1014. 
TJHK RURAL 
NEW-YORKER 
Jl 9 
Ruralisms 
COMMERCIAL QUINCE GROWING. 
Will you inform me on the growing 
(commercially) of quinces? What sort 
of soil is needed? What methods of cul¬ 
tivation? Do they need spraying and 
what kinds would you set for Western 
Michigan? G. e. w. 
Ilart, Mich. 
There is nothing more difficult about 
growing quinces than other fruits. The 
trees need good soil and to be sprayed 
for insects and fungus diseases the same 
as apple trees, and well cultivated. They 
should have very low heads. No special 
kind of soil is required, but it should be 
fertile and not water-soaked. About 20 
feet apart is the distance to set them. 
There are not many varieties of the 
quince, but they differ somewhat in size, 
shape and season of ripening. The 
Orange, Meech, Van Deman and Cham¬ 
pion are among the best kinds known. 
There are not enough grown to really 
supply the demand. 
IT. E. VAN IJEMAN. 
THE GLADIOLUS HAS ARRIVED. 
As a Summer cut flower the Gladiolus 
stands preeminently the best. Every 
flower expands in water, and a bouquet 
is good for two whole weeks. It is not 
well adapted to bedding purposes, and I 
believe it is a mistake to plant it alone 
in rows or beds for the effect it will pro¬ 
duce as such, but everyone should grow 
it in the garden for cut flowers for the 
house. This flower has been the particu¬ 
lar prize of the hybridizer. It never 
comes true from seed, and so often pro¬ 
duces superior sorts from carefully 
crossed seed, that nearly every commer¬ 
cial grower has his bed, or patch, or acre 
of seedlings, from which he hopes some 
day to give to the world the best one yet. 
Primarily the aim was for a larger flow¬ 
er. That this has been attained in a 
remarkable degree such kinds as Prin- 
ceps and Mrs. Francis King well prove. 
Secondly the matter of color demanded 
attention, and in seifs practically all col¬ 
ors are represented, though the pure 
white has almost defied the effort of man. 
Rochester White now claims to be pure 
white even to the anthers. Augusta. 
Europa and Peace are nearly white and 
very beautiful, Peace being a massive 
flower on five-foot spikes and foliage to 
match. Pure yellows and reds are plenti¬ 
ful, but blues still hold out, though there 
are a number of good parti-colored blues. 
The power of rapid reproduction has 
always been kept in view, and many 
otherwise good varieties have to go to the 
’ ladiolus Mas. King. 
discard because they do not divide and 
produce bulblet offshoots rapidly enough 
to become commercially valuable. Like¬ 
wise some new kinds are very difficult to 
keep through the Winter and must be 
thrown aside for that reason. The ar¬ 
rangement of flowers on the spike is still 
another important feature, as a haphaz¬ 
ard. some down and some tip. etc., form 
makes an exceedingly poor-looking spike, 
no matter how good the flower is. 
Rest of all, these glorious flowers are 
about as easy to grow and have as weeds, 
and multiply so rapidly that with a small 
start a private or commercial collection 
is but a matter of a few years. The long 
catalogue lists may be puzzling to you, 
so I give here a shorter one, comprising 
the whole range of color and with no poor 
ones. For red get Mrs. Francis King, a 
true giant and of great beauty. Ameri¬ 
ca, the most grown of any known sort, 
is a shell pink, large, exceedingly beauti¬ 
ful and is one of the three varieties that 
florists want in quantity. Early cut 
flowers of this kind for your city market 
would be worth your while. Later in 
the season there is a glut of even the 
best kinds. Early April planted bulbs 
Gladiolus America. 
in rich, sandy soil and in full sun will 
hit the high price season for Americas. 
Augusta, a lavender-tinted white, is an¬ 
other of the three mentioned. It is a 
rather small flower, but splendidly ar¬ 
ranged on the spike and many open at a 
time, one of the best for design work. 
Mrs. King, first referred to is the third. 
Panama, in form like America, is a deep¬ 
er pink, and is just being introduced. It 
is one of the extra good ones, and you 
may not be able to find it listed. Golden 
King, about the best of the yellows, is 
a giant in every way. Klondyke is a 
smaller, less expensive yellow, but good 
enough for anyone. Canary Bird is one 
of the best pure yellows. Get Peace for 
a giant white, Taconic for a fine pink, 
Blue Jay or Baron Hulot best blues. 
Cracker Jack and Mrs. Beecher are 
large reds, curiously marked with white, 
which should be in your list. Evaline is 
a large smoky lilac or purple, a beauty. 
Brenchleyensis, bright scarlet, opens near¬ 
ly its entire quota of buds at once, and 
is fine for a tall edging of hardy peren¬ 
nials to come in ahead of tall Salvias. 
The above are by no means all the good 
ones, but if you are a beginner and get 
some of all the above, your delight at 
blooming time will be great. If an en¬ 
thusiast, add a few new ones each year, 
but grow each kind separately rather 
than mix them all up. 
If you grow a mixture, bear in mind 
the fact that red varieties have a ten¬ 
dency to multiply more rapidly than 
other colors, and your collection will 
show a constantly increasing proportion 
of the reds. Also remember that old 
bulbs soon stop multiplying at all and 
run out, so if you do not wish to have to 
buy all over again in a few years, keep 
a new lot coming on each year from the 
little bulblets found around the base of 
the old bulb at digging time. Their cul¬ 
ture is very simple. Soak twenty-four 
hours in warm water and plant thickly 
as you would peas, one to two inches 
deep. They will appear in a few weeks 
looking like stiff grass. Keep cultivated 
and thoroughly weeded and dig soon after 
hard frosts. The bulblets in turn will 
be found to have made a lot of new bulb¬ 
lets in addition to their now being bulbs 
of about one-half inch in diameter. The 
small bulbs will bloom the second year 
and make more bulblets, and so on in 
a never-ending cycle. You may soon get 
too many bulblets, but they are commer¬ 
cially valuable, and your seedsman or 
florist will undoubtedly take’ your sur¬ 
plus at a good figure if true to name and 
of good sorts. 
Plant large bulbs four inches deep, 
from one inch to any desired distance 
apart. Give thorough cultivation and 
water if possible at blooming time. Nev¬ 
er let fresh manure come in contact with 
growing bulbs. Dig bulbs in Fall and 
treat as potatoes, but they must be kept 
a little drier than potatoes. When cut¬ 
ting flowers for the house, do not cut 
much leaf, as it will ruin the bulb. Cut 
when the first two flowers are well ex¬ 
panded. In conclusion, just a word about 
growing from seed. It is very interesting. 
Save seed only from finest named sorts and 
if you understandt'ross-pollenizing, it is ad¬ 
visable to keep a record of the parentage 
of your seed, for if you should get a val¬ 
uable one, it could be much easier dis¬ 
posed of advantageously if you knew the 
cross that produced it. Treat the seed 
much the same as bulblets. only it may 
be the third year before you get the flow¬ 
ers. p. l. w. 
Michigan. 
(r 
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(BASIC SLAG MEAL) 
KEY-TREE BRAND 
A TRIBUTE TO QUALITY—AND A WARNING 
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C,The following warning is from Page 38 of the 
Report of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment 
Station for 1911: — 
“ BASIC SLAG PHOSPHATE 
OR THOMAS SLAG.” 
The highest grade on the market contains from 
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at prices which the farmer cannot afford to pay, 
and against which he should be on his guard.” 
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Available Phosphoric Acid, 15.61/6. 
CLThe Maryland State Chemist reports for 1913, 
Total Phosphoric Acid, 19.40/6; Available Phos¬ 
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CLUonnecticut State Report for 1913 shows. 
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Fertilizers with many imitations are the best to buy—Imitation is recommendation 
The Coe-Mortimer Company 
3 1 Chambers Street 
New YorK City 
