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38 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Sbptembbb 24, 1908. 



Vegetable Forciog. 



FORCING TOMATOES. 



In preceding issues of the Keview 

 there appeared Prof. W. S. Blair's 

 account of the experiments in forcing 

 tomatoes at Macdonald College, Quebec, 

 with a description of the methods em- 

 ployed in starting the plants and plant- 

 ing the two houses employed, also a 

 table showing the yield, both in weight 

 of fruit and in money value. 



Insects. 



The white fly is the most difficult in- 

 sect to deal with. To control it, we 

 confine ourselves entirely to the use of 

 hydrocyanic acid gas. It might be 

 interesting here to give a brief history 

 of the life of this pest. This fly,' you 

 all know, when disturbed will fly around 

 the plant and usually return to the same 

 plant. On examination of the under 

 side of a leaf you notice what appear to 

 be eggs, but on closer examination with 

 a glass you will find that part only are 

 eggs and part are nymphs. It takes 

 about thirteen days for the eggs to 

 hatch into nymphs, and when hatched 

 they move over the undersurface of the 

 leaf for a short time and then insert 

 their beaks into the tissue of the leaf, 

 taking on somewhat the appearance of 

 a scale. These turn into the adult white 

 fly in about five weeks' time. 



This insect, owing to its sucking mouth 

 parts, cannot be controlled by poison 

 placed on the foliage, and you all know 

 that fumigation with tobacco does very 

 little good. We found that one ounce 

 of potassium cyanide to 2,000 cubic feet 

 was quite effective in gettiifg rid of the 

 fly. Of course, the tightness of the 

 house and the kind of night may make 

 it necessary to use one ounce to 1,800 

 cubic feet, or even stronger. This gas 

 is made according to the following 

 formula: One ounce of high-grade cy- 

 anide of potassium, ninety to ninety- 

 eight pure; one ounce, by measure, of 

 commercial sulphuric acid; four ounces, 

 by measure, of water. 



Necessity of Early Benching. 



I have already stated that in order to 

 run in tomatoes after carnations and 

 violets it is necessary to sacrifice the 

 latter part of these crops. As a general 

 rule, the market demand for violets and 

 carnations is not brisk after Easter, and 

 therefore we think it possible in many 

 cases to discard part of these crops in 

 favor of tomatoes. In no case do we 

 think it advisable to bench tomatoes 

 later than the latter part of March; in 

 fact, I would say not later than the mid- 

 dle of March, for the reason that the 

 fruit comes into competition with south- 

 em grown tomatoes, which are so plenti- 

 fully put upon the market during June 

 and July, and also with our own outside 

 grown tomatoes after the middle of July. 

 We are always sure of getting a better 

 price for the greenhouse stock, but even 

 so the prices drop materially after the 

 middle of July, as is indicated by the 

 returns from house No. 2, as given. 



It is wise, also, to have the plants well 

 advanced for benching, for in this way 

 the crop is brought into fruiting much 

 earlier. 



Does It Pay ? 



Our tomato house returned us 42.72 

 cents per square foot from March 12 



A BED or MUSHROOMS 



Raised from our Spawn, will bear lonsrer and yield better than from any other variety of 

 Spawn. This is proven by facts. Full particularB and information how to succeed in mushroom 

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KIRKEBY & 6UNDESTRUP SEED CO., 4273 Milwaukee AYe.,ChlcagO 



BfUSHROOM 8PXCIAUSTS 



^ Mention The Review when you write. 



FlSKE'S' 



FORCING 

 WHITE 

 SPINE 



Four perfect Cucumbers growing on one stem 

 is certainly a novelty. Our strain runs remarkably 

 even in size and form. Seeds ready for delivery. 



Pkt.,26c; Jaoz., 60c; 1 oz„ $1 00; >4 lb., $3.00. 



H. E. fiske: seed company, 



12 and 13 Faneuil Hall Square, BOSTON, MASS. 

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to July 29. This, we think, is a good 

 showing and much in advance of any 

 returns that could have been had from 

 violets or carnations. You have, of 

 course, the expense oi cleaning out the 

 other crop, working over the soil, and 

 handling the plants. This is not a largo 

 job, and I might also state that, in com- 

 parison with floral plants, the tomato is 

 not an expensive one to handle. 



It is also a possible practice, and one 

 followed by some growers, to plant in 

 the carnation bench by simply removing 

 a plant or two where the tomato is to 

 be set and working up only a small area 

 of soil for this purpose, thus getting 

 some crop off the remaining carnations 

 while the tomatoes are making their 

 early growth. This, however, I would 

 not advise. I do not think that there 

 is any material gain by such a practice. 

 The plant does not get as good a start, 

 you cannot work over the soil in such a 

 thorough and expeditious manner, and 

 the carnations obtained do not compen- 

 sate for injury sustained through work- 

 ing out the carnation plants later on. 



Whether the spring forcing of toma- 

 toes can be followed profitably or not, 

 you all know depends upon the particu- 

 lar line followed by the florist. He often 

 can work in certain lines at this season 

 of the year to supply a special trade, 

 such as bedding out stock, for instance, 

 and possibly in some cases do better, 

 but I am convinced that in a great 

 many cases the forcing of tomatoes can 

 be followed to much greater profit. 



The Fairness of the Experiments. 



Kesults similar to those given here can 

 be obtained by any florist. The plants 

 in this experiment were given only aver- 

 age treatment, for, as we aim to run our 

 houses along commercial lines, we can- 

 not afford to do anything except what an 

 average florist would find it necessary 

 to do. 



We obtained only the wholesale prices 

 and did not cater to a special trade. 

 We could have obtained higher prices by 

 placing our fruit on a special market, 

 but we prefer in all our work to ship 

 to a commission merchant, getting rid of 



There are no Dry Spots 



with The Skinner System 

 of Garden and Greenhouse 



Irrigation. 



The Skinner Irrigation Go. 



TROY, O. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



If you grow VEGE TABLES 



you need a live, practical, up-to-date weekly paper, 

 especially devoted to that industry. 

 The Weekly Market Oroyers Jonrnal 

 "FltLS THE BILl." 



Special rieMrtMent forlGrecahause Practice 



Mr. Eugene Davis, Grand Rapids, Mich., origin- 

 ator of the Davis Perfect Cucumber and Grand 

 Rapids Lettuce, writing us utder date of July 27, 

 1906, tays: "I take pleasure in remitticg $2.2i5 for 

 three years' subscription to the Journal. Allow 

 me to congratulate you on having: such writers at 

 Mr. Waid, Mr. Massey, and 'Grower.' The arti- 

 cles on 'Lettuce Grxjwing,' by Mr. Waid, and 

 'Growing Cuiumbers,' by 'Grower,' are worth 

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 SubscripliH price, $1 .00 per year. Saaple capy free. 



Market Growers Journal, 

 518 lUiHait Life Wip.. LOUISVILLE. KT. 



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Vegetable Plants 



CABBAGK— Wakefield and SacceBsion, 25c 

 per 100; $1.00 per 1000. 



LKTTUCK— Boston Market, Tennis Ball and 

 Grand Rapids, 25c per 1(0; $1.00 per ICOO. 



PARSLKT— Strong plants, $1.25 per 1000. 



R.VIHCEHT.Jr.&SONSCO.,""*.!!?"'- 



Mention The Review when you write. 



FI.ORISTS have a cplendid efipor- 

 tunity of raising Mastarooma l»y 

 ntilizing the w»at« apace under th« 

 'beaches, and then ntiliiiDgthe waata 

 material of ezpendea maabrooai 

 beds in growing flowers. Liambart'a 

 Pure Culture MUSHKOOM 

 SPAWN, the beat Spawn in the market, is sold by all 

 leading seedsmen. A fresh samplt brick, enotigb for 

 • trial Bed, together with illustrated book on "Mash- 

 room Calture," will be mailed postpaki ai>OD receipt 

 of 40e in postage stamp*. Addresa Ainerloaa 

 Spawn Company, St. Paul, Minn. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



our fruit on a general market, for in this 

 way we believe we can best study aver- 

 age existing conditions. 



House No. 1 represents fairly well 

 what can be done by following the chry- 

 santhemum crop with tomatoes. The re- 

 turns from this house were 67.85 cents 

 per square foot. 



In closing I might state that it is 

 advisable to run in a considerable area 

 to this crop rather than only one bench 

 or part of a bench in different houses. 

 We much prefer to give up an entire 

 house to the crop, for in this way fa- 



