10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Apbil 30, 1^8. 



CARNATION NOTES. -WEST. 



Planting Out. 



Planting out your young carnation 

 stock will now be claiming your atten- 

 tion, and the sooner you get them out 

 after danger of frost is past the better 

 it will be for them. If you have only 

 a few thousand plants to put out, it will 

 be a mere matter of a day or two of 

 work and the hurry is not so great; in 

 fact, you can wait for a favorable spell 

 of weather. But if you have 25,000 to 

 50,000 or even more to plant out, it be- 

 comes a more serious problem. In that 

 case an early start and perseverance are 

 quite essential, lest the last planted ones 

 ■get out too late to get the advantage 

 of the fine growing weather all through 

 May and early June. That is when the 

 plants get their start which tells in the 

 quality at planting time, especially those 

 for early benching. 



It does not pay to get them out too 

 early, thus having them hit by severe 

 frosts, unless they have been well hard- 

 ened off by running the house cool. This 

 is impractical on most places, because 

 the young plants seldom occupy a house 

 to themselves, but are set on a bench 

 here and another there, in with other 

 stock. So it is best to wait until dan- 

 ger of frost is over and then push the 

 work to conclusion as rapidly as possible. 



How to Hurry the Work. 



You can facilitate matters consider- 

 ably if you will make preparations be- 

 forehand as much as possible, so that 

 when planting begins you will not need 

 to stop for anything. See that there 

 are on hand plenty of trowels, large field 

 labels, and lines to plant by; also plenty 

 of trays to carry the plants in, as they 

 are dumped from the pots. Make a list 

 of the varieties which are set on each 

 bench in each house, so that when plant- 

 ing, all the plants of each variety can 

 be planted together and no time need be 

 lost in running around hunting a batch 

 which you thought was potted and was 

 not, etc. Go over the plants and top all 

 that will bear topping, and if you can 

 stand them over and weed them, it will 

 save you much time at planting time. 

 These are all small matters in themselves, 

 but collectively they can cause you much 

 vexatious delay later, when time is 

 precious. 



Preparing the Ground. 



If you broke up the field last fall, the 

 ground will likely be in nice condition 

 after being plowed and harrowed this 

 spring. If, however, it was not plowed 



last fall and is inclined to be lumpy 

 after plowing, the best implement for 

 pulverizing it is the disk harrow. This 

 is a splendid implement and every grower 

 should own one. After harrowing the 

 ground, go over it again with a drag. 

 This will smooth the surface and prevent 

 the soil from drying out as it would 

 if left rough. Be sure the soil is in 

 proper condition when you plow it. It 

 should crumble readily when turned by 

 the plow; to turn it too wet means ruin 

 to the plants. 



Get the plants out just as soon as 

 possible after the field is prepared, while 

 the soil is moist and mellow. When you 

 begin operations, organize your force so 

 that things will move along rapidly. Or- 

 ganization and system are the secret of 

 success in all matters where many hands 



Being engaged in growing and sale 

 of plants and flowers, naturally a num- 

 ber of floral papers come to my 

 address, but about a week ago I was 

 handed a copy of 



tW^ 



by one of your subscribers. After 

 looking it over carefully I have con- 

 cluded that it is the paper I need and 

 therefore enclose a money-order for $1 

 for a year's subscription. 



A. E. PETTIT. 

 Cory, Pa., April 18, 1908. 



are employed on a job. You will notice 

 that most men are more adept at one 

 or two things than the average man. 

 In some cases it is quick action, while 

 in others it is strength and endurance, 

 etc. Place every man where he will ac- 

 complish most and see that no man has 

 to wait for another, etc. That is what 

 counts. Let every man be kept hustling 

 to keep up with the next one. 



The Compost Heap. 



Have you turned your compost heap 

 yet, this spring? We make a practice of 

 doing this every spring, just as soon as 



the soil can be handled, and we never 

 fail to have it done before it is safe to 

 begin planting out. If you have failed 

 to do this job, you can manage to do it 

 in case rain stops planting a few days, 

 providing you will cover the heap with 

 sashes or boards to keep the rain off it. 

 Sashes are better, because the glass will 

 allow the sun to strike the soil and keep 

 it sweet. If you do a spring plant busi- 

 ness, you will find little time for this 

 after May 15 until the last of June, and 

 that will make it too late to get the 

 best results. 



Many growers give this soil prepara- 

 tion too little attention. Up-to-date 

 growers recognize the fact that having 

 the bench soil in a proper mechanical 

 condition is of greater importance than 

 adding a certain proportion of manure to 

 it. The fertility of the soil is essential, 

 but quantity of fertilizer does not neces- 

 sarily mean fertility, as a grower should 

 understand that term. A fertile soil is 

 one which contains a liberal amount of 

 plant food in an assimilable condition. 

 The best way to get soil into proper 

 mechanical condition is to keep it broken 

 up and exposed to the weather. When 

 it is spread out in a thin layer this is an 

 easy matter, but when it is piled up the 

 weather cannot reach far below the sur- 

 face. The lower part of the pile in time 

 will become like the natural soil several 

 feet below the surface, and to prevent 

 this^ the pile must be turned over and 

 broken up, at the same time breaking up 

 all the unrotted sod and manure. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



RATS IN CARNATION HOUSE. 



I should like to hear from you in re- 

 gard to doing away with rats, as they 

 manage in some way to get in and eat 

 my carnation blooms. I have used many 

 remedies, but without success. 



W. C. W. 



We have been troubled with rats and 

 mice occasionally and have used a num- 

 ber of preparations successfully, some 

 patented and others not. Ratbiskit, 

 Stearns' Electric Paste, Rough on Eats 

 — these are all good. We have also 

 soaked wheat in water poisoned with 

 Paris green or arsenic. 



You are no doubt aware that by far 

 the best means of destroying these ver- 

 min is a good, hungry cat. Many grow- 

 ers object to a cat around the green- 

 houses because they are more or less of 

 a nuisance, but if your place is overrun 

 you would better put up with one or two 

 of them for a while. They will soon run 

 the rats out. A. F. J. B. 



