FEBBUARY 29, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



21 



Establishment of Loyd C. Bunch, Fredoma, Kan., Showing Bedding. 



equal parts of loam and leaf -mold to it. 

 If you have no leaf -mold, use your orig- 

 inal compost and loam in equal parts. 

 Your compost is splendid for adding to 

 soil for seedlings, but even in its de- 

 composed state is rather too strong by 

 itself. C. W. 



HANGING OUT THE WASH. 



I have often read in The Eeview that 

 a florist should "wash all you got and 

 hang out all you wash." I tried that 

 last spring and am sending you photo- 

 graphs to let you see my results. The 

 pictures were made September 20, 1911. 

 It was so terribly dry last spring and 

 summer that stock did not make the 

 showing it should have made, but I am 

 proud of what I did get. The space 

 between the curb line and sidewalk, 

 around my grounds, is ten feet wide. I 

 find it will grow all the bedding plant 

 stock I need, and some to spare, which 

 easily sells at wholesale through offer- 

 ing in the Classified columns of The 

 Review. I profit from this method of 

 planting in several ways: I save my 

 groynd proper for other uses; by pro- 

 ducing my bedding stock here I don't 

 have to cut the grass or weeds, and 

 have a place that is the talk of the 

 town. The beds shown in the view of 

 the back of the place are raised, sup- 

 posed to be terraced, but it was impos- 

 sible to get sod, it was so dry. This 

 was a rubbish catching hole in the 

 ground that looked like sin. It takes 

 lots of soil to fill a hole as large as that 

 three feet deep, but it took only a few 

 loads to make it look as it does. The 

 walks take up a good bit of the space. 



I often read inquiries in the heating 

 department about gas fuel, etc. I 

 think I have my heating system down 

 to date. I have thermometers in each 

 house that connect with a bell at my 

 bedside. There is an electrical alarm 

 water column on the boiler. Then I 

 have a steam regulated gas burner 

 ■which cuts the fire down or turns it on 

 as required. In short, I use gas for 

 fuel on a steam system and sleep with- 

 out being afraid of something going 

 wrong. I see to it myself that these 

 safety devices are working and I can 

 say with Antonio, "My ventures are 

 not all in one bottom trusted." 



Loyd C. Bunch. 



i 



GLADIOLI A SECOND SEASON. 



After forcing gladiolus bulbs, such 

 as Blushing Bride and Peach Blossom, 

 are they good to use again or what 

 shall I do with themf E. S. H. 



make up excellent Ijulbs, larger than 

 those which come each fall from 

 Europe. They do not, however, for 

 some reason, flower at all satisfactorily 

 if forced a second season. We have 

 made several experiments with these 

 bulbs and are now satisfied that it pays 

 best to purchase new bulbs each season, 

 especially when their wholesale price 

 is so low. C. W. 



LEAF MINEBS ON MARGUERITES. 



I am enclosing some diseased mar- 

 guerite leaves. Will you kindly tell me 

 what to do for them? I have noticed 

 one or two tiny black flies buzzing 

 over the plants. Do these lay the eggs 

 that make the little grub under the 

 skin of the leaf? C. M. B. 



The leaves have been skeletonized 

 considerably by the attacks of a leaf 

 miner, which is often found on mar- 

 guerites, as well as on quite a variety 

 of outdoor plants in summer. Mar- 

 guerites, if planted in close proximity 

 to beets, spinach and other plants sim- 

 ilarly affected, are liable to have these 

 leaf miners working within the tissues 

 of their leaves when housed. Picking 

 off affected foliage will relieve the sit- 

 uation if it is not too acute. In bad 

 cases it is best to head the plants 



back and let them break again. Spray- 

 ing twice a week with a nicotine ex- 

 tract has been found helpful by some 

 growers. C. W. 



GLADIOLUS TROUBLES. 



The gladiolus situation is certainly 

 in a condition to cause many of us to 

 wonder what the future will bring. 

 As a commercial flower it is surely tak- 

 ing its proper position in the cut flower 

 trade, and there seems to be nothing to 

 compete with it strongly. It is just 

 beginning to show its real value and 

 well deserves the best attention that 

 can be given. 



In late years the experiment stations 

 have been endeavoring to find out the 

 causes for the various diseases that 

 affect the corms, and with some good 

 results. One thing has been clearly 

 brought out, and that is, that present 

 conditions need attention. When we 

 attack Mother Nature we are up 

 against a never-ending problem. Just 

 when we think we have it, just then 

 is the time we haven't. In looking at 

 the question as a whole, I have often 

 wondered how we are able to grow 

 as good stock as we do. From the be- 

 ginning everything that grew was sim- 



[Ooncluded on page 63.] 



The varieties of gladioli named will 



GrOtii^dfe of' Loyd C Bunch, Frcdonia, Kan. 



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