638 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



January 17, 1907. 



SMILAX. 



A few years ago we rarely saw smilax 

 well done in England, but in America it 

 has been one of the most popular foliage 

 subjects for many years, says a writer 

 in the Horticultural Advertiser; and now 

 we get it well-grown in England, and it 

 has almost entirely superseded the 

 climbing fern, Lygodium Japonicum, or 

 scandens as it was known. The fern is 

 more elegant when quite fresh, but the 

 smilax lasts much better. 



I have visited several nurseries where 

 it is now extensively grown, and I find 

 the growers find no difficulty in doing 

 it well. The chief point is to give it 

 plenty of rootroom with loose, rough 

 soil consisting chiefly of leaf-mold and 

 stable manure that has been laid up for 

 some time. There is nothing better than 

 old hotbed manure. Most growers use 

 long, rather narrow boxes, and run the 

 strings up to the roof, giving sufficient 

 room between each two rows of boxes 

 to get through for keeping it in order 

 and for cutting. Planted in cold ground 

 it does no good, but kept above the sur- 

 face in light compost as described above, 

 it will grow freely. Bed spider is its 

 chief enemy among insect pests, but as 

 the syringe or hose may be used freely, 

 this can always be kept in check. There 

 is a great advantage in growing sufficient 

 to fill a house, or at least the center 

 portion, so that it can have the moist 

 humid treatment, and while in regard to 

 water at the roots, stagnation is fatal, 

 yet with good drainage there is not much 

 risk of over-watering. 



I find there is some confusion in regard 

 to the proper name. The most generally 

 accepted name is Myrsophyllum aspara- 

 goides, but it is also known as Mediola 

 asparagoides. The seed is procurable 

 from the Continent, and after being 

 soaked in water for a short time germi- 

 nates freely. 



Vegetable Forcing. 



Please send the Eeview the names of 

 those in your vicinity who grow vege- 

 tables under glass. 



One of the effects of the dark weather 

 in November and December has been that 

 vegetable crops have not progressed as 

 usual. Chicago growers say radishes, for 

 instance, are taking nearly double the 

 usual time to mature. 



The object of the Massachusetts 

 Asparagus Growers' Association is the 

 restoration of asparagus, to its immunity 

 from rust, or the discovery of a species 

 that shall be rust-resistant, and the dis- 

 semination of information in relation to 

 its growing and marketing. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, JtJ». 15. — Cucumbers, $1 to 

 $2 doz. ; lettuce, 30c to 35c case; rad- 

 ishes, 50c to 65c doz. bunches; tomatoes, 

 30c to 35c lb. 



Boston, Jan, 14. — Supplies are abun- 

 dant, owing to continued mild weather. 

 Trade would be benefited by colder 

 weather. Lettuce, 15c to 75c doz. heads ; 

 cucumbers, $3 to $13 box; parsley, $1.25 

 box; radishes, $1 to $1.50 box; mint, 75c 

 doz.; romaine, $1 doz.; mushrooms, 50c 

 to $1 lb. 



New York, Jan. 14. — Cucumbers con- 

 tinue plenty, dull and tveak. Mushrooms 



A BED or MUSHROOMS 



Raised from our Spawn, will bear longer and yield better than from any other variety of 

 Spawn. This is proven by facts. Full particulars and Information how to succeed In muBhroom 

 raislnir free. We warrant you if using: our method of srowingr muahrooms that all will go well 



KNUD OUNDESTRUP & CO.. 42?TKX'X^"t^,?Joo 



Mention The Review when you write. 



VEGETABLE 

 PLANTS 



fABBAGF New Early 

 \/^UD/%VI- ji_25 per 100 



and Succession 

 1000. 



I FTTI \rf Gtrand Rapids, Bis: Boston, Bos- 

 Ll_ I I V)\/L ton Market and Tennis Ball, 

 $1.00 per 1000. 



PARSLEY Moss Curled, $1.26 per 1000. 



R. Vincent, Jr. & Son, white Marsh, Md. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Vegetable Growers should 



Send 5 Dollars 



for a swivel wheel and 20 %-inch nozzles. It will 

 fit a run of 100 feet of pipe and give you a chance 

 to try for yourself, the Wittbold Wataringr 

 System, or send for circulars of testimonials. 



Louis WHtbold, 1708 N. Haltted St., Chicago 



are selling up closely and prices firm for 

 choice to fancy qualities; some extra lots 

 exceed our top quotations. Fancy lettuce 

 would command top figures, but we see 

 scarcely any such, and for poorer lots 

 there is little demand. Other kinds of 

 hothouse vegetables are generally steady 

 at unchanged prices. Cucumbers, 50c to 

 $1 doz.; lettuce, 25c to $1 doz. heads; 

 mushrooms, 20c to 75c lb.; mint, 50c to 

 $1 doz. bunches; radishes, $2.50 to $3.50 

 per 100 bunches; rhubarb, 75c to 80c 

 large bunch; parsley, 15c doz. bunches; 

 tomatoes, 10c to 30c lb. 



TOMATOES. 



What is the best tomato for early 

 spring forcing and what is the best time 

 to sow the seed for fruit, say, March 151 

 How far apart should plants be to give 

 best results? How much fruit would be 

 a fair estimate per plant? T. C. G. 



Both Sterling Castle and Lorillard are 

 good varieties, easy doers and reliable 

 setters. Sowing seed now you would not 

 be able to get fruit by March 15. You 

 can't count on getting fruit in less than 

 three months and, even then, your plants 

 won't be in full bearing. The best 

 thing for you to do now, to insure get- 

 ting fruit for that time, is to procure 

 the plants already started. You will see 

 several firms advertising them, at a small 

 cost, in the Review. Set the plants four- 

 teen inches apart to give best results. 

 Some allow only twelve inches, but this 

 is rather crowding. Five to six pounds 

 per plant is a fair average, though a 

 plant can be made to produce more than 

 this. W. S. Croydon. 



WINTER BEAUTY TOMATO. 



At the January meeting of the Chi- 

 cago Florists' Club J. Hamlin, of the 

 Riverbank Nursery, Geneva, 111., exhib- 

 ited a plate of Winter Beauty tomato, a 

 variety of fair size, round, smooth and 

 splendidly colored, raised by Sutton & 

 Sons, Reading, England. In speaking 

 of the variety Mr. Hamlin says: 



"It sets freely through the winter 

 months and should be useful to every 



Lambert's Pure Cnitnre 

 Mushroom Spawn 



Produced by new grraftlng 

 process from selected anJ 

 prollflc specimens, thor 

 oughly acclimatized. 

 Has never failed to run 

 Sold by Leading Seedsmen 

 Practical instructions o\> 



"MaBhroom Culture" 

 mailed free on application. 



American Spawn Co. 

 St. Paul, Minn. 



PURE CULTURE 



MUSHROOM SPAWN 



Per 10 bricks, $1.60. Per 25 bricks, 18.60. 

 Per 60 bricks, 96.50. Per 100 bricks. $12.00. 



Freali Tobacco Steins, In bales of 300 lbs., $1.60. 

 W. C. BECKERT, Allegheny, Pa. 



Skiofler's Irrigation. 



For greenhoases, gardens and lawns. 

 Latest improved gasoline pumping out- 

 fits at low price. Estimates furnished 

 on request. Address, 



C. W, SKINNER, Troy, O. 



private gardener who would like to get 

 some in for Christmas. It also pays 

 well for market, for which purpose I 

 grow it. I was gathering early in Janu- 

 ary 200 pounds per week from 200 

 plants and they are thick with fruit, 

 averaging five pounds to the plant, and 

 still setting well. They had brought 35 

 cents a pound in the Chicago market. I 

 plant on a bench, with roots confined in 

 a space eighteen inches wide and twelve 

 inches deep. The soil is good, with cow 

 manure well worked in. I plant one foot 

 apart and grow on a single stem. The 

 plants will continue to bear for months 

 and will average fifteen to eighteen 

 pounds of fruit per plant. I use a span- 

 roofed house running north and south. 

 One row only is planted on each f'hIc, 

 with Lilium Harrisii on one side under 

 the tomatoes and Boston ferns on the 

 other side. The variety is good only for 

 winter work." 



FUNGUS ON LETTUCE. 



I herewith send you some diseased let- 

 tuce plants. We find them in new soil 

 as well as in the soil taken from the 

 hotbed yard. Tue plants grow nicely for 

 about two weeks, then get yellow and 

 spotted and the roots look dead. Per- 

 haps twenty feet in a bench will be all 

 right; then there will be another batch 

 of this. There is no trouble in the hot- 

 beds or coldframes, oilly in the green- 

 house. Sometimes the temperature gets 

 down to 45 degrees at night, but it usu- 

 ally is about 50 degrees. I ventilate 

 whenever possible and use cistern water. 

 [ have used air-slaked lime in the soil, 

 also powdered Bordeaux mixture for 

 dusting the house. There is as yet no 

 difference. H. S. 



Your trouble is a fungus disease, the 

 spores of which have got into your bench, 

 probably through the agency of some 

 decayed vegetable matter. The disease 

 will begin in one spot and spread over 



