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12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



OCTOBEB 5, 1911. 



less you have sale for carpet bedding 

 plants, they will not prove of any great 

 value to you, C. W. 



PAFEB WHITES FOB CHBISTMAS. 



What time should I start Paper 

 Whites so as to have them in bloom for 

 Christmas? I vrant to grow them in 

 benches in a greenhouse in a tempera- 

 ture of 60 to 52 depees. E. H. H. F, 



Plant the bulbs in the benches at 

 once in order to have them in flower 

 for Christmas. A better plan is to grow 

 them in flats containing four inches of 

 soil. When this is done it is easy to 



afford, holes can be punched in the slab 

 while it is yet soft. 



For supports for the bench I use 

 lumber about the same as in all wood 

 construction benches, except that I run 

 three stringers to a 3-foot bench, 

 lengthwise of the bench, to lay the 

 slabs on. I use common 1x4 yellow 

 pine, turned on edge. It has so little 

 surface exposed to the action of drip 

 that I find they last several years. 

 I use 1x6 cypress boards for edges, 

 set on the edge of the concrete 

 bottom and fastened to the posts sup- 

 porting the bench with wagon tire iron 

 made to fit the case. 



Tdcher's Giant-flowering Mammoth Ten Weeks' Stocks. 



move them to a cool cellar or house if 

 they chance to come on a little too 

 early. You can, however, lower the 

 temperature of your house and partly 

 accomplish the same purpose. The flat 

 system is, however, preferable in many 

 ways to planting directly in the 

 benches. C. W. 



ANOTHEB CONCBETE BENCH. 



T get so many good pointers from 

 The Keview that I want to tell you 

 how I make concrete benches. I have 

 never seen any made as I make them, 

 and thiifk I have the cheapest and 

 most easily constructed bench yet. 



I use cypress edge boards with a 

 concrete bottom. I make ,slabs one- 

 half inch thick and as long as the 

 bench is wide, using three parts sand, 

 one part cement and one part hydrate 

 lime, using expanded metal lath for 

 reinforcing. The metal lath comes 

 in sheets, eighteen inches wide and 

 eight feet long, which cuts for a 3 

 foot and 5-foot bench without waste. 

 It costs but 14 cents per square yard. 



I use a frame made half an inch 

 larger than the sheet of metal and one- 

 half inch thick, made of wood. On a 

 smooth floor (I use my basement floor, 

 which is cemented) I spread a paper to 

 keep the slab from sticking to it, la; 

 my frame on the paper, run a thin coat"" 

 of the concrete on the paper, lay the 

 metal lath on top of it and run on a 

 coat of concrete to level up with my 

 frame. I then remove the frame and 

 am ready for another. Any man can 

 make one of these slabs in two or three 

 minutes. If more drainage is wanted 

 than a crack every eighteen inches will 



Figuring cement at 40 cents per 

 sack, sand at 8 cents per hundred, metal 

 lath at 14 cents per square yard, and 

 hydrate lime at 25 cents per sack, this 

 is cheaper than a wood bench and can 

 be constructed in as short a time, not 

 counting time to dry the slabs. 



My boiler house is also made of 

 cement plaster on metal lath, and 

 marked off. I find it cheaper than 

 lumber, and it will last forever. 



If you think this way of making 

 benches has any merits, and care to 

 publish it for the benefit of any others 

 who may care to try these concrete 

 benches, you may do so. It seems to 

 me it has several good points. I have 

 not used them long enough to find out 

 the bad ones. It is cheap, quickly 

 constructed and can be removed and 

 replaced at will. Loyd C. Bunch. 



BOOT GBOWTHS, GOOD AND BAD. 



I should like to have you explain what 



those little globules are on the roots 



of clover and peas. Are they parts of 



the organism of the roots or a parasitic 



-growth ? 



In a textbook of entomology I have 

 learned that every gall fly has its own 

 distinct gall on leaves, stems, crowns or 

 roots. Please give me a description of 

 the different gall flies and galls affecting 

 the roots and lower stems of rose bushes 

 ind violets; also, a description of the 

 eel-worm, its work on the roots, how it 

 affects the growth of rose bushes and 

 how it can be most readily detected. 



J. F. D. 



The nodules on the roots of peas, 

 clover and other leguminous plants are 



produced by certain nitrogen-gathering 

 bacteria, and hence a plant on which they 

 are found is benefited by them. Each 

 genus of this family seems to have its 

 own species of bacteria; thus, the clover 

 bacteria will not develop nodules upon 

 alfalfa. As nitrogen is the most ex- 

 pensive of the elements required as food 

 by plants, and as it is found in large 

 quantities in the air, it is important that 

 these bacteria exist in the soil, to be 

 used by leguminous crops. If not pres- 

 ent 'it will pay to add them, either by 

 inoculating the soil by means of an arti- 

 ficial culture or by scattering soil, which 

 is known to be inoculated, over the 

 surface and dragging it in. 



The galls upon the roots of roses and 

 violets are not due to gall flies, but are 

 generally produced by what are known 

 as nematodes, minute worms. These are 

 especially troublesome in soil that is 

 either poorly drained or overwatered. 

 When a soil has become infested with 

 nematodes it will be best to discard it, 

 although it is generally possible to de- 

 stroy the worms by steaming the soil. 



The name eel-worm is sometimes ap- 

 plied to nematodes and accurately de- 

 scribes their appearance. Their presence 

 can be most easily detected on the roots 

 of roses and violets by looking for 

 galls, which are rounded enlargements 

 usually about one-sixteenth of an inch 

 in diameter. 



NEW FOBCINa STOCKS. 



Recently much attention has been 

 attracted in Europe by the new ten 

 weeks' stocks raised by Paul Teicher, 

 of Striegau, Germany. These are 

 adapted to forcing, as pot plants or for 

 cutting, and in response to an inquiry 

 Mr. Teicher sends the following de- 

 scription : 



"From March to May there is al- 

 ways much demand for stocks, espe- 

 cially at Memorial day. They are 

 gladly bought and well paid for. I 

 have cultivated a number of sorts 

 whict are excellent for forcing, being 

 in bloom at the above specified time. 



"The cultivation is easy, and by 

 that especially worth while, so that 

 upon the same beds several crops of 

 stocks can be forced, one after an- 

 other. By sowing from September to 

 January, the young plants are to be 

 then transplanted into greenhouses or 

 coldframes. The greenhouses must be 

 cool at, night, not warmer than 50 de- 

 grees; only by intense sunlight the 

 temperature of the air can be allowed 

 to go up to 65 degrees. 



"I have classified my ten weeks' 

 stocks for forcing into three races, the 

 large-flowering dwarf pyramidal ten 

 weeks' Stocks; Teicher 's giant-flower- 

 ing mammoth column ten weeks' stocks 

 and large-flowering perpetual ten 

 weeks' stocks (Empress Augusta Vic- 

 toria. 



"The large-flowering dwarf pyra- 

 midal ten weeks' stocks are the earli- 

 est. They produce a great many of 

 double-flowering plants, and can also 

 be used for cut flowers as well as for 

 cultivation in pots. There now are six 

 named colors and varieties in this 

 class: Snowflake , snow-white, wall- 

 flower-leaved; Rose Teicher, delicate 

 light rose; Kate Teicher, porcelain- 

 blue; Ruby, fiery red; Mrs. Mary Teich- 

 er, soift, delicate salmon-colored; 

 Sapphire, deep sapphirine blue. 



"The giant-flowering mammoth col- 

 umn ten weeks' stocks are only pro- 

 ducing true plants of one stalk and 



cii^. 



