■rw^": 



Apbil 7, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Delivery Facilities in Daily Use by Mrs. E. A. Williams, Pittsburg Retail Florist. 



its acidity, but eelworms will thrive in 

 soDs which are not acid." 



The use of formalin has been recom- 

 mended, but the experiments at the 

 Massachusetts Station indicate that this 

 is not effective in killing the worms, and 

 besides can not be used on soils contain- 

 ing growing plants on account of the in- 

 jury likely to result to the plants. 



"Of late years formalin has been 

 recommended as a remedy for eelworms 

 on violets. This is* used by applying it 

 to holes made in the soil where the plants 

 are growing. The formalin being vola- 

 tile, the gas penetrates the soU and is 

 said to kill the worms. Our experiments 

 with it would not seem to warrant the 

 use of this method of treatment, as for- 

 malin is injurious to plants, and there is 

 reason to believe that it would not affect 

 in the least the eggs of eelworms, which 

 are fairly well prot^ted by a resistant 

 covering," says ther report. 



The methods used with more or less 

 success at the Massachusetts Station for 

 •destroying eelworms in greenhouse soils 

 were as follows: 



Sterilization. — This is one of the cheap- 

 est and best methods of destroying eel- 

 worms in greenhouse soil. It is neces- 

 sary that the soil be heated to at least 

 180 degrees, and a higher temperature is 

 better. - This is accomplished by driving 

 steam through the soil by a system of 

 perforated pipes. 



Freezing. — If the soil is frozen for any 

 length of time the eelworms are de- 

 stroyed, and some use has been made of 

 this method by practical growers. As a 

 rule, the soil is removed from the house 

 and frozen in bulk out of doors. 



Desiccation. — Drying the soil is de- 

 structive to eelworms, but it is dif&cult 

 to dry soils sufficiently in deep benches 

 to make this method effectual. The ap- 

 plication of unslaked lime, however, wUl 

 materially aid in drying the soil, by 

 virtue of the water-absorbing qualities 

 of the lime. 



Trapping, or the catch-crop method. — 

 It has been found in Germany that sow- 

 ing very susceptible crops, like mustard 

 or rape, on soil contaminated with eel- 

 worms, and, after the females have be- 

 come encysted in the roots, pulling up 

 the plants and exposing them to the dry- 

 ing rays of the sun, is capable of reduc- 

 ing the worms to some extent in cbn- 

 taminated soils. We have found, how- 

 ever, that two or three catch crops are 

 much better than one. 



The Massachusetts experiments indi- 

 cate that in some instances simply flood- 

 ing the soil may prove a successful means 

 of destroying the eelworms, and that 

 manure infected with eelworms may be 

 safely used on garden and greenhouse 



crops if left for a sufficient length of 

 time in water. 



ASTERS FOR CUT FLOWERS. 



Asters vs. Carnations. 



In the last few years the aster has be- 

 come quite an item as a summer cut 

 flower. It takes the place of the carna- 

 tion in a great many respects, during 

 the hot summer months, when the carna- 

 tion blooms are still small and unsalable. 



Aster seed should be sown from March 

 1 till the last of May. In order to have 

 a continuous crbp and variety they 



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American 

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Longest Stems 



S5 Per Dozen 



Killarney 

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Longest Stems 

 $2 Per DgzeH 



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should be sown at certain intervals. Va- 

 rieties differ greatly in their time of 

 flowering. For instance, if you were to 

 sow Queen of the Market and Semple's 

 Branching, all on March 10, and treat 

 them alike, you would have in bloom, 

 first. Queen of the Market, and from 

 four to five weeks later, Semple's 

 Branching. 



The white Queen of the Market is al- 

 ways a good seller, because it is in bloom 

 just when there are no carnations. Yet 

 it is well to have late asters too, for 

 the later you pick them the better price 

 you get. 



Germinating and Planting. 



We use flats 18x20x2 for germinating 

 the seed. Fill the flats with light loam, 

 and press firmly. When the seed is sown 

 sift enough soil over the surface to cov- 

 er the seed. We find, when watering 

 seed just planted, that it is well to place 

 a piece of paper the size of the box over 

 the seed. This method prevents the 

 water from washing the soil off of the 

 seed. We leave the paper on until the 

 seed shoots show through the soil, and 

 then take the paper off, as there is no 

 danger of washing the seed out, for the 

 soil will have a tMn crust on it by that 

 time. 



The time of planting must be gov- 

 erned by your climate; if you are in 

 no danger of getting a frost after May 

 10, plant your earliest crop then, and 

 after that you can plant at intervals 

 until the end of June. For the early, 

 small growing varieties you can set 

 them twelve inches between the plants 

 and fifteen inches between the rows, but 

 the strong growing varieties need twenty 

 inches each way. I do not think it pays 

 to plant them closer. There should be 

 a space of two feet every four or six 

 rows, for a path to walk in and also for 

 your water pipe. 



The texture of the soil has no material 

 importance providing it has plenty of 

 manure, and water can be applied. 

 Asters will grow in anything from grav- 

 elly loam to a heavy clay. In ordinary 

 summers you cannot get along without 

 watering. Water is practically the life 

 of the plant. A good many crops of 

 asters have proved worthless, simply be- 

 cause they did not receive the necessary 

 amount of water. They should receive 

 a thorough soaking once a week during 

 dry weather. 



There is no disbudding needed with 

 asters, and all that is done by some grow* 

 ers is to pinch out the leading growth, 

 or in other words the top of the center 

 growth. It encourages the side growth, 

 which is the crop, both in size and quan- 

 tity. However, it is always well to take 

 a few hundred plants and disbud them 

 down to five and six shoots. Although 

 this reduces the quantity, you will find 

 that it will more than repay you, for the 

 stems are of better length and the flow- 

 ers are larger, consequently a higher 

 price can be obtained. 



The flowers should be cut with the 

 stem as long as possible, just as soon as 

 they are fully developed. For shipping 

 to market the flowers are cut and 

 bunched in lots of twenty-five, and then 

 laid in a long box in double tiers. Fine 

 flowers deserve to be laid, in single tiers. 

 Asters ship well and keep their form. 

 W. J. Vesey, Jr. 



