'W. '• K ^ 





May 28, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



H 



Bench of Lady Bountiftil Girnations at B. Hasselbring's, Flinty Mich. 



not be necessary, as with the field-gsown 

 plants. 



After you get rid of the weeds you 

 can mulch the beds to prevent drying 

 out and then handle them as you would 

 field-grown plants after they are estab- 

 lished. • A. F.J.B. 



A MICHIGAN CARNATION HOUSE. 



Flint is not the metropolis of Michigan, 

 but it nevertheless is able to boast of 

 one of the largest and best kept cut 

 flower growing establishments in the 

 state. B. Hasselbring makes a specialty 

 of carnations. The accompanying illus- 

 tration will give an idea of the charac- 

 ter of the construction of his range, 

 which is built along the best commercial 

 lines. This house shows a bench of Lady 

 Bountiful photographed early in May 

 and it will give carnation growers who 

 thought their own crops heavy the idea 

 that "there are others." The picture is 

 interesting as showing that good culture 

 must be practiced and that first-class re- 

 sults are obtained. 



The men in the picture are Mr, Has- 

 selbring's growers, George W. Ullrich, 

 foreman, and Charles A. Hart, his as- 

 sistant. 



LILIES IN ENGLAND. 



A writer in the Horticultural Adver- 

 tiser (English) has this to say of the 

 several varieties of Lilium longiflorum: 

 "In the London market 'longi's' is the 

 only name given to all the varieties, and 

 since we have had them all the year 

 through, most of which are from retarded 

 bulbs, little attention has been given to 

 those which would, under ordinary con- 

 ditions, come into flower earliest. In 

 gome reports I find Harrisii, the Ber- 

 muda variety, is quoted, but I find that 

 few growers handle this now, for up -to 

 the present we are still getting supplies 

 from retarded bulbs. Mr. Page, who 

 grows upwards of 100,000, favors the 

 variety longiflorum giganteum. The va- 

 riety from Formosa is also grown; this 

 is a newer sort, with broad petals of 

 great substance, one of the best for those 



who do not have to pack, but it is easily 

 damaged. The variety from the Azores 

 is dwarf er, and makes the best pot plant. 

 "T, Childs, another large grower, de- 

 pends entirely on the orcUnary form of 

 longiflorum as received from Japan, and 

 lias had some good pot plants of various 

 heights. Much depends upon the condi- 

 tion and treatment of bulbs, and it is 

 not always the largest that give the best 

 results." 



THE FOUNDATION OF SUCCESS. 



[A paper by B. T. Galloway, chief of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, read before the Horticultural So- 

 ciety of New York, May 13, 1908, continued 

 from the Review of May 21.] 



Soil for Violet Growing. 



Almost any good loam soil will be 

 found suitable for the violet. We prefer 

 rather sandy loam to one in which clay 

 predominates. Soils running from twelve 

 to fifteen per cent clay give about the 

 right physical properties. A soil that will 

 grow a good crop of potatoes — 250 to 

 300 bushels per acre — will furnish the 

 basis for a good violet crop, providing 

 there is sufiicient organic matter in it. 

 We prefer in, all cases to have some of 

 this organic matter in the form of rot- 

 ted turf, hence it is our practice to se- 

 cure sod and allow this to rot down. To 

 four parts of well-rotted sod soil we 

 add one part of thoroughly decomposed 

 stable manure. 



We have no preference in the matter 

 of manure, as to whether it is from cows 

 or horses. If it has been well handled. 



not fire-fanged, thoroughly decayed, we 

 have never been able to see any diflfer- 

 ence one way or the other. Horse ma- 

 nure, however, is perhaps preferable, as 

 it is more easily handled. We do not 

 add any chemical fertilizers, nor do we 

 advocate them where good decayed ma- 

 nure is available. Florists are prone to 

 err on the side of using too much of 

 this sort of material. Our experimental 

 work, extending over ten or fifteen years 

 on various crops, leads us to believe that 

 as a rule there is more harm done 

 through the application of bone and sim- 

 ilar fertilizer than there is real good se- 

 cured. This may seem a somewhat broad 

 statement, but it may be supported by 

 experimental evidence. 



Another important consideration in 

 the matter of soil is to have it thor- 

 oughly worked over before it goes into 

 the beds, and if practicable to let the 

 frost work through it. To accomplish 

 this we prefer to secure our soil in the 

 fall, stack it fourteen to eighteen inches 

 high and let it thoroughly freeze. This 

 freezing destroys many grubs, nema- 

 todes, and other pests, which are apt to 

 be destructive the following season, un- 

 less care is exercised. 



As one of the important factors con- 

 nected with the foundations of success- 

 ful violet growing, too much stress can- 

 not be laid upon the necessity for a 

 change of soil each year. I feel con; 

 vinced that many of the failures in 

 growing this crop may be traced directly 

 to the non-recognition of this important 

 matter. The soil looks so good in the 

 spring, and it is such a job to take it 

 out and put in fresh material, that the 

 grower is prone to procrastinate and 

 either try it over agaiu for another sea- 

 son or else remove only a portion of it. 

 We have always advocated the use of 

 not less than six inches of fresh soil 

 each season, believing it far cheaper to 

 expend a few dollars in the preparation 

 of good soil than it is to cut down the 

 crop of flowers, either through starvation 

 or the cumulative effect of diseases and 

 I insects. 



(Continued on pasre 26) 



'.'*.' \«>--.sV>- l>'*»Vfl: 'A'.V.vH^l'rV: .v'.Ar '. ViJ^^.V-'i 



