^ tv f '^l ■ 



8 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Febbuast 6, 1908. 



White Enchantress on the left. Enchantress on the right. 



Carnation Houses of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



method to the other, but he should first 

 try a house, or at least a bench, and 

 prove for himself which way is the 

 better under his conditions. Some of 

 the largest and best growers in the coun- 

 try practice indoor culture exclusively, 

 and many others in part of their plant, 

 and they certainly would not do so if it 

 did not pay them. When any new 

 method of doing things is taken up by 

 the leaders in the trade, we owe it to 

 the success of our business to at least 

 see for ourselves if there is anything in 

 it; otherwise we shall soon be bringing 

 up the tail of the procession. 



HEACOaCS No. 100. 



The George H. Cooke special prize at 

 the Washington convention "was $10 in 

 gold "for the best twenty-five blooms of 

 a pink seedling or sport darker than En- 

 chantress and lighter than Lawson, 

 never before winning a prize or medal. ' ' 

 This was won by No. 100, exhibited by 

 Joseph Heacock, Wyncote, Pa. Mr. Hea- 

 cock wishes to have it clearly understood 

 that No. 100 is not a sport but a seed- 

 ling (Lawson on Enchantress) and is 

 a stronger grower and more productive 

 than any Enchantress that he has over 

 seen. The variety was also given a cer- 

 tificate, the judges scoring it 86 points. 



EXPERIMENTS IN CARNATIONS. 



fA synopsis of an address by Dr. B. T. dallo- 

 way. of the t'nited States Department of Ajtrl- 

 cultnre, delivered before the American Ciiriiatloii 

 Society at the Washlnpton convention, Jiinuarv 

 28 to .-{0, 1808.1 



Dr. Beverly T. Galloway, chief of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, in his address 

 before the .society called attention to the 

 experiments and tests of various kinds, 

 connected with the growing of carnations, 

 which have been carried on by the Do 

 partment of Agriculture for several 

 years. He stated that the work had for 

 its object the securing of information on 

 the follmving points: 



1. The relative yield and vigor of 

 plants grown under glass all summer, as 

 compared with plants of the same vari- 



etry grown outdoors during the summer 

 season and moved to the benches in the 

 usual way and at the usual time. 



2. Fertilizer tests to determine the ef- 

 fect of different fertilizers, alone and in 

 various combinations, on vigor and yield. 



3. A study of hereditary tendencies in 

 so far as they may affect continuous 

 vigor and healthfulness and yield. 



4. The securing of new and desirable 

 types by crossing. 



5. A study of fundamental questions 

 of breeding, with a view to securing data 

 that will be of value to carnation grow- 

 ers and others in the improvement of 

 their crops. 



6. A study of diseases and means of 

 preventing them. 



Field and Indoor Plants. 



Dr. Galloway took up the subjects in 

 the order given, using a table or chart, 

 large enough to be seen by all present, to 

 illustrate the results of experiments con- 

 ducted during the summer of 1906 and 

 the winter of 1907, to determine the rela- 

 tive yield of field and indoorrgrown 

 plants. He explained how the experi- 

 ment had been conducted, namely, by 

 propagating plants from stock of four 

 varieties, care being taken to have the 

 stock of as nearly equal vigor and pro- 

 ductiveness as possible. Four benches in 

 the greenhouse were given over to the 

 work, each holding about 1,000 plants, 

 and these benches were planted with 

 stock from 3-inch pots, two rows the en- 

 tire length of each bench being reserved 

 for the plants grown outdoors. Dr. Gal- 

 loway stated that the field-grown plants 

 were given the usual treatment and 

 produced fair average growth, but 

 were not as large as those grown on the 

 benches when brought in in September. 



He stated that the results, as shown by 

 the chart, were, without exception, very 

 much in favor of the indoor-grown 

 plants, in many cases the increase being 

 over 100 per cent. He added, however, 

 that while the results were so strikingly 

 in favor of growing plants under glass 

 the season through, from the standpoint 

 of the Department, other considerations 

 have to be kept in mind, such as the rela- 

 tive cost of the two methods, the produc- 

 tion for an entire season, the utilization 

 of the houses for other purposes, mainte- 

 nance,- etc., in determining what method 

 to pursue. 



Experiments With Fertilizers. 



The speaker also used the chart to il- 

 lustrate his remarks upon the fertilizer 

 experiments which the Department had 

 carried on. He said that this experiment 

 had been planned to bring out, if possi- 

 ble, the fact that growers as a rule are 

 prone to overestimate the value of com- 

 mercial fertilizers in crop production, and 

 he said he believed the results of the ex- 

 periment would show that there is no fer- 

 tilizer so good, reliable and sure as well 



Beacon on the left. 



Winsor on the right. 



Carnation Houses of the U. S. Department of Agticxtltute. 



