THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 1G 
CARNATIONS AS A GREENHOUSE CROP. 
The great advances in floriculture 
during the past few years have brought 
about many changes in methods, and 
one feature that is quite worthy of note 
is the development of specialists in vari¬ 
ous branches of the florist’s business. 
The old-time florist sometimes had 
quite an area of glasshouses, but in 
them were grown a little of everything, 
and some of the plants were grown quite 
as well then as they are now, but what 
are known as florists’ flowers, that is, 
those that are specially grown in quan¬ 
tity for cut blooms, and among which 
the roses, carnations and Chrysanthe¬ 
mums are especially nrominent, had not 
reached the same perfection in variety 
that we now have. The carnations in 
particular were much inferior to those 
that have been produced in the past de¬ 
cade, partly owing to improved varieties, 
and partly to improved methods of cul¬ 
ture, and these improved flowers have 
led to an increased demand and occa¬ 
sionally to an increase in price paid the 
grower. These circumstances have also 
led to the development of carnation spe¬ 
cialists, and to the building of large 
ranges of greenhouses for the express 
purpose of growing carnation flowers 
for the market, besides bringing about 
the formation of a National association 
known as the American Carnation Soci¬ 
ety, the latter devoted to the advance¬ 
ment of what its members call “the Di¬ 
vine flower,” and incidentally to ad¬ 
vance the business interests of the grow¬ 
ers of said flower. 
The growing of these fine carnation 
flowers in such a way as to attract at¬ 
tention in the large cities, where the 
greatest market is to be found for all 
high-grade goods, is a matter that re¬ 
quires good judgment, common sense, 
considerable experience, and proper fa¬ 
cilities for the culture. These carna¬ 
tions arc grown from cuttings, and the 
season for these begins about December 
1, when the first crop of cuttings is us¬ 
ually in condition to be taken off the 
blooming plants, and the season for 
rooting cuttings continues until about 
the end of March. The cuttings are 
planted in the sand in the greenhouse, 
protected from the sun, kept at a night 
temperature of 50 degrees, and with 
proper attention in regard to watering, 
will form root enough for potting off in 
about three weeks. The young plants 
are carefully watched after potting in 
order that they may not suffer from 
dryness, and are gradually inured to full 
■exposure to light and air and a night 
temperature of 'tr> to 48 degrees, the 
object being to grow a short-jointed, 
sturdy plant. About the last week of 
April, in the latitude of New York, these 
young carnation plants arc planted out 
in the field in well-manured and care¬ 
fully tilled soil, and there they remain 
until about the middle of July to the 
first of August, between which dates 
they are usually lifted and replanted in 
new soil in the greenhouse benches. 
The Summer culture consists in keep¬ 
ing the surface of the ground well cul¬ 
tivated and entirely free from weeds, 
and topping the plants from time to 
time, in order to induce a branching hab¬ 
it of growth. The first three or four 
weeks after the plants arc brought into 
the greenhouse from the field is a verv 
critical period, from the fact that during 
that neriod the weather is likely to be 
hot, and the plants having been dis¬ 
turbed about the root system in the 
process of replanting are in a weakened 
condition, and particularly liable to suf¬ 
fer from the attacks of fungoid diseases. 
Tt is at this time that the dreaded stem- 
rot is most likely to appear, and in se¬ 
vere cases hundreds of the plants may 
die off in a day or two. Spraying the 
plants with Bordeaux Mixture, and dos¬ 
ing the soil with copper solution at any 
point from which a plant victim to stem- 
rot has been removed, is the usual prac¬ 
tice among careful growers, and pre¬ 
ventive treatment in the form of spray¬ 
ing with the Bordeaux Mixture at inter¬ 
vals from the time the cuttings are put 
into the sand until the plants are well 
established in the greenhouse in the 
Autumn, does much toward minimizing 
the loss from this disease. 
In the greenhouse, what is known as 
bench culture is most in favor, that is, 
that the plants arc placed on elevated 
benches containing five inches of soil, 
in preference to planting them in beds 
on the ground level. The reason for 
this preference is, that the moisture is 
more under control when the. plants are 
grown in these shallow benches, and the 
roots also get a better supply of air. As 
soon as possible after planting, the 
plants are staked and tied, and as the 
growth progresses a system of trellises 
to carry supporting wires and cross 
strings is placed in position, all of which 
means much labor, but necessary labor 
if one wishes to produce fine flowers on 
long, straight stems, such as are de¬ 
manded by the first-class retail trade of 
any large citv. During the early part of 
the season all short-stemmed flowers 
are taken off, in order to encourage a 
longer and stronger growth, and then 
the effort of the plant is still further 
centered on the production of fine flow¬ 
ers by removing all the buds but one 
from each stem. This work of disbud¬ 
ding is by no means a small one, for 
buds by the bushel have to he removed 
in some of these large carnation estab¬ 
lishments. 
The flowers are cut every morning, 
and as different varieties mav need 
cutting in different stages of develop¬ 
ment to give the best results, it is a work 
requiring considerable practice and 
judgment. The flowers arc tied up in 
bunches of 25, and usually kept in water 
for 24 hours before being sold, this 
method improving the flowers and mak¬ 
ing them keep longer. The carnations 
are grown in a night temperature of 50 
degrees, and are allowed to go up to 65 
to 70 degrees in the day. with abundant 
ventilation, and it is found most satis¬ 
factory to keep the cut flowers at about 
50 degrees, immersing the stems to a 
good depth in jars of water, but never 
sprinkling the flowers themselves after 
they are cut. And then there is the 
plague of insects of various species to 
contend with, and of these the thrips, 
red spider and aphis are the most trou¬ 
blesome, and these are fought with a 
strong pressure of clear water, with 
nicotine solutions, with various soaps, 
and with sundry other bug poisons. 
Then there is a certain grav grub that 
shyly hides in the soil during the day, 
but climbs up the plants at night and 
perforates the unopened buds in such 
a way as to ruin them. Of course these 
things are interesting from an entomo¬ 
logical point of view, but they frequent¬ 
ly make a sad dent in the profits of the 
carnation grower. But in the carnation 
business, as in other branches of hor¬ 
ticulture, eternal vigilance is the price 
of success, and without a fair amount 
of capital and a good deal of persever¬ 
ance, it is not advisable to start in it. 
w. H. TALLIN. 
CURING SOY BEANS. 
I am interested in the discussion of 
Soy beans, for I grew a patch of them 
this year, and as they showed no signs 
of blossoming, I cut most of them for 
hay about September 5. They cured up 
nicely after having lain in the swath 
for a couifle of days, and being raked 
in the morning, when the dew was on 
to save the leaves, after which they 
were put in the barn and spread over 
the mow, and cured up into a hay 
which the cows apparently like. Since 
then, however, the small patch which 
was left has formed seed pods, and ap¬ 
parently will bear a good crop of seed. 
It has lost none of its leaves and 
owing, perhaps to the Fall rains, has 
made some additional growth, being 
over three feet high. My experience 
with it indicates that it cures more 
easily than cow peas. It was very lightly 
fertilized and cured up at the rate of 
over three tons to the acre. It was 
planted May 15. The Soy bean is sup¬ 
posed not to be hurt by early frost, and 
if none comes right away, the vines 
still in the ground ought to be good for 
hay and also produce some grain. 
Connecticut. __ s. N. d. 
The Training of farmers: by L. H. 
Hailey: 262 pages; published by The Cen¬ 
tury Co., New Volk. We know of no bet¬ 
ter’ authority on agricultural education 
than l»r. Hailey, and the book is well 
worth a place in the farm library. Home 
of the subjects discussed are: Rural gov¬ 
ernment. The reading habit, Why some 
boys' leave the farm and others take to 
farming. The common schools and farm¬ 
ing, The special agricultural school and 
what) it does for farm youth. For salt* by 
Tub lt-ii ra i, Nbw-Yorkbr. price $1 net, 
postage eight cents additional. 
• 
Dry Farming; by William Macdonald; 
300 pages; 32 illustrations; published by 
The Century Co., New York. Farming in 
sections where rainfall is very light is 
becoming a matter of gnat interest, as 
It lias been shown that with proper meth¬ 
ods of tillage lands that were considered 
hopelessly arid can be made to produce 
profitable crops. The author, Dr. Mac¬ 
donald, has had wide experience in arid 
land fanning, both iri this country and 
Africa, ami in this book has told the 
whole story. For sale by The Kukal 
New-Yorker, price $1.20 net, postage 
11 cents additional. 
r 
PROSPERITY 
Are Yon Going to Share in It? 
From every side come predictions of unexampled prices 
for dairy products this winter. i 
Fifty cent better will be no longer a dream, but a reality. 
The profits of the dairy farmer will depend on the quality 
of his cows and the kind of cream separator he uses. 
It is too late to change the herd now—but it is just the 
^ time to get the best cream separator in the world, the 
CREAM 
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VERMONT FARM MACHINE CO., Bellows Falls, Vermont. 
s 
1 
THE HIGH PRICES OF FEED 
SHOULD MAKE YOU INTERESTED IN 
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“ERCO” is high testi ;g pure, unadulterated molasses and when 
mixed with grain and by-products of the farm makes a perfect ration. 
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IV rite for booklet giving full information. 
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FREE 
TRIAL OFFER 
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i free trial. 
I liavo lived 
The, 
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fill Commercial St. v Waterloo, Iowa. 
