16 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Mat 21, 1908. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



Field Culture* 



Whatever may be the plan for care of 

 stock during its stay in the field, it .is 

 imperative" that we be well equipped with 

 tools for cultivation of the soil and that 

 we possess muscle and determination to 

 carry out the work thoroughly. 



From much that has been published in 

 various journals, one might be led to 

 believe the degree of thoroughness in 

 cultivation to be determined by the depth 

 to which the soil is stirred, when, as a 

 matter of fact, the benefits to be derived 

 depend on the time when the :vJork is 

 done and the amount of thought put into 

 the work. 



All deep cultivation should have been 

 done at the time of plowing, and it may 

 be said in this connection that an extra 

 day spent at that time in thoroughly 

 fitting the land will greatly reduce the 

 amount of elbow grease to be expended 

 later. 



Use of Hand Cultivators. 



Some growers, especially those of the 

 old school, remark with fine scorn on the 

 impracticability of hand cultivators, but 

 in spite of that their superiority over 

 those drawn by horses is being shown 

 each year by their increased use among 

 those growers who appreciate the advan- 

 tages to be gained. 



Since the plants can be more closely 

 eet, less land is required. Consequently 

 there is less labor in fitting and less area 

 to be kept cultivated; also a saving in 

 manure. These implements permit work- 

 ing close to the plant and, as they are 

 adjustable in many ways, conditions can 

 be so readily met that the use of a hand 

 hoe is scarcely required. Our experience 

 leads us to favor those provided with two 

 wheels and designed to straddle the row. 



Cultivation should begin as soon as the 

 plants are set, to remedy the packed con- 

 dition of soil incident to the work of 

 planting. Those put out each day should 

 be gone over before night. 



It is surprising how many hold the 

 opinion, or at least, by the appearance 

 of their fields, give the impression that 

 cultivation is needed only when weeds 

 threaten to take full possession. 



Frequency of Cultivation. 



Rapid growth of weeds is an infallible 

 sign of ideal soil and weather conditions, 

 and the grower who frequently stirs the 

 surface soil not only maintains growth 

 in his plants during less favorable pe- 

 riods, but, in the destruction of weeds 

 while small, preserves plant food in its 



most available form, thus throwing 

 around his stock every inducement to 

 make the growth which otherwise would 

 have been appropriated by the weeds. 



When one considers the few good 

 growing days there are in a month, the 

 importance of frequent cultivation is 

 apparent. 



Cultivate after every rain or even a 

 light shower, as soon as the soil is in 

 workable condition. Cultivate also after 

 two or three nights of heavy dew. If 

 there is time between, repeat; if not, 

 take time and cultivate some more, but 

 do not go deeply. 



The first time over get the teeth well 

 into the soil, but afterward about an 

 inch is sufficient, the object being to 

 prevent baking of the surface and con- 

 sequent loss of soil moisture. 



If from any cause a number of plants 

 have died, remove them from the field 

 at once, and apply this rule also during 

 the summer when topping. Do not in- 

 vite trouble by leaving the tops to decay. 



Geo. S. Osbobn, 



CUTWORMS. 



I mixed cow manure with my carna- 

 tion soil and allowed it to rot before 

 putting it in the benches last August. 

 Last February I discovered a number of 

 species of cutworm eating the blooms 

 of several plants. They seem to be the 

 most plentiful in some smilax which I 



have growing at the end of one of the 

 carnation benches. Do you suppose that 

 the worms were in the manure, or if not, 

 what in your opinion was the cause of 

 their presence? . . W. B. 



The cutworms you complain of are 

 no doubt one of the several kinds we 

 meet with in the greenhouse and also in 

 the field and are probably the ones which 

 give carnation growers considerable trou- 

 ble by eating the flower buds. This 

 worm, like most of the grubs and cut- 

 worms, is found mostly in sod soil, as it 

 •feeds on either the roots or the foliage'. 

 You gathered them in your sod soil and 

 not in the manure. You made no mis- 

 take in using cow manure and you 

 could do nothing toward destroying the 

 worms until they made their appearance 

 as cutworms. When they began feed- 

 ing, however, you could have gone after 

 them with the following remedy and 

 cleaned them out: Take a quantity of 

 wheat bran and stir into it enough mo- 

 lasses to make it slightly moist and 

 sweet. Then mix into this enough Paris 

 green to make it poisonous and scatter 

 around where you think the worms are. 

 Put in a liberal amount of the Paris 

 green, to make sure it is deadly. We 

 have recently found that there is a wide 

 variance in the quality of this common 

 poison. Some we bought could have 

 been taken by the spoonful without seri- 

 ous effects, apparently. A. F. J. B. 



GET THE CUTTINGS IN. 



There is still time to get in a large 

 batch of chrysanthemum cuttings to 

 grow to single stems. In fact, they can 

 be propagated until the middle of June, 

 although we prefer to discontinue this 

 work about June 1. Of course the 

 flowers produced from these late cuttings 

 are not such as Mr. Totty might want to 

 exhibit, but they will be found, of. a use- 

 ful commercial size when in fldjver, some- 

 thing the markets are constantly calling 

 for and such as your retail customers 

 at home will buy. We like to pot off all 

 our mums, but have transferred direct 

 from the cutting bench to their flowering 



quarters and have had good success on 

 every occasion. Be careful not to let 

 your cuttings stay in the bench too long, 

 until they become hard, or they w'ill 

 amount to very little. 



Cuttings inserted during May and 

 June will produce salable pot plants for 

 fall trade. These are grown in a va- 

 riety of ways. Some plant outdoors and 

 lift; others plant in a bench, lifting late 

 in August, while some prefer to keep in 

 pots all the time. The last method en- 

 tails more work, but gives the best 

 plants. If lifted carefully from benches, 

 the plants will suffer much less than if 

 potted from the open ground. At the 



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