38 



The Weekly Florists^ I^eview. 



July 29, 1900. 



About forty minutes is the time con- 

 sumed in reaching the farm from the 

 offices of the Department of Agriculture. 

 The connecting trolley, running between 

 the upper and lower bridges and parallel 

 with the river, skirts the western side of 

 the farm and passes within 400 yards to 

 the west of tne farm buildings. 



The Buildings and Their Location. 



These farm structures comprise a large 

 barn, affording accommodations for about 

 twenty horses, with the necessary hay 

 and straw lofts and harness and feed 

 rooms. There are other buildings for the 

 storage of implements and tools and the 

 storage of seeds and material. There are 

 also machine, carpenter and blacksmith 

 shops, several offices, and two residences 

 for superintendents. Professor L. C. 

 Corbett is in charge of the farm. 



The location is fine as respects the over- 

 water, view of the city, and no doubt the 

 location has a high prospective value as 

 a brick-yard site. It is fine as respects 

 the back framing of the exquisite con- 

 tours of the wooded hills and glades of 

 Arlington, where are the graves and 

 stately monuments of that silent army 

 . of nearly 40,000 comrade heroes of the 

 northern army of every arm and rank — 

 a cemetery not approached in the world 

 for natural scenery and historic asso- 

 ciation. But as a farm for plant inves- 

 tigation I should say that the location 

 was most unfortunately selected as re- 

 spects character of soil and surface con- 

 tours, all of which are just about as un- 

 fitted as nature could make them. 



Unsuitable, Though Beautiful, 



The soil is unsuitable in the physical 

 features of texture, chemical composition, 

 drainage and aeration, and is made of 

 three or four types of soil deposits, all 

 of which might in a general way be 

 classed as of the Patuxent class, all of 

 highest plasticity. There are heavy clays, 

 quite siliceous, richly colored and varie- 

 gated, inter-stratified with lighter-weight 

 sandy loams still further varied by the 

 streaks of sand and gravel, the whole so 

 constituted as to present such a lack 

 of uniformity, spreading over broad 

 tracts of land, as would defeat any ex- 

 tensive scientific comparison. No doubt 

 it is a soil fairly productive of crops 

 of rye and clover, but still such as would 

 make the owner wish someone else had 

 to do the farming. 



If, instead of being a testing ground 

 to prove the quality of plants, it was 

 established as a farm on which to demon- 

 strate how clay land could ultimately be 

 enriched and finally brought into sub- 

 jection, it would be a most excellent loca- 

 tion, valuable as a sort of kindergarten 

 to demonstrate soil improvement — I will 

 not say reclamation, for this tract never 

 was reclaimed to a condition of general 

 agricultural fruitfulness, and now can 

 only be brought to good tilth and gen- 

 eral productiveness by the expenditure of 

 a large sum of money. Of course much 

 can be done and no doubt will be done 

 by an unlimited expenditure of the na- 

 tion's cash in conducting operations of 

 drainage, aeration and fertilization of 

 the soil by the plowing in of green crops. 



Lack of Soil Uniformity. 



It is self-evident that for purposes of 

 scientific determination of agronomic 

 subjects, the soil conditions on any loca- 

 tion, while not necessarily the richest, 

 must of necessity be of the same texture, 

 exposure, composition, drainage, levels 

 or dips of surface, and all those other 



PANSY 



Famous Strains 

 Mammoth Mixed 

 Pansies 



?» 



S. & W. Co 'S 



Hon Plus Ultra 



Our Non Plus Ultra 

 Pansy is a mixture 

 coDtalnlDfirthe largest, 

 handsomest, most per- 

 fect varieties ever sent 

 out. The beautilul 

 coloring and variety 

 of marking give a bed 

 of these pansies a 

 most brilliant appear- 

 ance. Tha seed having 

 been saved from the 

 greatest assortment of 

 types, including only 

 the best of Giant 

 Cassiers, BugnotP. Tri- 

 mardeauz and Giant 

 Engllfh. French and 

 Geiman strains. Fi- 

 nest mixed, per trade 

 pkt.. 25c; per ^4 oz., 

 $1.60; per oz., $5.00. 



World's Best 

 Mixture 



This mixture is the 

 result of careful selec- 

 tion, from the very 

 largest and finest 

 pansies, of all the 

 varieties; and we can Panay- World's Best Bllxtare 



safely say that a better or finer strain it is 

 impossible to get. Per trade pkt., 60c; per 

 loco seeds, $1.25; per 5000 seeds $5.00. 



Very Large Flowering Varieties 



These are remarkably large Pansies. 

 which, for size of flowers and robust growth, 

 eclipse all other strains. Their rauge of 

 color has heretofore been limited, but this 

 season we are able to offer several grand 

 new varieties. 



o ^ ™ -, . Tr pkt. '4 oz. Oz. 



S. & W. Co.'a Giant 



Purple Violet ... $0.20 $0.50 $1.50 

 S. & W. Co.'b QIant 



AdonU, light blue .. 

 8. & W. Co. 'a Olant 



Pure lellow 



S. & W. < o.'a Olant 



Azure Blae 



S. A W. Co.'a Olant 



Emperor William . 

 8. A W. Co.'e Olant 



Fire King 



Tr. pkt. 

 8. A W. Co.'a Giant 

 Klnarof tbe Blaoks $0.20 



"4 oz. 



Oz. 



8. A W. Co.'a Oli»nt 



$0.75 $2.00 



.25 

 .20 

 .20 

 .20 



.75 



1.25 



.75 



.75 



2.50 

 4.00 

 2.00 

 2.50 



.20 

 .20 



.75 



.75 



.76 



1.00 



.65 

 .50 



.20 



1.25 



Lord Beaconafleld 

 8. A W. Co.'a Giant 



Snowf lake 



g. A W. Co.'a Giant 



Whit*, (lark eye- 20 



8. A W. Co.'a Olant 



Yellow, dark eye 20 



8. A W. Co.'a Olant 



Mixed 10 



Elite Mixture 10 



Ensliab, fine mixed, 



lb., $4.50 



Prea. Carnot, white, each petal adorned 

 with a deep violet blotch Per pkt., 25c; 

 per >« oz., $1.75: per oz., $6 00. 



Masterpiece (Oermania). superb new class 

 of blotched pansies with large blooms, 

 mostly undulated or curled, fine rich 

 colors. Per pkt., 60c; per ^4 oz., $2.25; per 

 oz., $8.00. 



2.50 



2.50 



2.00 



3.00 



2.00 

 1.50 



.40 



^tm^^Umef^ 



50 Barclay Street 



NEW YORK 



Mention The Review when you write. 



influences which go to make up a uni- 

 formity of circumstances over broad sur- 

 faces. Otherwise no conclusion can be 

 exact, and none of these important re- 

 quirements for a searching analysis of 

 plant growths are to be found on the 

 Arlington farm. 



I doubt if there is as much as ten acres 

 of level ground; in fact, the contours of 

 the surface fluctuate from 10 to 20 

 degrees. This fluctuation in levels can 

 at once be perceived as unsuitable for 

 trial tests, for, as before remarked, the 

 conditions surrounding field tests must 

 all be similar, not only as respects qual- 

 ity of soil but all other physical quali- 

 ties. 



Years ago I read a most interesting 

 English book entitled "Chronicles of a 

 Clay Farm," the story of how a most 



unprofitable site for agricultural opera- 

 tions was brought into cultivation and 

 made most productive, and I believe such 

 could be done on this government farm 

 after a considerable expense of time and 

 cash, but such a soil improvement has 

 no connection with the establishment of 

 a testing grounds for determining the 

 respective merits of plants. 



Experiments With Forage Crops. 



Professors Corbett and Tracy and Mr. 

 Butterfield, superintendents in charge of 

 the experiments, most courteous and ca- 

 pable, are doing the best possible, each 

 in his own line. The experiments are in- 

 teresting and such as will no doubt re- 

 sult in the development of improved 

 types. For example, there are probably 

 fifty kinds of timothy tests, with rows 



