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ThcWeckly Florists' Review. 



Seftbmbbb 21, 1911. 



atoski dementia scribendioriumf I 

 simply told- him I'd have to talk with 

 you a little more about it and let it . 

 rest as it was. What I want is some 

 geraniums and verbenas and asparagus 



vine, but how am I to get. them from 

 a man who wants to show me spirillium 

 trichinosis and omnia gallia divisa and 

 hinc illae lachrymae, and all that!" — 

 Chicago Evening Post. 



UNDBIED BLOOD AS FERTILIZER. 



Will you please inform me whether 

 blood, fresh from the slaughter house, 

 is a good plant food for carnations and 

 mums? In what proportion should it be 

 used with water? Any information will 

 be appreciated. G. N. G. 



Fresh blood from the slaughter house 

 would not be a good fertilizer to use on 

 your benches. In that state it would 

 be weak in fertilizer and at the same 

 time likely to sour your soil. If you 

 can arrange to put it through a rapid 

 drying process, the dry substance 

 would make a good plant food. Evapo- 

 ration would be too slow a process to 

 be profitable, and to rig up a plant for 

 drying it by heat would probably cost 

 you more than your needs would war- 

 rant. However, if you wish to install 

 such a plant I would suggest that you 

 consult someone who is experienced in 

 that line of work. You do not need 

 much dried blood to give your plants all 

 they can use, and my advice to you 

 would be to buy it in a dried state, be- 

 lieving that you will find it cheaper 

 in the end and more satisfactory. 



A. F. J. B. 



DISEASED WINSORS. 



I am sending you under separate 

 cover some stems of my Winsor carna- 

 tion, plants, which are affected with 

 some sort of disease. Will you please 

 tell me what the disease is, with the 

 causes and the remedy? The samples 

 which I am sending are among the 

 worst, so you can plainly see what my 

 trouble is. A. C. U. 



The disease which is attacking your 

 Winsors is the same that drove all the 

 Lawson varieties from a number of 

 places some years ago. These varieties 

 seem to be especially subject to its 

 ravages. It is of a fungoid nature and 

 should be treated in the same way as all 

 the spot diseases, except that it does 

 not seem to yield to treatment as 

 readily as most of the others. As you 

 will notice, it attacks the stem in most 

 cases, instead of the more tender leaves. 



First I would cut off all the stems 

 that are affected, cutting them at least 

 a full joint below the affected part. 

 Then spray the plants heavily with Bor- 

 deaux mixture once each week. Keep 

 the water from the foliage as much as 

 possible as long as no red spider threat- 

 ens. Dusting the plants with Grape 

 Dust will help to keep it down. When 

 you begin firing, paint one of the steam 



f)ipe8 with a paste made of sulphur, 

 ime and water, using the sulphur and 

 lime in equal proportions. 



You will need considerable perse- 

 verance in combating this disease, as it 



is one of the most stubborn of its kind. 

 When you see a stem with one of the 

 spots on it, you might just as well cut 

 it off at once, and save others that may 

 not be affected as yet. Burn all you 

 cut off. A. F. J. B. 



USE OF SOFT-WOOD ASHES. 



I write to ask you whether I can use 

 muriate of potash or sulphate of potash 

 in place of wood ashes. If so, how 

 much ought I to use at a time on a 

 bench 4x100 feet, for carnations a»d 

 mums? I can not get good ashes here, 

 as there is so much soft wood in them. 

 I can get soft pine and cedar ashes for 

 nothing, only paying for the cartage, 

 but the time spoilt in putting these 

 ashes on the bench is worth more than 

 the benefit derived by the plants. 



G. A. E. 



I have an idea that you underestimate 

 the value of those soft-wood ashes. Of 

 course they do not contain as high a 

 percentage of potash as those from hard 

 wood, but they do contain enough to 

 make them valuable. Simply put on 

 more of them and you will get the same 

 benefit. You will find them much safer 

 to use than the muriate and sulphate of 

 potash, especially at this time of the 

 year. 



Do not always expect to see quick 

 effects from the ashes after you apply 

 them. Some varieties will stiffen, up 

 in the stem perceptibly in a week or so, 

 but other varieties, which produce a less 

 fleshy growth, will not show the effects 

 so quickly. This sometimes leads 

 growers to give too much ashes be- 

 fore they can see any effects, and the 

 result is a crop of brittle stems — some- 

 times so brittle that the weight of the 

 blooms will cause them to snap at the 

 joints. This usually happens in mid- 



winter, when the sun is wefiik and the 

 growth is kkely to be soft. >. ' 



■ , .T^A. F. z:^ 



IN SOirPH DAKOTA. 



The Mitiehell Greenhouses and Nurs- 

 ery, opefated by The Newburys, is one 

 of the rapidly growing establishments 

 that speak for the . progress the trade 

 is making in the great northwest, where 

 the people are just beginning to culti- 

 vate the finer things of life, where 

 there are miles and miles of room, and 

 where floriculture is developing at a 

 rate second only to the increase shown 

 in the milder climate of the southwest. 

 Mitchell is a county seat from which 

 radiate a number of rural mail routes, 

 but it is not the town one would expect 

 to support a range of 50,000 feet of 

 glass, such as The Newburys have, and, 

 in fact, were it not that they do busi- 

 ness at retail all over that section of 

 the country, and at wholesale in the 

 plant line all over the United States, 

 they would not find their facilities con- 

 stantly running behind the demand, as 

 is now the case. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 one of The Newburys' carnation houses, 

 planted before the Fourth of July, from 

 which cutting was begun July 20. By 

 August 20 there was a good crop on, a 

 nice daily cut being made with stems 

 that ran fourteen to sixteen inches. 

 And everything was selling well. 



DRAINAGE IN WINDOW BOXES. 



Will you kindly tell me how drain- 

 age is provided for t^nd takeii care of 

 in small winter window boxes that con- 

 tain about six primroses? A. E. B. 



Some window boxes can be drained 

 out from below by taking out a stopper, 

 standing a pail below until the mois- 

 ture is all drained out, but &b a gen- 

 eral rule none is thought of or pro- 

 vided, in which case it is necessary to 

 take out the plants and sponge out the 

 water; otherwise it soon becomes putrid 

 and plants standing in it speedily show 

 yellow foliage. If carefully watered 

 there is no need for stagnant water col- 

 lecting in the boxes, however. C. W. 



FLOWER SHOW AT HELENA. 



The second annual flower show in 

 this city, held September 7 and 8, was 

 an event that might well be copied by 

 many larger cities. It was given under 



Carnation House of The Newburyi, Mitchell, S. D. 



