10 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



May 6, 1909. 



struck. The value of nitrogen-gathering 

 bacteria is sufficient evidence of the rich- 

 ness of this new field. Knowledge of the 

 way in which nitrogen-gathering bacteria 

 work gives us a clue to the solution of 

 one of the most difficult problems in the 

 maintenance of soil fertility. It explains 

 the division of labor in nature, and gives 

 a reason for crop rotation. The same 

 laws that govern the rotation of crops in 

 field operations come into play to our 

 advantage in the soil heap. The compost 

 heap should consist of organic material 

 in the form of sods and manure, so com- 

 bined with mineral matter in the form 

 of loam and clay as to enable decomposi- 

 tion and nitrification to take place rap- 

 idly. 



The Problem of the G>mpost Heap. 



The florist's business is not merely to 

 place available food in a natural soil, but 

 to combine the several constituents for 

 fertile soil in such manner as to secure 

 that mechanical condition and food sup- 

 ply calculated to best meet the require- 

 ments of the particular crop under con- 

 sideration. In this respect the florist has 

 an advantage again over the gardener 

 and the farmer. But can anyone describe 

 the ideal soil for any particular crop! 

 Can anyone say that a soil consisting of 

 ten per cent organic matter, thirty per 

 cent clay, forty per cent loam and twenty 

 per cent sand is an ideal soil for roses, 

 for carnations, for lettuce, or for any 

 other crop? I think not. Our knowledge 

 upon these important points is of the 

 empirical kind. An experienced gardener 

 makes up a potting soil ; he mixes it with 

 his hands and, if it appears too heavy, 

 he adds sand; if not sufficiently fibrous, 

 he adds leaf -mold or peat. Just why he 

 adds these substances he cannot tell, 

 neither can he describe to you the exact 

 consistency and character of his ideal 

 rose soil; yet his knowledge of the re- 

 quirements of a particular crop leads 

 him to make the changes above noted to 

 bring the soil to his ideal of the require- 

 ments for the particular crop. 



Can this empirical knowledge or idea 

 be reduced to exact terms! Are the exact 

 amount of available plant food and the 

 proportion of sand, clay and humus in 

 this ideal soil measurable! If it is, we 

 can obtain a basis for exact experiments 

 to determine whether or not the gar- 

 dener's judgment of an ideal soil for a 

 particular crop is correct. If these 

 factors are not measurable, we are as 

 much at sea in our experimental work as 

 is the gardener. It is all simply a matter 

 of judgment. 



Not Yet an Exact Science 



Up to the present, I am sorry to say 

 that the whole matter is largely depend- 

 ent upon experiences and judgment. Soils 

 differ so much in composition and physi- 

 cal properties, even when so-called like 

 materials are used in their make-up, and 

 we know so little regarding the influence 

 of bacterial action, which is consistently 

 working in the soil, that it is practically 

 impossible in the present state of our 

 knowledge to reduce the soil factor to 

 exact measurement. 



A much more accurate idea of the rela- 

 tive influence of heat, light, water and 

 soil can be secured under greenhouse 

 conditions than in the open, but even 

 here, while we know infinitely more than 

 did the early gardeners, our knowledge 

 is far from exact. It may be that exact 

 data will never be possible, but certain 

 it is that the knowledge that is so rapidly 

 accumulating will clear up many dark 

 places, and we hope it will soon put us 



in possession of facts to replace em- 

 piricism. Until more knowledge is avail- 

 able, we must continue each to determine 

 for himself, under his own enviroiiment, 

 the most profitable combination for the 

 compost, and the varieties best suited to 

 this soil and his market. * ' There is no 

 royal road to knowledge," and the intel- 

 ligent, painstaking care is the only way 

 to spell success. 



OUTDOOR VALLEY. 



Are outdoor lily of the valley blooms 

 salable in the wholesale market, and how 

 should they be bunched and handled for 

 this purpose? Will it pay a grower of 

 outdoor flowers to plant these in the fleld 

 and cultivate, or how should they be 

 cared for? I have enough pips grown 

 outdoors, which are strong and hardy, to 

 plant on one-fourth of an acre. They 

 gave me last year stems from twelve to 

 fifteen inches long, with from ten to four- 

 teen bells on a stein. L. J. B. 



There is a fair sale for outdoor grown 

 valley in all the large wholesale markets. 

 If your stems are twelve to fifteen inches 

 long and average ten to fourteen flowers 

 each, you should have no trouble in dis- 

 posing of them. At Memorial day they 

 are in special demand. Unfortunately, on 

 many occasions they are on the wane be- 

 fore the end of May. Perhaps, however, 

 this present cool season may prove one 

 of the exceptions. 



Valley is customarily sold in bunches 

 of twenty-five sprays each, with a circle 

 of foliage around the bunches. For field 

 culture you should have the ground deeply 

 plowed and heavily manured, to secure 

 best results. It certainly pays as well as 

 any hardy flower. It succeeds the best 



where it can have some shade. Valley 

 in its wild state is always found in wood- 

 lands. I have pleasant memories of 

 tramping through acres pf it on many oc- 

 casions in boyhood days. Some growers 

 prefer beds four feet wide to single rows, 

 and many of the finest sprays we have 

 ever seen were grown in this way. Fall 

 is the time to plant and the variety 

 known as Fortin's is of exceptional ex- 

 cellence. C. W. 



BARNES* BOX. 



E. T. Barnes, at Spencer, Ind., is a 

 large shipper of summer flowers, sweet 

 peas, gladioli, asters and dahlias, being a 

 particularly large grower of the two lat- 

 ter. He has sMpped as many as 14,000 

 cut dahlias in one day. In his shipping 

 business he found the need of a light, 

 strong, quickly fastened and quickly 

 opened box, and the accompanying il- 

 lustration shows one which he devised 

 for his own use and which he now has 

 patented. The box is made of ^-incb 

 stuff, except the ends and overlaps, 

 which are: ^ -inch boards. He uses these 

 boxes in sizes up to 8x24x60 inches, and 

 says he has found it itnuch the best ship- 

 ping box he ever has tried. The cover is 

 quickly attached by wire or rope, as 

 shown on the ends in the accompanying 

 illustration, and simply clipping the wire 

 or cord at one end releases the lid when 

 it is to come off. After the flowers have 

 been removed, the scrap wire easily holds 

 the lid down for returning the empty. 

 With the thin boards, the box has proved 

 easily strong enough to stand long ex- 

 press shipments and its light weight 

 saves express charges. In the halftone 

 illustration two of these boxes are shown 

 packed with dahlias ready for shipment. 



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Asters. 



Asters are undoubtedly the most im- 

 portant of all outdoor grown annuals. 

 Sweet peas are probably more popular, 

 but they do not fill the place in the 

 flower markets that asters do during the 

 late summer months. Without the lat- 

 ter our markets would be bare of flowers 

 in August and September, and retailers 

 would be at their wits' end to know how 

 to fill up their designs. An early batch 

 is now getting well established in a 

 bench where a carnation temperature is 

 maintained. These will flower in early 

 July, when they are very useful. The 

 surface soil is kept frequently stirred and 

 everything is done to encourage their 

 growth. 



It is too risky yet to plant out asters 

 in our northern states. Quite frequently 

 we get killing frosts late in May and it 

 is unwise to put the plants in the field 

 with the first spell of summer-like 

 weather. We feel a natural impulse to 

 push the bedding out ahead, but remem- 

 ber that asters are more tender than car- 

 nations and violets, and they will be bet- 

 ter under sashes a week or two yet. A 

 further sowing has just been pricked off 



and a still later batch is just through 

 the soil. Grow all the asters fairly cool. 

 In a moist, close atmosphere they will 

 speedily become drawn and easily damp 

 off. 



The ground where your asters are to 

 be planted should have been plowed and 

 harrowed over by this time. If you are 

 troubled with cutworms, give the land 

 a dressing of lime and soot and run the 

 smoothing harrow over the ground every 

 few days. Constant stirring of the ground 

 is decidedly distasteful to cutworms. 



Fuchsias* 



Fuchsias are useful in boxes or vases 

 where they can have a little shade, but 

 should never be planted in full sunshine. 

 We cannot flower them the whole sum- 

 mer, as it is possible to do in Europe. 

 Around Memorial day nicely bloomed 

 pots of fuchsias will be found to be good 

 sellers. Do not, however, deceive your 

 customers about their blooming qualities 

 any more than with the attractive show 

 pelargoniums. Neither make suitable bed- 

 ding plants and should never be recom- 

 mended as such. 



Fuchsias in pots make a useful addi- 



