-^f V.»'' v.' '■ 



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68 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Jdlt 18, 1911. 



TOB ACC O. __^_ 



NICOTINE. 

 Nicotine fumlgatlDg compound for Taporlslng 

 Hnd nicotine liquid Insecticide for syringing and 

 spraying. 



XL ALL XL ALL XL ALL XL ALL 

 as used by every gardener in Great Britain. 

 Send for price list. Trade houses only supplied. 



G. H. BIOHABDS, 

 2 34 Borough High St., London, 8. B., Baigland. 



Fresh tobacco stems, In bales, 200 lbs., |1.50: 

 500 lbs., $8.60: 1000 lbs., $6.60; ton, $12.00. 



Scharg Bros^^Van Wert. Ohio. 



WIRE STAKES. 



GALVANIZED WIRE STAKES. 



100 1000 



■t feet $1.00 $ 9.00 



•"> 'eet 1.25 11.00 



Write for price on larger quantities and other 

 sices. 



JAPANESE CANE STAKES 



8 feet $0.76 $6.00 



^ A. HENDERSON & CO., 

 1 62 N. Wabash Aye. , Chicago . 



Wire stakes, 4 ft., $5.00 per 1000. 

 Cha9. Handel. 2129 Balmoral Ave., Chicago. 



WIRE WO RK. 



If you want the best and cheapest wire de- 

 signs send your orders to 

 Franlc W. Ball, 31 E. 3rd St., Cincinnati, O. 



riorists' wire designs and banging baslcets. 



Wyandotte Wire Works Co., 



700 Ferry St., Kansas City, Kan. 



We are the largest manufacturers of wire work 

 in the west. E. F. Wlnterson Co., 



166 North Wabash Ave.. Chicago. 



FALLS CITY WIRE WORKS, 

 451 S. Third St., Louisville, Ky. 



William E. Hielscher's Wire Works, 

 . 38 and 40 Broadway, Detroit, Mich. 



Illustrated book, 250 designs free. 



C . C. Pollworth Mfg . Co., Milwaukee, Wis. 

 Wm. H. Woerner, 620 N. 16tb St., Omaha, Neb. 



CHEMISTEY OF FEETILIZEES. 



[Continaed from page 12.] 

 Bone phosphate and phosphoric acid 

 may truthfully be said to have the same 

 effect as fertilizers, but it does not fol- 

 low that 20 per cent of one is equiva- 

 lent to 20 per cent of the other. The 

 average grower might simply glance 

 at the percentage column and not notice 

 that the figures were in one case for 

 phosphate and in another for phosphoric 

 acid. In a case of this kind we must 

 not overlook the possible influence of 

 the overambitious salesman represent- 

 ing the house with the bone phosphate. 



Various Effects of Fertilizeis. 



Thus far we have considered fertiliz- 

 ers merely as a source of plant food to 

 be added to the soil. Every experienced 

 grower knows that fertilizers have 

 various other important uses. A fer- 

 tilizer may be of value in at least six 

 diflferent ways: First, it may contain 

 additional plant food; second, it may 

 act upon the plant food already in the 

 soil to render it more readily available; 

 third, it may operate to make compact 

 soils more porous or open, so that air 

 and water and plant roots may more 

 easily penetrate; fourth, it may add 

 humus to a sandy soil, thus greatly in- 

 creasing its power to retain water; 

 fifth, it may act as a mulch to prevent 

 the too rapid evaporation of water 

 from the surface, and sixth, it may act 

 as does lime, to counteract the acidity 

 of a soil. Some fertilizers ara of value 

 in perhaps one way only, while others 

 are helpful in several ways. 



Commercial and Natural Fertilizers. 



Commercial fertilizers, such as bone 

 meal, blood and bone, wood ashes, sodi- 

 um nitrate, etc., are used merely to sup-, 

 ply plant food. In selecting from this 

 list it should be remembered that each 

 of the three essential constituents, ni- 

 trogen, phosphoric acid and potash; has 

 its own peculiar effect on the growing 

 plant. An abundance of one of these 

 three elements can not make up for a 

 lack of another, any more than a strong 

 link in a chain can make up for a weak 



link somewhere else. It would evidently 

 be a great saving to the grower if he 

 could know what his soil already con- 

 tains and what each kind of crop re- 

 quires. 



Natural manures seem to serve sev- 

 eral purposes. Besides supplying addi- 

 tional plant food, they may improve the 

 so-called physical condition of the soil. 

 As outlined above, they may serve as a 

 mulch; they may render a compact clay 

 soil more open; they may add humus 

 to a sandy soil to enable it to retain 

 water. The humus has another bene- 

 ficial effect; J^e presence of humus 

 seems necessary* to the growth of cer- 

 tain forms of bacteria which have the 

 peculiar power of rendering many in- 

 soluble compounds soluble. 



As pointed out by Prof. Dorner in the 

 March 23 issue of The Beview, lime is 

 a fertilizer which influences the soil in 

 several different ways. Heavy soils are 

 made more open by it; sandy soils are 

 bound together by it; it neutralizes the 

 acids formed by the decay of organic 

 manure — that is, it keeps the soil sweet; 

 it renders other plant foods available; 

 it supplies needed plant food; it favors 

 bacterial growth and has an effect on 

 insects and fungous growths. 



So varied is the composition of soils 

 and of fertilizers, and so diverse are 

 the effects of the great array of fertiliz- 

 ers now in use, that only patient, per- 

 sistent study can enable the florist so to 

 adapt his soil, his crops and his fertiliz- 

 ers as to secure a proper return for his 

 outlay of hard toil and hard earned 

 money. 



EVOLUTION AND POLLINATION. 



[OontlDaed from page 13.] 



Trouble in Fixing Varieties. 



Since the introduction of the waved 

 type there has been much discussion 

 about the diflSculty in fixing varieties 

 and the reasons for it. Some growers, 

 having secured what was to all indica- 

 tions a fixed stock, discovered after 

 sending it out that it was not fixed. 

 Some growers thought it only occurred 

 when the novelty was sent to Califor- 

 nia to work up a large stock of seed, 

 or after it had passed into the hands 

 of the California growers. One of the 

 theories advanced to explain this was 

 that some insect in California was re- 

 sponsible for some cross-pollination of 

 flowers. In our own trials this past 

 season no differences were observed 

 between English or American grown 

 stock, since we had seeds of novelties 

 direct from the originators and our 

 varieties were from the introducers. 

 Others say that bees visit the flowers 

 and they believe that crossing takes 

 place in the waved type, which, it is 

 maintained, does not produce normal 

 flowers, in that the pistil sometimes 

 projects beyond the keel. 



Poor Setting of Seed. 



It appears that, if this view is cor- 

 rect, the poor seeding of the waved 

 type would not occur, or at least that 

 the worse the fault of the flowers the 

 greater the crop of seed. Thus the va- 

 rieties which seeded freely would be- 

 come cheap and drive out the others. 

 The writer thinks that the results ob- 

 tained by the seed growers contradict 

 the theory. It appears that the poor 

 setting of seed may be due to the 

 fact that the pistil may grow out be- 

 yond the anthers before the latter are 

 mature and thus fertilization be pre- 



vented by irregular development of the 

 parts. Otherwise the pollen may be 

 impotent in some varieties, but this 

 does not occur so far as the writer 

 has studied the reports of the sweet 

 pea breeders. The writer did not ob- 

 serve any pistils showing the defect 

 mentioned, but, as our season was ex- 

 tremely dry, our plants did not make 

 an exceptional growth which would be 

 likely to express itself in abnormal 

 flowers. However, it was observed 

 that some varieties seeded more freely 

 than others. We have planted most 

 of the varieties this year from seeds 

 saved in 1910, and, knowing those 

 which were fixed last year as well as 

 those with rogues of certain colors, we 

 think that some light may come upon 

 this matter of eross-fertilfization, if 

 any, in the sweet pea. 



AMERICAN GLADIOLUS SOCIETY. 



A schedule has been issued for the 

 exhibition of gladioli to be held by the 

 society in connection with the S. A. F. 

 convention at Baltimore, August 15 to 

 18. It is as follows: 



OPEN CLASSES. 



No. 1. Henry F. Mlchell Co., silver cup for 

 the best 25 spikes of new Gladiolus Kunderdi 

 Glory exhibited In one vase. 



No. 2. Vaughan's Seed Store, silver cup for 

 the best and largest collection of blue shades In 

 lots of 6 separate colors; not less than 26 spikes. 



No. 3. M. Crawford, 60 bulbs of Gladiolus 

 White Lady for the best 6 spikes of any white 

 variety. 



No. 4. Peter Henderson & Co., $10 for the best 

 10 varieties not now on the market, 3 spikes each. 



No. 6. W. Atlee Burpee, $10 for the best col- 

 lection of 10 varieties, 6 spikes each. 



No. 6. E. E. Stewart. $5 for the best vase of 

 12 spikes Gladiolus Golden Queen. 



No. 7. E. E. Stewart, $5 for the best vase of 

 12 spikes Gladiolus President Taft. 



No. 8. B. F. White, $5 for the best vase of 

 new seedlings, not less than 25 varletiea, never 

 before exhibited. 



No. 9. B. H. Cushman, $5 for the beet vase 

 of 25 spikes of one white variety. 



No. 10. A. T. Boddlngton. $6 for the best 

 vane of any named yellow variety. 



No. 11. John Lewis Chllds, $10 for the best 

 collection of Cblldsll varieties, 3 spikes each. 



No. 12. The Gardener's Chronicle, challenge 

 cup for the exhibit containing the largest number 

 of standard named varieties, correctly labeled. 



No. 13. Stumpp & Walter Co., $10 for the 

 best collection of 15 varieties, 3 spikes each. 



No. 14. B. Hammond Tracy, silver and glass 

 vase for the best table decorated with gladioli, 

 the table to be laid for 6 covers. 



No. 15. N. L. Crawford, $5 for the best cen- 

 terpiece for dining table. 



No. 16. Frank Banning, $10 for the best vase 

 of Gladiolus Niagara, 3 or more spikes. 



No. 17. H. H. Groff, $10 for the best exhibit 

 of gladioli In white and light, dark blue and 

 yellow hybrids, not more than 3 spikes of each 

 variety and not less than one vase of each color 

 section. 



No. 18. Rowehl & Granz. $12 for best 100 

 spikes Gladiolus Augusta; $8 second; $5 third. 



No. 19. A. E. Kunderd, $10 and 100 bulbs 

 Gladiolus Kunderdi Glory for the best display 

 of above variety. 



No. 20. A. E. Kunderd, 100 bulbs of Kunderdi 

 Glory for the best vase of 20 spikes of vbove 

 variety: 50 bulbs for second best vase. 



No. 21. Kelway & Son, silver medal for best 

 collection named varieties, Kelway's large- 

 flowered strain. 



AMATEUR CLASS. 



No. 1. W. E. Klrchhoff Co., gold medal for 

 the best display of Gladiolus Prlnceplne. 



No. 2. Montague Chamberlain, sliver cup for 

 the best 6 named varieties, one spike each. 



No. 3. John Lewis Chllds, $5 for the best 

 vase of Gladiolus America, not less than 12 

 spikes. 



No. 4. A. T. Boddlngton, $5 for the best 

 collection of yellow named varieties. 



No. 5. J. M. Thorburn & Co.. silver cup for 

 the best collection of Primulinns type and 

 hybrids. 



No. 6. L. Merton Gage, $5 for the best 6 

 varieties of blue gladioli exhibited In one vase. 



No. 7. A. E. Kunderd, 100 bulbs Gladiolus 

 Kunderdi Glory for the best vase of 6 spikes 

 of above variety; 50 bulbs of Kunderdi Glory for 

 second best vase. 



No. f(. Arthur Cowee, $5 for best exhibit of 

 10 spikes each of a yellow variety and a bine 

 variety. 



No. 9. Arthur Cowee, $5 for the be«t exhibit 

 of 10 spikes each of a red variety, white variety 

 and a pink variety. 



Those desiring copies of the rules gov- 

 erning the exhibition should address the 

 secretary, L. Merton Gage, at Orange, 

 Mass. 



