. 
AZALEA mucronulatum and A. poukhanense are two 
good Azaleas which are not too difficult to finish. 
Both are short in the market, and have been for some 
time. They are of Korean origin and are very hardy. 
A. mucronulatum is a pleasant deep pink color with 
flowers about 1144” across. A. poukanense grows to 
about 4 feet here, and bears fragrant deep rose-color- 
ed flowers early in May. Both are classed as decid- 
uous, but the A. poukhanense is almost evergreen in 
this section. 
Growing Pains (Continued) 
Wholesale growers do not like to grow these two 
Azaleas because they bloom too early, and are 
usually almost through blooming by the time the 
other varieties begin to show color. However both 
are excellent subjects for landscape planting, and 
also for the nurseryman who grows his stock for 
retail. They are different and distinctive, and quite 
desirable plants. Neither is inclined to grow tall and 
gawky like A. calendulacea, as an illustration. Both 
are in quantity, in fine plants for late 53 and spring 
’b4 delivery. 
PIERIS japonica and floribunda. Inventories show 
both of these are sold for spring ’53 delivery. But a 
large crop will be available for late ’53 and spring 754. 
KALMIA latifolia, Rhododendron maximum, and 
Enkianthus companulatus. also will be available in 
resonably large quantities for late ’53 and spring ’54. 
All of the above are ericaceous types of plants and 
require well drained soils, and will do best in straight 
peat or sand-peat mixtures. 
These are popular items. Place your order now and 
state whether or-not you wish the plants delivered in 
late ’58. They will need good protection the first 
winter to prevent the bark from splitting at the 
ground line. So order them out for spring ’54 unless 
you are prepared to give them excellent care their 
first winter. 
a, AK 
PEATS. A number of additional types of peat moss 
have been tried in ’52; but so far, and again, the best 
results have been had with peats from Michigan. 
Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Pieris, and all other erica- 
ceous plants produced here, are banded directly into 
straight peat. Peat from the Michigan Peat Co., Inc., 
and the Green-Thumb Peat have given equally good 
results. A third offered under the name of “Saginaw 
Peat” looks very promising, but experiments have 
not been completed to a point where definite infor- 
mation can be had. 
SOIL chemicals. Everyone is trying to produce 
bigger plants in shorter time. One of the promising 
new ideas is the use of Benzene hexichloride (BHC) 
in the soil. Applied at the rate of 3 ounces (25% 
BHC), to each 10 sq. ft. of surface area, it produced 
18 
