192 Tall Bearded Iris 



turnips, etc.) or flowers with rootstocks or corms (as, 

 cannas, gladioli, etc.), especially a crop known to 

 have been afi^ected with soft rot. 



As a preventative of rot some extensive Iris growers 

 dress the ground, a week to ten days before planting, 

 with superphosphate of lime, acid phosphate — a pound 

 to five square yards — or soak the ground to the depth 

 of six to eight inches with a 4 per cent, formalin solution 

 (about six tablespoonfuls of the usual commercial 40 

 per cent, solution of formaldehyde to a quart of water), 

 and spray the plants in spring and early summer, at 

 intervals of a month, with some disinfectant — as, for 

 instance, a i per cent, solution of formaldehyde (one 

 and a half tablespoonfuls of formaldehyde to a quart 

 of water) — or with a solution of potassium perman- 

 ganate (a level teaspoonful of the crystals to a quart 

 of water), and then, to counteract acidity in the soil, 

 apply in the fall or winter a light dressing of finely 

 ground limestone or water-slacked lime — half a pint 

 of the latter, or double that quantity of the former 

 to the square yard. 



Where a formalin solution is to be applied before 

 planting, as a matter of economy the ground may 

 first be moistened with water to the depth of six to 

 eight inches, and then sufficient solution should be 

 used to saturate the ground with it to that depth. 

 About one and a half gallons of the solution will 

 usually be ample for a square yard. The solution will 

 be more effective if as soon as it is applied the ground 

 is covered with cloths and the covering allowed to 

 remain for several days, to retard evaporation. It is 

 desirable, however, that the ground should be allowed 



