10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



August 12, 1909. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



Removiog the Shade* 



As sodn as the plants show signs of 

 having taken hold in the soil, removal of 

 shade should begin and, under ordinary 

 circumstances, the glass will be clear in 

 about a week from planting. Spraying, 

 however, will need to continue, although 

 at less frequent intervals, being mostly 

 confined to the midday hours, when the 

 sun is hottest. Ventilation can be in- 

 creased from day to day, until at last 

 every ventilator and door in the house is 

 wide open at all hours, except during 

 storms. 



The surface soil should be broken up 

 by a light raking, and the depressions 

 which were left around the plants when 

 set should now be filled in. 



Precaution Against Stem-rot. 



During the first month after housing is 

 when that dread disease, stem-rot, nu^es 

 its appearance. The dampness incident 

 to spraying, the closeness of atmosphere 

 due to the inability to ventilate without 

 wilting of foliage, and the check caused 

 by lifting the plants, all combine to bring 

 about conditions favorable to the develop- 

 ment of this disease. 



Once a plant is attacked, the sooner it 

 is taken up and destroyed the better. 

 Also a good quantity of the surrounding 

 soil should be removed. If, when hous- 

 ing, a few plants of each variety are 

 potted, these can be used later to fill the 

 vacancies. 



Overwatering of the soil is to be 

 strictly guarded against, and the plan of 

 watering in small furrows, made across 

 the bench between the rows, is to be es- 

 pecially commended, as this prevents ex- 

 cess of water about the base of the 

 plants. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture 

 or ammoniacal carbonate of copper solu- 

 tion will serve as an aid in warding oflP 

 this trouble. 



The Question of Bone Meal. 



In my notes of some weeks previous I 

 recommended leaving out bone meal until 

 after the plants are reestablished, except 

 in cases where a crop from some early 

 blooming sort could be used to advantage. 

 Our experience has been that plants be- 

 come established equally well, and in 

 many cases better, in soil containing no 

 bone meal, and since this fertilizer is 

 used principally for the phosphoric acid 

 it carries, there seems to be no reason for 

 supplying this element so far in advance 

 of bud formation. In fact, I am in- 

 clined to think that an outbreak of stem- 

 rot is somewhat aggravated by the pres- 



ence of bone meal in the soil, especially 

 if in excess. 



To refer to all brands in a general way, 

 and point out the merits or demerits of 

 bone meal as a whole, would be mani- 

 festly unfair to the better grades, for as 

 far as the benefit to be derived from, 

 some is concerned, they might as well be 

 sown under the bench as on it. The value 

 of any fertilizer is measured by the avail- 

 able plant food it contains, and while 

 the analysis under which a certain fer- 

 tilizer may be sold is perfectly correct, a 

 large percentage of the different elements 

 may be insoluble and therefore unavail- 

 able. 



Some Differences in Bone Meal. 



It would consume too much space to 

 go into the details of the process through 

 which bone passes during its manufacture 

 into a fertilizer, but we may be assured 

 that the grinding is but one feature of 

 the work if the plant food therein is 

 made available. Baw bone, simply ground, 

 is of little use to the grower of cut 

 flowers, as too much time would need to 

 elapse before decomposition in the soil 

 rendered the plant food available. Bef use 

 from bone ornament factories is liable to 

 contain more or less scraps of vegetable 

 ivory, and at best would furnish but an 

 inferior article. 



When it comes to discontinuing the use 

 of bone altogether, I would certainly hes- 

 itate to recommend such a proceeding. It 

 is true that in some soils it may not be 

 needed. In fact, I personally know one 

 grower who claims never to have used a 

 pound, but his advantage seems to be 

 purely local. 



We must study our soils and, when 

 purchasing bone, we must insist on re- 

 ceiving the valuation in available plant 

 food. In this way only will the question 

 of bone meal be solved. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



BENCHES VERSUS SOLID BEDS. 



Will you kindly state what the com- 

 parative success has been in growing car- 

 nations on benches and in the ground? 



G. E. G. 



There are perhaps no exact records to 

 be had which would show a comparison 

 between carnations grown on benches and 

 on solid or semi-solid beds. To get a 

 true comparison between the two, the 

 same varieties would have to be planted 

 on the same place, where they would 

 likely receive the same quality of cul- 

 ture. We conducted such an experiment 

 some eight years ago on our place, but 

 without keeping any record of blooms 



cut; we simply noted the results as we 

 went along through the season, and 

 formed our opinion in that way. The va- 

 riety planted was White Cloud, and those 

 growli on the solid bed, with cinder 

 drainage, were so satisfactory that we 

 never for a moment thought of putting 

 in another raised bench. 



We would not advise anyone to tear 

 out good raised benches to replace them 

 with the kind we use, but if you begin 

 with a new house, we would most cer- 

 tainly recommend a bed such as we use 

 now exclusively; that is, four inches of 

 soil on a foot of cinders. 



We also had experience, about four 

 years ago, with carnations planted right 

 in the ground, and can say that if the 

 soil drains readily, first-class stock can 

 be grown in that way. We do not like 

 that method, however, because of the 

 cliflaculty in working the crop. Every- 

 thing that is done will require stooping, 

 and if you think anything of your men's 

 backs you will consider the cost of rais- 

 ing the soil up eighteen inches a good 

 investment. Good drainage, however, is 

 essential. There should be no danger of 

 ■the soil retaining an excess of water for 

 any length of time, or failure will surely 

 follow. 



In the latter experiment we had some 

 10,000 plants of various varieties, over 

 which we built a new house. These plants 

 began giving us fine blooms on long 

 stems early in September, and continued 

 right through the season. In November 

 our Enchantress were the best out of 

 six vases at the Indianapolis mum show. 

 Our Belle were the best vase of white, 

 and a bed of 900 Vesper was a surprise 

 to every grower who visited us that win- 

 ter. 



We understand there are other prom- 

 inent growers who use the same beds as 

 we use, with good success. We also 

 know that growers around here are put- 

 ting in such beds, on account of our suc- 

 cess with them. In time we confidently 

 expect to see the raised bench discarded, 

 for growing carnations, at least. 



A. F. J. B. 



Green Bay, Wis. — Charles De Clerr 

 recently completed an addition to his 

 greenhouses, near the Port Howard ceme- 

 tery. Including the new section, which 

 is 60x235, he now has 42,000 square feet^ 

 of glass. His store, at Adams and Wal- 

 nut streets, is also being remodeled and 

 enlarged, and will be one of the hand- 

 somest establishments of the kind in this 

 part of the state. 



