820 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



AuousT 31, 1905. 



purpose of jircvcnfivc trcattiu'iif . Illus- 

 tratioiis wtri' yivoii sliowiii^ tlit- rllcct of 

 soil trcatiiii'iit with a weak solution of 

 I'orrnaliti ari<l it was poiiitcil out that in 

 badiv iiifcstfij hi'ils t icaliMcnt with a 

 OHO JKT cent sohition nf focinalin hail 

 hcen (piite snceessful. Attention was also 

 called to the \arious diseases of otlier 

 crops, such as the sj)ot disease of the 

 violet, and jnethods of jire\ cnt ion ; alse 

 the bud nematode and tL- root-knot dis 

 oasi' of \ioiels, and other niaiadies a f - 

 I'octiny this i roji. The bacterial disease 

 of calla lilies was also illustrated. Ii 

 was shown how this disease atfects the 

 llowor and the leaf stalks, causinj^ both 

 to rot awav. ( )ne ot' tlie olhcei's ot' the 

 l)ure;ni, l>i. Townsend, h.as made ;in in- 

 vestigation nt' tliis disease and published 

 a bullelill on the subject, sliowiny liciw 

 the disease is caused and how it may be 

 prexcnted. 'I'lie speaker stated that in a 

 short lecture such as hi^ was ^i\ing it 

 ■was impr.act icable to ^o into detiiils, but 

 thai iniMications on the subiect i\\' plant 

 disi'ases can be obt.ained b\- ;iddressiu<'' 

 the Dep.'iituHiit. 



The speaker stated that the llorisis 

 would ])r(d)ably be interested, indirectly 

 at least, in the work recently conducteil 

 by the buicau in connection with the 

 growini,' of mushrooms from pure spawn. 

 This work had been inau<rurated under 

 Albert J'". Woods, in charye of vejjetable 

 patholo<,ncal ami physiolof^ical iiivesti^ra- 

 tions, throujili Dr. ]•?. M. Ducrgar, form- 

 erly a member of the bureau staff but 

 ju)w coniu'cted with the .Missouri State 

 University. J)r. J)u^'<far's assistant, Mr. 

 Perguson, has been (piite successful in de- 

 velopiny methods for the growing of 

 niuslirooms frcun ])ui».' spawn. Jllustra- 

 tions were given showing the laboratory 

 methods followed in develoi)ing the 

 spawii, how the spawn is specially select- 

 ed, and it was sliown how the same 

 rules which govern the scdection of seetl 

 from ideal plants can be apj)lied to mush- 

 room cnlture. Illustrations were also 

 given of the methods of making brick 

 spawn .and cd' mushroom establishments 

 in which the pure sjiawn is used. 



The speaker then took up the ^vol•k on 

 bulbs, stating that for the past two years 

 the Dejiaitment h.as had a bulb garden in 

 wliich lia\e ixcii tested all t ho Anu'rican- 

 grown bullis tii.-it could be obbaiiu'd, ami 

 that some (it' tin.' Ameiican-grow n nar- 

 cissi ha\f proved \i'ry satisfactory. ]Ie 

 stated that the lOmjieror is one of the 

 best th.at jkinc thus far lieeii trieil and 

 that the (iolden Spur is also very fine. 

 He also mentioneii tiie lU'W j'h ir.'i va- 

 riety, said In be a crtiss bi'tween Narcis- 

 sus poeticns ornatus .and polyanthus va- 

 rieties, slating tiiat it i-^ perfectly hardy 

 and makes a magnificent cut llowei' ami 

 that it forces well, l.a-t \iar imu'e than 

 L'r),00() bulbs of all kinij^ weu' pl.anled in 

 the l)ejiartment tii'il ;jriMin<is. The 

 sjK'aker ;ilso mentioi..''d the lad that a 

 iini(jue di>|)lay ni' all clas^e-^ and varieties 

 of gladioli hnil been planned for this 

 year but liiat unfurl unalcl\ the \\eatli<'i' 

 conditions h.-ul been uiilavoiable ami 

 these etl'orl^ h.ad not in't witli sni-cess. 



The >|.r;ike|- abu stale, I ili:it the nieui- 

 bers of the Sdiiely 1 1 1' Airieiicnn llmisl-- 

 as VNt.'ll as the Anieri'-aii I 'cony .*>ociety 

 would prnliaMy !"• interested in the work 

 of the bur-can in tlie ilirect inn ot' otab- 

 lishiirg slandard \aiiel\ rolled imi'.: ol' 

 peony collections. He slated that l.asi 

 year 100 varieties were e-tabli^hed nn tie 

 Ailington ivvper-inrenlal I'arrn ot' tln' I 'e 

 partnient of Agriculture and that this 

 year L'oi) \ar-ieties ha\e been ordeicil, so 

 that in a few year's the 1 »e|iartnieiit will 



have a vei'v iirteresting and valuable col- 

 lection (d" jK'ony varieties. 



Illustrati(nis Were givei\ of the bulb 

 ] da II tings of the Department and also 

 of the l)ulb gai-dens of the I'uget Sound 

 lecion, and in California, North Caro- 

 liim and \ir-inia. All these gardens 

 weic \i^ited recently Viy Mr. Oliver and 

 were fount! to l>e doing well. Some of 

 the views of fields of hyacinths and nar- 

 cissi in full blo(Uu were especially inter- 

 est ing. 



The speaker stated that probably most 

 of the florists were more or less familiar 

 with the work Ihat Mi'. Oliver is doing 

 on irni>i-ovi!ig the lily, but that it might 

 be well to call attention to this work 

 anew and to point out some of the recent 

 developments. Some important work is 

 now umler wav in the matter of growing 

 new hybriil lilies. The jiossibility of 

 orowing lilies c(unnu'rcially from seed is 

 believed to have been demonstrated. 11- 

 luslrat i<uis were given showing lilies with 

 ten or twelve flowers grown in fourteen 

 nmnths from seetl. Publications of the 

 bureau bearing lUi the subject were re- 

 ferred to from wliicii those interested 

 could obtain full data. 



Another special feature of the work 

 under glass mentioned l>y the speaker is 

 the attempt to produce new types of let- 

 tuce by crossing. This work has been 

 carried on for two years or more with 

 very favorable results. Many successful 

 crosses have been made by Mr. Oliver and 

 the resultant plants are in many cases 

 showirrg features of considerable prom- 

 ise. More than (i.OOO plants were grown 

 the iiast summer on the ])e))artment 

 yronmls for the jmrpose of eliminating 

 bv selection certaiir undesirable (lualities 

 of the new lyjies. The object of all this 

 W(uk is to secur-e types better adapted 

 for growth under glass. Tiic Si)eaker 

 staled that for a number f)f years lie 

 had been interested in lettuce and in 

 eiowing it h.-id eirdeavoi'cd as accurately 

 a< possible to determine the weak points 

 of tlie dilVerent varieties as well as their 

 strong jioints. ^Vith the knowledge ac- 

 (juir-ed in this way ci'rtain ideals were 

 foriiiulated .and the main object of this 

 work wiis to see if those ideals could not 

 be secured by bi-inging together types in 

 wliich certain of the ideal elements wci'e 

 ])resent. Tlie ideal elements which in 

 the judgment of the speaker were essen- 

 tial wcr<' pointed out and discu'.;sed. It 

 was stated that further selection work 

 \\as necessaiy before seed could be dis- 

 tributed, but as soon as it was ri'ady it 

 would be sent out to those interested in 

 t lie ^iiiw ing of this cro|i. 



Tlie s|peaker' dwell at Some leriLitli fui 

 the fact /pist stated, namely, that the ef- 

 forts of the Deparlmeiit wei-e wholly in 

 the dii'ection (d' aiding the lloiists and 

 hoiliciiltni-ivts ill e\ci'\- way within il< 

 powei' and thai im (liscr'iminal ion what 

 e\ei- Would be iiiadi' ill sending out ma- 

 terial wherever- -iii-li material was thought 

 to gi\ e pr-omise of \ nine. 



Alteiilioii was aUo called to otliei' lim-^ 

 of pl.ant Inenl iiil: v\ork. riio-.tly conducted 

 bv Ml'. <i|i\ci-. b'o^ev. rlnnalis. and s \- 

 cral oihci- oinanieiilal crops wei-e in. n- 



tiolled in thi- colinert ioll. 



The s[ii aker- con. -hided his aijdress b\- 

 relei-rinL; to some ot' the newer plants in 

 which I he llorisis and horticulturists a r'e 

 either' diriTils or- iinlirei-tiy intei-ested. 



Special allirition was calleij to the (toll 



lion ot' spineless ca.-ti now being brou;^ht 

 together' tor the ].ui-pose of d ist I'i bill ion 

 in the West with ,'i \ ieu to improving foi'- 

 ;ige conditions. Mention was .also made 

 ot' a nnnil.i'i- ot' tropical ami semi tropical 



plants, such as the mango and mango- 

 steen, which are being grown, propagated 

 and developed under Mr. Oliver's direc- 

 tion with a view to introducing these 

 crops more extensively into Florida. At- 

 tention was also called to a number of 

 other new or rare plants which are still 

 under investigatioir and which it was 

 stated would be disseminated later if 

 they were found to be of value. 



Vegetable Forcing. 



BEDS FOR LETTUCE. 



i am jdannirrg to build a greenhouse to 

 be used for vegetable forcing, particu- 

 larly lt>ttuce, and would like a little in- 

 formatioir regai'ding solid beds. i\ly land 

 is quite high, the subsoil, a retentive clay 

 with occasional streaks of sand; the soil 

 a sandy loam, and lies in such a position 

 that, when jiroperly graded, it will not 

 reipiire tile drainage. If 1 make my 

 solid beds so that the surface will be one 

 foot above the walks, will it be neces- 

 sary to use cinders for drainage? If so, 

 about how irruch would vou advise? 

 ' W. K. 



Your location and soil formation are 

 all right for growing lettuce without the 

 use of drainage in any shape or form. 

 It is all the better to raise the beds 

 so that the surface will be one foot above 

 the walks; it makes them much easier 

 to reach. There is no need to use cinders; 

 the lettuce will succeed better without 

 them; they would only obstruct capillary 

 attraction and rob your plants of the 

 advantage of underground moisture. IJn- 

 der certain conditions they might be 

 necessary, but not in your case seeing 

 that your elevation is high enough that 

 your soil can be graded to insure against 

 subterranean water being stagnant near 

 the surface. The ntiture of your surface 

 soil being sandy, corrsiderable nu)isture 

 will be lost by evaporation, but the heavy 

 subsoil, being more retentive, will have 

 the advantage of rcttiiiring moisture 

 enough to support your jdants without 

 the too freoireiit application of water, 

 and this iir the dull, short days of win- 

 ter ytui will find to be a great benefit in 

 the prevent iiMi ol' fungus diseirses. 



W. S. Ci;<ivi)<).\. 



PARSLEY. 



Fi'om ]iarsley seed sown in .Tnly the 

 jilants sliould by this time lie pretty 

 well up, ami il they have come up 

 thickly this is a good time to thirr them 

 out. They do not iiee.l to be thinned 

 out t) single plants, as they can be 

 lifte.l in clurni s, but if they are too 

 tliii'k the r'oots wonhl b.' so small ami 

 weak al lining lime that it would 

 take them a lon^ time to |iro.lu.e foliaec 

 large eiKuigli to le lit t'oi- mai-kei, and 

 tli{> chances ;ire tliat ihey woiil.l ne\-(r 

 j.roiliue a first-class arti. le. It' ihinired 

 (urt so th.Mt tlicy can be lifte.l about 

 three plants to a cbimp tlie\- ^ive the 

 most sal isf a.-t orv results, as e:i.-h indi- 

 viilual ha- a ctiairce to frdiv .|e\elop. 

 Some pr'.'oli<'e the sinule-pla nt system, 

 but from these, although the |uoi|irct 

 can be relied .iir to be lir'st -class, with 

 go, 1.1 .liltival hui, the returns at the end 

 of the season gener;illy fall short, .'is 

 parsley is one of ihe tliiii...s ih •• .• 

 not wante.l too harge. Three average- 

 si/,e leaxi's are jireferable to one large 

 one. 



