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May 6, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



J3 



'Winner in a Denver Porch Gaxdeninj; Contest. 



\ng, with a liglit overhead spraying on 

 bright days, is needed until the cuttings 

 are thoroughly rooted. Then pot or box 

 them, using a good, fibrous meadow soil, 

 without any mulch or sand. Do not 

 pinch the young plants until about March 

 15, as plants are healthier if not pinched. 

 Place the young plants in S^l'-inch pots 

 by April 15, if possible. 



Plantio g Out. 



' ' As soon as the weather is favorable, 

 plant out in the field on spring-plowed 

 ground, planting when the ground is 

 freshly plowed, while it is fresh and 

 moist. Plant twelve inches each way, us- 

 ing a wire line with marks every twelve 

 inches. A hand plow can be used each 

 ^^'3.y. .just as a farmer plows his corn, 

 only on a miniature scale. 



"(io through them after each rain and 

 s inietimes between rains, always pinch- 

 ing them back to shape the plants. 



The next process is to prepare the 

 iienches. It is generally best to com- 

 mence this work early in July, so that all 

 the plants may be benched during July. 

 Mend and lime the benches, and cover 

 the beds with thin blue-grass s;»d. On 

 tliis fill up to level with a suitable car- 

 nation soil, which is prepared as follows: 



Preparation of Soil. 



"Tn early spring find, if possible, rich, 

 fibrous, meadow blue-grass soil, brown in 

 <-olor, if possible. This idea was first pro- 

 ••ured from an old gardener whom I 

 served under as a boy, afterward from 

 the Dickson Bros., of Newtownards and 

 Holfast, Ireland. Do not select this soil 

 rConcluded on pase 2.S.1 



GARDENING CONTESTS. 



One of the best means of stimulating 

 the window-box demand is the prize con- 

 test. 



In recent years these contests have 

 been extremely successful, whether con- 



ducted by a local newspaper, as fre- 

 quently has been done, or conducted by 

 any one of the numerous uplift asso- 

 ciations. The biggest newspapers in the 

 country have felt they were doing a pub 

 lie service by encouraging the use of 

 window-boxes, etc., and have given liber 

 ally of their space and money. The ('hi 

 cago Tribune for the last two years has 

 conducted such a prize content for its 

 own account, offering several hundreds of 

 dollars in prizes and stimulating the in 

 terest in porch and window embellish- 

 ment and backyard ])lanting throughout 

 the entire city. The accompanying illus- 

 trations are from photographs showing 

 the winners in two classes in a prize 

 contest conducted last season by the 

 Denver Post. 



Wherever these contests are held they 

 are of much benefit to florists. Not only 

 do the people who enter contests buy 

 stock for their boxes, vases and lawns, 

 but the manifest improvement made in 

 these properties stimulates entire neigh- 

 borhoods. There is nothing more in- 

 fectious than the gardening spirit. Let 

 one householder in a' neighborhood con- 

 tract the gardening habit, especially the 

 window-gardening habit, and soon the 

 whole locality will be spading, and rak- 

 ing, and planting. 



In numberless cities there now are 

 civic improvement associations, most of 

 which give more or less attention to 

 floricultural matters. It would be a le- 

 gitimate and profitable undertaking for 

 florists' clubs to interest these improve- 

 ment associations in backyard gardening, 

 Avindow-gardening and other contests of 

 this kind, the florists -to provide the 

 necessary premiums in case the improve- 

 ment associations are unable to do so. 

 In case the improvement so(»iety will not 

 take up the matter, it would be legiti- 

 mate for the florists' clubs to organize 

 such contests on their own account, but 

 if the backing of some recognized pub 

 lie-spirited organization can be secured, 

 the newspapers will give much more as 

 sistance; they are shy of booming busi 

 ness interests. 



Porch Boxes at a Denver Residence. 



