54 



The Florists' Review 



Apbil 2, 1914. 



SOIL FOB BENCHES. 



We would greatly appreciate some 

 information on preparing soil to be 

 used for carnations and chrysanthe- 

 mums when they Me benched this sum- 

 mer. We have plenty of manure now 

 piled, to be worked over and rotted, 

 and we also have an abundance of 

 good loam, hut we have difficulty in 

 obtaining good sod. Can we grow any 

 crop in the garden that would make 

 good sod for use in the carnation 

 benches this summer? G. E. Y. 



It is not essential that you have 

 sod in which to plant your carnations. 

 If you have a good, rich loam it will 

 do well. Mix in what half rotted ma- 

 nure you think is needed to bring the 

 fertility up to standard and let it 

 lie a couple of months, when it will be 

 ready for use. 



There is no crop that would make 

 a good sod by the time you would 

 have to turn it under to be used for 

 benching this summer. Oats would 

 make enough top to make a good green 

 manure, but the roots would not amount 

 to much. For a sod you want to sow 

 bluegrass and let it stand a couple of 

 years. Clover will also improve your 

 soil wonderfully, if you can let it 

 stand two seasons. A. F. J. B. 



WAS IT CAUSED BY GAS? 



I wish you would publish the follow- 

 ing question in The Eeview at your 

 earliest convenience: What makes 

 carnations go sound asleep? I had this 

 trouble at two different times this win- 

 • ter, and it happened, in each case, a 

 day or two after the only two cold 

 snaps we had this winter. The first 

 time it happened I had several hundreds 

 of cut blooms in the jars, and when I 

 shipped these to- my commission man 

 they were apparently all right. About 

 three hours after shipping them, how- 

 ever, I received a telegram from him 

 stating that my carnations were all 

 sound asleep. Then I went over my 

 houses and saw that all the flowers that 

 were open or partly open were closing 

 up tightly. This happened January 15 

 and in the next three or four days or 

 a week I had to pick off about every 

 bud that had shown color and some that 

 were just coming through the calyx. 

 I left just a few of those buds on, how- 

 ever, to see what they would do, and 

 found that those few outside petals 

 would stick together as if they had 

 been glued, but the center seemed to 

 be full of life, as one or two petals 

 would grow out about two or three 

 inches above the bud, but the bud never 

 opened out any farther. There was not 

 one flower or partly opened bud that 

 escaped, from one end of the houses to 

 the other. The trouble was not caused 

 by fumigating, as I do not use smoke 

 any more; I spray only. And it was 

 not due to gas from my boilers, as I 



was up all night and could have de- 

 tected the odor. 



My plants are large, vigorous and 

 healthy and were just recovering from 

 this attack when they were struck a 

 second time, while I, it might be said, 

 was looking right at them. This hap- 

 pened Saturday, February 14, imme- 

 diately after about three days of cold 

 weather; then it got warmer outside. 

 I filled my orders on Saturday morning 

 and delivered them about 8 a. m., and 

 every flower was crisp and bright. I 

 came back about 9 o'clock and I saw 

 that the flowers were beginning to have 

 a kind of dull look. By 10 a. m. all 

 the open flowers were asleep again. The 

 Mrs. Ward blooms showed the first signs 

 of harm; the outside petals became al- 

 most white, but White Perfection 

 seemed to suffer the most. I waited a 

 week this time before writing, to see 

 what the buds would do, and I found 

 that they all were lost, just as they 

 were the other time. 



Some of the neighboring growers 

 came to see me and said that they never 

 saw healthier plants and had' never 

 seen a case like this one of mine. I 

 have been in the business for twenty- 

 two years and never before saw any- 

 thing like it. It does not affect the 

 plants in the least. 



There is just one question that I 

 want to ask with reference to a possible 

 cause of the trouble: Could you detect 

 artificial gas by the odor, if it should 

 happen to penetrate underground into 

 the houses? There- is a gas main that 

 runs along the front of the houses, 

 about eight feet from the ends of both 

 houses. In soft weather the passerby 

 can smell this gas at any time. Last 

 summer the gas company put a drip 



pipe right in front of my place, to drip 

 the oil from the main, and it has leaked 

 ever since. Of course I do not smell 

 the gas inside the houses, but it seems 

 strange that in both cases when; my 

 carnations wers struck, it happened 

 when the ground had been frozen hard 

 outside. Any information you can give 

 me on this trouble will be greatly ap- 

 preciated. G. W. E. 



In view of your statement of the 

 case, I think there should not be the 

 least doubt as to why your carnations 

 went to sleep. As long as the ground 

 remained in a soft state the gas escaped 

 without getting into your houses, but 

 when the ground was crusted over with 

 frost the gas seeped along until it came 

 to soft earth, which was inside your 

 houses. I have heard of a number of 

 similar experiences. I knew of one in- 

 stance which occurred in my own city. 

 The gas company, in making repairs, 

 allowed a quantity of gas to escape 

 from a small main. The wind blew the 

 gas into the greenhouses, which con- 

 tained carnations, and inside of a few 

 hours there were thousands of open and 

 half opened carnation blooms going to 

 sleep. In this case the grower got a 

 settlement with the gas company with- 

 out any trouble. You should have lit- 

 tle trouble in collecting from the gas 

 company and in compelling them to 

 move that "bleed" away from your 

 houses. 



As to whether you would detect the 

 gas by the odor inside your greenhouses, 

 that would depend on circumstances. 

 If you are compelled to breathe a good 

 part of the time the fumes which you 

 say are escaping from that main, you 

 would not be likely to detect the gas 

 in the houses unless it were quite strong. 

 One who is accustomed to breathing 

 fresh air might detect it right away. 

 The fact that your carnations are go- 

 ing to sleep, connjBCted with the cir- 

 cumstances as you describe them, is 

 positive proof of the presence of the 

 gas. If the trouble came from some 

 cause inside the place, the sleepiness 

 would be continuous. A. F. J. B. 



'^^^mi^^i^:. "^^ 



illllii 



GEBANIUM LEAVES DYING. 



Will you kindly tell me what is the 

 matter with my geraniums? I am send- 

 ing you a few of the leaves. Some in- 

 sect seems to have attacked them, after 

 which they shrivel up in a few days. 

 The plants have never looked any 

 healthier than at present, and I can 

 see no insects on them. G. H. 



will not be crowded. If they are suf- 

 fering at all from starvation at the 

 roots, feed them moderately. A weak 

 dose of nitrate of soda, or a top-dress- 

 ing of fertilizer, will help to tone them 

 up. Do not continue this feeding, or it 

 wiU cause a lank, soft growth at the 

 expense of flowers. C. W. 



I failed to find any signs of injury 

 from insects. Your plants may have 

 been attacked by a fungous growth, 

 which is often found on geraniums, 

 both under glass and outdoors. Pick 

 off the affected leaves. Be sure the 

 plants get full sun and plenty of fresh 

 air. Do not spray tbem overhead. Give 

 the plants a fresh stand, so that they 



POTBOUND GEBANIUMS. 



Several hundreds of my geraniums, 

 in 4-inch pots, have grown tall and 

 leggy- They were pinched out about 

 two months ago, but this did not hold 

 them back. What can I do to induce 

 them to throw out side shoots and to 

 make them more symmetrical? Will 

 pinching out at this time prevent the 



