J 502 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



Apbil 12, 190C. 



months dashed bad weather. If wanted 

 at Christmas, I should sow it about the 

 middle of October in rows on a bench 

 and thin out to three or four inches 

 apart. Five inches of soil would be 

 plenty and a temperature of 50 degrees 

 at night would be high enough, or you 

 can sow in flats and transplant later. 

 About varieties, read the leading seeds- 

 men's catalogues and choose for your- 

 self. 



Finally, we can hardly believe tliat 

 candytuft would be profitable in these 

 days in a modern greenhouse unless your 

 grandmother willed you the greenhouse 

 and you had free fuel. We once grew 

 the perennial candytuft, Iberis semper- 

 virens. It was too slow and did not pay. 

 We once received a few plants of a 

 candytuft from Bobert Sim, of Clifton- 

 dale, the champion sweet pea grower of 

 the world, and it was a wonder. It be- 

 longs to the annuals. We got the little 

 seedlings somewhere early in April and 

 planted them out one foot apart on a 

 bench where violets had been thrown out. 

 It was in prime order by Memorial day 

 and had immense nmbels of bloom nearly 

 a foot across, pure white, a most beauti- 

 ful thing, especially for Memorial day, 

 and can be planted on the bed or 

 bench after violets are thrown out at 

 Easter time. I wish Mr. Sim would tell 

 us about this great candytuft and adver- 

 tise the seed. W. S. 



Vegetable Forcing. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, April H. — Lettuce, heads, $."5 

 to $4..')0 bbl. ; leat, 35c to 4Uc case; cu- 



$3 per 100 bunches; tomatoes, 20c to 

 35c lb.; mint, 40c to 50c per doz. 

 bunches. 



Boston, Apri. 9. — Cucumbers, $3 to 

 $7 box; lettuce, 25c to 50c doz.; mint, 

 60c doz. bunches; radishes, $1 to $1.25 

 oox: parsley, $1.50 box; mushrooms, $2 

 to $3 per 4-lb. basket; bunch beets, $1.50 

 to $1.75 doz.; tomatoes, 30c to ^^c lb.; 

 rhubarb, Ge \h. 



A NEW JAPANESE SALAD PLANT. 



David Fairchild, agricultural explorer 

 in charge of foreign explorations, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, is intro- 

 ducing to the American public a new 

 vegetable that may become quite a fac- 

 tor in the business of those engaged in 

 forcing Avinter vegetables. It is a her- 

 baceous form of the aralia, and known 

 under two varieties. 



One variety, the Kan Udo, is raised 

 from seed sown in heat, planted out in 

 rows four feet apart and eighteen inches 

 in the row, and allowed to grow until 

 early in September, when it is cut down 

 to the ground and the soil mounded up 

 over the row some eighteen inches high. 

 In forty to sixty days blanched shoots 

 ten to twelve inches long are ready for 

 market. This plantation is permanent 

 and should be good for ten or more 

 years. 



j.ne other variety, Moyashi Udo, may 

 be of importance to the grower of veg- 

 etaoles unuer glass, as this is the vari- 

 ety used for winter forcing. It is grown 

 from roots only and propagated from 

 root cuttings. The roots are placed 

 ciosely in a trench and covered and the 

 soil mounded up. In the spring these 

 roots are planted out and allowed to 

 grow until the foliage is killed by the 

 frost. They are then taken up and 



H. R. Carlton. 



cumbers, 60c to 75c doz.; mushrooms, 

 25c to 40c lb. 



Xew York, April 10. — Cucumbers, Xo. 

 i Boston, $1 to $1.25 doz.; No. 2, $4 to 

 $6 box; lettuce, 25c to 60c doz.; mush- 

 rooms, 15c to 6oc lb.; radishes, $1.50 to 



stored until wanted, in dry straw in a 

 cool place free from frost. 



I forced a dozen plants, using two 

 10-inch pots, inverting over them pots 

 filled with leaf-mold. The blanched 

 shoots showed themselves through the 



drainage hole in twenty-four days, but 

 the pamphlet issued by the Department 

 of Agriculture gives the time as forty 

 to sixty days. 



1 aid not use it as a salad, out cooked 

 it, as one would asparagus, and served 

 it in cream sauce on toast. If Scott 

 and Eudd will try it that way they will 

 forever eschew sauerkraut and sing a 

 duet in its praise. W. C. Egan. 



GRAND RAPIDS LETTUCE SEED. 



We notice in your issue of March 29 

 W. S. Croydon in writing on Grand 

 Kapids lettuce states that he has had 

 trouble with seed of this variety not 

 growing properly. It has been our ex- 

 perience that for some reason freshly 

 gathered seed of the Grand Eapids va- 

 riety very frequently shows poor ger- 

 mination, but that if the same seed is 

 kept and allowed to ripen for a few 

 months, it readily grows 100 per 

 cent. For our own planting, we 

 prefer Grand Eapids lettuce seed one 

 year old. Johnson & Stokes. 



TROUBLE WITH LETTUCE. 



We have had a great deal of trouble 

 with our lettuce this season and suffered 

 a loss of several hundred dollars. During 

 our seven years' experience in raising 

 lettuce we have never had any serious 

 trouble. We raise Grand Eapids lettuce 

 exclusively. Our first crop was trans- 

 planted into the houses in early fall and 

 marketed in November and December. It 

 was as good as usual. The second crop 

 was transplanted into the houses as the 

 first was marketed. It started off all 

 right, but in about two weeks it seemed 

 to stop growing and a decayed ring ap- 

 peared around the stalk at the surface of 

 the ground, causing the outer leaves to 

 drop and decay. Some of the plants did 

 not die but only threw up short leaves, 

 lighter in color and texture than nat- 

 ural. 



We thought at first that the diseased 

 condition was caused by the plants hav- 

 ing been raised out in frames, so we dis- 

 carded the remainder of them and raised 

 others in the house. The little plants 

 grew off nicely and were transplanted 

 into pots and " flats. After they were 

 transplanted into permanent beds they 

 started to grow and looked like making 

 a good crop, but after two or three 

 weeks they commenced doing like the 

 others. We then thought it was the soil 

 but we have tried them on the old soil, 

 on fresh garden soil, on benches and 

 solid beds and on sod compost, and they 

 all go alike. ' 



Can you tell us what this disease is 

 and how to combat it? If we cannot do 

 something we are knocked out of the let- 

 tuce business. We have produced the 

 finest of Grand Eapids lettuce for the 

 past seven years and have never before 

 had a failure or any serious trouble. 



It has occurred to us that if such a 

 disease can be transmitted through the 

 seed, that might be the cause of our 

 trouble. The plants for the first crop 

 were produced from seed left over from 

 last year but all our plants since that 

 were produced from seeds bought at one 

 time. We have procured seed from an- 

 other firm and will trv that. 



'_ K. & S. 



The trouble you describe never has 

 come under my notice. 1 don't think it 

 is a disease in Grand Eapids but think 

 you have struck the root of the trouble 

 in the seed. In place of Grand Eapids 



