rr^r 



48 



. "i-r*.- ■-■;■ > •* 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



NOTBMBEB 10, 1008. 



V^etaUe Forcing. 



Cabbages will keep well all winter if 

 they are buried head down in soil, so 

 that only two or three inches of the root 

 stems appear above the ground. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, Nov. 18. — Cucumbers, 60c to 

 $1.25 doz. ; lettuce, 30c to 40c case. 



Boston, Nov. 16. — Tomatoes, 12i4e to 

 16e lb.; cucumbers, $2 to $10 box; let- 

 tuce, 35c to 75c box; radishes, $1.75 to 

 $2 box. 



New Yoek, Nov. 16. — Boston cucum- 

 bers, $3 to $10 box; Boston lettuce, 75c 

 to $1.75 strap; miishrooms, 25c to 50c 

 lb.; tomatoes, 8c to 15c lb. 



A USEFUL LETTUCE. 



Henderson's New York Lettuce may 

 not be as delicious to the taste as some 

 other varieties, but for a hot weather 

 lettuce I found it to make good last sum- 

 mer when every other variety under cul- 

 tivation failed. And again, when good 

 heading lettuce outdoors seemed out of 

 the question, the latter part of October I 

 had 1,000 or more splendid heads of Hen- 

 derson 's New York, all of such great size 

 and excellent quaUty that I quite suc- 

 cessfully lifted them out of the open 

 ground and planted them in frames, for 

 use as they may be required. B. 



SOIL STERILIZATION. 



[A paper by B. H. Thome, of Wooster, C, 

 read at the meeting of greenhouse vegetable 

 growers in Cleveland, October 31, 1908, and 

 begun in the Review of November 12.] 



StcriUzing by Heat. 



In sterilizing by heat we can use hot 

 water or steam. 



Hot water is not practicable except 

 for sterilizing small articles, such as 

 pots or flats placed in a tank of boiling 

 water. It can be used on the cutting 

 bench, but formalin will do better work. 

 Steam contains so much greater an 

 amount of heat that hot water cannot 

 be considered when sterilizing on a large 

 scale. When it is convenient to use 

 steam, it is the best sterilizing agent, 

 as it kills everything, including weed 

 seeds. 



Steam sterilizing can be done in any 

 of the following ways, using the one that 

 best suits the conditions: By the box 

 method, by steam coils placed temporar- 

 ily in the beds and by tiles placed per- 

 manently in the bottom of the beds. 



The Box Method. 



In using the box method a large box 

 is built outdoors on the ground, or a 

 small, movable one is made for indoor 

 work, making it as tight as possible 

 and as large as the capacity of the boiler 

 will allow. In the bottom are placed 

 1-inch or li/4-inch pipes, spaced from 

 twelve to fifteen inches apart, connected 

 with a header at one end for the inlet 

 of steam and plugged at the other end. 

 The pipes are drilled every four to six 

 inches, with 14 -inch holes for low pres- 

 sure and %-inch or smaller holes for 

 high pressure. All joints should be tight. 

 The holes are turned down and the pipes 

 covered with burlap to keep the dirt 

 out. If possible, the capacity of the 

 holes should be about the same as the 

 capacity of the flow pipe. 



The soil is thrown into the box from 



A BED or MUSHROOMS 



Raised from oar Spawn, will bear lonKer and yl«ld better than from any other variety of 

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

 raising free. We warrant you, if using oar method of growing mushrooms, that all will go well. 



KIRKEBY&6UNDESTRUP SEED CO.,4273 Milwaukse A>8.,ClliGa£0 



MUSHBOOM SPBCIAUSTS 



Mention The Review when you write. 



VEGETABLE SEEDS 



FOR FORCING 



"Stokes* Standards" are always 

 tbe finest strains. 



Radish, Pruasiati Globe, ^4 lb., 20c; 1 lb.,60c. 

 Radish, Stokes' Scarlet Globe, ^4 lb., 20c; 



lib., 60c. 

 Liettnce, Grand Rapids Forcing, oz., 10c; 



i4lb.,36c: lib., $126. 

 liettnce, Stokes' Big Boston, oz., lOc; 



I4 lb ,35c; 1 lb., $1.25. 

 Tomato. Sparks' Ilarliana, Stokes' 



Special No. 10 Strain, packet, 10c; oz., 



40c: '4-lb.. $1.10. 

 Tomato, Jnne Pink, packet, 10c; oz., 40c; 



>4 lb., $1.10. 

 Add postage 8c per lb., if wanted by mail. 



Let me estimate on your spring require- 

 ments for vegetable seeds. 



STOKES' SELD STORE 



219 Market St., PHILADELPHtA, PA. 



Mention The Review when you write 



Seeds for Forcing 



riVINOSTON'S TRUE tilATE STRAINS 



I,ettace- Grand Rapids.... Vlb., 85c; lb., $1.25 



RadUh-Flrehall Vt-lb., 16c; lb., .50 



Radlsh-Im. Scarlet Globe. >4-lb.,aQc; lb., .60 



Radish— Rosy Geni, Vlb., 15c; lb., .50 



Tomato-L.'B Globe, oz..S5c; >«lb., $1.10: lb., 4.00 



TonDiato-L*sBeaa1ir,oz.,26c: ^-lb.,60c;lb., 1.75 



If to be mailed add 8c per lb. for postage. 



LITINflSTON 8EKD CO., Isi 1M, Cotaubsi, Ohio 



Mention The Review when you write. 



one side, either from a wagon or a pile, 

 and after being steamed it is thrown out 

 on the other side, on to boards or some- 

 thing to keep it separated from other 

 soil. After the steaming gets well along, 

 the box should be covered tightly with 

 boards and left over night before being 

 emptied. Green lumber is best to use 

 for steaming purposes, as it will not 

 warp as much as dry lumber. 



In steaming a large amount of soil 

 two boxes would be quite a convenience, 

 as one could be emptied while the other 

 was being steamed. 



Steamin£ Soil in Beds. 



In steaming soil in beds, the steam- 

 ing coils are made in sections convenient 

 to handle and half the width of the bed. 

 They are laid on the surface of the bed, 

 with the holes down, and covered with 

 burlap, and the remaining soil is piled 

 on top and the whole boxed in and cov- 

 ered with boards. This is a very laborious 

 method, however, and a far better way 

 is to lay drain tile permanently in the 

 bottom of the bed, about eighteen inches 

 apart, connecting the tile at one end 

 with a header. The openings from the 

 header into the tile should be reduced 

 enough to give an even distribution of 

 steam into each line of tile. The steam 

 pressure in the tiles should not be more 

 than two or three pounds, or it will make 

 blow holes or mud geysers. This method 

 not only sterilizes the soil, but the bot- 

 tom and sides of the bed as well, which 

 is nearly as important as steaming the 

 soil. 



Treatment After Steaming. 



In order to get a good crop on 

 steamed soil, the after treatment is as 



There are no Dry Spotfs 



with The Skinner System 

 of Garden and Greenhouse 

 Irrigation. === 



The Skinner Irrisatlon Co. 



TROY, O. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Vegetable Plants 



CABBAGK— Wakefield and Succession, 268 

 per 100; $1.00 per 1000. 



LiBTTUCE— Boston Market, Tennis Ball, Grand 

 Rapids and Big Boston, 25c per 100; $1.00 per 1000. 



PABaLBT-Strong plants, $1.25 per 1000. 



B.VIIICENT.ir.& SOIISCO.,™'Vr^ 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Watch for our Trade Mark stamped 

 on every brick of Lambert's 



Pin CiRiri MnhroM Span 



0> 



Substitution of cheaper grades is 

 thus easily exposed. Fresn lunple 

 brick, with illustrated book, mailed 



postpaid by manufacturers upon re- 

 ceipt of 40 cents in postage. Address 



TndeMark. American Spawn Co., SL Paul, MiMk 



Mention The Review when you write. 



COMET TOMATO SEED 



Grown from true stock. Excellent for forcing. 

 50c and $1.00 per pkt. H. M SAKDBBSON. 

 Ill lAHCOLs ST., WAL.THAM, MASS. 



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important as the steaming. Steaming 

 soil makes a physical change in it, run- 

 ning it together so that it holds water 

 tenaciously. This can be overcome by 

 thoroughly turning it over several times, 

 breaking it up as fine as possible and 

 allowing it to dry some before each 

 turning. Even then it must be carefully 

 and lightly watered the first few times. 

 Now, this is all of no avail unless you 

 begin at the very beginning; that is, 

 with reference to the seed bed most es- 

 pecially. All flats or pots must be thor- 

 oughly sterilized, as nell as any soil or 

 manure used in growing the plants, and 

 any soil or manure added afterward to 

 the beds. This was impressed upon me 

 last winter, when part of one bed went 

 to the bad. Some of the plants used 

 were grown in old flats and some in new 

 ones. The part of the bed planted from 

 the old flats was badly spotted with ro- 

 sette, while that planted from the new 

 ones was all right. 



The Resultant Crops. 



Now, as for the growth of crops on 

 sterilized soil, I have no data except in 

 one instance with a lettuce crop. Thi» 



