J 288 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Maucu 2'J, lOOG, 



jiluisplmfe of ]i(it;isli, li;is lit'ty ])vr cent 

 plidSjihorii.' ;u-ii| ;iiiil thirty-tliive ]>er rent 

 of ]n)t;isli, ;ui(l (ii.sstjh cs in uatci-. Sucli 

 f.'i'ilin;^ slioulil i;i\i' 1I1C-' iu'e(l(!(l ineeii- 

 live 1'ur blouniiii:^-, :\ud ^^UIllK>I■t well the 

 binonis. 



IVr polnsli \'i c li;i\t' llie animal niaii- 

 liiL's fi'iun wiiich it can be obtaineil i|uito 

 O'isjiy, nii<I wiiuil ashes. As cjicMiicais 

 th'Tf are tlic sLilpliale, muriate ami car- 

 Ii)ii:i1e. 'i'licse clieniicais are used (uit- 

 ijt-(i(i(irs indstly but imioors there are 

 (if'ten serimis oljjcetioii.s to tlieir use. 



First Commercial Fertilizers. 



About a generation a^o eoiiimereial 

 fertilizers eame into use. Tliey were 

 more portable and durable thau animal 

 manures, and answer lor farminjj, beinji; 

 ciiuiposed of insoluble materials, as 

 blood, ground or dissolved bone, tankage, 

 and usually uith some elieaj) soluble 

 eiicmical of tiie list already mentioned. 

 They are not satisfactory for rose cul- 

 ture even outside. Their variable com- 

 position, insolubility for tank use, often 

 harmful ingredients, and low food value 

 render them undesirable for bench work. 

 Averaging perhaps fifteen per cent total 

 plant foods, with three-quarters useless 

 filler, they yet mark a distinct step 



For this puipn^e manure tanks of wood 

 or concieie are much usetl and the ma- 

 nure is duinpid into the water, and gen- 

 erally strained before going into the wa- 

 tering system. Tiiis simple method gets 

 mueh of the jxilasli out, but a great <leal 

 of ilie \aliiable nitrogen anil the phos- 

 jihates must stay behind, not being dis- 

 solved in water. 



An important (piestion to every grow- 

 er \ising such taidis is, "]Iow nuich i)lant 

 fooil is there in my tank water?" A 

 chemical analysis will be of some use, 

 but such an analysis must be made often. 

 As orilinary stable manure may be con- 

 sidered to have ten pounds of nitrogen 

 and potash each, and less than seven 

 l)ounds of phosphates per ton, and so 

 much labor is involved, the actual cost 

 of this plant food is much greater than 

 is expected by the grower. While these 

 ligures are general they give an idea of 

 some value as to what may be expected. 

 By poor treatment one-half the nitrogen 

 may be lost, thus losing one-third of 

 the value of the whole. If no urine is 

 present it has only half the value of 

 one composed of both solid and liquid 

 ingredients. Exposure may have leached 

 much of the value of the manure away 

 without the knowledge of the grower. 



J. F. H„ss. 



I' 



iiii'. ards an iii.;ii Milniile iii ; .i,/er. imd 

 .j\\;iy Iriiiii I'lO nUl Mi-agi> ■ :il' 1 n.anurr.-. 

 iiviS'' s'lil iiiiiler <4h!ss i~ (iit'i, mi.\i"i 

 v.idi hii;,e aii'l ilu'i'.: i'\vi;i, 'l.- lattiT".- 

 numerou.s living retinae) ami si>metitm's 



.!>! 



(i;.' pMi.iri III' p!:.nt foiiij t.^r ]'■'■') 



'■!' ni'iniin i :.t ;!i"n tlic tank i-^ 



with lime. 



ur<i\v iaiL'o. fine ro 



an<i many nf ihem n -oi-t nm-t be lia<i 

 to i'eedinLT. > -p'ri.-iily in tlic !.< i;:!it di the 

 f-eason. While Piji (lu>-inL:' lar. !"• (i(in<' 

 by hand, the usi; (if the wateiihL; i'quip- 

 ment to ajiidy .-^niuble fdoij is ol' great 

 advantage ami i- fast coming into use. 



Valut' of Soluble Fertilizers. 



^\■l' \\\>]i 1(1 pdirit oiit the great value 

 ' i' Sdlnl'.' iirtilizcrs in tank wat(!r. 

 Will, lit iip(:Mi(l chemical analysis next 

 til imihin'^ is iui('\vn of the water except 

 I'V ilic appcMiam-e ni' plants days after- 

 war. N. ami even i I' everything goes swim- 

 miii-lv i! i- diHilitl'ul if tiic same treat- 



ment could be duplicated. Even with 

 chemical analysis the situation is only a 

 little clearer, for liquid manure water 

 is not available at once, and much de- 

 l)ends ujion the soil, the condition of 

 which we are not always certain. By the 

 use of soluble fertilizers the amount of 

 food aj^plied to any one bench can bo 

 known to a ilot. For example, we wish 

 to water benches with 100 gallons of 

 water, and two pounds of food. We put 

 the food in a bucket, see that it is com- 

 [iletely dissolved, then throw it into the 

 tank. To save time and bother we have 

 made out a little card board schedule 

 with parallel columns showing respect- 

 tively depths in inches in the tank, gal- 

 ons of water, and finally figures show- 

 ing in pountls and ounces the proper 

 amounts of plant foods to use for va- 

 rious purposes. Or soluble fertilizers 

 may be used in conjunction with the 

 usual manure water. 



A measuring stick with light scores 

 made at convenient distances ia useful 

 in ascertaining the exact amount of 

 liquid in the tank. If the tank has a 

 dead space so that liquid always remains 

 here a blank space should be on this 

 measuring stick, and in this way too 

 much fertilizer for the amount of water 

 will not be added. The grower knows 

 exactly what he is doing, which is rather 

 a new thing. W^e think that while many 

 growers would like to use soluble fer- 

 tilizers more or less they do not know 

 just how to begin with absolute safety. 

 They must first have some clear idea 

 of what they are now doing before they 

 can expect to duplicate plant foods with 

 an immediately available fertilizer. They 

 should consult with chemists interested 

 in soluble fertilizers who could mate- 

 rially assist them. In this connection 

 we think the government and various ex- 

 juriment stations have done much, and 

 their publications are of value to the rose 

 grower. 



A word about nitrate of soda. We 

 often hear of too much being used and 

 consider that one pound in 100 gallons 

 is a very strong feed. We think that 

 one poum! in I^.jO gallons, which is about 

 one part in L!,000, will do for a starter. 



Sweetening With Lime. 



In the use of lime in tanks for sweet- 

 ening it is well to bear in mind that 

 never mere than two pounds per 100 gal- 

 lons will (lissohe. It a creamy mixture 

 of lime and water is de.sired that is a 

 different thing, ;uid its composition de- 

 pends largi'ly en the charact(^r of the 

 HJme. 



W, 

 nic:i i 

 ide. 



d 



!.a\e said that the or'iinary com- 



! :'irtili/er is a step toward the 



'lie. !,;it it lacks soluble ingredients, 



laraiful ones, and has but 



am:iai!ts nf jdaiif food. An ideal 



feitiiizer" should bo entirely 



entirely availalile, non-acid, 



aini (iflcn li:i.' 

 smri 



"soluble 

 f-oinble, 



jdcasar.t lo ase, of jiroper ialanco. not 

 <\p(i.^i\ e, :iml as cnnceiit r.-iti .1 with as 

 iij'lc i"ilk a- [ (is<ili!t>. Such ari? manu- 

 i 01 lured tcday, iiavin;.' sixty {icr cent 

 plant foiiils (the highest possilde 

 amount j 'Aitii no injurious igredients nor 

 any useless ones. In short, we may con- 

 sider these pretty nearly a perfect solu- 

 ble fertilizer. 



As time goes on ami we have more 

 definite information cuncerning the im- 

 mediate needs ot plant lif(, we have no 

 doubt that tlie soluble fertilizer will be 

 up-to(|ati . I)\\:ng to the Im k of ap- 

 jireciatiiui of their vtM'v liigh percentages 

 "f pl.int fluids and their purity from 



