ThcWcekly Horists' Review. 



January 14, 1900. 



V^etabteFordflg. 



Vegetable growers who start their 

 plants in pots will be interested in the 

 article under the head of ' ' Pots and Pot- 

 ting, " on another page. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, Jan. 12. — Cucumbers, 75c to 

 $1.75 doz. ; lettuce, 35c to 40c box; 

 radishes, 10c to 40c doz. bunches; mush- 

 rooms, 50c lb. 



New York, Jan. 11. — Cucumbers, 

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

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

 2, $2 to $4 box; mushrooms, white, 30c 

 to 40c lb.: mushrooms, browp, 20c to 

 35c lb.; mint, 50c to 60c doz. bunches; 

 radishes, $2.50 per 100 bunches; toma- 

 toes, 8c to 15c lb. 



Boston, Jan. 11. — Cucumbers, fancy, 

 $10 box; cucumbers, No. 1, $6 to $8 box; 

 cucumbers, No. 2, $2.50 to $3 box; toma- 

 toes, 20c to 30c lb.; mushrooms, $1.50 to 

 $1.75 box; parsley, $1.50 to $1.75 box; 

 lettuce, 65c to 85c box; mint, 50c to 75c 

 doz.; dandelions, $1.75 to $2 box; rad- 

 ishes, $1 to $1.25 box; escaroUe, 50c to 

 75c doz. ; romaine, 75c to $1 doz. ; chicory, 

 50c to 75c dbz. ; beet greens, $1 to $1.25 

 box; rhubarb, 15c lb. 



BUYING RADISH SEED. 



No forcing radish has ever been found 

 to be superior to the old Scarlet Globe 

 Short Top when really good, select stock 

 is grown for seed, but seedsmen have so 

 many high sounding names attached to 

 every old thing in stock that the gardener 

 cannot tell whether he is getting extra 

 quality or regular grade by the names 

 on the package. 



The right way for all hothouse grow- 

 ers to do is to get acquainted with their 

 seedsmen and explain what they want. 

 The seedsman knows how much more 

 "finest quality" means to t^e grower un- 

 der such heavy expense, and he can fur- 

 nish a really select lot of seed at a very 

 little more cost than regular grade and 

 a better investment cannot be made. 



H. G. 



STEM-ROT OF LETTUCE. 



I have made a business of lettuce un- 

 der glass for four years and have read 

 with interest everything in the Eeview 

 on the subject. In the issue of Jan- 

 uary 7 a correspondent gives an account 

 of his troubles with stem-rot. One cannot 

 grow lettuce without facing this diffi- 

 culty. Last year I had a bench 4x50 

 feet sown to lettuce. As soon as the 

 seeds were well on the way, they began 

 to bend over, though the cotyledons were 

 still plump and firm. Nearly one-third 

 at one end of the bench perished by the 

 time the second leaf was a half inch 

 long. 



I used nitrate of soda, one heaping 

 teaspoon to the gallon of water, and 

 gave a liberal top watering; at the end 

 of a week the stem-rot had called a halt. 

 After two more applications, a week 

 apart, I advertised, two insertions, in the 

 Review, and sold from that bench 10,- 

 000 as fine, healthy and thrifty plants 

 as were ever marketed. I would like 

 others to try the remedy and report. 



I would say, further, that I never try 

 to grow lettuce without the application 

 of the nitrate of soda on first appear- 



Seeds for the Market Gardener 



it our specialty. Quality our first consideration. We have a very large and complete 

 stock of all kinds of seeds and everytbiDK in the line of fruit trees, berry bushes, etc. 

 Our new 112-paKe catalogrue contains true descriptions and no overdrawn illustra- 

 tions. Our prices are rigbt, quality considered. Market Gardeners are requested to 

 write for cor M. G. Wholesale Oatalogne, sent free on request. 



GERMAH NURSERIES & SEED HOUSE, c.S^.'lh. BEATRICE, NEB. 



Mention The Review when you wflte. 



anc^ of the trouble, and diseased -patches 

 are never seen in my beds. I have 

 used the same soil three years, and the 

 lettuce is perfect this year. 



W. L. Leeka. 



MUSHROOMS VS. TOADSTOOLS. 



I would like to ask if there is any 

 sure way of knowing a mushroom from 

 a so-called toadstool, either by location 

 in which it is found or by the form of 

 fruit. I find lots of these coming up in 

 my lettuce bed, and although they are 

 just like the pictures of mulhrooms in 

 catalogues, I would like to be sure, if 

 possible, ,as I have enough for some 

 profit. They look like big white balls 

 pushing through the soil. I thought that 

 from the sod and manure they had ger- 

 minated themselves, as I understand that 

 is the way spawn is produced. 



C. A. S. 



There is an old saying that the only 

 sure way of telling mushrooms from toad- 

 stools is by eating them. If you live, 

 they are true mushrooms ; if you die, they 

 must have been toadstools. A great 

 many, however, of the so-called toad- 

 stools, or fungi, are edible and of ex- 

 cellent quality, some of them equal to 

 the true mushrooms, Agaricus campestris. 

 Many of the latter often appear in let- 

 tuce, carnation, rose and other beds 

 where cow, sheep or horse manure has 

 been freely used. 



The common mushroom varies consider- 

 ably in appearance, both according to 

 soil, locality and the spawn from which 

 it was grown. Those produced from 

 American pure culture spawn are thicker- 

 stemmed and heavier than the English 

 Milltrack variety, the one most largely 

 grown in Europe and America. The 

 fleshy head is smooth or scaly on the 

 upper surface, varying in color from 

 white to different shades of tawny or 

 fuliginous brown. The gills on the under 

 side of the head are free, at first very 

 pale, changing by gradations in age to 

 pink, purple and brownish black. The 

 stem is white, varied in shape, full, firm, 

 furnished towards the top with a white, 

 persistent ring. Mushrooms for market 

 are usually picked when the gills are 

 pink. They have a distinct odor from 

 any of the other fungi and, with those 

 who know, can readily be distinguished 

 in this wav. C. W. 



FORCING CUCUMBERS. 



Raised Benches vs. Solid Beds. 



In different localities the growers of 

 hothouse vegetables have many peculiarly 

 different practices, both in the construc- 

 tion of their buildings and in their cul- 

 tural methods. It seems evident that 

 some pioneer grower in each locality has 

 been the guiding star for all the younger 

 growers or new-comers going into the 

 business in that locality. If a grower ap- 

 pears to be successful in the business, 

 others quickly follow his methods in 

 every detail; so it is that in each forcing 

 house community the places are all on 



There are no Dry Spots 



with The Skinner System 

 of Garden and Greenhouse 

 Irrigation. =^:^^=== 



Tki Skinner IrrJKation Co. 



TROY, O. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Seeds for Forcing 



LITINOSTON'S TBUB BI.UB STRAINS 



I^ettvoe- Grand Raplda.... Vlb., 36c; lb., $1.25 



Radlah-FirebaU i^-llp.. 16c; lb., .60 



Radiah-Im. ScsrletOlob*. Vlb., 20c; lb., .60 



Radlah—Rosy Gem Vlb.. 15c; lb., .50 



Toinato-r'a01obe,oz..35c; >4-lb.,$1.10; lb., 4.00 

 Tomato-I<'iiBeaat7,oz.,25c; Vi-lb.,60c;lb., 1.76 

 If to be mailed add 8c per lb. for postaKe.^^ 



LITINflSTON SEED CO., lax 104. Columbni, OUo 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Watch for our Trade Mark stamped 

 on every brick of Lambert's 



Purt CHltvre Moshrooin Spawn 



<o> 



Substitution of cheaper grrades is 

 ins easilv exposed. Fresh sample 

 brick, with illustrated book, mailed 



_ ^ -^^ postpaid by manufacturers upon re- 

 .^^Cj^ ceipt of 40 cents in postage. Address 



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



Mention The Review when you write. 



COMET TOMATO SEED 



Grown from true stock. Excellent for forclnr. 

 60c and tl.OO per pkt. H. M. SANDERSON. 

 Ill I.INCO£n ST.. WATTHAM, MASS. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



one plan and quite different from the 

 ways of growers of another locality. 



For instance, in forcing cucumbers, 

 the growers about London, England, 

 grow their cukes on raised beds, in nar- 

 row houses, with only two benches in a 

 house and the vines trained overhead, 

 A-shape, parallel to the roof. In this 

 country the methods are quite different. 

 In the eastern states, especially around 

 Boston, Mass., the growers all have wide 

 houses, thirty to fifty feet across, and 

 running east and west, with a shed roof 

 or long span to the south. In these 

 houses six to eight rows of vines are 

 grown. The beds are not raised, but 

 made on the solid ground. In the west- 

 ern states the houses are built in con- 

 nected ranges, with several houses in a 

 section and no partitions between them. 

 The houses are from twenty-five to thirty 

 feet in width and they are equipped with 

 raised benches, exactly as for growing 

 cut flowers. 



In an argument on greenlrouse con- 

 struction, an old, successful grower re- 

 cently remarked that the style of house 

 did not matter much, if only it was high 

 and light. The problem of benches or 



