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November 23, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



\7 



Winning Pandanus Shown at St. Louis by Chas. Beyer. 



all striped or mostly solid red. Can you 

 explain the freak and do you know of 

 any similar cases? S. B. S. 



The specimen flower arrived in fair 

 condition. The color appeared to be a 

 deep red, almost a crimson. It is doubt- 

 ful whether there is a great future for 

 colored tuberoses. White is its color, as 

 blue is for violets. I do not know that 

 anyone can account for these variations 

 in color in flowers, sports or bud varia- 

 tions as the great Darwin called them, 

 but they have given us some of the most 

 valuable of our florists' flowers. Possi- 

 bly soil has more influence than any 

 other. Now that ^ou have such a radi- 

 cal change of color in this favorite 

 flower, it is more than likely you will get 

 further variation and if you could get a 

 pure pink it would be a valuable novelty. 

 W. S. 



DISEASED PLANTS. 



Will you please state what is the mat- 

 ter with the plants I send? The trouble 

 began about two or three years ago, with 

 cinerarias, then spread to geraniums, 

 gloxinias, fuchsias, etc. The plants sent 

 show the disease better than I could de- 

 Bcribe it. I have tried Bordeaux mixture, 

 etc., to no avail. The disease always be- 

 ginn with young seedlings or cuttings. 

 If there is a remedy please indicate it. 

 B. B. 



When the specimens arrived they were 

 too much aried up to distinguish any par- 

 ticular disease. From the description 

 this seems a very bad case and, what is 

 strange, it spreads over such a variety, 

 If it was one kind of plant and we knew 

 its treatment we might find a cause. As 

 it is we should advise your getting the 

 nearest good gardener to examine your 

 condition and if there was nothing visibly 

 wrong then you should have your soil and 

 water analyzed. ' W. S. 



Cedar Falls, Ia. — Joseph Bancroft & 

 Son have their stock in exceptionally 

 good shape this season. 



Here is a check for $2 to pay two 

 years in advance for the florists' best 

 paper.— C. A. Rieman, Connersville, Ind. 



I can say little on the subject and 

 must state at the start that those hor- 

 ticultural builders who talked posts and 

 boards were not so far wrong, because 

 good Tennessee red cedar posts and cy- 

 press boards as sheathing will last 

 through your natural life, unless you be- 

 long to the Methuselah family. Twenty- 

 five years ago, when we first started to 

 build, we began nobly, with more am- 

 bition than dollars. We dug a trench 

 three feet deep and built an 18-inch 



STONE WALLS. 



We are contemplating using stone for 

 the walls of greenhouses to be built next 

 year and we would like some advice 

 from some one in regard to their desir- 

 ability. We have asked some of the 

 greenhouse builders, but they are more 

 interested in selling posts, etc. We 

 thought possibly you might think it 

 worth while to discuss that matter in 

 your letters in the Review. What we 

 would like is an opinion on whether 

 stone walls are desirable and how thick 

 they need be. Also how the roof would 

 best be placed upon them. Z. K. J. 



stone wall which came six inches above 

 the grade of the surrounding surface. On 

 to the wall we anchored a 2x12 pine sill 

 and from that nailed on our studding, 

 or posts. All water or moisture trickled 

 down onto the pine plate, which in five 

 years was thoroughly rotten. The only 

 redeeming feature in this wasted money 

 was the fact that two feet six inches 

 of this wall, or foundation, was laid up 

 dry. No mortar was used between the 

 stones and it was the means of acting 

 as a good drain, always keeping the sur- 

 face of the greenhouse dry; otherwise 

 it was several hundred dollars buried. 



Ours is a neighborhood of many flint 

 and limestone quarries. All the basements 

 •^f our dwellings are built of limestone 

 and I can say from the authority of 

 practical masons that eighteen inches in 

 thickness is the least you can build. If 

 you have stone at a very trifling cost 

 there is no reason why you should not 

 use it for an exterior wall, and let the 

 first two feet in the foundation be laid 

 up dry. When you finish off at the top 

 of the wall you will, of course, anchor on 

 a plate beveled both ways to throw the 

 water in or out and from that your roof 

 springs. A 12-inch brick or 8-inch ce- 

 ment wall may Jook neater, but if to 

 you the stone is cheaper, then use it. I 

 cannot think of any reason why not. 



W. S. 



SCX)T AS FERTILIZER. 



What properties has coal soot that 

 make it useful as a fertilizer? What 

 effect does it have on the plants? What 

 quantities is it safe to use? N. G. 



Soot from bituminous coal is frequent- 

 ly used by gardeners on outside crops 

 and also by florists on greenhouse crops 

 with good results. The analysis shows 

 that in 1000 parts it contains: Charcoal, 

 371 ; salts of ammonia, 426 ; salts of 

 potassium and soda, 24 ; oxide of iron, 

 50 ; silica, 31 ; sulphate of lime, 31 ; 

 carbonate of magnesia, 2. 



The fertilizing effect of a top-dressing 

 of soot is very decided and seems in a 

 great degree to be due to the presence 

 of sulphate and chloride of ammonium. 

 To get the best results as a top-dressing 

 it should be diluted with twice its bulk 

 of good fresh soil and put on the bench 

 very thinly, about one bushel to each 

 500 square feet of surface. 



It is also an excellent material to use 



Show Given by J. W, Dudley & Son, Parkersburg, W. Va. 



