.^''''swrrw*- 



982 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



Skptkmbeb 21, 1905, 



have had the finest foliage, free from 

 rust, of any previous year. 



I have grown one house of gardenias* 

 One-half I fed in my usual manner and 

 one-half with Bonora. The Bonpra far 

 surpasses anything I have previously 

 used. 



THE READERS' CORNER. 



Taxes on Greenhouse Stock. 



In answer to "W. B.," page 930 of 

 a recent issue of the Kevikw, I would 

 state that years ago the tax assessor 



taxed my growing crop as an additional 

 value ■ of real estate. I objected and 

 went before the county commissioners. 

 The judge of probate took the same 

 view I did, that all plants, shrubs and 

 trees belong to my growing crop, the 

 same as corn and cotton of a farmer. 

 It does not make any difference if the 

 crop will mature in five months or five 

 years; the principle is the same. I did 

 not have an attorney; I simply repre- 

 sented myself. The result was that my 

 growing crop was not taxeu. The state 

 law does not permit this. 



Alabama. F. J. Ulbeicht. 



FEEDING ROSES. 



This is my second year with roses 

 and I have a small house half filled 

 with young plants and half with carried- 

 over ones, both of which are in good 

 condition. What I want to know is as 

 to the feeding of them for the entire 

 season, considering them always to be 

 in a normal condition. When shall I 

 mulch, give bone, wood ashes, liquid 

 manure. Clay's fertilizer, nitrate of 

 soda, and how much per hundred square 

 feet of bench? I am thinking more of 

 the best results than of any necessary 

 trouble or expense. F. D. B. 



In regard to feeding of roses, this is 

 a matter which is very much abused 

 and there is far more harm done by 

 overfeeding than by no feeding at all. 



Young rose stock, if the soil were in 

 any way suitable and composted in 

 the manner so frequently advocated in 

 these columns, should require no feeding 

 for some time to come. Carried-over 

 stock can be given a light feeding when 

 the young fiower stems are from four 

 to eight inches in length, but this should 

 be discontinued before the crop is ready 

 to cut and repeated when the next 

 crop is in the same stage. Feeding 

 during dark weather is not advisable. 



Referring to the quality of food, this 

 much depends on the relative quality 

 of the soil used. Heavy clay soils re- 

 quire quite different feeding matter 

 from light, friable or sandy soil. 



Mulching should be applied when 

 surface cultivation can no longer be 

 practiced without injuring the roots, 

 but this mulch should be light, so as 

 not to exclude the sun's rays from the 

 surface of the soil. As barnyard ma- 

 nure contains most of the elements nec- 

 essary and in nearly the proper propor- 

 tions, it is, if partly decomposed, the 

 safest for this purpose, as it contains 



few of those caustic properties so preva- 

 lent in chemical preparations. If mixed 

 with one-third of its bulk of good loam 

 it retains its nutritive properties for a 

 longer period and does not wash so 

 easily on the bench. 



Bone can be added to this compost 

 with benefit in the proportion of a 

 5-ineh potful to each bushel of compost. 



Bone and lime or bone and wood ashes 

 should never be used in combination, as 



this releases more ammonia than the 

 rose has use for and is apt to make the- 

 plants drop their leaves. 



Wood ashes, being a very concen- 

 trated form of food, require to be used 

 with great caution and unless satisfac- 

 tory evidence that such food is neces- 

 sary is apparent, it is safe to do with- 

 out it, as it is safe only in the hands^ 

 of an expert. 



Clay's fertilizer, nitrate of soda and 

 many other chemical preparations,, 

 though they all possess their merits, be- 

 long to the same category and should 

 only be used when absolutely needed, 

 and it requires an expert to find this 

 out, and the proper stage at which to 

 apply them. In the hands of the less; 

 experienced they are a source of danger. 



Liquid feeding for young stock can 

 be made from fresh cow manure put 

 into a tank with sufficient water to 

 start fermentation; then drained off 

 and reduced with water until it looks 

 like beer in color. One application per 

 week during bright weather, vvhile the 

 crops are forming, will be sufficient. An 

 addition of one gallon of ammonia to 

 each sixty gallons of water will benefit 

 the roses and foliage, but for a first ap- 

 plication, if the plants are not very 

 strong, a less quantity would suffice. 



It is always safe to be conservative- 

 in applying liquid food during the 

 short days, when root action is slow, 

 and safer still to depend more on the 

 natural product from the barn than to- 

 resort to concentrated forms of food. 

 When these are used it pays to use 

 them in small quantities first and note- 

 the effect. If the results are satisfac- 

 tory the strength can be increased as 

 the plants get stronger and the day» 

 get longer. Ribes. 



CARNATION NOTES.— VEST. 



Seasonable Culture. 



By this time your carnation plants are 

 pretty well established and you have got 

 rid of all the weeds. Syringing can be 

 dispensed with, except what is needed to 

 keep down red spider. If you stirred 

 the soil each time you weeded, it will be 

 in nice growing condition. If you have 

 some old stable manure it will do them 

 gocd to spread over the soil about a half 

 inch of it. This is not for the food 

 there might be in it, but it will prevent 

 the soil from drying out in spots during 

 these bright autumn days. Better put 

 this on before you put the supports in 

 place, whatever kind they may be. 



If you did not mix any bone into the 

 soil before planting, and many growers 

 prefer to wait until the plants are estab- 

 lished, this is a good time to do it. Stir 

 it. into the soil before putting on the 

 mulch, or mix it into the mulch, if you 

 prefer. 



Before putting on the supports look 

 over the beds and replant any that have 

 died out. If you have no more of the 

 same variety, don't plant in another 



kind if you expect to propagate fronn 

 that batch; that is how mixtures are 

 caused. You won't miss anything by 

 having a few empty spaces. The four 

 plants around each space will soon fill it 

 up and do all the better. 



St^ports. 



Begarding supports, opinions are a» 

 varied as the various supports. All 

 agree, however, that a rigid wire sup- 

 port will not do, as one variety may need 

 a space twice as large as another, and so' 

 now most of the wire supprorts are made 

 adjustable, both in regard to size of the 

 ring and the distance of the ring from 

 the ground. These wire supports are 

 very handy for those who grow a general 

 line of plants and may need any part of 

 a bench early in the spring. All you 

 need to do is to remove supports and 

 plants as far as you want to and the 

 bench is clear. In thi» way they soon 

 pay for themselves. 



With the large cut flower growers who- 

 plant whole houses of one variety the 

 wire and string method is still most pop- 

 ular. It is pat on quickly, is very sub- 

 stantial if put on properly, and is quite 

 inexpensive. The wires last indefinitely, 

 while the string is cheap. These should 

 be put in place as soon as practical, as 



