Commercial Gardening Vol1| by John Weathers (the Editor)
General Aspects Of Commercial Gardening. The Science Of Plant Growing. Methods Of Propagation. The Science Of The Soil. Manures And Manuring. Insect Pests. Garden Friends. Fungoid Diseases. Fungicides And Insecticides. Glasshouse Building. Heating Apparatus. Potato Plant.
A Practical & Scientific Treatise For Market Gardeners, Market Growers & Fruit Flower & Vegetable Growers, Nurserymen, Etc.
By Many Practical Specialists Under The Editorship Of John Weathers, Author of "A Practical Guide to Garden Plants" "French Market Gardening" "The Bulb Book" etc.
In Four Volumes
Fully Illustrated
- Preface
- The very title of this work at once distinguishes it from all other treatises on Horticulture, and at the same time strikes a note indicating its predominant ...
- Section I. General Aspects Of Commercial Gardening
- During the past fifty or sixty years horticulture has sprung into a prominent position as one of the leading industries of the United Kingdom. Horticulture, ...
- The Seed Trade
- This branch of commercial gardening has assumed immense proportions of late years. In various parts of the kingdom firms have established trial grounds where ...
- The Bulb Trade
- Although a large proportion of the bulb trade is undoubtedly Continental, there has been a magnificent effort on the part of British and Irish growers to ...
- The Hardy-Plant Trade
- Of late years the trade in hardy plants has assumed almost gigantic proportions. Not only are large quantities of hardy herbaceous perennials actually sent to ...
- The Nursery Trade
- This branch of commercial gardening has extensive ramifications all over the kingdom. All kinds of plants, fruits, flowers, and vegetables are grown for sale ...
- Market Gardening And Market Growing
- The business of the market gardener and the market grower is different in a technical sense. The market gardener proper, as a rule, grows fruits and vegetables ...
- The Florist Trade
- There is scarcely a town of any pretensions in the British Islands that does not boast of at least one florist's shop. In large provincial towns there are many, ...
- Popular Florists' Flowers
- Perhaps the florist attaches more importance to the colour than to the form of the flowers he uses in his business. As a rule, flowers with clear and distinct ...
- White Flowers
- Taking the colours all in all, white is undoubtedly the most popular, and enormous quantities of white-flowered plants must be grown to meet the ever- ...
- Trailers
- For shower bouquets, festoons, and table decorations it is useful to have certain plants with slender trailing stems and foliage that will not soon wither.
- Foliage
- For backing up many flowers used in wreaths, crosses, bouquets, etc, it is sometimes essential to have foliage that will throw the blossoms into greater relief, ...
- Tree And Shrub Trade
- This is a very important branch of commercial horticulture, and one about which the general public knows but little. It may be divided into two principal ...
- Raising Forest Trees
- The simplest method of raising these is from seeds. These are collected when ripe in autumn and carefully stored until the spring. In some cases, however, like ...
- Japanese Gardening
- Although the introduction of the beautiful Japanese plants that now contribute to the charm of British gardens belongs to the distant past, it was not until ...
- Japanese Gardening. Part 2
- Of much interest is Iris Koempferi, which was introduced to this country from Japan in 1857, and attracted much attention when the large handsome and richly ...
- Japanese Gardening. Part 3
- Another rule of some importance is to avoid as far as practicable the planting of deciduous trees, with a few exceptions, in the more prominent positions of ...
- Section II. The Science Of Plant Growing. 1. Simple And Complex Cell Life
- The successful cultivation of plants requires a close familiarity with their likes and dislikes, a knowledge of the conditions of their existence, and how to ...
- Simple Cell Life
- A good conception of plant life in its simplest form may be obtained by an examination and study of some of the lower organisms, such as the green scum to be ...
- The Yeast Plant (Saccharomyces Cerevisioe)
- The Yeast Plant (Saccharomyces Cerevisioe), such as is used by the brewer, if put in any clear liquid containing suitable food (malt, for instance), the liquid, ...
- 2. Structure Of The Higher Plants. The Growth Of A Cell
- The three plants already considered consist of a single cell, varying chiefly in size during their lifetime. Other plants, in an ascending scale of ...
- Changes In Cell Walls
- Although the cells of the higher plants may be all very much alike when they begin life, they vary immensely in size, shape, and structure by the time they ...
- Various Forms Of Cells
- With the exception of lowly plants like the duckweeds, the flowering plants generally furnish examples of cells of great variety of form and length. Those ...
- Plant Tissues
- All the above forms of cells and many more unite in certain definite relations to one another, forming a tissue (fig. 9). Most flowering plants, Ferns, ...
- 3. Plants Of Distinctive Character. Plants With Chlorophyll
- Most plants with which the gardener has to deal contain chlorophyll or leaf green in their leaves and the superficial tissues of their stems, at least during ...
- Plants Without Chlorophyll
- Amongst flowering plants many species, including the Broomrape (Orobanche) that lives attached to the roots of Clover, and the Dodders (Cuscuta) that live on ...
- Desert Plants
- Echeverias, Crassulas, and Aloes, from South Africa and Mexico, have fleshy stems and leaves. Cacti, including Epiphyllums from Brazil, Mamillarias and ...
- Clammy-Leaved Plants
- At first sight these may not seem peculiar, when Petunias and Salpiglossis are mentioned, for there are many other examples under cultivation. They are plants, ...
- Insectivorous Plants
- Many plants, whose root system is not well developed, or which live in swampy places, where they have difficulty in procuring a sufficiency of nitrogen in the ...
- Climbing Plants
- The Convolvulus, Wistaria, and Scarlet Runner are examples of plants that climb by twining their stems round some supporting object. If the top or free end of ...
- 4. The Root And Its Work. The Primary Root
- The first structure that emerges from the interior of a germinating seed is the primary root or radicle, which goes perpendicularly down into the earth. If the ...
- Importance Of Primary And Fibrous Roots
- In general terms roots serve to fix the plant in the soil. The primary, descending root of forest trees is of considerable importance to many of them, like the ...
- Relation Of Soil To Roots
- As already observed above, the root hairs of plants apply themselves very closely to the particles of soil, in order to absorb the thin film of water adhering ...
- Water And Air Roots
- While the roots of land plants can only absorb the film of water adhering to the particles of soil, the roots of water plants are able to absorb the free water ...
- Tuberous Roots
- The primary and secondary roots of the Dahlia become greatly swollen and spindle-shaped (fig. 17). The thickened portion is intended for the storage of reserve ...
- Work Of The Roots
- In summarizing the above remarks it may be said that roots fix the plant in the soil, commence to absorb watery solutions of plant food at a very early stage; ...
- The Food Absorbed By Roots
- Of the ten elements of plant food that are absolutely essential, all of them, except carbon and a small quantity of nitrogen, are absorbed by the roots. They ...
- Contractile Roots
- Apart from the functions already described, a large number of bulbous plants are provided with roots which have the power of contracting at certain periods, ...
- 5. The Stem And Its Functions. The Seedling Stem
- Almost any seedling will serve to show the origin and development of the stem from an early stage of its growth. Fig. 19. - 1, 2, Seedling of Nasturtium ( ...
- The Growth And Thickening Of The Stem
- As the plumule grows and develops into a stem of some length in the Stock or China Aster, it is seen to be self-supporting, because the thickness and woody ...
- The Cambium
- Even in winter, when the trees are leafless and comparatively at rest, the thin-walled cells of the cambium are small and filled with protoplasm; it really ...
- Dicotyledonous And Monocotyledonous Stems
- The above descriptions relating to the thickening of stems and the cambium layer apply entirely to Dicotyledons. The structure of a three-year-old stem is ...
- Bulbs, Corms, Tubers, And Rhizomes
- A bulb is really a very much enlarged bud, consisting for the most part of leaves, with a very short and thin flat stem. Lilies have scaly bulbs (fig. 23), ...
- 6. Leaves And Their Work. Seed Leaves And True Leaves
- The first leaves of a plant are those formed in the seed, and which may or may not rise above-ground during germination. Those of the Cabbage, Mustard (fig. 13) ...
- Structure And Contents Of A Leaf
- The naked-eye characters of a leaf may be seen in that of a Vine. The leaf is three- to five-lobed, with as many primary veins running from the base to the tip ...
- Work Of A Leaf
- The leaves and other green parts of a plant constitute a workshop of many compartments, in which the raw food materials are organized into more or less simple ...
- Forms Of Leaves And Their Clothing
- Seed leaves are always simple or in one piece, though they are lobed in a few cases. Simple leaves (fig. 33) are represented by those of the Cherry, Apple, ...
- Arrangement Of Leaves
- They are opposite or in pairs in the Carnation and Sweet William; in whorls of three in the Oleander, and in whorls of four, six, eight, or a higher number in ...
- Modified Leaves
- The scales on the bulb of a Lily are modified by being fleshy, without chlorophyll, and filled with starch. Those of the Daffodil and Onion are made up of the ...
- The Fall Of The Leaf
- From the earliest development of the leaf in spring, preparations are being made at the base of its stalk, whereby it will be thrown off in autumn in the case ...
- 7. Movements Of Water And Food Products In Plants. Root Pressure
- Having considered the mechanism and some of the properties and contents of roots, stems, and leaves, the way is now clear to discuss some of the phenomena ...
- Water Of Transpiration
- As above stated, this current is set up by the action of the leaves, and by some has been described as a transpiratory pull . The effect it has towards the ...
- Transport Of Food Materials
- All the food of green plants is manufactured in the leaves and other green parts, and it follows that it must be transported or conveyed to the various points ...
- Water Plants
- As these contain little (or no) woody matter in their tissues the rise of sap is of a feeble character, but when wholly submerged there is no transpiration ...
- Sap In Winter
- When the leaves fall in autumn, transpiration ceases. Root pressure continues till all the tissues get filled with water and turgid, including the cavities of ...
- Bleeding
- If a Vine rod is cut into the wood in spring, before the expansion of the leaves, it will bleed strongly for many days, and may even die or become so weak as ...
- 8. Modes Of Growth And Vegetative Reproduction. Monopodial And Sympodial Stems
- When a seedling of a shrub or tree has completed its first year's growth, it usually terminates in a bud, covered with scales. If, on the resumption of growth ...
- Forms Of Inflorescence
- When flowers occur singly at the end of an axis, as in the Tulip, it is terminal and solitary; and when only one flower is produced in the axil of an ordinary ...
- Flower Buds And Pruning
- The art of pruning cannot be properly accomplished without a close study of the habit and mode of growth of each species of plant whose cultivation is ...
- Propagation By Roots
- Many plants may be propagated by cutting up the roots into short lengths and inserting them as cuttings, and in the absence of seeds they may be rapidly ...
- Propagation By Stems
- This is the most common method of increasing plants, whether by cuttings, budding, grafting, inarching, layering, rhizomes, corms, eyes, or runners. Due care ...
- Propagation By Leaves
- Many Ferns, including a large number of Aspleniums (fig. 46), Bryophyllum calycinum (tig. 46), Tolmicea Menziesii, Cardamine pratensis, and its double variety ...
- 9. The Flower And Its Functions. The Parts Of A Flower
- Phanerogams, or flowering plants, differ from Ferns and other vascular plants in the great modifications which the leaves have undergone in the construction of ...
- 1. The Calyx
- The number of parts forming the calyx varies, but four (as in the Wallflower) and five (as in the Buttercup) are extremely common numbers. These parts are ...
- 2. The Corolla
- The second set of organs, proceeding inwards, constitutes the corolla; and, if the parts are free, they are termed petals, as in the Buttercup, Rose, Camellia, ...
- 3. The Stamens
- These are situated just inside the corolla, and may vary from one to a hundred or more in one flower. They consist of a filament or stalk, comparable to a leaf ...
- 4. The Pistil
- This includes all the organs in the centre of the flower, and being the female parts of the same, are as essential to it as the stamens. Taking the White Lily ...
- 5. The Ovule
- A young seed before it has been fertilized is termed an ovule. A Buttercup or Strawberry contains only one ovule in each carpel; a Cherry or Peach contains two, ...
- 6. The Receptacle
- After all the parts of a flower have been removed there remains, as a rule, a small core or axis, which is the receptacle, and is really a very short piece of ...
- Pollination And Fertilization
- When pollen is carried from the stamens of one flower by insects, the wind, or other agency, and deposited on a stigma of another flower, the process is called ...
- Sexual Reproduction
- Except in minor details this is accomplished much in the same way in all vascular plants, which include Ferns, Selaginellas, and their allies. The pollen ...
- Cross-Breeding And Hybridization
- When pollen is taken from the flower of one variety and placed on the stigma of another variety of the same species, and plants raised from the seeds so ...
- Various Forms Of Fruit
- As the result of the fertilization of the egg cell and the production of an embryo, the pistil becomes the young fruit. Usually this includes only the ovary ...
- Seeds
- When the ovule is fertilized by the union of the nucleus of the pollen tube with the egg cell it becomes a seed. At this stage it consists of three parts: (1) ...
- Germination
- The essentials to germination are air, moisture, and a suitable temperature. The oxygen of the air is necessary for the purpose of respiration, to keep the ...
- Section III. Methods Of Propagation
- In commercial gardening enormous numbers of plants are disposed of each year from the open ground and from under glass, and as soon as one crop is finished, ...
- Section III. Methods Of Propagation. Continued
- Seed Warehouses Name of Plant. Date of Sowing. Date of Germinating. Number of Days. African Marigold ............ April 4 April 9 5 African Marigold* ... ... ..
- Vitality Of Seeds
- While some seeds retain their vitality or power of germinating for twenty years or more, it is generally safer to utilize fresh and well-ripened seed to secure ...
- Seed Sowing
- Seeds are sown in the open air either broadcast or in drills , and under glass in pots, pans, or boxes of varying sizes. In the latter case the gardener mixes ...
- Propagation By Cuttings
- A very large number of plants may be raised by means of cuttings of the stems or shoots. Soft-wooded or herbaceous cuttings having leaves are used in many ...
- Propagation By Woody Cuttings
- Many hardy trees and shrubs may be raised from leafless cuttings of the well-ripened young shoots. The best time to take these cuttings is about the end of ...
- Propagation By Leaf Cuttings
- Many plants may be raised simply from leaves. The well-known Begonia Gloire de Lorraine and its relatives are largely raised in this way as well as from stem ...
- Propagation By Ringing
- This method of propagation may be called overhead layering. It consists in making an upward or circular slit in the stem of a plant that has become too tall or ...
- Propagation By Root Cuttings
- By cutting up the roots of certain plants into pieces 2 or 3 in. long, and covering them with about 1 in. of gritty soil, it is possible to raise new plants.
- Propagation by Layering
- This method of propagation consists in making an incision in a branch or shoot, and then bending it down and covering with soil. Border Carnations are usually ...
- Propagation By Runners
- A runner is a slender whip-like shoot sent out from the parent plant to root at some distance away, and at certain intervals to produce fresh plants. The ...
- Propagation By Suckers
- A sucker is an aerial shoot springing from an underground stem or root. Suckers usually have some fibrous roots attached to them, and when severed from the ...
- Propagation By Offsets
- Most true bulbous plants, like Tulips, Daffodils and Narcissi, Hyacinths, Liliums, Snowdrops, etc, produce offsets from the parent bulbs. When the offsets are ...
- Propagation By Bulbils
- Many bulbous plants like Lilium bulbiferum and others produce seedlike bodies known as bulbils in the axils of the aerial leaves. These bulbils are capable of ...
- Propagation By Grafting
- Unlike budding, where a single bud is used, grafting consists in affixing a shoot of one plant with two or more buds on to the stem of another in such a way ...
- Propagation By Grafting. Part 2
- Cleft And Rind Grafting In the case of old trees, having the stems many times thicker than the scions, whip grafting could not be conveniently done. The stocks ...
- Propagation By Grafting. Part 3
- Root Grafting Many plants are propagated by inserting a short shoot in a root of a relative or by side grafting. Most of the Tree Paeonies are raised by ...
- Section IV. The Science Of The Soil. 1. Introductory
- When a man intends to grow fruits, flowers, or vegetables for profit his first consideration is the soil . This constitutes his chief raw material, and he ...
- 2. Classification Of Soils
- Soils are classified in various ways, according to their texture and mechanical composition. Thus such terms as poor, hungry, cold, hot, wet, heavy, light, ...
- Sand
- Sand consists of small pieces of hard rock that have been broken down into various degrees of fineness or coarseness from such rocks as silica or flint, ...
- Clay
- This is also composed of fine particles, but much finer than in sand, and possessing different properties. The particles are soft and greasy to the touch when ...
- Loam
- Sand and clay in about equal proportions, and with a quantity of organic material, constitute a loamy soil - the ideal soil for the horticulturist or ...
- Chalk
- A chalky soil is one derived from limestone rocks which, when burned, yield the lime of commerce. Lime differs from chalk in not containing carbonic acid gas; ...
- Lime
- Lime, to use the popular term, is a most important ingredient in soils, and may be employed in various forms, such as marl, gypsum, quicklime, chalk, slaked ...
- Peat
- This name has been applied to the remains of plants that have accumulated in the course of centuries on the margins of shallow lakes and in marshy land. The ...
- Humus
- While sand, clay, lime, and peat are all useful and necessary ingredients of every good garden soil, each one by itself would be practically useless. When ...
- Advantages Of Humus
- The addition of humus to the soil has physical and chemical effects. Physically humus absorbs and detains moisture; it raises the temperature of the soil and ...
- 3. Mechanical Analysis Of Soils
- Besides an examination of the natural vegetation referred to at p. 90 the experienced plant-grower will also make a physical or mechanical examination. He will ...
- 4. How Soils Have Been Made
- It is from the sedimentary, organic, and igneous rocks that the farmer and gardener obtain the soil in which to grow their crops. When these rocks have been ...
- Water
- Whenever rain falls it brings down a small quantity of carbonic acid gas from the atmosphere with it. It falls on the earth and washes away fine particles from ...
- Frost
- This is a powerful agent in producing a powdery soil. When water in the soil or in the crevices of hard rocks becomes frozen, it swells up and occupies more ...
- Heat
- This has the effect of warming the soil, and water in it, causing both to expand and one of them (water) to evaporate. As water is driven out of the soil in ...
- Wind
- This plays an important part in the formation of soils. It sweeps over the surface, taking away the moisture from it, and in dry weather the fine particles of ...
- Vegetation
- It is thought that in the early stages of the earth's career only the lower forms of vegetable life could find a footing on its surface. The various Alga?, ...
- 5. Cultural Operations. Ploughing
- Although regarded as being almost entirely an agricultural operation, many market gardeners also adopt this method of breaking up their open land, and often ...
- Digging
- This operation is done with the spade or the fork. It is a much better way of turning up the soil than with the plough. Not only does the spade or fork go ...
- Double Digging
- Double digging consists in opening a trench twice as wide as in ordinary digging, and after the top spit has been removed, the bottom is then broken up but ...
- Trenching
- This operation can only be carried out where there is a good depth of soil. Hence in hilly or mountainous districts, where only a few inches of soil rest on ...
- Ridging Up
- This is an excellent cultural operation, and is almost equal in value to double digging. By digging a piece of ground lengthways, the soil from the trench is ...
- Raking And Harrowing
- The rake is to the horticulturist what the harrow is to the agriculturist. They both have the same object in view - namely, to level the surface of the ground, ...
- Rolling
- This is also a horticultural and agricultural operation. Its object is to crush the clods still further, to make the surface more level, and to compress the ...
- Hoeing
- The hoe does not receive from the farmer or gardener the respect to which it is entitled. It is kept lying idle very often until the land becomes foul with ...
- 6. The Best Time To Work The Soil
- Whether the soil is to be ploughed, dug, or trenched in spring or autumn will depend largely upon its nature. Generally speaking it is better to turn up heavy ...
- 7. Plant Foods In The Soil And Air
- By means of experiment it has been proved that all green-leaved plants at least require certain essential foods to enable them to perform their functions ...
- 7. Plant Foods In The Soil And Air. Part 2
- Fruit Crops - Ash Analyses Name of Crop. Potash. Phosphoric Acid. Lime. Sulphuric Acid. Iron Oxide. Magnesia. Soda. Chlorine. Silica. Apple, wood ... 19.24 4.
- 7. Plant Foods In The Soil And Air. Part 3
- Vegetable Chops - Ash Analyses Name of Crop. Potash. Phosphoric Acid. Lime. Sulphuric Acid. Iron Oxide. Magnesia. Soda. Chlorine. Silica. Cabbage 31.95 12.93 ...
- 8. How To Extract Plant Foods From The Soil
- Assuming that the soil contains the food supplies already tabulated, the only way to bring them within the reach of any crop is by a rational system of ...
- 8. How To Extract Plant Foods From The Soil. Continued
- Expenses Per Acre £ s. d. 1st year, Trenching 3 ft. deep ... 12 0 0 2nd ,, Digging 1 ft. deep .... 2 0 0 3rd ,, ,, ,, ,, ..... 2 0 0 4th ,, Double Digging 2 ft.
- 9. Water In The Soil
- Water, being essential for all plant growth, must be present in sufficient quantity in the soil, and in such a condition that it can be absorbed by the roots.
- How Moisture Is Lost
- Soils lose moisture in four ways: (1) by natural evaporation from the surface; (2) by bad and shallow cultivation; (3) by transpiration from the leaves of the ...
- Loss Of Water Through The Leaves
- In addition to the water lost by natural evaporation and by shallow cultivation, a vast loss is sustained owing to the moisture that is given off from the ...
- Loss Of Water Through The Leaves. Continued
- Table Giving An Estimate Of The Amount Of Water Transpired From The Leaves Of Various Crops During The Growing Period Crop. Number of Plants to One Acre. Water ...
- Movement Of Water In The Soil
- We have already seen (p. 118) that the deeper a soil is cultivated the more water it will absorb, no matter what its character may be. This water sinks down ...
- Water Lost By Weeds
- Many growers do not appreciate the quantity of water that is stolen from the soil by weeds. After all, weeds are plants - outcasts of the horticultural world, ...
- The Upward Movement Of Moisture In Soils - Capillary Attraction
- We have seen that according to the nature of the soil, and the depth to which it has been cultivated, large or small quantities of water are absorbed and sink ...
- Conserving The Moisture In Soil - The Use Of Hoeing And Mulching
- While the aim of the open-air cultivator should be to prepare his soil for the reception of plenty of moisture and its ascent afterwards to the roots of his ...
- 10. Living Organisms In The Soil
- It has already been shown (p. 108) that mineral foods alone are insufficient to supply all that is needed for plant life. Scientific investigation has proved ...
- Nitrification
- The most important work done by these soil bacteria is to bring about the production of ammonium salts and convert them into nitrates. These bacteria are most ...
- Soil Inoculation
- It has been known from the earliest times that leguminous plants (Peas, Beans, Clovers, Vetches, etc.) had a beneficial effect upon cultivated soils - crops of ...
- Denitrification
- This is the term applied to denote that the nitrates in the soil have become changed into free nitrogen. The nitrates thus become lost. Denitrification is said ...
- Denitrification. Continued
- II. Plot 2 B; Receiving Dung (14 Tons, Containing 200 Lb. Nitrogen A Year) lb. per Acre. Nitrogen present in 1865 (.1752 per cent).............. 4,343 Nitrogen ...
- 11. Sterilizing Soils
- Of late years growers of Ferns, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, etc, have been much concerned as to the best means of rendering their plants immune from attacks of ...
- Burning And Steaming The Soil
- Where a rational system of cultivation is not practised, recourse is had to steaming or burning the soil. Many growers of Ferns, for example, place the soil in ...
- 12. Electrifying The Soil
- From time to time scientists have turned their thoughts to the question of electricity in connection with the soil and plant growth, and numerous experiments ...
- 13. Soil Analysis
- All growers, whether amateur or professional, are aware of the difficulty of estimating just what form of plant food is deficient, and usually it is only by ...
- Chemical Analysis
- The following is a minimum list of apparatus, some of which may be evolved from ordinary articles in everyday use, but the majority will need to be specially ...
- Chemical Analysis. Continued
- Potash To estimate the potash a further 500 cub. cm. of the citric acid solution are evaporated to dryness and incinerated in a basin over a Bunsen burner to ...
- Section V. Manures And Manuring. 1. Introductory
- The word manure has now come to mean any substance that is placed on or in the soil with the object of fertilizing or enriching it in plant food. Originally ...
- Misleading Experiments
- Perhaps the most misleading thing about the application of certain manures in experimental gardens is that what is found to yield good results in one ...
- The Object Of Manuring
- The main object of manuring is to restore to the soil, in a more or less available form, the foods that have been taken out of it by the growth of crops. It is ...
- The Object Of Manuring. Part 2
- Total Weight And Contents Of One Wagner Apple Tree, Thirteen Years Old, And Of Thirty.five Similar Trees To The Acre Total Weight. One Tree. 35 Trees to Acre.
- The Object Of Manuring. Part 3
- Table Showing In Round Numbers The Quantities Of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, And Potash Taken Out Of An Acre Of Soil By Various Crops Crop. Nitrogen. Phosphoric ...
- 2. Kinds Of Manures
- Long before agricultural chemistry was thought of there were practically only two kinds of manure in use - farmyard or stable manure and lime. These ...
- 3. Complete Manures. Farmyard Manure Or Dung
- This name is applied to solid and liquid excreta from animals, together with the litter that has been used for bedding down. Wheat straw is generally used for ...
- Storing Farmyard Manure
- In most cases, perhaps, farmyard manure is stacked or thrown loosely in heaps and left exposed to the weather. Unless frequently turned over and kept moistened ...
- Value Of Farmyard Manure
- Farmyard manure is a bulky manure, but in a good condition it is probably the best and safest of all manures, natural or artificial. Although 1 ton of it only ...
- A Warning
- Although farmyard manure possesses the great virtues mentioned it must be used with care and intelligence. In some places, where large and cheap supplies are ...
- Green Manuring
- This consists in growing a crop of some quick-growing plant, which when near maturity is to be ploughed in or dug into the soil, with the object of enriching ...
- Leaves As A "Green Crop"
- The subject of green manuring may be carried further than is generally supposed. There is scarcely a crop grown, whether fruits, flowers, or vegetables, that ...
- Roots As A Manure
- Besides the overground stems and leaves of crops, one must not forget the roots. Although many crops are said to be cleared off the ground, the fact remains ...
- Guano
- This is a valuable manure, consisting chiefly of the dried excrements and waste of sea birds, which have accumulated for centuries on the coasts and rainless ...
- Fish Guano
- Soon after 1870, when the supply of Peruvian guano began to fail, it was thought that fish refuse might be utilized for the production of guano - especially as ...
- Seaweed
- Various kinds of seaweed have long been used as manure when obtainable in sufficient quantities round the coasts. The commonest kinds are species of Laminaria ...
- Soot
- This is principally composed of carbon, and is not only valuable as a manure, but also as a preventive against attacks of slugs, snails, caterpillars, etc. One ...
- Blood Manures
- Blood may be regarded as a complete fertilizer, as it contains not only nitrogen (from 2 1/2 to 5 per cent in a fresh state, and from 6 to 14 per cent in a ...
- Night Soil And Poudrette
- Human excreta are rich in fertilizing substances, and their value as manures was more highly appreciated before the general adoption of the water closet and ...
- Rape Cake And Rape Dust
- Rape cake is largely used by some agriculturists not only as a manure but also as a wireworm catcher. Rape cake contains a certain amount of oil, but of late ...
- Malt Dust of Kiln Dust
- This is obtained from malt houses and consists of the dried rootlets and shoots that have been screened from the kilned malt. Malt dust is a very useful ...
- Wool And Shoddy
- Pieces of woollen cloth and shredded portions called shoddy are valuable organic manures, being chiefly valued for their nitrogen. This varies from 2 to 13 per ...
- 4. Nitrogenous Manures
- Nitrogenous manures are chiefly valuable because they give a luxuriance and brilliancy of colour to the foliage of plants, thus enabling them under healthy ...
- 4. Nitrogenous Manures. Continued
- Nitrate Of Potash This is popularly known as saltpetre or nitre . Owing to its high price it is very little used by farmers and gardeners. It is not only rich ...
- 5. Phosphatic Manures
- Phosphatic manures are derived from various sources, and are valuable because they induce the earlier production of flowers and fruits. They are mainly useful ...
- Bones
- The use of bones as a manure dates from the earliest times, and has become more extensive than ever. Between 45,000 and 60,000 tons of bones in various forms ...
- Superphosphate
- This is one of the most popular phosphatic manures. It is obtained by treating substances containing tricalcium phosphate with sulphuric acid. At first ...
- Basic Slag
- This is a by-product in the manufacture of Bessemer steel, and is also known as basic cinder and Thomas's phosphate . It is a fine dark-grey powder, 80 per ...
- Wood Ashes, &C
- Besides bones, superphosphate, and basic slag, other manures are also valuable for the amount of phosphates they contain. Wood ashes, i.e. the burnt refuse ...
- Limphos
- This name has been given to a new fertilizer, said to contain 40 per cent of phosphates and 35 per cent of lime. It is probably a commercial name for a form of ...
- 6. Potash Manures
- It must be a very poor soil indeed which does not contain large supplies of potash. This is locked up with other elements, but fair quantities may be liberated ...
- Kainit
- This is one of the most popular potash manures at present in use. It is a crude natural salt obtained from Germany, and varies in colour from creamy white to ...
- Muriate Of Potash
- This is another name for a more or less impure chloride of potassium. It is manufactured from carnallite, which is found in enormous quantities in the German ...
- Sulphate Of Potash
- This is a whitish crystalline salt manufactured from natural deposits in the German potash mines. As a manure, the best samples contain 98 per cent of sulphate ...
- 7. Calcareous Manures
- These are of a most important nature, and consist of lime in some form, such as quicklime, slaked lime, chalk, marl, gas lime, and lime shells. Lime is not ...
- Gypsum (Calcium Sulphate)
- This is well known as the source of plaster of Paris. As a manure it is rarely used by itself, but it is largely applied in the form of superphosphate. It is ...
- 8. Miscellaneous Manures
- There are few substances beyond those already mentioned used as manures, simply because there is very little to be obtained from them, or because the foods ...
- 9. Valuation Of Manures
- Chemical or artificial manures are valued chiefly by horticulturists and agriculturists for the amounts of nitrogen, potash, or phosphates they contain. The ...
- 9. Valuation Of Manures. Continued
- Table Showing The Approximate Quantity Of Nitrates, Phosphates, Potash, And Lime Contained In 1 Ton Of Manure Name of Manure. Nitrogen in 1 Ton. Phosphates in ...
- 10. Mixing Manures
- The grower who wishes to save money by purchasing only the manures he requires should also make himself acquainted with the different chemical effects of one ...
- Section VI. Insect Pests
- Within the past fifteen or twenty years commercial gardeners have taken a much keener interest in the various diseases and pests that prey upon their crops ...
- Greenhouse Pests
- The insect pests that invade greenhouses are perhaps as difficult to eradicate as any. There are so many chinks and crevices in walls and floors for them to ...
- Fumigating
- Besides keeping the walls and woodwork of glasshouses clean with limewash, paint, etc, it is more or less essential at times to fill the atmosphere with fumes ...
- Vaporizing
- Nicotine in some concentrated form has always formed the staple fumigating material. It is now to be had concentrated in cake or liquid form, and, although ...
- Cyaniding
- Of recent years other methods of vaporizing have been introduced, the best known perhaps being that known as the cyanide process, in which hydrocyanic acid gas ...
- Outdoor Pests
- These are far more numerous than those afflicting plants under glass. There is scarcely a fruit or vegetable, flower, tree, or shrub that is not subject to ...
- Seeking The Cause
- While the life-history and habits of the various insects that prey upon plants may possess a charm for the entomologist, the man who has to grow plants, ...
- Life-History And Habits Of Garden Pests
- Farmers, gardeners, and fruit-growers are indebted to the late Miss Ormerod and to the late John Curtis, and more recently to Professor F. V. Theobald, of Wye ...
- Methods Of Prevention
- But how are these eggs and chrysalides to be destroyed? Entomologists tell us that the eggs of many insect pests are protected by a covering impervious to most, ...
- Chrysalides
- In most cases these are to be found at rest in the soil. The chrysalis, or pupa as it is also called, is the stage of development following that of the larva, ...
- Chrysalides. Part 2
- Table Of Insect Pests The following tabulated statement of the various insect pests may be of use to the cultivator. Special stress is laid upon the Period of ...
- Chrysalides. Part 3
- Insect Pests Of Fruits, Flowers, And Vegetables (Part 2) Name of Pest, Resting Period (Pupa Stage). Destructive Period (Caterpillar and Perfect Insect Stage).
- Chrysalides. Part 4
- Insect Pests Of Fruits, Flowers, And Vegetables (Part 3) Name of Pest. Besting Period (Pupa Stage). Destructive Period (Caterpillar and Perfect Insect Stage).
- Chrysalides. Part 5
- Insect Pests Of Fruits, Flowers, And Vegetables (Part 4) Name of Pest. Resting Period (Pupa Stage). Destructive Period (Caterpillar and Perfect Insect Stage).
- Chrysalides. Part 6
- Insect Pests Of Fruits, Flowers, And Vegetables (Part 5) Name of Pest. Resting Period (Pupa Stage). Destructive Period (Caterpillar and Perfect Insect Stage).
- Chrysalides. Part 7
- Insect Pests Of Fruits, Flowers, And Vegetables (Part 6) Name of Pest. Resting Period (Pupa Stage). Destructive Period (Caterpillar and Perfect Insect Stage).
- Section VII. Garden Friends
- Although the gardener may look upon the great majority of insects as enemies, he must not conclude that there are no friends of his in the insect world. There ...
- Ladybirds
- There are over twenty species of these known in Britain, but two especially are very common in gardens, viz. Coccinella (or Adalia) bipunctata and C.
- The Devil's Coach Horse
- This is also known as the Fetid Rove Beetle (Ocypus olens). It has a long, narrow, deep-black body, and preys upon insects with great energy, and will soon ...
- Frog's, Toads, Lizards
- These much - maligned animals must be regarded amongst the best friends of the cultivator. The Frog (Rana temporaria) feeds upon insects and small slugs, and ...
- Hawkflies
- These two-winged insects of the genus Scaeva are very numerous from July to September, and have received their name from the fact that they hover over flowers ...
- Ichneumon Flies
- These are found all over the kingdom, and are chiefly engaged in destroying destructive caterpillars of various kinds. Some deposit their eggs in the ...
- Lacewing- Flies
- These flies belong to the genus Chry-sopa, and, as may be seen from fig. 161 (1), derive their name from the delicate veining of their wings. The eyes are ...
- Ear-Shelled Slug
- Although most slugs are injurious to vegetation, there is one genus which provides flesh-eating slugs that will feed upon other slugs and even worms. The ...
- Spiders
- The true spiders, being perfectly harmless to plants, and living upon various kinds of insects, should never be destroyed by gardeners, although their webs and ...
- The Weasel
- Amongst animals the weasel must be regarded as a friend of the cultivator, as it destroys rats, mice, voles, rabbits; but it also destroys poultry, and its ...
- Centipedes
- Although belonging to the same group as the Millipedes or Julus worms the Centipedes (Geophilus subterraneus) are not harmful to crops. On the contrary they ...
- Section VIII. Fungoid Diseases
- Notwithstanding the enormous amount of mischief done by insect pests to the various crops grown in the open air and under glass, that caused by fungoid ...
- Section VIII. Fungoid Diseases. Continued
- Fungoid Diseases Of Fruit Trees Common and Scientific Name of Disease. Parts Attacked and Outward Appearance. Treatment, etc. Apple Black Rot. See Quince Black ...
- Section IX. Fungicides And Insecticides
- Owing to the attention that has been given to the various fungoid diseases of fruits, flowers, and vegetables of late years, a large industry has developed ...
- 1. Ammoniacal Copper Fungicide Or Cupram
- Recipe: Copper sulphate (98 per cent) ... ... ... 1 1/2 oz. Carbonate of soda (98 per cent) ......... 1 3/4 Ammonia solution (strongest) ......... 12 fluid oz.
- 2. Arsenate Of Lead (Sugar Of Lead)
- Formula (Strawson): Acetate of lead (98 per cent) ... ... ... 2 3/4 oz. Arsenate of soda (98 per cent) ...... ... 1 Water to make ... ... ... ... ... 10 gal.
- 3. Bordeaux Mixture
- Formula: Copper sulphate (98 per cent) ......... 2 1b. Lime (freshly burnt) ............ 1 Water ... ... ... ...... ... 10 gal. Dissolve copper sulphate in 5 ...
- 4. Carbon Bisulphide
- This is a volatile and inflammable clear liquid, which gives off an insect-killing vapour at a low temperature. The vapour being heavier than air, it is ...
- 5. Caustic Wash Or Winter Wash
- There are several formulae for making caustic winter washes to be applied to trees in a dormant condition. These caustic washes cleanse the bark of fruit trees ...
- III. Self-Boiling Lime-Sulphur-Soda Wash
- Formula: Lime ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 lb. Sulphur (flowers of) ... ... ... ... 3 Caustic soda ... ... ... ... ... 1 Soft soap ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 .
- IV. For Apple Sucker And Plum Aphis
- Formula: Lime ... ... ...... ... ...1-1 1/2 cwt. Waterglass ... ... ... ... ... 5 lb. Salt ... ... ... ... ... ... 30-40 lb. Water ..................100 gal.
- 6. Copper Sulphate (Bluestone, Blue Vitriol, Blue Copperas)
- The purest 98-per-cent copper sulphate should be used, as cheaper brands contain impurities, chiefly iron sulphate, which may injure the foliage. One pound to ...
- 7. Copper Sulphate And Washing Soda (Burgundy Mixture)
- Formula: Copper sulphate (98 per cent) ... ... ... 2 lb. Washing soda (pure) ... ...... .. 2 1/2 lb. Water ...... .......... 10 gal. Dissolve copper sulphate ...
- 8. Eau Celeste
- This is made by dissolving 2 lb. copper sulphate in 6 to 8 gal. of water in an earthen or wooden vessel, and then adding 1 qt. of ammonia and mixing with 50 to ...
- 9. Hellebore Powder
- This is prepared from the roots of Veratrum album and V. viride, and is a popular remedy against attacks of leaf-eating insects and caterpillars. The powder is ...
- 11. Iron Sulphate (Green Vitriol, Ferrous Sulphate)
- Formula: Iron sulphate ...............40 lb. Sulphuric acid ............ ... 2 Warm water ...............10 gal. Dissolve crystals of iron sulphate in the ...
- 12. Paraffin Emulsion (Petroleum, Kerosene, &C)
- Paraffin is used in a variety of ways, and is effective in keeping off attacks of leaf-miners, like the Parsnip and Celery Fly, and others, if applied before ...
- 13. Paraffin Jelly
- This is made by boiling 5 gal. of paraffin with 8 lb. soft soap, and adding 1 pt. of cold water, constantly stirring. When cool this becomes a jelly, and may ...
- 14. Paris Green (Emerald Green, French Green, Mitis Green)
- This may be had in a powdered or paste (Blundell's) form, the latter being the better. One ounce to 10 to 25 gal. water is used as an insecticide to prevent ...
- 15. Pearl Ash (Potassium Carbonate)
- This is made by boiling the ashes of plants with water and evaporating to dryness. It is deliquescent and very soluble in water. The strength varies from 40 to ...
- 16. Pyrethrum (Dalmatian Insect Powder, Persian Insect Powder)
- This powder is obtained by grinding the dried flowerheads of Chrysanthemum coccineum and G. cineraricefolium. The powder obtained from unopened flowerheads is ...
- 17. Quassia Chips
- These are obtained from Picroena excelsa. They should be boiled for two or three hours to extract the bitter principle. An excellent all-round insecticide is ...
- 18. Quicklime Applied In The Form Of A Powder
- Quicklime Applied In The Form Of A Powder is a good remedy against slugs and snails, and is also a useful soil constituent. In a slaked form lime is also ...
- 19. Sodium Cyanide
- This is used in connection with hydrocyanic acid gas for vaporizing greenhouses, as stated above, p. 169.
- 20. Soft Soap (Also Known As Whale-Oil Soap, Train-Oil Soap, Fish-Oil Soap, And Potash Soap)
- This is one of the cheapest, simplest, and at the same time most effective insecticides used for horticultural purposes. Good samples should be free from resin ...
- 21. Sulphide Of Potassium Or Liver Of Sulphur
- This has become popular as a fungicide. The sulphide is best kept in well-stoppered bottles, as it decomposes quickly when exposed to the air. For indoor ...
- 22. Tobacco
- This has always supplied an excellent insecticide to gardeners in the form of washes, fumigants, and vaporizers, the active principle of which is nicotine. It ...
- 23. Winter Washes Of Lime And Sulphur
- The formulae for these have been given under Caustic Wash on p. 213.
- 24. Woburn Wash
- This is made as follows: - Sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) or sulphate of iron (copperas) 1 1/2 lb. Quicklime ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 oz. Paraffin ... .
- Section X. Glasshouse Building
- These notes are intended for the man who, starting in a small way, finds it necessary to study the expenditure of every penny. Our large horticultural builders ...
- Section X. Glasshouse Building. Part 2
- Fig. 165. - Corner Post fixed with Stays. Fig. 166. - Plumb-board. This point must now be considered. A greenhouse should have a fall of 6 in. in the 100 ft.
- Section X. Glasshouse Building. Part 3
- MODERN GLASSHOUSES. These houses are each 200 ft. long x 30 ft. wide and were erected at Waltham Cross and Cheshunt by W. Duncan Tucker & Sons. If the box is ...
- Section X. Glasshouse Building. Part 4
- The end rafters are cut in the same trough as the sash bars, and care must be taken to cut them in pairs, as they only have a glass rabbet on one top edge for ...
- Section X. Glasshouse Building. Part 5
- INTERIOR VIEW OF MODERN GREENHOUSE. 120 ft. long, 40 ft. wide, with hot-water pipe overhead. Erected by Messrs. W. Duncan Tucker & Sons. A tank for keeping the ...
- Greenhouses On Rails
- About twenty years ago the idea of having movable greenhouses occurred to the Horticultural Travelling Structures Company, and many of their buildings are now ...
- Section XI. Heating Apparatus
- Market growers and nurserymen who have to erect large greenhouses for their crops do so strictly on business principles. The ornamental structures seen in ...
- Boilers
- Of these there are many varieties on the market - all sorts, shapes, and sizes. Some of the older types, like the wedge , coil , and conical , have been driven ...
- Saddle Boiler
- The saddle boiler is still very popular amongst all classes of growers, especially amongst the smaller men who cannot at first, perhaps, afford to instal the ...
- Improved Cornish Or Trentham Boiler
- In the improved Cornish or Trentham boiler, shown at fig. 176, we have a circular or cylindrical type, being a modification of the Cornish steam boiler. The ...
- Sectional Boilers
- Of late years these have attracted some attention among market growers, and many are now using them. The chief advantages appear to be that a boiler can be ...
- Setting Boilers
- Generally speaking it will not pay a nurseryman or market grower either to set his own boilers or pipes or to build his own greenhouses. That is work best done ...
- Principles Of Hot-Water Circulation
- Every grower should know why the water from the boiler rises and flows upwards through the flow pipes and comes back again to the boiler by the return pipes.
- Quantity Of Piping Required
- The following table, taken from Hood's work on hot-water heating, may be given as showing the length of 4-in. piping required to heat 1000 cub. ft. of air per ...
- Fuel
- This is one of the greatest expenses to the commercial grower with extensive ranges of glass, and prices of coal and coke have increased enormously during the ...
- Key To The Model Of A Potato Plant. Section I
- General View Number references as for Section V below. Section II. Epidermis Of The Plant 1. Flower. 2. Fruit. 3. Diseased Leaf. 4. Healthy Leaf. (a) Midrib. ( ...