■ '"" f* i»V^ ,■" -' '. * 'tj" * V' 



W^'»t^- 



930 



TfeeWeckly Florists^ Review* 



SiSPsmuBBB 14, 1005. 



in regard to taxes on plants iu green- 

 houses. All whom we have heard from 

 say that growing crops ara not taxable, 

 but our tax inquisitors say that we shall 

 have to pay taxes, as they claim that 

 almost everything we have is in shape to 

 sell. We want to do what is right but 

 we understand that others refuse to pay 

 and will take the matter into court. 

 If they make us all pay in our town 

 we are all on an even footing, but other 

 towns would have an advantage of us 

 if they are not taxed, too. We should 

 like to hear from florists in several 

 states as to what the practice is as to 

 assessing personal taxes on the stock 

 growing in the greenhouses. W. B. 



Hydrocyanic Gas. 



In the Review of August 31 inquiry 

 was made as to the efficiency of hydro- 

 cyanic acid gas in the destruction of 

 white fly. In the early part of the 

 spring we had occasion to fumigate five 

 houses, planted principally to tomatoes, 

 which were badly affected with white 

 fly. The quantity used was five ounces 

 of potassium cyanide, one quart of sul- 

 phuric acid and one quart of water to 

 every 4,000 cubic feet of air space. The 

 result was a complete annihilation of all 

 insect life, together with a considerable 

 burning of all plants in the houses. 



It would seem peculiar that the gen- 

 tleman making the enquiry should have 

 used the generally accepted formula with 

 no results, as we simply doubled the 

 amount of cyanide to twice the usual 

 amount of air space. The temperature 

 in the houses at the time of operation 

 was 65 degrees. The resulting gas was 

 too strong for the foliage, as shown 

 next morning on carnations, smilax, 

 mums and even on tomatoes. 



We would suggest to the enquirer that 

 before again making use of this very 

 efficient fumigant he personally attend 

 to all leakages in his glass, upon which 

 we think the gentleman will admit with 

 us that hydrocyanic acid gas is the only 

 remedy for white fly. C. H. Janzen. 



Vegetable Forcing. 



MAKING MUSHROOM BEDS. 



When the material has been put into 

 proper condition, the first thing is the 

 making up of the mushroom beds. To 

 insure proper and even firming the best 

 way is to spread a layer of the material 

 about three inches thick, evenly over 

 the bottom of the bed. Beat this mod- 

 erately firm; then add another layer of 

 about the same thickness, and so on 

 until the desired depth has been at- 

 tained. There is considerable diversity 

 of opinion regarding the best depth to 

 make the bed. Some prefer eight inches, 

 but we invariably make the beds twelve 

 inches deep and find by doing so that 

 the larger body of material is not so apt 

 to lose heat quickly and the beds con- 

 tinue to bear longer. Of course a good 

 deal depends on the facilities at hand. 

 With a properly equipped, well-heated 

 mushroom house a depth of eight inches 

 would be all right, but when the tem- 

 perature is apt to run a little low the 

 extra body of material is a big advan- 

 tage. The only advantage in the shallow 

 bed is that less material is needed, which 

 in cases where this is hard to procure is 



a matter that must be taken into con- 

 sideration. 



We have seen good mushrooms grown 

 in frost-proof cellars with no other heat 

 than that given by the manure, but in 

 this case the beds were made two feet 

 thick and were well covered -with straw. 

 The manure that was being collected for 

 making up other beds was brought in 

 and dumped on the cellar floor. Here 

 the manure was kept turned over until 

 it was in the proper condition, but while 

 turning was going on it was necessary 

 to open the cellar windows far enough to 

 let out the rank steam. The heat given 

 off from this was sufficient to maintain 

 a temperature of from 45 to 50 degrees, 

 even in cold weather. This temperature 

 made growth necessarily slow and 

 through the coldest part of winter not 

 many mushrooms were pulled from the 

 beds, but in fall and spring a splendid 

 crop was harvested. They did well up 

 to the end of December but slacked off 

 from that time until the beginning of 

 March. The party who grew the mush- 

 rooms only rented the cellar from year to 



NOTE 



The Bditor Is pleased 

 when a Beader 

 presents his Ideas 

 on any subject treated 

 In the BBVXEW. As 

 experience is the best 

 teacher, so do we 

 learn fastest by an 

 exohang^e of experiences. 

 Many valuable points 

 are brought out 

 by discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and gr&m- 

 mar, though desirable, are not neces- 

 sary. Write as you would talk when 

 doing your best. 



WB 5HALL BE QLAD 

 TO HEAR PROM YOU. 



year, but with a cellar like this, where 

 it is intended to make a permanent busi- 

 ness of mushroom culture, it would pay 

 to install a heating plant. 



W. S. Croydon. 



LIGHT IN CUCUMBER HOUSES. 



Among cucumber growers in certain 

 localities of Massachusetts, there is and 

 has been for many years a practice of 

 double roofing as a means of keeping out 

 the cold and economizing in fuel. In 

 this method of construction, pieces of 

 moulding are fastened to the inside of 

 the sash bars which constitute the roof 

 and sides of the house, these holding in 

 place a second layer of glass. This 

 forms a double roof and sides to the 

 house, with a l^^-inch or 2-inch air space 

 between. Some constructors do not carry 

 the double roofing to the ridge, but stop 

 about one-half or two-thirds of the way 

 up, thus leaving the upper part of the 

 roof near the riuge with a single layer 

 of glass, while the lower part is provided 

 with two layers. Certain growers who 

 make use of this plan maintain that it is 

 impossible to grow plants in any other 

 way, while others cannot be induced to 

 use it. 



We have observed a great many crops 



of cucumbers grown under both of these 

 methods of construction with marked dif- 

 ferences in results. The objection to the 

 double roof system is the collection of 

 moisture and dust, which shuts out the 

 light, and we have observed more than 

 once houses constructed in this manner 

 which it was almost impossible to see 

 through. The double roof system is also 

 costly, the glass becomes more readily 

 corroded, and, while it may keep out a 

 certain amount of cold, the advantage is, 

 according to our observation, not so 

 great as that which would result from 

 differences in exposure or from the use 

 of an economical boiler. 



Cucumbers are especially susceptible to 

 light and even under the most favorable 

 conditions in our latitude they not infre- 

 quently suffer from the want of it during 

 the winter months. From November to 

 February they should receive all the light 

 possible, not only for their foliage, but 

 for their fruit; and any method in the 

 construction of greenhouses for cucum- 

 bers which fails to take this factor into 

 consideration is radically wrong. We 

 have seen many instances in double glass 

 houses where the plants were unhealthy 

 from the lack of light. Their leaves 

 possessed no texture nor healthy green 

 color, their petioles were small and elon- 

 gated, their fruit stunted in its growth 

 and lacked color, and the plant 's degree 

 of maturity is not what it would be if 

 grown under better light conditions. We 

 have seen instances in cucumber houses 

 where plants which had been shaded for 

 a few hours each day Dy some adjoining 

 building showed a loss of fifty per cent 

 in maturity. — Bulletin of Hatch Experi- 

 ment Station. 



VEGETABLE FORCERS. 



The Review will appreciate the cour- 

 tesy of its readers if they will send us 

 the names and addresses of those in their 

 vicinity who are growing vegetables un- 

 der glass. 



A WISCONSIN PLACE, 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph of the establishment of 

 Liouis Otto, at Neenah, Wis., where he 

 does a good trade. The town is small, 

 having a population of only 5,954 by the 

 last census, but it is a prosperous com- 

 munity and all business there is thriv- 

 ing. Mr. Otto has about 7,000 feet of 

 glass and grows a general stock, for he 

 does a large cemetery trade. One of 

 his difficulties was a satisfactory water 

 supply until he put in a Diamond wind- 

 mill, supplied by the Temple Pump Co., 

 17 West Fifteenth place, Chicago, which 

 gives him a very satisfactory supply 

 from his own well. 



NEW YORK. 



The Market 



A good frost would do more than any 

 other influence to put life into the mar- 

 ket. Saturday aaw some improvement, 

 the premonitory symptoms of a perma- 

 nent revival. Stock is less in quantity 

 and though prices do not advance they 

 hold steady and there is little left when 

 the day eJoses. 



Boses are of good quality. Brides and 

 Maids have commanded $4 per hundred 

 at times and Beauties occasionally rise to 

 $20, but there are plenty of them all the 

 way down to $1 a hundred. Carnations 

 are still limited in supply. Asters, good 



