54 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



■»?'•■ 



Dbcbmbbb 81, 1908. 



Vegetable Fordflg. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, Dec. 29. — Cucumbers, 75c to 

 $1.75 doz. ; leaf lettuce, 30c to 40c box ; 

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

 rooms, 35c to 50c lb. 



New York, Dec. 28. — Cucumbers, 

 fancy, $1.50 to $1.75 doz.; cucumbers, 

 No. 1, $1 to $1.25 doz.; cucumbers. No. 

 2, $2 to $4 box; lettuce, $1 to $1.75 

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

 mushrooms, small, 20c to 30c lb.; mint, 

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

 $3 per 100 bunches; tomatoes, 8e to 

 15e lb. 



Boston, Dec. 28. — Trade in vegetables 

 for Christmas was good and prices 

 averaged a little better than a year ago. 

 Tomatoes are the only crop which keeps 

 low in price. Tomatoes, 15c to 20c lb.; 

 cucumbers, $2.50 to $12.50 box; dande- 

 lions, $1.50 to $1.75 box; beet greens, 

 75c to $1 box; chicory, 50c to 75c doz.; 

 escarolle, 50c to 75c doz.; romaine, 75c 

 to $1 doz.; parsley, $1.25 to $1.50 box; 

 lettuce, $1 to $1.25 box; mint, 50c to 

 75c doz. ; asparagus, $4 to $5 doz. ; mush- 

 rooms, $2 to $2.50 4-lb. box; radishes, 

 $1.75 to $2 box. 



COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 



Their Value to Vegetable Forcers. 



Plant food is 

 can all learn so 

 much experience 

 have had. It 

 greenhouse men 

 of fertilizers, 

 but in reality 

 confused. 



a subject upon which we 

 mething, no matter how 

 with fertilizers one may 

 is surprising how few 

 are posted on the use 

 They pretend to know, 

 their understanding is 



Only a few days ago I asked an old 

 gardener if he ever used any potash — 

 muriate or sulphate — in his greenhouses. 

 He said no, that he generally used bone 

 meal for a feeding when the crops were 

 pretty well along, and liked it better 

 than potash. This seems amusing to 

 one who has any idea of the ingredients 

 of fertilizers and the way they act on 

 vegetation, but we cannot blame the 

 growers altogether. So much has been 

 written on the subject that nearly every 

 paper you pick up has some item about 

 plant food, and all are like chapters of 

 a continued story, so that if you did not 

 happen to read them all from the start 

 they are of no interest and little can be 

 learned from them by the average, in- 

 experienced man, who must start in with 

 A, B, C before he can jump headlong 

 into the class farther advanced. 



The Three Essentials. 



There is one thing that all must thor- 

 oughly understand to start with, and 

 that is, that plants draw from the soil 

 three ingredients, namely, nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid and potash. All three are neces- 

 sary to plant growth, and in different 

 proportions for different kinds of plants. 

 Nitrogen makes foliage; phosphoric acid 

 makes blooms and hastens maturity, and 

 potash makes fruit and stalks. All three 

 assist somewhat in helping the growth 

 along in other ways than the chief ones 

 here designated. When the gardener 

 thoroughly understands these facts, then 

 he is ready for more information, but 

 these facts must be the first chapter to 

 memorize and no amount of reading will 

 benefit him until he comprehends these 



rudiments of fertilization. Plants use 

 other things from the soil, but all others 

 used seem to exist in all soils in inex- 

 haustible quantities. The three men- 

 tioned are the ones which we must sup- 

 ply to the plants or crops. 



The Proper Proportions. 



Becent experiments have proven that 

 hothouse vegetables do best with a fer- 

 tilizer containing the following propor- 

 tions: Badishes, three per cent nitro- 

 gen, six per cent phosphoric acid and 

 eight per cent potash; lettuce, six per 

 cent nitrogen, five per cent phosphoric 

 acid and eight per cent potash; cucum- 

 bers, five per cent nitrogen, six per cent 

 phosphoric acid and seven per cent 

 potash. 



Most animal manures are deficient in 

 phosphoric acid and potash for nearly 

 all crops, and if both are added to the 

 compost heap when mixing, the strength 

 of the food in the soil will be doubled 

 and the proportions will be nearer what 

 the plants require. If the soil is not 

 very rich to start with, it has little food 

 in it when the crop is half matured and 

 must have more food. In case commer- 

 cial fertilizers are used, stop and con- 

 sider what your crop needs and seek a 

 mixture properly balanced for that crop. 



The fertilizer question is a most im- 

 portant one and cannot be thoroughly 

 covered in this one article, but to the 

 beginner this may give an insight into 

 the subject that will enable him to un- 

 derstand more that he may read on the 

 subject. H. G. 



BEST TOMATOES FOR FORCING. 



I should like to know 'which are the 

 best tomatoes for greenhouse culture. 

 Where can I get the seed? B. M. 



There are several good varieties of 

 tomatoes suitable for forcing. The Comet 

 is considered the leading all-round va- 

 riety by a majority of growers. It 

 is not so early as some other varieties, 

 nor as large as others, but it is a well 

 shaped, medium sized, very prolific va- 

 riety, and does not seem to take the 

 diseases as quickly as some others. 



We give below a list of the forcing 

 varieties and a description of each: 



Stirling Castle, early, very small, others 

 better. 



Sunrise, earliest, smallest, but most 

 prolific. 



Winter Beauty, early, fair sized, very 

 good. 



Holmes' Supreme, also early, fair 

 sized, very good. 



Comet, somewhat later, smooth, medi- 

 um size, rather dwarf and stocky in 

 growth, solid fruit, good keeper and 

 shipper, requires about three or four 

 inches more space than most varieties, 

 very prolific. 



Frogmore Selected, slightly larger than 

 Comet, fruit rather peach shaped; a 

 trifle later than Comet and will not 

 yield as many pounds per plant, but 

 is generally a favorite wherever grown, 

 on account of its rather peculiar shape 

 and good size. 



Lorillard Forcing, good size, good 

 shape; not among the earliest, but a 

 good cropper. 



Sutton's Best of All, very fine, large 

 fruit; not so early or prolific as Comet, 

 but is grown with good success by some 

 growers. 



There are other varieties, but these are 

 the foremost. The common outdoor va- 

 rieties are not suitable for forcing. They 

 are larger fruited, but do not yield 



THE cost of labor saved 

 in six months will buy 

 and install a Skinner Sys- 

 tem of Greenhouse Irri- 

 gation. 



Tk6 Skinner Irrigation Go. 



TROY, O. 



Mention The RevJew when yea write. 



Seeds for Forcing 



I.ITIN08T0M'S TRVE BLUE STRAINS 



Lettuce- Grand BapidB....i4-lb., 35c; lb., $1.26 



BadlBh-FirebaU 14-lb., 16c; lb., .60 



BadUh-Im. Scarlet Globe. ^t-lb., 20c; lb., .60 



BadlBli— BosT Gem Vlb., 15c; lb., .50 



Tomato-L'a Globe, oz.,S5c; ^-Ib., $1.10; lb., 4.00 



Tomato-Ii'H Beauty, oz.,25c; >4-lb., 50c; lb., 1.76 



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



LITINfiSTOIf SEED CO., Bu 104, Colambai, Ohio 



Mention The Review when you write. 



FREEZING ASPARAGUS and 

 RHUBARB FOR FORCING. 



It is neceesary that these roots be frozen 

 before forcing. There is not the slightest risk 

 in shipping them now. Big money in forcinK 

 them. Finest roots in the coantry. 



WARREN SHINN, Nurseryman, Woodstown, N. J. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Mushroom Spawn! 



Tobacco Stems 



Fresh Tobaooo Steins, S1.50 for 300-lb. bale. 

 Vresh BUll Track Spawn, $6.00 per 100 lbs. 



W. C. BECKERT, Seedsman, 

 North Side PITTSBURG, PA. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Watcb for our Trade Mark stamped 

 on every brick of Lambert's 



Pure Culture Mushroom Spawn 



=?^i' 



<o> 



Substitution of cheaper grades is 

 thus easily exposed. Fresh sample 

 brick, with illustrated book, mailed 



postpaid by manufacturers upon re- 

 ceipt of 40 cents in postage. Address 



TndeMark. American Spawn Co., SL Paul, Minn. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



COMET TOMATO SEED 



Grown from true stock. Excellent for forcinr. 

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

 Ill LINCOLN ST., WALTHAM , MASS. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



enough per plant to pay as well. All 

 forcing tomatoes -are bright red. They 

 take better than the pink or purple 

 shades. 



Any of the larger seed houses can 

 furnish the seed. If they have not in 

 stock what you want they should get it 

 for their customers, but be sure you 

 buy your seed of a reliable seed company. 

 Look over the advertisements in the Re- 

 view before ordering. H. G. 



Bridgeport, Conn. — G. C. Bouton & 

 Son have just completed a fine new green- 

 house at 512 to 560 Myrtle avenue. 



The Review is brimful of good things 

 and we obtain more information from it 

 than from all other papers. — W. H. 

 Morton, Hillsboro, Ore. 



