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OCTOBBB 19, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



12)5 



Growing Asparagus Sprengeri in Florida. 



home life of the gardener. I found also 

 other estates on which the same improve- 

 ment had been made. On many, how- 

 ever, the same old hovels existed as of 

 yore, noticeably in the two botanic gar- 

 dens of Dublin. 



The English gardener labors under 

 great disadvantage, as compared with 

 other occupations. In the past forty 

 years the wages in England of mechan- 

 ics, masons and carpenters, for instance, 

 have increased over seventy-five per cent, 

 while the wages of under gardeners have 

 increased only about thirty-five per cent; 

 thus while a carpenter or a mason is able 

 to earn 50 shillings per week, an under 

 gardener can earn only 18 or 20 shill- 

 ings. Again, in the hours of labor, the 

 gardener must work an average of ten 

 or ten and one-half hours per day, while 

 the mechanic is required to work only 

 nine hours per day. This state of affairs 

 offers no inducement to bright young 

 men to enter the gardening business; 

 better wages and a more promising field 

 take them elsewhere. The result of this, 

 is, according to my observation, that in 

 England gardening as a business is in a 

 decadent condition. The young men en- 

 gaged in it average lower in intelligence 

 and ambition than obtained twenty-five 

 or thirty years ago. 



FORC3NG PEONIES. 



What would be the proper time to 

 set peonies in for Christmas forcing, also 

 for Easter! C. D. 



Wm. A. Peterson says that he does 

 not consider it practicable to force peo- 

 nies for bloom before February 1. The 

 plants should be lifted in October and 

 placed in a cold frame, where they will 

 be accessible when the time arrives for 

 forcing. After the plants are started 

 under glass a temperature of from 55 

 to 60 degrees shoiUd be maintained as 

 uniformly as possible. The plants 

 should be fed liberally with liquid ma- 

 nure. It takes about eight weeks to de- 

 velop flowers. To secure the best blooms 

 remove the lateral buds as soon as they 

 are formed. The plants must have two 

 years' rest before they can be forced 

 again. 



HiLLSBORO, III. — F. C. Winkelmann is 

 preparing hotbeds for growing lettuce. 



ASPARAGUS IN FLORIDA. 



The growing of asparagus for cutting, 

 for plants and for seed has become a 

 large industry at several points in Flori- 

 da, where the climatic conditions seem 

 especially suitable. The plants of As- 

 paragus plumosus nanus are grown in 

 lath houses, such as one shown in the 

 accompanying illustrations reproduced 

 from photographs taken at the Yalaha 

 Conservatories of Gillett & James, at 

 Yalaha. The lath structures of this 

 firm cover three acres, 148,000 plants be- 

 ing cut from, one acre being devoted to 

 growing strings for decorative purposes. 

 They also harvest over a million seeds 

 each year and find the demand constantly 

 on the increase. 



The other picture shows how the Spren- 

 geri is grown, in boxes outdoors in the 

 shade of fine old moss-covered oaks. It 

 is not only a beautiful spot but one which 

 seems to suit the Sprengeri "right down 

 to the ground," as the saying is. There 

 are 57,000 plants all in boxes set in rows, 

 on "horses," two boxes on each pair of 

 horses. The boxes are eight feet long, 

 ten inches deep and fourteen inches 



,wide. There are seven acres just like the 

 comer of the grove shown in the pic- 

 ture. The boxes give fine drainage and 

 rich soil and plenty of feeding are used 

 with the result of a most abundant crop 

 of sprays and seeds. 



GAS PIPE FOR WATERING. 



Please let me know if I can use 

 1-inch pipe, formerly used for gas pipe, 

 for watering plants in the greenhouses. 

 Will any harm come to the stock? 



A. G. 



I doubt if there would be any dele- 

 terious effects from using second-hand 

 gas pipes for water mains. There is 

 often a strong odor about such pipes 

 when first removed but if water or a 

 solution of potash can be allowed to 

 run through the pipes for a few days be- 

 fore using them for watering plants no 

 ill effects will result. ll C. C. 



GARDENIAS. 



What gardenia gives the best crop on 

 benches t Please give us a few cultural 

 instructions. Is it a profitable cropf 



T. W. 



The gardenia that is forced for win- 

 ter flowering is a form of G. jasminoides, 

 or G. florida, known as G. Veitchii. The 

 method of culture is, briefly, as follows: 



The cuttings are taken from the parent 

 plants in January and rooted in a sand 

 bed in a warm propagating house, after 

 which they are potted off into small pots 

 and grown On in a temperature of about 

 60 degrees. 



The young plants are repotted as they 

 require it, given plenty of moisture and 

 kept free of insects, and toward midsum- 

 mer should be in fit condition to be 

 planted out on a bench containing five to 

 six inches of rich and well-drained soil. 

 A slight shading is usually required at 

 this season, but should only be enough to 

 protect the plants from the strongest 

 rays of the sun, plenty of Ught being 

 needed to secure a strong and well- 

 ripened growth. 



Much care must be given to avoid 

 extremes of dryness or of moisture dur- 

 ing the autumn, the object being to keep 

 the roots in perfect working condition, 





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Growing Asparagus Plumosus in Florida, 



