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The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Septbhbeb 28, 1905. 



NEPHROLEPIS PIERSONI 



ELEGANTISSIMA 



Grand itock^ in all sizci. Vcfy (oputar in New York and all the largfe cities. 



UNPRECEDENTED SALE OF LARGE SPECIMENS 



Prices from 75c each ; $9.00 per doz.; $50.00 per 100, up to $2.00, 

 $3.00, $5.00 and $7.50 each. Satisfaction Guaranteed. 



F. R. PIERSON CO., TARRYTOWN, N. Y. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Y^etable Forcing. 



MUSHRCXDMS. 



Tempenture and Moisture. 



The best temperature for a mushroom 

 house is 55 degrees. Some growers run 

 their houses a little higher than this but 

 by 80 doing are apt to have the atmos- 

 phere too dry. As atmosphere moisture 

 is one of the essentials to success it is 

 safer to run the temperature a little 

 lower than the crop would actually stand 

 rather than run the risk of having the 

 Atmosphere too dry, even although 

 growth may be a little slower at 55 de- 

 grees than it would be at 60 degrees. 



The amount of sprinkling necessary to 

 maintain a humid atmosphere will de- 

 pend a great deal on where the mush- 

 rooms are grown. If in an underground 

 cellar evaporation would be slow and the 

 temperature would be easily kept up 

 without having the pipes very hot, so 

 here sprinkling would not have to be 

 done so frequently as if the house were 

 over ground and a brisk heat necessary 

 to keep up the desired temperature. 

 When sprinkling is done, water about the 

 same temperature as the atmosphere of 

 the house should be used and a fine 

 ayringe is best for applying it. In a 

 house that is naturally moist it may only 

 be necessary to occasionally dampen the 

 pathways, but in the case of a house 

 where the atmosphere is naturally dry 

 the side walls should also be sprinkled. 



If the material is in the proper condi- 

 tion of moisture at the time of making 

 up the bed, and the proper atmospheric 

 moisture is maintained in the house, 

 watering should be unnecessary, but if 

 from some unavoidable cause the bed be- 

 comes dry the only way to save the crop 

 would be to water the bed. The tem- 

 perature of the bed should be ascertained 

 and water a few degrees wanner applied. 

 It will not be necessary to soak the bed 

 until the water runs through, as would 

 be done with a rose or carnation bed, 

 but just enough should be applied to 

 moisten the material. 



The exact size at which mushrooms 

 should be pulled will depend upon the 

 quality of the crop. In the case of a 

 good, free growth they attain quite a 

 large size before they reach what might 

 be called the too old stage, or the stage 

 at which the gills turn black. When left 

 until that time both the quality and ap- 

 pearance 01' the mushrooms are impaired. 

 If, on the other hand, they are pulled too 

 early the grower loses in weight. Ex- 

 perience soon teaches the operator just 

 how long they can safely be left to at- 

 tain the greatest weight and at the same 

 time look well and be of good quality. 



The mushrooms should be pulled, not 

 cut, and to avoid pulling a bunch of 

 the soil along with them and leaving a 

 large hole in the bed, they should be 

 twisted around, taking hold of the stem 

 as near the soil as possible. This twist 

 breaks them free and allows them to be 

 lifted out clean, leaving a hole only the 

 size of the stem. W. S. Croydon. 



VEGETABLE FORCEHS. 



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. 



PACIFIC COAST. 



PROTECTION FROM FROST. 



The growing season for small orna- 

 mental evergreens and shrubs is still at 

 its height and, as we can expect colder 

 weather before long, it is a good plan to 

 examine them and see what had better 

 be shifted, either in glass frames or in 

 the houses. Our winters are very uncer- 

 tain when it comes to figuring out how 

 much cold weather we may expect. 

 Many of our shrubs and trees are not 

 hardy when small, but when they have 

 attained a few years' growth no worri- 

 ment need be felt. In the vicinity of 

 San Francisco for the past two seasons 

 the thermometer has rarely fallen below 

 28 degrees, but even this temperature is 

 quite sufficient to destroy much stock. 



With coniferous stock in the varieties 

 handled by a majority of the growers 

 and dealers, there is little to be particu- 

 lar about, except araucarias. At no 

 stage is there any difla.culty with A. im- 

 bricata. It is hardy. With A. Bidwillii, 

 A. excelsa, A. Cunninghami and A. 

 Cookii, there is always a chance 

 that they will get bitten and shel- 

 ter should be provided for them 

 until they have been growing in the 

 ground at least four or five years. I 

 have seen them badly burned, even when 

 much older, but only in extreme seasons. 



With palms all the sorts of phoenix and 

 chamserops are hardy and no frost in this 

 latitude seems to bother them. Kentias, 

 seaforthias, arecas and livistonas 

 are easily handled outside from 

 April until the end of October; after 

 that they must be watched. None of 

 these require any artificial heat, even in 

 the coldest part of the winter, but they 

 must be under glass, either in cold 

 frames or greenhouses; th*y never be- 

 come hardy enough to withstand our win- 

 ters in the neighborhood of San Fran- 

 cisco, although in the southern portion 

 of the state they can be handled with 

 impunity. 



Asparagus plumosus, Sprengeri or 

 tenuissimus is hardy here and can be 

 left outside all winter, provided there is 

 not too much moisture. All the varieties 

 do well under latticework and plumosus 

 can be handled as easily as smilax and 

 with as little trouble. 



With ferns we have to be more par- 

 ticular. None of the adiantums com- 

 monly grown should be handled outside 

 except A. pedatum and this does not suc- 

 ceed except in a shady place. All the 

 aspidiums are hardy except a few deli- 

 cate kinds not safe to leave in the open. 

 I have seen dicksonias badly cut with the 

 frost but have never lost any. D. punc- 

 tilobula is especially hardy. Asplenium 

 bulbiferum is half hardy and A. Tricho- 

 manes fully so. Woodwardiae are very 

 hardy here. There are many other ferns 

 handled but these I mention are in gen- 

 eral use. Cyrtomium falcatum should 

 not be forgotten, as it is one of our 

 most valuable hardy sorts. The various 

 kinds of pteris and nephrolepis, al- 

 though they will stand considerable cold 



