APBIL 25, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



13 



ASTERS AT i(? iir 

 IRONDEQUOIT 



A QUERY AND SOME REPLIES. 



loll us more about ' ' Asters at Iron- 

 i|(i(iioit" — that is, the manner of pro- 

 , luring high grade bloom for store trade. 

 Tlic illustration and item on page 45 

 III The Review of March 28, with ref- 

 (iciiee to Mrs. J. M. Pendleton's house 

 ,,r aster plants, are exceedingly inter- 

 i-ring. Are the plants transplanted 

 til the flats or was the seed sown in 

 llats as shown in the illustration? 1 

 iiiite the plants are set in the field "as 

 ciiily as possible." Is this in order to 

 si'cure early blooms, or is it essential 

 tliat they go out early in order to make 

 sure of a crop? l)o any of your read- 

 iis grow asters under partial shade, 

 as in slatted frames or between rows 

 (if corn, pole beans, sunflowers, etc.? 

 Also under mosquito netting or tobacco 

 cloth? If this method would produce 

 ;i(>od flowers, it would be a good thing 

 hereabouts, as the tarnish plant bug 

 is destructive to asters and dahlias, 

 eating the tender buds while they are 

 (i|>euing out. 



Columbus, O. E. L. 



Reply From Mrs. Pendleton. 



None of the growers here uses the 

 jjreenhouses for asters alone. The 

 plants are only started in the house; 

 then, when ready to be removed to 

 frames outdoors, under glass, they are 

 I'ut out, to make room for other stock. 

 Our early asters, such as Queen of the 

 Market and Snowdrift, are in cold- 

 frames now (April 8), to harden and 

 ^trow stocky before we plant them in 

 the open ground, which we shall do 

 :is early in May as the weather will 

 I'ormit. We never endanger our asters 

 l)y putting them out too early, as the 

 high prices that we might thus be 

 :ible to get for a few early ones would 

 never compensate, in my estimation, 

 for the many lost by frosts. 



And now as to the picture of my 

 listers which appeared in The Review. 

 When J sent those snapshots of my 

 liouse, the asters, as shown in the boxes 

 '•r flats, had already been transplanted 

 the second and last time. There were 

 ^97 flats in all, with 250 to 375 plants 

 in each flat. This represented no small 

 iimount of labor, I assure you — six 

 weeks of hard work, ten hours a day, 

 \vith five persons transplanting. Much 

 "f the success with asters depends on 

 fhe way they are handled at the be- 

 u'inning. At all times they require rich, 

 well manured soil and a proper amount 

 «f water. 



No, asters never do well in shaded 

 places; they require an open space, 

 where there is plenty of air and sun- 

 shine. It would be useless to try 

 ^0 grow them between trees. I can not 

 tell anything about the use of mos- 

 quito netting or tobacco cloth in aster 

 •culture, as I have never tried that 

 method or seen it tried. 



As to the inquirer's troubles with 



bugs and insects on his asters, I should 

 advise him to use the following solu- 

 tion for spraying: One and one-half 

 pounds of arsenate of lead and one 

 and one-half gallons of lime-sulphur to 

 fifty gallons of water. Mix the arsenate 

 of lead to a creamy consistency with 

 water; then add the lime-sulphur, stir- 

 ring till all lumps are dissolved, and 

 afterward add the water. The lime- 

 sulphur acts as a fungicide. I find 

 that mixture does the work finely and 

 does not injure the foliage in the least. 

 Generally one spraying is sufficient, but 

 another spraying may be given if nee 

 essary. I use the Rex brand of arsenate 

 of lead and lime-sulj)hur, and consider 

 them the best in the market. We shall 

 plant six acres to asters this year. 



From John Orgar. 



In reply to the inquiry on ".Vsters 

 at Irondequoit," ' I would say: Sow 

 the seed in flats or on a greenhouse 

 bench. When the tiny plants have 

 grown to the first rough leaf, after the 

 seed leaf, transplant into flats. The 

 early asters are sown about March 1, 

 for outside planting. They should be 

 planted outside as soon as the weather 

 will permit. A little freezing will not 

 hurt them much if they have been har- 

 dened oft' before planting-out time. Jn 

 order to have good flowers, it is best 

 to get the early sorts out as soon as 

 possible, so they can make good growth 

 before the dry weather sets in. Trans- 

 planting makes stronger jdants and 

 more roots, so they will be better able 

 to stand planting out in the field. 



It is best to sow the late asters a 

 month «)r so later than the others. 

 They can be sown at intervals of two or 

 three weeks, up to about June 1. for 



a succession of blooms. As soon as 

 the weather will permit, late asters 

 will do best if sown in a coldframe or 

 out in the open, on a well prepared seed 

 bed. if started in that way, they would 

 also be better for transidanting. The 

 land should be well mayured and plowed 

 the fall before, if i)ossible. When the 

 plants have started to grow in the field,, 

 they should be cultivated quite fre- 

 quently throughout the season, to hold 

 the moisture. 



I do not know of anyone using mos- 

 quito netting or tobacco cloth. I have 

 grown asters successfully in an apple 

 orchard where the trees were a good 

 distance apart. They seem to grow in 

 almost any soil, but the soil that holds 

 moisture well without being too wet 

 seems to be about right for them. The 

 finest asters I ever saw were grown on 

 a day soil; the earliest sorts seem to 

 like a lighter soil. 



From Purssell & Cragg Co. 

 Ill reply to your request for an answer 

 to the question of R. L., we can only 

 give our personal experience as gained 

 in growing asters in a small way. Aster 

 seedlings are usually transplanted from 

 the seed bed or box, in order to get 

 sturdy ])lants for setting out in the 

 field. The plants are not put out early 

 for the purpose of securing earlj- bloom, 

 excej)t in the case of early varieties, 

 but in order to take advantage of the 

 cooler weather and get them established 

 before it is too hot and dry. If there 

 are facilities for irrigating, the later 

 varieties can be put out in June or 

 later. We have never seen any advan- 

 tage ill growing asters in j)artial shade; 

 the stems might grow longer, but it 

 would be at the expense of the flowers. 



Asters Grown by Chas. W. Curtis, Irondequoi', N. Y. 



