one-fourth and a good dust- 

 ^^S of bone meal with the soil may be 



Tile worst pest to which these plants 



^'■0 subject is green fly and they should 



"^ Jliven no quarter. It is well to fumi- 



gat. once a week or ten days, when no 



'"^- ulty should be experienced in keep- 



ing them quite clean and healthy. Remem- 

 ber the plants should never be crowded 

 together after potting, but always allow 

 a good space between the pots for a 

 circulation of air, or the lower leaves 

 will quickly damp. When the flower 

 spikes appear they must be neatly staked 

 out and once commencing to flower the 

 collection will probably last in bloom 

 from six weeks to two months, delight- 

 ing all who see Uiem and proving a 

 rich reward to the patient, painstafing 

 cultivator. 



THE YEARBOOK. 



Of the conspicuous successes in the 

 early flood of light reading for summer 

 a leading place must annually be given 

 to the Yearbook of the Department of 

 Agriculture. It is said to enjoy a circu- 

 lation of 500,000 copies. 



The Yearbook for 1904 is just to hand 

 and is a really notable volume of 776 

 pages. It weighs nearly five pounds, but 

 there is nothing "heavy" in its con- 

 tents, for it most thoroughly complies 

 with the act of congress which makes 

 its publication possible. The law says 

 that it "shall contain such reports from 

 the different Bureaus and Divisions, and 

 such papers prepared by their special 

 agents, accompanied by suitable illustra- 

 tions, as shall, in the opinion of the sec- 

 retary, be specially suited to interest 

 and instruct the farmers of the country, 

 and to include a general report of the 

 operations of the Department for their 

 information." It's a big order. No 

 wonder that it costs nearly half a million 

 dollars a year to execute it. 



The present volume includes a general 

 report of the operations of the ''Depart- 

 ment ahd also thirty-one miscellaneous 

 articles, nearly all illustrated and sev- 

 eral with beautiful color plates. These 

 articles cover quite well every phase 

 of agricultural industry and, with the 

 more than 100 pages of tables of crop 

 statistics, constitute the more valuable 

 part of the book. The papers are de- 

 signed to be practical rather than tech- 



nical and to deal with problems of imme- 

 diate rather than remote concern. They 

 cannot but exert a wide influence upon 

 the agriculture of the day. For instance. 

 Prof. Galloway's statement of the possi- 

 bilities in growing crops under glass, 

 given a half million circulation among 

 farmers, will not fail to turn the 

 thoughts of many toward vegetable and 

 flower growing and, while holding out 

 no roseate prospects, yet will in the end 

 doubtless result in quite a number 

 erecting more or less glass. 



For the nurseryman there is an impor- 

 tant article on "Promising New 

 Fruits, ' ' by William A. Taylor, with a 

 number of fine color plates, showing the 

 Bloomfield (Bentley) and the Doctor ap- 

 ples, the latter being thought worthy of 

 a place in a list of new fruits although 

 it was first described in 1804, since which 

 time it has been practically unknown. 

 There are also color plates of the Hoss- 

 ney pear, Millennial grape. Perfection 

 currant, Delmas persimmon and ten va- 

 rieties of pecan. There is also a valuable 

 article on new citrus creations. 



The seedsman will find an interest in 

 tne report on sugar beet seed breeding 

 and other economic plant improvement 

 work. 



The Yearbook may be had for the 

 asking if you address your congressman 

 or your senator. It is worth a great 

 deal more than the trouble it takes to 

 get it and the time it takes to read it. 



EXPANSION OF PIPES. 



The past winter we had some trouble 

 with the expansion in our heating pipes. 

 Our houses are 200 feet long and we 

 use 1-inch pipe for heating. The ex- 

 pansion is so great that it throws the 

 pipe off the hooks. Would expansion 

 joints help ust If so, where should we 

 place them, at the end or the middle of 

 the runs? We use steam. T. W, C. 



I do not think it necessary to use 

 expansion joints with 1-inch pipes, even 

 in runs as long as those you employ. If 



