550 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



January 18, mOG. 



Ill < 'alifoniia, and probably impossible 

 ill the adobe lands. Jt was a strange 

 sight for eastern eves to see men walk- 

 ing lietwcni tlio rows ol' ])]aiits with the 

 lioc held high in llie air to descend with 

 .1 vigorous chop at any weeds which 

 rnigiit appear. 



'I'iie I'ruit orcliards, on tlie other hand, 

 liave tiie surface of the soil constantly 

 culti\ated and arc as (dean and fj'ee 

 from weeds as a iiindel gai'den, l)ut the 

 eastern eye misses ainl longs for the 

 fresh green backgrounds wliiedi should 

 I'eliexc llie cnllivated lands, and its en- 

 tire ai)sence, at least at that season of 

 the year, continually reininds you that 

 you are in a strange land. Tlie leaves of 

 the finit trees are a rich deej* green, as 

 well as tlie foliage of the growing crops, 

 but serve oidy to .acceiitu.ate tlie dusty 

 brown or gia\- tints of the surrounding 

 laiidsc.-tpe. V.von w nere there is a bright 

 green lawn, it lias the ap|>e;irance of a 

 small tlower lied in tlie midst of the bare 

 brown earth surrounding it ou every 

 siile. 



No Ornamental Planting. 



Nearly all jilanting in California is 

 done on a large scale and is quite 

 distinctly localized. Thus in the Santa 

 Clara valley, we find the ranches of the 

 principal seed growers within a few 

 miles of each other, and fairly extensive 

 apple orchards, with miles and miles of 

 prunes and thousands of acres of sugar 

 beets. Every crop is grown for the cash 

 it will bring, and outside of the large 

 tourist hotels and some few private 

 places in the towns, ornamental ]/Iant- 

 ings or surroundings are things of the 

 future. This seems strange to a gar- 

 dener or llorist, as practically all of our 

 decorative palms and plants can be 

 grown in the open air, but it is doubtless 

 due to the necessity of irrigating, or 

 constant watering of the jilants and 

 grass required daring the dry seasons 

 and it costs about $20 to $-~) for the 

 water iiec(>ssary to keeji a small town 

 lawn fresli and green during the summer 

 and fall. 



Although \ery nerirly all of the level 

 valley lands are now under cultivation, 

 there still remain occasional grou{)s or 

 clumps of live-oak trees, and these, with 

 their mossy, gnarled trunks and branches 

 ami the bright green, hcdly-like leaves, 

 are the most attractive features of the 

 vall(\vs, but as the grazing ranches are 

 divided and broken to the jdow they are 

 being cut out and made into firewood 

 and there seems to be no attemjtt what- 

 ever to make new plantings of this beau- 

 tiful and locallv cliaraoteristic tree. I 

 shall always remember the live-oaks, not 

 only for their interesting growth, but 

 also lor the gr:it(>ful shade they fur- 

 nished during tlie heat of the day, as the 

 moment you ste[i under the branches of 

 the live-oak you feel a eiHiJuess similar 

 to tliat when g^ong into the tbu-ists' ice- 

 box, while \\'<Ah all i>\\\ov trees the 

 foliage simply affnrds relief from tlie 

 Ptrong smiligiit without any feeling of 

 Coolness in the air. During my stay in 

 the Santa Clara valley the thermometer 

 wduM go to lo> to 110 degrees during 

 the middle of the <iay. The air was 

 clear and perfectly dry. so that no one 

 ])erspires. but the heat is felt in a burn- 

 in" or jirickling sensation on any ex- 

 posed portion of your body. Nearly all 

 the time there was a fresh breeze blow- 

 ing in between the hills from the Pacific 

 ami from four o 'idock in the afternoon 

 until ten in the morning, the air was 

 cool and jileasant and at night sleep 



was most refreshing, unless the Califor- 

 nia Ilea was present to take a hand in 

 welcoming you to the country. 

 I'l'o be continued,) 



J. W. RODGERS. 



Til ' long cont ro\'ersy as to the jiosi- 

 tioii of superintendent of ]iarks at Cin- 

 cinnati has at length been settled by 

 the ajijioint ineiit, on January 10, of J. 

 W. h'odgers. 'J'lieie were a number of 

 candidates for the office to succeed B. 

 i'. Ciit(diell. who has served long and 

 satisfactorily under former administra- 

 tions. 



Ml. Ko.lgers is a native of Cincinnati, 

 ;'>4 years of agi', and for ten years has 



been 111 the iiriM'lllloi'Se business nil his 



J. W. Rodgers. 



' uwn account, .'t I'rice Hill, where he 

 j has built uji a nice range of glass and 

 a profitable business, but the oppor- 

 j tunity open t.i the jmrk superintendent 

 at this tiiiK! is an exceedingly tempting 

 one, because of the large amount of new- 

 work which is to b(> done by this ad- 

 ! ministration. The salary is .*2,500 a 

 year. Mr. IJodgeis is a member of the 

 <'incinn;»ti Florists' Society, the Amer- 

 ican (".'irnation Soidety and the Society 

 of American florists, and has been an 

 attendant at most of the recent con- 

 ventions. It is ininoiinceil that he is 

 ! shortly to marry Miss Martha Meyer, 

 I of Price llill, who is a daughter of a 

 well known Cincinnati manufacturer. 



AViNXiri-.i;. Max.- A. 11. Stolper, suc- 

 cessor to U. Alston, is sending out 

 souvenir ]>ostal cards wliich are photo- 

 gi'ajihs of scenes In tln' Royal Creen- 

 houses. 



Vegetable Forcing. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, January 17. — Cucumbers, $1 

 to $1.75 doz. ; leaf lettuce, 30c to 40c 

 case; bead lettuce, $2 to $3 bbl.; toma- 

 toes, $1.50 to $2 case. 



Boston, January 16. — Cucumbers, $3 

 to $12 box; lettuce, 50c to 75c doz.; rad- 

 ishes, $1 box; tomatoes, 35c to 40c lb.; 

 parsley, $1.50 to $1.75 box; mushrooms, 

 $1.50 to $2 per four-pound package; 

 mint, 50c doz. 



New YoiiK, January 16. — Boston cu- 

 cumbers, $1 to $1.50 doz.; head lettuce, 

 20c to 75c doz.; radishes, $2 to $3.25 

 100 bunches; mushrooms, 10c to 50c lb.; 

 tomatoes, lOe to 25c lb.; rhubarb, 50c to 

 7."c doz. bunches; mint, 50c to 75c doz. 



LETTUCE. 



The Second Crop. 



In preparing for replanting after the 

 crop has been cut, it is well to see that 

 the surface of the soil is thoroughly 

 cleaned of all decaying vegetable mat- 

 ter. Usually when lettuce is cut a few 

 of the smaller under leaves are left and 

 these are often more or less tainted 

 with decay. The careless operator will 

 often turn them down into the soil in 

 forking it over, in place of spending a 

 short time in clearing them off before 

 beginning the forking process. From 

 just such carelessness fungus germs are 

 propagated, which prove a source of con- 

 siderable trouble in the crop that fol- 

 lows. The old lettuce roots should also 

 be picked out in forking over, soas to 

 leave nothing in the soil that will de- 

 cay. 



To keep up the fertility of the soil 

 it will be necessary to add some fertiliz- 

 ing ingredients before planting each of 

 the crops. Just what to add will depend 

 a good deal on the nature of the soil, 

 but as a rule the use of commercial fer- 

 tilizers is not advisable; the best is the 

 old stand-by from the barnyard, in a 

 well decomjtosed condition. This, thor- 

 oughly worked into the soil, is the best 

 general fertilizer we have, especially for 

 crops of this nature, which need some- 

 thing they can take ludd of right away 

 and in which the plant food is easily 

 available. The so called commercial fer- 

 tilizers are too violent in action to suit 

 lettuce, Avhicli will not stand much forc- 

 ing but must 1)0 alloweil to come along 

 pretty nearly in its natural course. 



The condition of the manure in regard 

 to moisture should also be given a little 

 attention. If this is in a wet, heavy 

 conditicm and no other means are avail- 

 able for drying it out a little before 

 hand it would lie well to leave it spread 

 out on top of the soil for a day or two 

 to dry somewhat before working it into 

 the soil. 



Though there is not much <langer of 

 the soil being too wet just after the 

 crop is cut, owing to the necessity of 

 keeping it im the dry side after the 

 j)lants have reached the mature stage to 

 prevent damping; nevertheless if it 

 should happen that the soil is in a 

 rather wet state it should be allowed to 

 partially dry out before beginning t ) 

 work in it, as working the soil wet makes 

 it heavy and soggy and anything but 

 'suitable to the wellbeing of the plants. 



After planting it is well to use a little 



