34 



The Weekly Florists" Review^ 



JULT 4, 1907. 



Vegetable Forcing. 



Red spider in cucumber houses must be 

 fought with ceaseless vigilance. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, July 2. — Cucumbers, 50 to 

 75c doz. ; leaf lettuce, 10c to 15e case. 



Boston, July 1. — There is a larger 

 supply of outdoor vegetables. Cucum- 

 bers, $2 to $3.25 box; tomatoes, 10c to 

 13c lb. 



New York, July 1. — Outdoor vege- 

 tables now rule the market. Boston cu- 

 cumbers fetch 50 cents to 65 cents per 

 dozen for the best ; mushrooms, 25c to 

 $1.25 lb.; indoor tomatoes, 5c to 15c lb. 



TOLEDO, OHIO. 



In the case of Arthur Cowdrick against 

 Searles Bros., the jury in Judge Kin- 

 kade's court, June 19, returned a verdict 

 of $1,285 in favor of the plaintiff. 



Arthur Cowdrick was superintendent of 

 construction when Searles Bros, last sea- 

 sou built their big range of greenhouses. 

 He claimed for his services $4,500, but 

 the greenhouse owners refused to settle 

 because of alleged delay in the work and 

 the alleged inferior character of the con- 

 struction. Cowdrick brought suit and in 

 a counter claim Searles Bros, asked as an 

 offset $10,000 for the loss of a crop, due 

 to delay in completing the houses. 



LETTUCE AND CUCUMBERS. 



The Principal Crops. 



Some of the growers use different 

 houses throughout the entire season for 

 the two vegetables, cucumbers and let- 

 tuce, but the majority grow cucumbers in 

 the fall and spring, when the weather 

 is more suitable, and lettuce in the win- 

 ter, which is much easier to handle, as 

 it requires a low temperature, while with 

 cucumbers in severe weather it is difficult 

 and expensive to maintain the high tem- 

 perature required. The days being so 

 short and cloudy much of the time, even 

 if the houses are equipped with suffi- 

 cient heating apparatus to hold the 

 proper temperature, the output is so small 

 that few growers find it profitable to use 

 the houses for cucumbers through the 

 worst winter months. Many proprietors 

 state very positively that they are unable 

 to make any money on cucumbers be- 

 tween Thanksgiving and Easter and do 

 not try to grow them then, as the risk is 

 great of getting a poor crop, which would 

 mean a severe loss on account of the 

 heavy expense for fuel and labor whether 

 the crop is a success or not. They prefer 

 to grow cool crops, like radishes or let- 

 tuce, and wait for better weather. 



But there are a few establishments 

 which produce cucumbers all winter, and 

 the owners say that they make a fair 

 profit; as much or more than they could 

 on lettuce. The prides of greenhouse 

 cucumbers in midwinter are usually high, 

 sometimes going up as high as $2.50 per 

 dozen for fine fruit, and would seem quite 

 an inducement to the growers; but it 

 being almost impossible to produce one- 

 half as large a crop as in the spring, and 

 at a much greater expense, the net profits 

 are not nearly as good as in the spring, 

 when prices are one-half or one-third 

 lower. This is why lettuce is usually 



A BED OF MUSHROOMS 



Raised from my Spawn, will bear lonKer and yield better than from any other variety of 

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

 raisin; free. VV^e warrant you if uslnr our method of growlnr mushrooms that all will go well. 



KNUD 6UNDESTRUP, 



Mnshroom 

 Specialiat, 



4273 Milwaukee Ave., Chicago 



Mention The ReTJew when yon write. 



substituted for a midwinter crop in the 

 cucumber houses. 



The cucumber seeds are planted about 

 August 1 for a fall crop and begin to 

 bear soon after frost cuts off the outdoor 

 supply, and should continue until Thanks- 

 giving, when they are removed and the 

 beds spaded up for the lettuce plants, 

 which have been previously started and 

 transplanted into boxes or benches in a 

 cooler house or sometimes in a cold- 

 frame outside. Two or three crops are 

 usually grown, a batch of young plants 

 being ready to replant the houses as soon 

 as the older lot is marketed and beds 

 made ready again. After the last crop 

 of lettuce is sold, cucumber plants are 

 again placed in the beds, the temperature 

 raised to suit, and then the race is on in 

 earnest, win or lose. The best of care is 

 given this crop, as it decides whether or 

 not the owner makes enough money to 

 build more houses that summer. 



In growing both lettuce and cucum- 

 bers one cannot be too careful in select- 

 ing and preparing the soil, as this is the 

 most important part of their culture. 

 Both vegetables like a light, loose soil. 

 Sod from a sandy loam with one-third 

 manure added makes an excellent soil for 

 them. For lettuce the compost should be 

 well rotted, but for cucumbers it is not 

 necessary. The fresh soil, even with 

 large pieces of sod in it, and fresh, hot 

 manure, makes an excellent cycumber soil, 

 provided the manure is buried in the soil 

 so the heat and ammonia cannot rise 

 and injure the foliage. Where a house 

 is to be used for cucumbers in fall and 

 lettuce in winter, the new soil will be 

 thoroughly decomposed before the cucum- 

 ber crop is through bearing, and if a 

 little more rotted manure be spaded in, 

 and some sand, when the soil is not suffi- 

 ciently loose, tlie beds will be in fine 

 shape for tlie lettuce. 



The soil should be well spaded or 

 forked over and more manure added each 

 time new crops are planted. It is best 

 to remove the soil each summer and refill 

 with fresh, but if free from disease and 

 ell-worms, it can be used two or more 

 years with fairly good results by remov- 

 ing only a part of the soil, leaving room 

 enough in the beds for the top dressings 

 the following winter. 



Next in importance to soil comes tem- 

 perature, ventilation and watering, which 

 will be treated in our next article. 



BOREALIS. 



THE MEANEST MAN. 



Here is a yarn that is going the rounds 

 of the daily newspapers, credited to " a 

 New York florist": 



"The man under discussion recently 

 bought a fine summer home and estate 

 about a half mile from my nursery," 

 said the florist. "A few weeks ago he 

 was entertaining some friends and show- 

 ing them around the neighborhood. In 

 the course of their peregrinations he 

 brought them to my flower patch, on 

 which I have a number of large glass- 

 houses. Wishing to display his wealth 

 by purchasing something, he stopped at 

 a cucumber frame and asked me the 

 price of various specimens of that vege- 



VEGETABLE PUNTS 



100 1000 

 LETTUCE PLANTS, ready now, Qrand 

 Rapids, Big Boston, Boston Market, 

 and Tennis Ball aoc $1.00 



PAB8LET. Moss Curled 26c 1.26 



BEETS, Eclipse 86c 1.26 



GBLEBT, White Plume, Olant Pascal. 

 Golden Heart and other varieties. . . 100 



TOMATO, EarUana. Early Jewel, 

 Lorillard and Mayflower 30c 2.00 



TOMATO, Stone. Perfection, Beauty 

 and other varieties 1.00 



CABBAflB. Flat Dutch, Drumhead, Hol- 

 lander, Savoy, and other varieties.. 1.00 



Cash with order. 



R.VINCENT JR.&SONS CO. 



White Marsh, Md. 



Mention The Reylew when yom write. 



Laaibert's Pan Cnltare 

 Mushroom Spawn 



Produced by new grraftlng 

 process from selected and 

 prolific specimens, thor- 

 oucrhly acclimatized. 

 Has ne^er failed to ran 

 Sold by Leading Seedsmen. 

 Practical Instructions on 



**Mashroom Cnltare" 

 mailed free on application. 



American Spawn Co. 

 St. Paul, Minn. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



CABBAGE 



E. J Wakefield per 1000, $1.50 



SonlBl* Dally, pink and white. . . .per 100, 2.0O 



Btevia, 2-inch 2.60 



Smllax, 2-inch " 1.20 



jbobelia, Emperor, 2-incb " 2.00 



r. 6RISW0LD, Worthington, Ohio. 



Mention The Review when yon write. 



Skinner's Irrigation. 



For greenhouses, gardens and lawns. 

 Latest improved gasoline pumping out- 

 fits at low price. Estimates furnished 

 on request. Address, 



C. W. SKINNER, Troy, O. 



Mention The Review when .vou write. 



table. I pointed a large one out to him 

 at 25 cents, another at 15 cents, and sa 

 on; but Mr. Suddenwealth would have 

 none of them. His eye fell on a partic- 

 ularly tiny specimen. 'How much?' he 

 asked, pointing to it. I told him 5 cents. 

 Mr. (.'roesus brought out a $50 bill. T 

 couldn't change it just then, so I told 

 him he could pay later. That suited him 

 fine. .Tust as I was about to pull the 

 cucumber he requested me to leave it 

 where it was, as he would send his man 

 for it in the evening. He went away 

 smiling, and sent his coachman to the 

 nursery at the end of a week, by which 

 time, of course, the tiny cucumber had 

 lengthened into a large and brilliant veg- 

 etable! What's more, he's forgotten to 

 divvy up the nickel I " 



RooKFORD, III. — H. W. Bueckbee will 

 remodel his store during the summer sea- 

 son, putting in a new front and up-to- 

 date fixtures. 



