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12 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



June 13, 1907. 



SOIL FOR MUMS. 



As this is tlie first year that I will 

 have anything to do with the running 

 of greenhouses, 1 should like to ask a 

 few questions as to the soil for my 

 benches. Would it be advisable for me 

 to plant mums in soil that roses were 

 grown in last winter? The soil consists 

 of sod that was piled and turned the 

 year before. There is a little clay and 

 cow manure in it. The soil does not 

 seem sour, but is a little green on top, 

 along the edges. We intend to plant 

 them about June 15. If it is doubtful 

 about the soil, I can haul in some sod 

 that was plowed early this spring, but 

 not piled. If that is good enough for 

 mums, would the rose soil be all right 

 for lettuce, with bone meal or sheep 

 manure mixed in? I have not had any 

 experience with mums. We have some 

 fine, healthy plants to start with. They 

 were struck in February, but with the 

 aid of Smith's "Mum Manual" and 

 common sense I think I can make a fair 

 showing. 



How long will it take the houses to be 

 rid of red • spider, if practically every- 

 thing is removed? There is no other 

 way to kill them, is there, only with lots 

 of water, spraying under the benches 

 and all over? H. E. K. 



Mums can be grown in the same soil 

 that roses were grown in last winter 

 if nothing else is available, but abso- 

 lutely new soil is so far superior in 

 greenhouse culture for any crop that 

 I would advise removing the old soil 

 and putting in new. I consider it time 

 and money well spent. The sod that 

 was plowed early in the spring, if it 

 be broken up well, will give far better 

 results, for mums love a fibrous loam. 

 The rose soil could be used for lettuce 

 this coming winter, if stacked up and en- 

 riched with rotten manure and bone 

 meal. Where soil is scarce it is a great 

 temptation to use it over and over again, 

 but it is poor eeonomy. Soil that has 

 grown a crop of mums can be used in 

 the winter for potting soft-wooded bed- 

 ding plants, or things of that kind, that 

 are soon moved again or planted out, 

 but for growing cropc in a bench, I say 

 renew the soil if you want the very best 

 results. 



Bed spider can be cleaned out, when 

 a house is entirely empty, by burning 

 sulphur in The house, first tightly clos- 

 ing the ventilators and doors so the 

 fumes cannot escape. This will kill 

 plant life as well as insect, so that 

 everything nuist be removed from the 

 house. The careful grower cleans his 

 house entirely of soil, scrapes up all the 

 soil and debris from under the benches 

 and carts that out, then treats the house 

 to a dose of sulphur fumes and white- 

 washes the bottoms of the benches and 

 the side walls with good hot lime. So 

 treated, a house smells clean and is 

 clean. Many florists do not realize the 

 importance of cleanliness in plant grow- 

 ing, and under the benches the rubbish 

 is allowed to accumulate until the 

 benches are torn down to be replaced. 



This affords an ideal breeding place for 

 vermin of every description, and it is 

 not long before the plants show it. Tew 

 of us have time to put on fancy frills, 

 but by starting with a clean house it 

 can be easily kept clean by brushing up 

 the walks once a week. We are taught 

 that So far as spider is concerned the 

 water does not kill it, but that in spray- 

 ing the force of the water dislodges it 

 from its host plant and discourages it 

 from future operations. Whether this 

 is so or not, the man that can use a 

 hose efficiently is seldom bothered with 

 spider. Charles H. Totty. 



QUANTITY OF FERTILIZER. 



How much sheep manure, dried, should 

 be used to, say, a wheelbarrow of soil, 

 to plant chrysanthemums in? H. J. H. 



Much depends on the strength of the 

 sheep manure. So far as I have seen it, 

 there is considerable variation in this 

 fertilizer. Some that is finely ground ap- 

 pears to be half soil. Personally, I only 

 use sheep manure in liquid form, but 

 a 6-inch pot to a wheelbarrow of soil 

 should be perfectly safe if the sheep 

 manure is fresh and strong. If H. J. H. 

 will try a small section of his bed in 

 soil without the sheep manure, and use 

 the manure later as a liquid, I have an 

 idea he will get better results out of it. 



C. H. T. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 



The schedule of the Chrysanthenunn 

 Society of America is now ready and the 

 following prizes are offered, to be com- 

 peted for at the next meeting of the so- 

 ciety, to be held in New York city No- 

 vember 6 to 8: 



The C. S. A. prize silver cup, for best 

 ten blooms in show, any color. 



F. R. Pierson, Tarrytown, N. Y., of- 

 fers a silver cup for ten blooms white, 

 ten blooms yellow and ten blooms pink. 



A silver cup is offered for best ten 

 blooms of Miss Clay Frick, on 24-inch 

 stems. 



Vaughan's Seed Store offers a silver 

 cup for best specimen bush plant, open 

 to private gardeners only. 



W. Wells & Co., of England, offer gold,, 

 silver and bronze medals for six blooms 

 of Miriam Hankey, on 24-inch stems. 



Nathan Smith & Son offer a prize of 

 $25 for the best seedling or sport of 

 American origin, commercial scale. 



Charles H. Totty offers prizes of $15 

 and $10 for best fifteen blooms, ten 

 varieties, on 24-inch stems, introductions 

 of 1907. 



A. T. Boddington offers prizes of $10^ 

 and $5 for best ten blooms of Beatrice 

 May, on 24-inch stems. 



A. J. Loveless offers a prize of $8 for 

 largest bloom in show, white; $8 for 

 largest bloom, pink, and $8 for largest 

 bloom, yellow. 



J. M. Thorburn & Co. offer a prize of 

 $10 for twelve blooms, four varieties,, 

 on 24-inch stems, open to private gar- 

 ileners only. 



Henry A. Dreer offers a prize of $15 

 for twenty-four blooms, six varieties, on 

 24-inch stems. 



E. G. Hill & Co. offer a prize of $15 

 for twelve blooms of President Loubet, 

 and $10 for ten blooms of Mme. ArmanJ 

 Detroyat. 



The Stumpp & Walter Co. offers a 

 prize of $10 for best three blooms of 

 Morton F. Plant. 



Peter Henderson & Co. offer a prize 

 of $25 under the following conditions: 

 To the private gardener winning the 

 greatest number of points at the exhibi- 

 tion, to be determined as follows: A 

 first prize to count ten points, 'a second 

 prize to count five points, and a third 

 prize to count three points. 



David Fraser, Sec'y. 



The Review advs. say skidoo for the 

 florists' stock. — J. G. Angel, Oklahoma 

 City, Okla. 



East Orange, N. J. — George Smith, 

 the leading florist in East Orange, was 

 presented with a young daughter on 

 Decoration day. 



Cambridge, Mass. — Arthur Clark has 

 filed a petition in bankruptcy. There 

 are seventy creditors, $4,795 liabilities 

 and no assets worth mentioning. 



Late Tulip Golden Crown. 



