776 



The Vi^ eckly Florists^ Review* 



Fbbruary 8, 1006. 



steel trap, placed in the run that is most 

 used by the rats, completely covering 

 every part of the trap with fine, dry saw- 

 dust, and then placing a bait of some 

 cracked corn or other grain in a tiny 

 pile right over the plate of the trap. 

 This device has served me well in a 

 similar difficulty^ and although but one 

 rat was caught in the trap, yet the others 

 disappeared, as frequently is the case 

 after one of their number has been 

 trapped. Another way to discourage 

 them is to locate the holes by which the 

 rats enter the greenhouse, and then to 

 fill up the holes with broken glass and 

 tar. W. H. T. 



MIGNONETTE. 



[A ,paper by Joseph Bradley, Dobbs Ferry, 

 N. Y.i read before the Tarrytown Horticultural 

 Society,, January 30, 1906.] 



Mi^oirette is like most other floyyers 

 we gl^Qw indoors. It is easy to grow 

 providing the right means are at hand. 

 The first requirement is a proper house. 

 The next is the right kind of soil and 

 manure. The next and the most im- 

 portant requirement is plenty of time 

 to attend to it after it is planted. The 

 kind of house to grow mignonette in is, 

 in my opinion, a house sufth as is com- 

 monly used to grow violets, with the 

 benches somewhat farther from the glass. 

 They should be from two to three feet, 

 according to the variety you intend to 

 grow, as the different varieties vary a 

 great deal in iheir height. 



For instance, the old variety called 

 Machet and one of the newest, called 

 Her Majesty, the former is only half 

 OS tall as the latter. But in my opinion 

 the nearer to the glass it can be grown 

 the better, providing there is headroom 

 to keep it straight;. The house should 

 be so constructed that both side and 

 top air can be given, as mignonette likes 

 an abundance of air. 



Solid benches should be used where 

 possible, as there is not so much danger 

 of the bottom roots becoming dry. This 



should be six inches deep at the least 

 and if boards are used at the bottom 

 they should be far enough apart to allow 

 good dimnage. 



Mignonette should be sown where it 

 is expected' to bloom, without trans- 

 planting it. After, lines have been drawn 

 crossways and also lengthways of the 

 bed, say twelve inches apart crossways 

 and ten lengthways, place three or four 

 seeds at each point where the lines cross. 

 When the plants are one inch high they 

 should be taken out, leaving one in each 

 place. After the plants have attained 

 a. height of ^our inches thfiy. should iiave. 

 the top pinched out to cause them to 

 make side shoots and according to the 

 size of the spike you wish to get, the 

 quantity of the shoots should be allowed 

 to remain. If you wish very large spikes 

 then only four or five, but very nice 

 spike9<)6an be bad if eig^t or nine shoots 

 ard'left. " ^ ' ' '" ' 



It is very necessary to keep them tied 

 up straight, and there are several ways 

 of doing this. One is just to place a 

 stake in the middle of the plant and 

 run a string around. Some use carna- 

 tion-stakes, some also run wires length- 

 ways of the bed and strings crossways, 

 the 'Same, as e&rnation growers do, and I 

 think this way the best; it keeps them 

 upright without crowding. 



'After the shoots have been taken, 

 keep all side shoots from these; if 

 they ar» Allowed to remain no good 

 spikes may be looked for. 



If you wish to cut mignonette for the 

 holidays the seed should be sown by the 

 middle of August. All the air should 

 be left on the house night and day until 

 near frost. This makes the plants very 

 stocky. But after it is closed I like to 

 have it from 47 to 50 degrees, with as 

 much air as it is possible to give at all 

 times. I know that some growers advo- 

 cate from 40 to 45 degrees but in my 

 opinion this is too dead, especially so 

 after the month of January, when we 

 get more sun. 



Gunation Ruth Morgati. 



is very injurious to mignonette; we 

 do not see so much effect in the plant, 

 but we cannot expect such fine spikes. 

 If solid benches are used the soil should 

 be removed about ten inches deep and 

 filled with good, stiff loam and manure. 

 The manure should be well rotted. I 

 use three-quarters loam to one-quarter 

 manure, with a good sprinkling of air- 

 slaked lime. 

 ' If hollow benches are used they 



K 



After the spikes have begun to form 

 they should have liquid manure about 

 once every ten days. I find horse ma- 

 nure suits first-class; also nitrate of 

 soda, about three barrels to fifty gallons 

 of water. After the first crop has 

 been cut, if proper attention is given to 

 pinching and feeding good cutting can 

 be kept up until June. I think it a 

 mistake to throw it out after the first 

 crop has been cut. The later spikes are 



not quite so large but you get a great 

 many more of them and they come much 

 quicker. 



The best variety to grow that I know 

 of is the one called Her Majesty. It is 

 rather tall but it gives good satisfaction. 



The greatest pest we have to contend 

 with on mignonette is the common cab- 

 bage worm, or the larvs of the yellow 

 butterfly, and if this pest it not kept in 

 check it will soon eat up all the plants. 

 There are several ways of getting rid 

 of this pest. I find Paris green very 

 good in exterminating it, but it must 

 be used very carefully, not to get it too 

 strong, for it wilh burn the plants. It 

 ought to be mixed in water and put on 

 with a fine spray; put enough Paris 

 green in the water to just color it. 

 Salt can also be used dissolved in water; 

 while hellebore, slug shot, pyrethrum 

 powder and tobacco, dust can also be 

 used dusted on the platifts. But the best 

 way is to keep the butterfly out of the 

 house by placing mosquito netting over 

 the ventilators or by building a light 

 framework over the bed and covering it 

 with netting. 



The earth worms also become trouble- 

 some in the solid benches if lime water 

 is not used from time to time. 



I should also state that after th^ first 

 crop has been cut and the plants are 

 making new growth they will require 

 abundance of water and a good top 

 dressing of well rotted cow manui^e will 

 help them a great deal, but the liquid 

 manure should be used as before. The 

 spikes will be greatly improved if cut 

 twenty-four hours and placed in a cool 

 house before using them. 



PLANT BREEDING. 



(A paper by C. W. Ward, of Qneene, N. Y., 

 read at the annual meeting of the American 

 Breeders' Association at Lincoln, Neb., January 

 ■17, 1906.) 



The economic importance of produc- 

 ing improved varieties of grain, forage 

 plants, fruits, nuts, vegetables, flowers 

 and timber trees, is fully as great as that 

 of improving animals, fowls, fish and 

 economic insects. 



The wealth which may be added to 

 our country by improved grains, plants 

 and trees cannot now be estimated; but 

 by such improvement we can largely in- 

 crease the productive capacity of the 

 soils contained in our agricultural areas, 

 as well as of those areas which may prove 

 suitable only for maintaining forests. 



The sustaining power of the country 

 may well be much increased by the intro- 

 duction and cultivation of such improved 

 grains, forage crops, vegetables and 

 fruits. Further benefits may be secured 

 by extending northward the area of cul- 

 tivation for grains, forage crops, fruits 

 and vegetables, by patientfy ci'ossing the 

 native hardy strains found in most north- 

 ern latitudes with the temperate growing 

 species now at our command and gradu- 

 ally acclimatizing the progeny of those 

 crosses. 



In my own work upon the carnation, I 

 have succeeded, within the period of ten 

 years past, in producing a strain of car- 

 nations that have been grown under glass 

 all the time, and now have benches of 

 plants that have been grown three years 

 without renewal and are still producing 

 abundant crops of fine blooms, although 

 the general custom of the craft is to re- 

 new the benches every year from plants 

 cultivated in open fields during the sum- 

 mer season. This may be (Quoted as a 

 practical example of acclimatization. 



The grazing capacity of the country 



