JUMB 29, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



A TANK FOB MANXTBE WATEB. 



Will you please tell me the best way 

 to build a manure water tankf "We have 

 100,000 feet of glass. We shall use a 

 gasoline pump. C. S. 



Much depends upon the arrangement 

 of the buildings. Convenience in get- 

 ting the manure into and out of the pit 

 should be considered, and if it can be 

 located outside, where a steam pipe can 

 keep it from freezing, it can be handled 

 with little difficulty. For the winter, at 

 least, it should have a roof, a portion of 

 which should be removable. 



A suitable size would be eight feet 

 wide by twenty to thirty feet long, ac- 

 cording to the crops to be grown and 

 the amount of the liquid that will be 

 used, with a depth of five to six feet, of 

 which not more than three or four need 

 be below the surface. The walls should 

 be of grout, ten inches thick at the bot- 

 tom and tapering to six inches at the 

 top. Across one corner should be a par- 

 tition, with an opening at the bottom 

 one foot square, closed by an iron or 

 wooden screen with a rather coarse 

 mesh. Outside this partition there 

 should be a "well," about two feet 

 deeper than the pit itself, from which 

 the liquid manure can be pumped. The 

 bottom of the tank should consist of 

 about four inches of grout and may be 

 given a slope of a foot toward the well. 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS 



STABTINa HABDY PEBENNIALS. 



I have several hundred each of the 

 following hardy plants just coming up 

 from seed: Hollyhock, coreopsis, fox- 

 glove, poppy and sweet william. When 

 they get about two inches tall I intend 

 to transplant them to beds, 6x12 feet, 

 in which I shall put about five inches 

 of horse manure and on top of that 

 three or four inches of soil. Kindly 

 let me know whether the plants will 

 live through the winter in these beds. 

 I am located near Cleveland, O., where 

 the temperature seldom gets below zero 

 in winter. I have sashes to cover these 

 beds, and also plenty of dead leaves. 

 If I should use the sashes or leaves, or 

 both, when should they be put on and 

 when taken offt When is the best time 

 to put in seed of hardy plants, so as to 

 have good, strong plants next April? 

 Kindly let me know whether there is a 

 hardy salvia and a hardy variety of 

 stocks. I should also like to know 

 whether hardy plants, from seed put in 

 the hotbed about the middle of Febru- 

 ary this spring, will blossom this sum- 

 mer. I was told that no hardy plants 

 will blossom the first season, or, if they 

 do, that the blossoms will be weak. Any 

 information you can give me on the 

 growing and wintering of hardy plants 

 will be greatly appreciated. How many 

 hardy plants, on an average, will one 

 of these beds, 6x12 feet, hold! L. S. 



You are making the beds extremely 

 rich for the hardy plants you have 

 named. If, instead of transplanting to 

 these beds, you will plant out in the 

 field in nursery rows, you will get much 

 better plants. Plant the hollyhocks a 

 foot apart in the rows and allow the 

 same distance for Coreopsis grandiflora 

 and foxgloves. The sweet williams and 

 poppies can be set more closely. Planted 

 out in this way and kept well culti- 

 vated, they will make big, strong plants 

 before fall. In the beds you have pre- 

 pared the probability would be that you 

 would plant too closely and thus spoil 



To Members : ' - 



Secretary Dorner is sending each member of the Society of American Florists 

 and Ornamental Horticulturists a message calling for just a little effort on the part 

 of each individual member, and it is earnestly hoped that every member will respond 

 promptly. 



It is requested that each member send in one new name for membership in the 

 Society. There is not one member who can not easily do so, and this action, by 

 increasing the membership, would mean a great deal for the welfare of the Society 

 and the trade in general. As the secretary points out in his message, the florists 

 are greatly indebted to the Society for its excellent work in the past, and a large 

 membership roll will most certainly give it strength when there are wrongs, local 

 or national, to be righted in the future. 



The Society needs the support of all the trade, and each niember should see that 

 every commercial establishment in his locality is represented in the national organi- 

 zation. Open the campaign now by securing one new member. Take advantage of 

 the local club meetings and summer outings to talk it up with those in attendance, 

 pointing out that each name added to the list increases the usefulness of the Society 

 and makes it stronger when it has a case to present before the courts, the legislatures, 

 the express companies, the interstate commerce commission, the railroads, or any 

 other body which has power to extend or withhold privileges. 



In other lines of business grievances are quickly removed .by close organization 

 of the interests affected, and our difficulties in making new laws and amending old 

 ones would be greatly reduced if we could present a more united front and batter 

 down the opposition. Farmers and others get what they want in this way and there 

 is no reason why we should not get prompt consideration if each member of the 

 organization does his duty now. The work is light — secure one new name now, and 

 this strengthened membership will just double the power of the organization in 

 acquiring rights and privileges too long denied us. 



I say again, we need added force, the strength of numbers. Business conditions 

 grow more strenuous every year and we need the assistance of everyone in every 

 effort for the general good. The Society exists for the good of all and every man 

 in the trade should help. 



^JU<iJ^(Ajy^S^ 



June 24, 1911. 



much of the stock. All the plants 

 named, if planted in well drained 

 ground, where no water can stand, will 

 winter if given a light covering of 

 leaves when the ground is firmly frozen. 

 Do not apply it earlier, as it only causes 

 some of the plants to damp off. I say 

 advisedly a light covering; a heavy one 

 would kill a large proportion of the 

 plants. Lay some brush over the leaves 

 to prevent them from blowing away, 

 and do not remove them until the early 

 part of ApriL It is best not to be in 

 too big a hur^ about uncovering, espe- 

 cially if there are sharp April frosts. 



You can lift the coreopsis and fox- 

 gloves, if desired, as they are the least 

 reliably hardy of the varieties named, 

 and plant fairly thickly under coldframe 

 sashes for the winter, merely giving 

 them a coating of leaves. Treated thus, 

 not a plant should be lost. 



From April to July is a suitable 

 time to sow seeds of most perennials for 

 flowering the following year. Some va- 

 rieties, like aquilegias, are better sown 

 in April, but it is a good time now to 

 sow foxgloves, Canterbury bells, core- 

 opsis, delphiniums, pyrethrums, rockets, 

 lychnis, lupines and other varieties, 

 while a little later is better for pansies, 

 myosotis and daisies. 



There are several hardy salvias, in- 



cluding azurea, sky blue; Pitcheri, dark 

 blue; Sclarea, purple and white, and 

 pratensis, deep blue. The last named 

 IS one of the most intense blues we have 

 in hardy plants. It is better to lift the 

 roots and heel them in a coldframe over 

 winter. There are no hardy stocks like 

 the annual ten weeks' type, but perhaps 

 you have in mind the hardy rockets, 

 Hesperis matronalis, which are some- 

 times classed as stocks. 



Seeds of quite a few hardy perennials, 

 if put in as early as February, will 

 flower the same year. Some, such as 

 Delphinium Chinense, will bloom even 

 if sown now. Some of those which will 

 flower the first season are: Lupines, 

 larkspurs. Lobelia cardinalis, some of 

 the varieties of Shasta daisy, lychnis, 

 hibiscus and asters. Of course, all 

 bloom more strongly the following year. 



A bed 6x12 will not hold over 300 

 sweet Williams; in fact, if the plants 

 grow well, they would be crowded, and 

 only half this number of Canterbury 

 bells, coreopsis and hollyhocks could be 

 accommodated. There are some weaker 

 growing sorts, such as aquilegias, Del- 

 phinium Chinense, heucheras, etc., 

 which can go much more closely. Of 

 course, seedlings transplanted after 

 July could be plp^nted more thickly in 

 the beds. C. W. 



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