August 9, 1006. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



701 



have the fruit so dirty and spotted that 

 it is unfit to send to the table. 



Some twelve years ago I got a grapery 

 in very bad condition from this insect. 

 When I opened the door they would 

 rise in a veritable cloud from the vines. 

 I took hold of this grapery in July and 

 could simply do nothing with it that 

 season, but by thoroughly cleaning the 

 following spring, and by the use of stems 

 as above advocated, I have had no 

 trouble whatever since. 



W. S. Ceoydon. 



SOIL STERILIZATION. 



In recent publications of the Vermont 

 Experiment Station, W. Stuart reviews 

 the history of the development of the 

 process of soil sterilization and gives the 

 following brief account of his own ex- 

 periments on the subject. 



The serious nematode injury suffered 

 by a crop of tomatoes grown in the sta- 

 tion greenhouse in the winter of 1902-3 

 showed that the winter forcing of toma- 

 toes and cucumbers could not be success- 

 fuUy accomplished there unless the soil 

 was sterilized. Since the larger portion 

 of the space devoted to these crops was 

 occupied by solid beds, it was thought 

 desirable to attempt sterilizing this soil 

 in place. Three-inch tiles were sunk 

 about ten inches below the surface oi 

 the soil. The lines of tile were laid 

 every sixteen inches, each line being in- 

 dependent of every other and connected 

 with the surface by a vertical section of 

 tile. The ends of each line of tile were 

 plugged with paper and soil. The up- 

 right was connected with the laterals by 

 a hole drilled through the upper surface 

 of the end tile over which it was ne- 

 curely cemented. The verticals were 

 connected alternately at one end or the 

 other of the laterals, thus permitting 

 the live steam to be injected at opposite 

 sides of the bed, and thus equalizing the 

 diffusion of heat throughout the soil. 

 Not only were the tile joints open, but 

 each section of tile was perforated with 

 a ^-inch to a %-inch hole through each 

 side, the better to facilitate the escape 

 of steam. Under a pressure of from 

 forty to sixty pounds of steam, a section 

 of bed, containing a surface area of 

 nearly seventy square feet, could be 

 heated up to about 210 degrees in ap- 

 proximately three hours' time. The 

 surface of the soil being well covered 

 with burlap, this temperature was 

 maintained for a considerable period. 

 In one case noted the thermometer 

 stood at about 130 degrees twenty- 

 four hours after treatment. This 

 procedure proved in every case an ef- 

 fective remedy against nematodes and 

 obviated the labor involved in treating 

 the soil in a box or other specially con- 

 structed device. The tile once placed lie 

 fio deep that they need not be molested 

 in digging over the beds or in changing 

 the soil, and they are always ready for 

 use in subsequent treatments of new 

 soil. Then, too, the surface connection 

 by means of vertical section afforded 

 ideal soil aeration. 



Since nearly 200 feet square of bench 

 surface in one of the greenhouse rooms 

 was fitted up for subwatering by means 

 of galvanized iron pans and layers of 

 porous bricks, the question arose as to 

 whether it was feasible to sterilize the 

 soil in these benches by injecting steam 

 into the pan through the watering tube. 

 A thorough trial of this scheme showed 

 that while it was possible thus to steril- 

 ize soil it could hardly be called a prac- 

 tical method, as it took too much steam 



Japaaese Tea Garden by Bemb Floral Co»t Detroit. 



to do it. It was found that the injec- 

 tion of steam into a pan full of cold 

 porous bricks resulted in a very consid- 

 erable condensation of water, in fact, 

 almost to the point of complete satura- 

 tion of bricks and soil. In view of this 

 experience it would seem to be more 

 economical to employ a sterilization box 

 for the treatment of soil in subwatered 

 benches. 



These trials therefore indicate that 

 the first method described above, name- 

 ly, sterilization of the soil in a solid 

 bed, using 3-inch tiles laid ten inches 

 deep and sixteen inches apart as steam 

 conduits, is practical and involves less 

 labor, although possibly requiring a 

 greater volume of steam than would be 

 necessary in treating the soil in a box 

 or other specially constructed device. 

 They also indicate that sterilization of 

 the soil in place in beds subwatered by 

 means of galvanized pans and layers of 

 porous bricks is too wasteful of steam 

 to be considered a practical method. 



The experiments of the Vermont Sta- 

 tion agree with those of the Massachu- 

 setts Station in showing that soil steril- 

 ization is an effective means of pre- 

 venting or controlling some of the worst 

 enemies of greenhouse plants. Professor 

 Stuart considers it "one of the most 

 rimportant of the more recent develop- 

 ments of greenhouse technique" and be- 

 lieves that "on account of the severe in- 

 jury so frequently caused by mematodes 

 to tomatoes and cucumbers when grown 

 under glass the sterilization of green- 

 house soil has become almost a neces- 

 sity when the soil is thus infested." 



A DETROIT TEA GARDEN. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 the result of a rather unusual order re- 

 ceived by the Bemb Floral Co., Detroit. 

 The call was for the construction of a 

 Japanese tea garden and as it was to be 

 a permanent feature of the store in which 

 it was erected, the builder, Albert Poch- 

 elon, was enabled to use only artificial 

 and prepared flowers and foliage. The 

 framework is made entirely of bamboo, 

 using for decorative purposes, besides a 

 number of variously shaped Japanese 

 lanterns, purple beach, uva leaves and 



prepared phoenix leaves, the whole giv- 

 ing a very pretty effect. H. 8. 



CONVENTIQN SPORTS. 



In addition to the bowling tournament, 

 for which elegant team and individual 

 prizes have been provided, a suitable 

 number of prizes will be provided for 

 competition by the trap shooters. The 

 skill of the florist shooters, having been 

 exploited in this city, has called forth 

 a challenge from one of our local clubs 

 for a friendly team shoot, either five 

 men or ten men teams. We hope that all 

 florists skilled in this sport will bring 

 their guns, so that we may qualify a 

 team that will uphold our reputation 

 and that will be able to hustle these 

 local shooters, and there are some good 

 ones. H. M. Altick, Chairman. 



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