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40 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Dbcembeb 24, 1908. 



Vegetable Fordflg. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, Dec. 22. — Cucumbers, 75e to 

 $1.75 doz. ; leaf lettuce, 35c to 37i/^c box; 

 radishes, 10c to 35c doz. bunches; mush- 

 rooips, 50c lb. 



New York, Dec. 21. — Cucumbers, 

 fancy, $1.25 to $1.50 doz.; cucumbers. 

 No. 1, $1 to $1.12 doz.; cucumbers, No. 

 2, $1.50 to $4 box; lettuce, $1 to $1.25 

 strap ; mushrooms, large, 40c to 45c lb. ; 

 mushrooms, small, 25c to 30c lb.; mint, 

 40c to 50c doz. bunches; radishes, $2 to 

 $3 per 100 bunches; tomatoes, 8c to 15c 

 lb. 



Boston, Dec. 21. — Cucumbers, $1.50 to 

 $10.50 box; tomatoes, 15c to 20c lb.; 

 lettuce, 50c to 75c box; asparagus, $4 to 

 $5 doz. bunches; romaine, 75c to $1 doz.; 

 escarolle, 50c to 75e doz.; mint, 50c to 

 75c doz.; chicory, 50c to 75c doz.; rad- 

 ishes, $1 to $1.25 box; parsley, $1.25 to 

 $1.50 box; beet green, 75c to $1 box; 

 mushrooms, $2 to $2.50 4-lb. box. 



THE VEGETABLE MARKET. 



The market conditions on hothouse 

 vegetables are decidedly better so far 

 this year than a year ago. Cucumbers 

 have held firm and have been scarce. 

 Lettuce has been plentiful, but has sold 

 much better than last year. Radishes are 

 in fair supply and demand. 



Tomatoes seem to drag the most. This 

 is on account of the great quantities of 

 Los Angeles tomatoes which have been 

 on the market and already a few are ar- 

 riving from Florida. Hothouse toma- 

 toes have been bringing from 10 cents to 

 20 cents per pound. Last season the 

 prices were about double present prices. 

 Growers say that they cannot make any- 

 thing on hothouse tomatoes unless they 

 average 20 cents per pound. H. G. 



LETTUCE FROM SEED. 



In the Review of December 10, page 

 51, I noticed an article under the head 

 of "Vegetables for Christmas," stating 

 that salable lettuce could be grown from 

 seed in eight weeks. We would be glad 

 to know how this is accomplished, and 

 also how many pounds can be grown in 

 that time on 100 square feet. 



H. M. H. 



Grand Rapids lettuce can be marketed 

 eight weeks from the date of planting the 

 seed if the weather is good, but in the 

 shortest, darkest days it may take a 

 trifle longer sometimes, especially in the 

 prolonged periods of cloudy weather we 

 often have in midwinter. The heading 

 varieties take ten days to two weeks 

 longer to get in marketable shape. 



The seed should be sown in a soft, 

 cleanly sifted soil, pressed down smooth 

 with a flat piece of wood, but not packed 

 down hard. Sow the seed rather thickly 

 and then barely cover it with finely sift- 

 ed soil and put in a warm place until 

 germinated. If the soil is just moist, it 

 will hardly need sprinkling until the 

 seeds have sprouted. Placing a pane of 

 glass over the box of seed will keep the 

 seed warmer, make it sprout much more 

 quickly and evenly and also retain the 

 moisture so that the soil. will not dry out. 

 This glass must be, removed as soon as 

 the seed is up. Just as soon as the 

 plants are large enough- to transplant, 



prick them off into a bench or other 

 boxes, placing them two inches apart. 

 They may remain in these boxes until 

 they are about two or two and one-half 

 inches tall; then they should be trans- 

 planted to the bench where they are 

 to stay until cut to sell. 



The soil should be loose and good. 

 Four or five inches of soil is deep enough 

 if the pipes below are not too close to 

 the bottom of the bench, thus drying out 

 the soil too quickly. 



Some growers plant the Grand Rapids 

 8x8 inches, the same as head lettuce, and 

 others plant it 6x8 and 6x6. I am in- 

 clined to think that the closer distance 

 is just as well or better. In most mar- 

 kets lettuce is sold by the dozen instead 

 of the pound, and the number of plants 

 that can be grown on a bench in your 

 house can easily be figured by taking the 

 width and finding how many plants can 

 be put in a row across it. 



The profit depends upon the market. 

 If it can^be sold to local produce men or 

 grocers, the prices will be much better 

 than if shipped. Grand Rapids Forcing 

 is the best for western growers, but east- 

 ern markets demand the head lettuce. 

 Rawson's Hothouse is a good strain of 

 the heading variety for forcing. H. G. 



GNATS IN CUCUMBER HOUSE. 



I am sending you a sample of a fly 

 and worms that are injuring my cucum- 

 bers. Will you kindly show them to 

 someone who may know what they ar« 

 nnd how to exterminate them? I have 

 also put in two roots, to show what thej 

 are doing to them. T. J. 



The litMe flies or gnats are a common 

 pest with cucumber growers in some 

 localities. They are the same little gnats 

 that swarm about fresh horse manure 

 piles in warm weather. They are taken 

 to the greenhouses with the manure and 

 usually do not trouble other crops than 

 cucumbers. This is easily accounted for 

 by the fact that fresh manure is much 

 used for cucumber growing, but seldom 

 for other hothouse crops. 



After using fresh horse manure, or 

 some that is not thoroughly rotted, in 

 preparing the beds, only a few of these 

 little flies may be seen in the greenhouses 

 for a while; but in about six weeks they 

 come in great swarms, sometimes being 

 numerous enough to darken the house by 

 literally covering the glass, to which 

 they fly and get stuck when the glass is 

 wet. They also wash down with the 

 condensation, filling the grooves in the 

 bars and the gutter drip conductors and 

 causing them to overflow and drip every- 

 where. When there is a very bad attack 

 of them it can easily be detected by 

 the foul odor that greets the grower on 

 entering the houses before they are ven- 

 tilated in the morning. 



The larvae of this little fly are so 

 small that they can hardly be seen with- 

 out a microscope, but they often get 

 so numerous that they work the soil up 

 like a loose ants' nest. They do not 

 eat the roots, nor do the mature flies 

 injure the plants above, but the myriads 

 of larvro in the soil work it over so 

 thoroughly and get it so foul that the 

 roots do not do well, and often the plants 

 wither and die from the effects. 



The best remedy is to sprinkle the soil 

 with tobacco water or any of the nico- 

 tine preparations, diluted according to 

 directions. This will act as a fertilizer 

 to the plants, at the same time killing 

 the larvae in- the soiL It is pretty 



With the Skinner Sys- 

 tem of Irrigation ONE 

 MAN can do the work 

 : of FORTY MEN 

 watering with a hose. 



The Skinner Irrigation Go. 



TROY. O. 



MentlOin The Review when you write. 



Seeds for Forcing 



LITINOSTON'S TRUB BLUE STRAINS 



L.ettiio«-Qrand Rapids ...^-Ib.. 85c; lb., $1.25 



RadUh-IircbaU Vlb.. 16c; lb.. .50 



Radlsh-Im. Scarlet 01ob«.>4-lb., 20c; lb , .60 



RadUh— Roay Oem >4-lb.. 16c; lb., .50 



Tomato-L*s01obe,oz.,35c: >4-lb.,$1.10;lb., 4.00 



Tomato-L'it Beauty, oz.,26c; '4-lb.. 50c: lb., 1.75 



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



LITINeSTON SEED CO.. In IM. Colnmbat, Ohio 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Mushroom Spawn! 



Tobacco Stems 



Frask Tobaooo Stoma, S1.50 for 300-lb, bale. 

 BTesh MUl TUusk^ Spawn. $6.00 per 100 lbs. 



W. C. BECKE RT, Seedsm an, 

 North atde PITTSBURG. PA. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Watch for oar Trade Mark stamped 

 on every brick of Lambert's 



Pari Cnltore MBShroem Spawn 



Substitution of cheaper grades is 

 thus easily exposed. Fresh sample 

 ^^,^ brick, with illustrated book, mailed 

 ^^ Z'^s^ postpaid by manufacturers upon re- 

 V^^^j^ ceipt of 40 ce^ in postage. Address 



Tnde Mark. American Spawn Co., St Paul, Minn. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



COMET TOMATO SEED 



Grown from true stock. Excellent for forcing. 

 60c and $1.00 per pkt. H. M SANpKBSeN. 

 Ill LINCOLN ST., WAI.TJiAn, MASS. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



hard to prevent an attack from them 

 where horse manure is used, unless it 

 is well rotted or used very fresh. Plenty 

 of air-slaked lime, scattered over it when 

 piling it up by layers, will do much 

 to keep them out of it. There are really 

 few cases where crops are ruined by 

 them, as they do not often appear all 

 over a house or in such great quantities, 

 often coming and going without any 

 effect on the plants. I think the best 

 way to handle them is to hunt out the 

 spot whei'e they hatch, finding it by 

 means of the strong, foul odor, and 

 dope it with a liquid made by boiling 

 tobacco stems — tobacco soup, my men 

 call it. H. G. 



MOLES IN GREENHOUSES. 



Is there any method of exterminating 

 ground moles in a greenhouse? Our 

 main crop is lettuce, grown on the 

 ground beds, and the moles have been 

 doing tremendous damage there, having 

 a tunnel under almost every plant. 



E. S. M. 



One or two moles will cause a great 

 deal of annoyance in a greenhouse and 

 make so many tunnels that it would ap- 



