14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Apbil 25, 1912. 



"We should not want to grow asters be- 

 tween the rows of corn, etc.; the strong- 

 er species of plants would rob the 

 weaker ones. 



Asters seem to be more successfully 

 grown by the market gardener or 

 farmer than by the florist, mainly, per- 

 haps, because the gardener or farmer 

 is not confined to a small plot of land, 

 but is able to give his plants general 

 field culture, such as he gives his corn 

 and potatoes, and has plenty of room 

 for horse cultivation; above all, he is 

 able to use fresh, untainted land every 

 season. Novices have often grown splen- 

 did asters at their first atempt, when 

 their land was new, but each successive 

 crop, if planted in the same land year 

 after year, became less and less satis- 

 factory. Much of the success attained 

 by the individual grower comes from 

 having well drained land. Heavy show- 

 ers after a prolonged dry spell often 

 mean ruin to an aster crop if the soil 

 is left soggy. 



From Charles W. Curtis. 



In reply to R. L.'s inquiry, I will try 

 to describe as far as possible the way 

 in which I grow my asters. While I 

 do not grow as many of them as some of 

 my neighbors, I do not think anyone 

 could find much fault with the quality 

 of my stock. I sow all my seed in the 

 greenhouse. I then transplant them into 

 coldframes, leaving them there till the 

 weather is such that they can be 

 planted out with safety. I find that I 

 overcome two difficulties in this way. 

 In the first place, I prevent a good deal 

 of disease by planting them in cold- 

 frames. In the second place, the plants 

 become hardened in the frames, so that, 

 if the weather gets cold after they are 

 planted out, it does not hurt them. 



In planting them in the field, I find 

 it advisable to plant them in rows two 

 and one-half feet apart, with the plants 

 about one foot apart in the rows. Thus 

 I can use a horse in cultivating them 

 and this is a great deal more satisfac- 

 tory than the hand cultivator. I also 

 irrigate a good deal, which largely ac- 

 counts for my having good stock. In 

 regard to shading, I think it might be 

 practical to cover the asters with mos- 

 quito netting. I do not think, however, 

 that they could be grown between rows 

 of corn or sunflowers with any success. 



I am sending you a photograph of 

 one of my beds of asters. The photo- 

 graph was taken after most of the 

 A-No. 1 blossoms had been picked off. 

 These asters were planted two and one- 

 half feet apart. 



From H. Merritt. 



I am not one of the largest growers of 

 asters, as I usually plant only about 

 one-half acre, which can be used nicely 

 in my home trade, but I am willing to 

 give you the benefit of my limited expe- 

 rience. The first important point is the 

 selection of seed. I usually try to save 

 the largest part of my own seed, select- 

 ing nothing but the choicest blooms 

 for that purpose. The seed plants are 

 all staked and labeled and left until 

 the seed is ready to be gathered. 



Asters may be sown any time after 

 the middle of February. For an early 

 crop most growers prefer Queen of the 

 Mf^rket or Early Wonder. After the 

 seed is up and ready to transplant, the 

 plants are transferred to flats or pots. 

 Pots are preferable, as the pot-grown 

 stock can be planted in the field with- 

 out disturbing the roots. It is a good 

 plan to have them in coldframes and 



well liiirdencd off before planting in the 

 field, as they are then in better condi- 

 tion to stand the cold weather which is 

 liable to come after they are planted 

 out. 



We find that Mikado and Crego are 

 good midseason asters, and that Crego 

 is the better of these two. Our best 

 Crego blooms usually sell at about $1 

 per dozen, retail, about twice as much 

 as can be got here for any other variety. 

 For a late crop we use Vick's Branch- 

 ing, which we consider the best of the 

 late sorts. 

 . We always transplant all of our aster 

 plants once before putting them out in 

 the field, as we find it is a great advan- 

 tage to have a ball of soil on each 



plant, for they then start much better 

 in the field and produce much beter 

 blooms. The land where we plant our 

 asters is well manured and plowed ia 

 the fall. It is plowed again in the 

 spring, and smoothed over ready lor 

 marking. We plant so that we can c.il- 

 tivate both ways, allowing about six- 

 teen to eighteen inches of space cue 

 way and about fourteen inches the other 

 way, as asters like plenty of cultivation 

 and a good, rich soil. Once or twi^e 

 in a season we give them a liberal ;il. 

 lowance of sheep manure, trying to tine 

 this so as to apply it just before a 

 rain. We have always found that a 

 little fertilizer pays well for itself in 

 making up the high-grade blooms. 



A QBOWEB'S NOTES. 



[A paper by Clias. B. Weaver, of Ronks, Pa., 

 read before the Lnncaster City and County Flo- 

 rists' Club, April 18, 1912.] 



Having been given a broad scope to 

 write on, I will treat each phase of 

 the subject briefly, as I know it. 



We began the culture of sweet peas 

 commercially twelve or fourteen years 

 ago, in a small way, with more or less 

 disappointment financially. The start 

 was with a row about fifty feet long, 

 of the old pink and white variety, 

 I Earliest of All. This row, as I re- 

 ! member, bloomed during the spring 

 ' months and paid only moderately well. 

 I Right here I wish to mention that on 

 i questioning S. S. Pennock, of Phila- 

 delphia, as to the advisability of grow- 

 ing sweet peas to be in bloom at Christ- 

 mas, I received for an answer that if 

 j it were possible to produce peas at that 

 time it would be next to impossible to 

 sell them. 



However, the following winter, owing 

 j to stem-rot in carnations, I again sowed 

 peas in one bed, 5x140. These flowers 

 I I did not attempt to market in Phila- 

 I delphia, but shipped them to Pittsburgh, 

 I with not highly satisfactory results un- 

 til toward spring, when they gradually 

 increased in value. 



The following season two beds were 

 planted, one with Earliest of All, the 

 other with a variety not now in cul- 

 tivation, named Josephine White. In 

 this year's experience the Earliest of 

 All were affected with a disease that 

 delayed their blooming period until 

 nearly spring. The Josephine White 

 opened a few flowers in November 

 and I remember shipping fifty flowers 

 to Philadelphia, for which I received 

 50 cents, which caused me to feel en- 

 couraged, but this was of short dura- 

 tion, as the week following all I re- 

 ceived was a stroke with a blue pencil, 

 accompanied by a note saying that peas 

 were more of a spring flower in their 

 market. 



After this, what peas I had were 



shipped again to Pittsburgh for sev- 

 eral months, or until warmer weather, 

 when I received word that they were 

 arriving in poor condition, which was 

 more the fault of the variety, Josephine 

 White, which was a miserable keeper. 



Some High Easter Prices. 



After receiving this word, my only 

 recourse was again to ship to Philadel- 

 phia; this was, as I remember, about 

 three weeks before Easter. From the 

 first shipment, according to my recol- 

 lection, the peas sold well in spite of 

 their quality. They continued to sell 

 well until some time after Easter. It 

 may seem peculiar, but this same Easter 

 I received the highest price for peas 

 I ever received, before or since; the 

 largest part of my Easter crop realized 

 from $1.50 to $2.50 per hundred. I 

 well remember that one retailer in 

 Philadelphia bought 800 from my com- 

 mission man, paying him $2.50 per hun- 

 dred, and then made complaint that 

 they kept poorly and asked that the 

 price be reduced to $1.50, which I was 

 glad to do, and I did not blame the 

 kicker, either. I want to say in fair- 

 ness that $2.50 per hundred is too high 

 a price for sweet peas to sell at, even 

 during the holiday season, but of course 

 this price was not refused. 



From this time on, about eight years 

 ago, peas began to sell in Philadelphia 

 in midwinter, although in a moderate 

 way at first, until at the present time 

 tens of thousands are disposed of dur- 

 ing the Christmas holidays. Other 

 cities, too, for a time, did not take to 

 these flowers during midwinter, but 

 now I venture to say that few cities 

 of fair size in this country are without 

 peas more than three months of the 

 year, and in many they are an all-year- 

 round flower. 



Duplicate Varieties. 



Formerly there was little choice of 

 varieties, say two or three. Now, ow- 

 ing to the labors of different men. 



