■V \ 



40 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



July 22, 1909. 



Vegetable Forclog. 



DISEASED LETTUCE. 



Can you suggest why our lettuce is a 

 failure? Our houses were built four 

 years ago, on new land that had never 

 had a plow in it before the houses were 

 built. We broke up the land and put on 

 about seven or eight tons of thoroughly 

 rotted mule manure to a house 32x200 

 feet, with solid beds and a walk in the 

 center. The first crop of lettuce that was' 

 grown in the house was in the fall, and 

 this house produced two and one-half 

 tons in the first crop. We also used ni- 

 trate of soda on this, with the manure. 

 The second crop, however, without any 

 manure added, was a complete failure. 

 The plants, when about one-third grown, 

 stopped growing and became diseased or 

 stunted, and would grow short, curly 

 leaves in the heart and finally rot off at 

 the ground. The variety was Grand 

 Bapids. This was cleaned out and a 

 third crop put in, and it turned out the 

 same as the second crop. 



The soil grows good vegetable plants 

 in the spring and, in fact, seems to grow 

 fairly good crops of other plants, but 

 will not grow lettuce. When the ground 

 gets dry, there is a white sediment of 

 some kind that gathers on the surface 

 and looks like a soda or alkali. Does 

 this do any harm? There is good drain- 

 age under the beds, and the soil is a clay 

 loam. 



We are making a compost of sod and 

 loam. It is a clay loam, the same as is 

 in the greenhouse, but has a heavy sod 

 on it. We are using six loads of sod and 

 loam to one load of horse manure. Is 

 this enough manure? Would you take 

 out the old soil in the house, or would it 

 be safe to put the fresh soil on top of 

 the old soil? We could not take out all 

 the old soil, on account of the rough sur- 

 face of the drainage, which consists of 

 broken stone and brickbats. The night 

 temperature is 40 to 45 degrees, the day 

 temperature 60 degrees, with plenty of 

 ventilation. Was the old soil too rich? 



R. B. 



Your house is all right, and your 

 trouble was not caused by the soil having 

 too much manure in it, as you could use 

 a great deal more manure without injur- 

 ing the plants. It is evident that you 

 have the most common and troublesome 

 disease affecting hothouse lettuce. It is 

 a fungous disease (mold), which lives on 

 decaying matter in the soil. When the 

 plants are healthy and well grown the 

 fungus does not make much headway on 

 a crop, but when they are weak and soft 

 from too high a temperature, not enough 

 ventilation, too much water, or having 

 the foliage wet at night, or any other 

 mistreatment which may tend to weaken 

 and soften the plants, the fungus grows 

 over the stalks as well as the rotting ma- 

 terial in the soil, soon causing decay in 

 the stalk just above the soil, so that it 

 must stop growing and soon die. 



None of the many ways of mistreat- 

 ment on the part of the grower will 

 really cause the rot or wilt disease, but 

 they will weaken the plants so that they 

 are unable to ward off the attacks of the 

 enemy as they naturally would. The dis- 

 ease must start from spores, as mush- 

 rooms start from spawn or weeds from 

 weed seed, etc. A perfectly healthy con- 

 dition of the plants will do much to keep 

 them immune. Conditions that are ideal 



If You Grow Mushrooms 



•nd want the beat spawn made, use 



ANGLO-AMERICAN 



An ezceptioDally fine lot of Spawn ready for Bhipment. If 

 your dealer cannot supply you write diiect tu us. 



Anglo-American Spawn Co., Kennett Square, Pa. 



Mention Tlb Keview wtieu you write. 



^ i 



for plants are usually not so for the 

 enemies, and vice versa. 



You had no disease in the first crop, the 

 house being new, but there are probably 

 an unlimited amount of spores in the 

 house now, awaiting favorable conditions 

 to grow and spread. 



I would suggest that you pull out all 

 root stumps, scrape off the top soil about 

 an inch or more deep and wheel it out. 

 Also scrape the aisles and clean out every 

 sign of vegetation, dead leaves or filth. 

 If you take out more soil it will be bet- 

 ter, but it is not necessary to take out 

 all of it. If you have no other plants 

 in the house or no other houses connected 

 with this one, you should burn sulphur 

 in it when cleaned up, but do not burn 

 sulphur unless the house is separate from 

 others where plants are, as it will injure 

 them. Scatter some air-slaked lime over 

 the beds, put on the fresh soil or com- 

 post and work it over well. 



Use an abundance of ventilation, to 

 keep the foliage aired out and dry, when 

 lettuce is growing. Water well when you 

 do water, but not too often, or the 

 foliage will be wet too much. Bordeaux 

 mixture, sprinkled over the soil when the 

 plants are quite small, is a good prevent- 

 ive, as it kills all fungi, etc., but cannot 

 be used when the plants are larger, as it 

 discolors the leaves. When a plant is 

 noticed wilting or dying, pull it out care- 

 fully and keep the diseased plants carried 

 out of the house. Have some air-slaked 

 lime and sulphur mixed up together, and 

 put a good handful over the soil around 

 where the affected plant was standing, to 

 kill all spores and disease that might 

 spread to near-by plants. 



A sandy soil is better for lettuce than 

 a heavy soil, not only because it keeps 

 drier on top, but it really grows better 

 lettuce. My soil is heavy, and I mix in 

 about one load of manure and a half 

 load of sand to four loads or soil, and let 

 it rot a while before using, so that the 

 soil will have less decaying material in it 

 for fungi when I replant. I turn in some 

 well rotted manure and use some nitrate 

 of soda later. H. G. 



ST. LOUIS. 



The Market 



Considering the hot weather last week, 

 the retail business was reported good, 

 there being plenty of funeral work, of 

 which all had their share. Outside of 

 this there was little going on. The whole- 

 salers are still short of first-class stock, 

 and especially so in roses and carnations. 

 A few good Kaiserins are coming in, but 

 good Beauties are out of the question in 

 this market at present. 



The few good carnations that come in 

 find ready sale, but the bulk of them are 

 poor. Asters are coming better since the 

 rain, and will soon be abundant. Gladioli 

 are selling well, and the market is well 

 supplied with them. We see some extra 

 good lily of the valley. Few of the single 

 flowering tuberose stalks are in yet, but 

 they promise to be abundant soon. There 

 is plenty of smilax and other greens. 



No Grower of Vegetables under glass can 

 afford to do without the Witlbold system of 



Watering 



—because with It a boy can do as much 

 as two men can do in a whole day with 

 tbe hose— and do it better. 



The systpm is equally valuable out- 

 doors, and for many other cropi> besides 

 vegetables— wherever you need water. 



Send for our booklet— with testimon- 

 ials-read and you'll send in your order. 



E. H. HUNT 



Ezclailve Sales Acent 

 76-78 Wababh Ave., CHICAQO 



Mention Tbe Keview when you -write 



Vegetable Plants 



FAR8LBT-S1 25 per 1000. 



CABBAGB— Field-Rrrown. all leading varie- 

 ties, $1.00 per 1000. lO.tOO and over, b5c per 1000. 



CBLKRT- White Plume. Golden Self Blanch- 

 ing and Giant Pascal, 91.00 per 1000. 



■GG PLAVT-N. Y. Improved and Black 

 Beanty, 98.00 per 1000. 



LCTTUCK-Big Bofton, Boston Market, Ten- 

 nil Ball and Grand Rapids, $1 00 per 1000. 



rCPPSBB-Ruby King, Bull Nose. Sweet 

 Mountain and Neapolitan, 92 00 per 1000. 

 Chinese Giant and Cayenne, 50c per 100. 



Gash with order. 



R. Vincent, Jr., & Sons Co ,''"*5?r** 



Mention The Review when yog write. 



IVE ACRES with the 

 Skinner Irrigation will 

 produce as much crops as 

 TEN ACRES without it 



The 



TROY, O. 



Mention The Review when yon write. 



Variooi Notes. 



Lyle C. Waterbury, manager of tbe 

 Denver Wholesale Florists' Co., of Den- 

 ver, Colo., was a visitor last week. 



Miss Tillie Meinhardt returned home 

 July 16 from a two weeks' trip to Mex- 

 ico. Miss Meinhardt says she liked the 

 trip so much that she will go again next 

 summer. 



Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Gross, of Kirk- 

 wood, write that they are enjoying the 

 sights of the great west. They are at 

 present visiting the Seattle exposition. 



Fred Ammann, of Edwardsville, was in 



