October 15, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



15 



w 



CARNATION NOTES.— WEST. 



Soil for Next Season. 



Have you given the matter of soil for 

 next season any thought? Perhaps you 

 have been too busy with the stock in 

 the houses, getting it in shape for the 

 winter. A good occupation, indeed, but 

 not the only thing that needs to be 

 thought of before winter is here, with its 

 rains, snows and frosts, when the han- 

 dling of soil is out of the question. The 

 problem of supplying proper soil for the 

 carnation benches is one of the most 

 important ones the grower is confronted 

 with and is worthy of his best attention. 



The grower who begins preparing his 

 soil the fall before he wants to use it 

 never finds it necessary, at the last mo- 

 m^t, to use "any old soil" he may be 

 able to get hold of. He usually has 

 first-class soil to use, too. In fact, there 

 is everything to be gained and nothing 

 to be lost in preparing the soil in the 

 fall. 



Soil From the Home Place. 



If the land from which the soil is to 

 be taken is on the place, it is a com- 

 paratively easy matter. Select the par- 

 ticular spot from whence it is to come 

 and plow it over, leaving it in as rough 

 a state as possible. This is to allow the 

 weather to penetrate it thoroughly, and 

 to let the frosts kill the weeds, etc., that 

 were growing on it. A good, heavy sod 

 makes the ideal soil for compost. Dur- 

 ing the winter you can haul and spread 

 on it a good, heavy coat of manure — 

 about one-fourth as much manure as you 

 intend to take of the soil. Better not 

 put this on, however, until the soil has 

 been well frozen. In the spring the 

 whole thing will be disked and plowed 

 until it is thoroughly mixed and pulver- 

 ized, after which it is to be plowed over 

 every few weeks until wanted for the 

 benches. The above is what we would 

 consider the ideal manner of preparing 

 soil for the greenhouse. 



Soil From a Distance. 



If, however, you must have the soil 

 hauled from a distance, a somewhat dif- 

 ferent method is necessary and the wis- 

 dom of fall preparation is even greater 

 than in the other method, described 

 above. In this case it must be hauled 

 and deposited in a pile or rick, piled in 

 alternate layers with manure. In the 

 spring this is turned over, mixed and 

 pulverized and turned over again as often 

 as possible before it is put into the 

 benches. This latter method is by far 

 the more expensive, because all the work 



must be done by hand, while in the other 

 way the work is all done with horse- 

 power. 



In selecting the spot for the compost 

 pile, be sure you find a place where the 

 water will drain away properly, or the 

 bottom of the pile will become soggy 

 and sour. Also try to get the pile as 

 handy to the greenhouse entrance as pos- 

 sible. Much valuable time is often lost 

 by having the soil pile too far away, thus 

 making a longer haul when wheeling into 

 the benches than is necessary. Also get 

 enough good soil for potting the young 

 plants this winter, under cover, so that 

 it can be gotten whenever wanted. We 

 use hotbed sash for covering this soil, 

 believing that the light is better for it 

 than the dark. A. F. J. Baue. 



REMEDY FOR RUST. 



Will you please send me at once a cure 

 for carnation rust? I have noticed in 

 the last few days a good deal in spots. 

 It is worse on a side bench at the side 

 ventilators. I bought stock last spring 

 and noticed some rust on it, but supposed 

 it would disappear when the stock was 

 planted out in the field. The carnations 

 have been benched about six weeks and 

 the stock is thrifty and nice. I have 

 been in the business for about fifteen 

 years here and have never been bothered 

 with rust before. I bought this place 

 last fall and had no rust, but I under- 

 stand that the man who had it the year 

 before had his carnations ruined with it. 

 J. E. J. 



There is no remedy I know of for 

 killing rust on carnations that will not 

 also Mil the plants. The best way is to 

 prevent its appearance, or spreading. 

 This can best be done by careful culture, 

 aided by a few mild measures calculated 

 to keep conditions unfavorable to its 

 development. A few years ago we used 

 a solution of arsenic to spray the plants 

 with, but while it may have destroyed 

 the rust, it did also, in a great many 

 cases, do great damage to the plants. 

 Now we employ more harmless methods, 

 with a view to controlling rather than 

 destroying it. 



If the rust is bad in spots, I would 

 advise you to pick off all the affected 

 leaves and burn them. Then dust the 

 plants with grape dust, or sulphur and 

 lime mixed in equal proportions. Keep 

 this on several days before syringing it 

 off, after which more may be dusted on. 

 Do as little syringing as possible until 

 you have it under control. 



If you heat by steam, a pinch of sul- 

 phur dropped here and there on the pipes 



will help to check the rust. Give all the 

 ventilation possible at all times without 

 creating a draught directly on the plants. 

 In fact, you will find a fresh, dry, 

 buoyant atmosphere the best preventive 

 of all such troubles. Like all of them, 

 this disease requires a humid atmosphere 

 to be able to develop, and you should 

 strive to maintain just the opposite in 

 your houses. The fact that there is 

 moisture along the side ventilators does 

 not signify anything, unless you had 

 them open during chiUy weather, and 

 gave the plants a check. The variety you 

 planted there may be more subject to 

 the disease than those you have pl&nted 

 on the other beds. 



Experienced carnation growers do \ not 

 fear this disease as much as they do seme 

 of the others, like fairy ring or stem-rot, 

 nor as much as they feared it a few 

 years ago. Some years ago, when the 

 rust first spread itself over the country 

 and did a great deal of damage befojre 

 we learned how to control it, a party of 

 growers visited a carnation growing 

 establishment. When they came to a 

 batch in one of the houses of a variety 

 quite badly affected with rust, a general 

 alarm ran through the whole crowd and 

 one excitable grower tore out of the 

 house at breakneck speed, and it is said 

 he never stopped until he reached the 

 street, for fear he might carry the spores 

 home in his clothes. As I said before, 

 we do not fear it that way these days. 

 Occasionally it gets the upper hand of a 

 batch of plants, but usually it can be 

 kept inactive readily enough by careful 

 culture. A. F. J. B. 



Leetonia, O.— a daughter arrived at 

 the home of E. K. Stokesberry October 3. 



Clarence, N. Y.— E. A. Muchow is 

 rapidly restoring his boiler-house and 

 other buildings damaged in his recent 

 fire. 



Abington, Mass. — John B. Lawrence 

 has sold his dahlia farm to William A. 

 Howard, of Somerville, who expects to 

 use the ground as the site for a home. 

 The property is valued at $3,000. 



Orange, N. J.— A special dahlia night)! 

 was observed by the New Jersey Flori-I 

 cultural Society at the monthly meeting 

 October 9. The flowers were abundant 

 aad of excellent quality considering the 

 general complaint in regard to this flower 

 this season. In addition to the dahlia 

 was a miscellaneous display of flowers, 

 fruit and vegetables, among which was 

 the orchid collection of Lager & Hurrell, 

 of Summit. 



