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March 28, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



I45J 



Tufa Stone Rockery in G>n8ervatory of L L. EUwood, De Kalb^ lU. 



say it depends somewhat on the variety 

 and the young plant, too. Some va- 

 rieties, when they are topped, will break 

 from nearly every eye above the soil, 

 while others will break from only three 

 or four eyes, and you must top them ac- 

 cordingly. The first named should be 

 topped as high as possible without leav- 

 ing any eyes that will throw flower 

 buds. These usually need not be topped 

 more than about twice to make fine 

 plants. The other kind must not be 

 topped too high, as they always break 

 from the eyes nearest the end, and if 

 you get too much stem below the body 

 of the plant it is likely to get top-heavy 

 and fall over before digging time. Until 

 you become familiar with your varieties 

 it would be advisable to top all of them 

 about medium and then be guided in the 

 future by the way they break away this 

 time. Leave five or six joints above the 

 soil. 



Some growers top all varieties as high 

 as possible, thinking it advantageous to 

 have considerable stem between the soil 

 and the crown of the plant. One argu- 

 ment is that it helps to prevent stem-rot, 

 but I do not agree with that theory. 

 You will find that when a plant breaks 

 from an eye below the surface the 

 growth below the surface will be the 

 same as that of the plant between the 

 roots and the surface, and it will not 

 decay like a branch that is covered after 

 it is grown. 



As for stem-rot, if the fungus is in 

 the soil and the atmospheric conditions 

 are right, it will attack the plants, and, 

 whether the stems are long or short, 

 will make no difference. On the other 

 hand, if the stems are short, there is less 

 danger of too deep planting, as the 

 plants will stand up better. 



A. F. J. B. 



TUFA STONE. 



Tufa is a material which has come to 

 be largely used for rockeries, grottoes, 

 fountains and the like, where an irregu- 

 lar effect is desired, a natural or in- 

 formal effect, in contrast to the regular 

 and artificial. Tufa stone is manufac- 

 tured by the Tufa Incrustation Co., an 

 Ohio concern, and is shipped in any de- 



sired quantity, being easily placed in 

 position by any builder or gardener. 

 The accompanying illustration was pre- 

 pared from a photograph made in the 

 conservatory of Isaac Ellwood, the 

 barbed-wire magnate, at De Kalb, 111. 

 This rockery was built by Probst & 

 Christianson, the horticultural builders, 

 who are the sole western agents for tufa 

 stone. 



BY A GROWER. 



I know, blue, modest violets. 

 Gleaming wkh dew at morn — 



I know the place you come from. 

 And the way that you are bom! 



When God cut holes In heaven — 

 The holes the stars look through — 



He let the scraps fall down to earth; 

 The little scraps are you. 



PLANTS FOR FRAMES. 



What is the best manure and what 

 kind of fertilizer should I use on the 

 ground for violets to be set out this 

 spring? They will be covered with cold- 

 frames in the autumn. Which make the 

 best plants, the new runners or the 

 crowns? What is the best way to keep 

 down red spider? J. P. W. 



There is nothing better for violets, in 

 the way of fertilizer, than well-rotted 

 cow manure. Of course if it really is 

 impossible to procure this, we would 

 use well-rotted horse manure, but it 

 must be well-rotted; for instance, such 

 as has been used in hotbeds and the 

 heat all spent, and in fine, good, work- 

 ing condition. ,T. P. W. does not say 

 what kind of soil he has, but the chances 

 are that when he is spreading his ma- 

 nure a dusting of lime would be bene- 



ficial, as would also a little salt, say 

 about a pint to a bushel of manure. 

 This helps to fine the manure and kills 

 the white grubs that breed in the ma- 

 nure. New runners are preferred, by 

 all means. Note our remarks only a 

 short time ago. But it is getting late in 

 the season, so that if you have not al- 

 ready worked up your stock you may 

 have to divide the crowns. 



The best way, by far, to keep down 

 red spider is not to let it get a foothold, 

 as it takes time, as well as lots of water 

 sprayed on with force, to eradicate the 

 pest when once it gets established. And, 

 too, it is so much h?rder to do in frames 

 than where you grow your violets in the 

 house. B. E. S. 



TEACHING HORTICULTURE. 



Professor L. H. Bailey, director of the 

 Agricultural Department of Cornell Uni- 

 versity, has been giving some, excellent 

 advice on the all-important question of 

 training young men who intend engaging 

 in horticultural pursuits. Speaking at 

 a meeting of horticulturists, he said that 

 "the time is past when mere expository 

 work — instruction by means of lectures 

 and books — is sufficient to meet the de- 

 mands. The botanist and the chemist no 

 longer teach by lectures and literary 

 means alone ; they have laboratories in 

 which the students work for themselves 

 and develop their own experience. 



* ' The horticulturists also teach by lab- 

 oratory work, but we have not yet come 

 to a full realization of the competent 

 horticultural laboratory. It is useful to 

 have laboratory exercises on grafting, 

 propagation and on pruning and spray- 

 ing, and some of the operations of plant 

 breeding; but these alone are inciden- 

 tal, and they really trifle with a great 

 subject. The laboratory work should 

 cover the whole theory and process of the 

 given art. In the pomological division 

 it should be a laboratory of, say, fifty 

 acres of actual orchards, in which all 

 phases of the work, from start to finish, 

 may be in natural operation; and if 

 these phases cannot be taught at the 

 time of year when the students are in 

 the habit of coming to college, the time 

 of coming should be changed, for the sea- 

 sons and the operations that follow the 



