8 



The Wc^y Florists' Review* 



Mabch 12, 1908. 



importance or the relation of these or- 

 ganisms to soil fertility and plant life. 

 Years ago it was thought that the chem- 

 ist could supply us information concern- 

 ing the composition of our soils and the 

 requirements of the plant. True it is, 

 be can analyze plant products and tell 

 us of what they are composed; he can 

 analyze the soils and tell us what they 

 contain; but his analysis is so far-reach- 

 ing that it does not tell us the relation 

 wMch the constituents of the soil bear 

 to the living organism, the plant. The 

 fertility of the soil cannot be determined 

 by chemical analysis. The plant is 

 the only means of telling us what the 

 soil contains, so far as plant require- 

 ments are concerned. Mechanical analy- 

 sis can tell us the fineness of the soil, the 

 proportion of sand and of clay and of or- 

 ganic matter, but it can go no further. 

 For the ultimate analysis in which we 

 are most interested we must constantly 

 return to the plant, and, by noting its 

 behavior, its growth and its color, deter- 

 mine from experience what the soil lacks 

 in order that we may secure the growth 

 desired. 



(To be Continued.) 



Portland, Me. — Chester Harmon, son 

 of E. J. Harmon, fell from the flying 

 rings in the Y. M. C. A. gymnasium 

 while practicing Saturday afternoon, Feb- 

 ruary 29, and broke his leg. 



FOUR GOOD SWEET PEAS. 



The pink Countess Spencer, Nora Un- 

 win, Queen Alexandra and Mrs. Geo. 

 Higginson, Jr., form a fine set of sweet 

 peas for florists' use for outdoor plant- 

 ing, and the grower who uses them this 

 summer vrill find them great improve- 

 ments over corresponding colors of older 

 varieties. 



Nora TJnwin is a grand white, ahead of 

 any other, even that leader of the last 

 two seasons, Dorothy Eckford. In 

 Countess Spencer we have a most pleas- 

 ing shade of pink, almost shell pink. The 

 flowers are of the largest size, usually 

 four on a long, stiff stem. This variety 

 is without a doubt one of the finest sweet 

 peas Mr. Eckford has yet introduced. 

 Queen Alexandra fills the bill where a 

 scarlet red is wanted, and while the 

 average florist has not much call for red 

 sweet peas, those who have use for them 

 will find this one the best of its class. 

 For a light lavender flower Mrs. Geo. 

 Higginson, Jr., is a good one, even if the 

 name is not appropriate and is far too 

 long. There is a long list of other beau- 

 tiful shades, many of which adapt them- 

 selves especially to florists' use, but for 

 the small grower four good varieties, as 

 mentioned above, are almost sufficient to 

 form his main crop. Though it is well to 

 try a few of the novelties, as there are 

 always improvements to be found among 

 them over existing varieties, there is 



more call for pink, white and lavender 

 than all of the other colors or shades 

 combined. 



While writing on sweet peas it miebt 

 be well to call attention to the fact that 

 many growers make a great mistake in 

 sowing sweet peas too thick. If you 

 have good seed, do not sow closer than 

 an inch and a half, and two inches be- 

 tween the seeds for early sowing is even 

 better. If the plants have a chance to 

 grow during the last part of April, or 

 during May, they will, if not crowded, 

 produce quite a number of branches, all 

 of which will bloom, and they wiU bloom 

 longer and better. By sowing thickly 

 the plants are forced to grow straight up 

 without having a chance to branch from 

 below; the plants will have a few good 

 blooms and then give out; short-stemmed 

 flowers and the falling or drying up of 

 the lower leaves of the plants will be the 

 result. It has been repeatedly proven 

 that thinly sown sweet peas outlast 

 thickly sown ones, and yet too often this 

 is overlooked and the cheapness of the 

 seeds tempts the planter to "put enough 

 in the drill," which for early sowing is 

 wrong. When, however, seed is sown 

 late, it is well to sow thick, for the 

 plants will not make a luxurious growth 

 in midsummer. F. B. 



Manchester, Mass. — The North 

 Shore Horticultural Society will have 

 June and August shows. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



Care of Young Stock. 



Care ia by no means over when the 

 cuttings are rooted and established in 

 soil. The disposition to reason that since 

 these young plants are not productive, 

 any sort of bench or conditions will suf- 

 fice, must be banished from the mind at 

 once. Still, there is such a thing as in- 

 juring them with kindness — in other 

 word^ pampering or coddling. 



We like the plan of potting each cut- 

 ting, for by this means one is able to 

 give each plant that individual attention 

 not possible when planted directly into 

 bench or flats. Shifting from pots to 

 flats admits of the stock being moved at 

 any time, and in many cases it is very 

 convenient to be able to do this, but 

 perhaps the feature which will appeal 

 most to the commercial grower is the 

 saving in soil. 



As soon as young stock has taken hold 

 after the shift from pots, instead of 

 maintaining a temperature suited to 

 blooming stock, gradually teduce to 45 

 or 50 degrees during the day, with a 

 drop of 10 degrees at night. This treat- 



ment will encourage slow, sturdy growth 

 and may be said to effect a partial rest, 

 a luxury which, under the strain of pres- 

 ent times, the divine flower knows little 

 of, but would none the less appreciate. 

 It may be thought the plants will be un- 

 dersized at planting out time, but such 

 will not be the case, for the sun's rays 

 are increasing in strength and outside 

 conditions will soon be such that there 

 will be no rest for plants or persons — 

 the one will grow apace and the other 

 must hustle to keep up. 



An Inexcusable EviL 



If there is one thing above another 

 that will cause trouble it is for a batch 

 of young plants to become infested with 

 greenfly or red spider. The punctures 

 made by these vermin open the way for 

 a multitude of ills, without reckoning 

 the direct damage done by the insects 

 themselves, and the worst feature in the 

 case is the total absence of any excuse 

 in the power of man to invent that will 

 justify the existence of such condition. 

 Too high temperature and insufficient 

 ventilation conspire to bring about these 

 insidious pests. Geo. S. Osborn. 



TROUBLE WITH ENCHANTRESS. 



Will you kindly inform us as to what 

 ingredient or ingredients are needed in 

 soils to tend to give good color to 

 blooms, and tell us what fertilizer will 

 obtain the result? Part of our En- 

 chantress are growing on a raised bench > 

 and part on a solid bed. On the raised 

 bench the color of the blooms is all that 

 is to be desired, but in the solid bed 

 for the last two months it has not been 

 satisfactory. In both instances we have 

 a rather heavy clay loam enriched with 

 one-fourth well decomposed horse manure 

 and a fair amount of bone meal, to the 

 surface of which we added between 150 

 and 200 pounds of wood ashes to 600 

 square feet of bench after the plants 

 were established. We have had, as 

 usual, a great amount of cloudy weather 

 since December. The plants have a 

 good, healthy look, with strong stems, 

 but the blooms are not as deep a color 

 on all plants, and especially on the splits. 

 The stock we planted from the field the 

 latter part of August, 9x12 inches, and 

 many werie extra large. The bed does 

 not dry out quickly, only requiring water 

 a1;)out once in ten days in cloudy weather. 



