154 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JANUARY 12, 1S9'.». 



Lady Campbell is a very free bloomer, 

 but is of too light a color to ever be- 

 come generally popular, yet when 

 grown cool it is so dark that early in 

 the season it can be sent out as a 

 dark variety and the difference re- 

 main undetected. When violets are 

 scarce, Campbell finds a ready sale, 

 but is in poor demand at other times. 

 Princess of Wales is a good single va- 

 riety, presumably the Ijest single in 

 cultivation, but compared with the 

 doubles, it is not free enough, and is 

 in limited demand at that. 



We use any good reasonably heavy 

 soil procurable, with a good mixture 

 of rotten sod to insure porosity; the 

 roots like to run round freely. We 



water when necessary, ventilate on 

 bright and sunshiny days, fumigate 

 lightly, about once a week is suffi- 

 cient, and remove all dead and de- 

 cayed leaves as fast as they appear, 

 and put on the sash as soon as cold 

 weather comes. 



The mainspring of success in violet 

 culture is having strong, sturdy, well 

 rooted plants from pots to start with; 

 or if field grown, the same conditions 

 must prevail, except the clump should 

 be lifted with some soil attached, the 

 more the better. The selection of 

 stock and its cost is a matter of such 

 vital importance to the purchaser of 

 stock as to require a separate article, 

 as too many, from either necessity or 

 economy, are inclined to go more by 

 the cheapness of the stock they buy, 

 than by its quality; and cheap stock 

 is often dear at any price. 



GEO. P. CRABB. 



ROSE TROUBLES. 



Can you tell me what ails the rose 

 plants, of which branches are en- 

 closed? The leaves look as though 

 they had been scalded. A bench of 

 plants standing beside them are in 

 perfect health. P. F. 



The specimens received show no par- 

 ticular signs of disease, but appear to 

 be taken from very weak plants, which 

 certainly must have been poor stock 

 when benched, and probably planted 

 late in the season. The branches show 

 such a hard, wiry growth as to indi- 

 cate a starved condition, from which 

 it seems they have never been able to 

 recover. Such plants when slightly 

 overwatered often act in the manner 

 complained of. 



There is only one remedy for such 

 troubles, and that is: Avoid such 

 stock altogether. Plant only strong, 

 healthy plants and see that they are 

 planted on time. Now is the time to 

 be getting in shape tor next season's 

 stock. Start with strong, healthy cut- 

 tings. When rooted, endeavor to keep 

 them in good growing condition until 

 they are ready to be planted on the 

 benches. Planting poor stock for win- 

 ter blooming is the poorest kind of an 

 investment, and can only result in 

 greater or less failure. S. A. B. 



ROSE NOTES. 



Rose cuttings that were put in the 

 sand in December will now be mak- 

 ing callous and forming roots. During 

 this period the sand will stand a few 

 extra good waterings, which enables 

 the white roots to form quickly and 

 makes them more pliable, thus avoid- 

 ing the danger of breaking when re- 

 moving from the sand and during the 

 operation of potting. The best time 

 to pot a cutting is when the roots are 

 one-halt to one inch long; the longer 

 you wait after this the more work and 

 care it will require in potting the cut- 

 tings. A good hand will pot 400 to 

 500 cuttings in 2-inch pots in an hour 

 for ten hours and do the work well. 



When potted they should be placed 

 In a house near the glass in a tempera- 

 ture the same as maintained for the 

 cuttings in the sand. Give them a 

 good watering and see that every pot 

 is filled with water. If the weather is 

 bright, shade with old newspapers for 

 two or three days, otherwise a light 

 sprinkle in the morning and another in 

 the afternoon will keep them in good 

 condition. 



In regard to soil for potting rose cut- 

 tings, we find the same soil used for 

 benching to be equally suitable for 

 potting the cuttings, with this excep- 

 tion: it contains very little manure. 

 We prefer using the rotten sod with- 

 out anything in the way of manure or 

 fertilizers added, tor the first potting. 

 This soil is run through a half-inch 

 screen, after which it is ready for use. 



S. A. B. 



SEVERAL SORTS IN ONE HOUSE. 



Which are the best roses to grow for 

 cut flowers from December to May, all 

 to be grown in the same house? 



P. N. 



Presuming that P. N. intends grow- 

 ing roses for a local retail trade, I 

 would advise planting the Bride for a 

 white, Perle for yellow. Bridesmaid for 

 pink, and Souv. de Wooton for a red 

 rose. These varieties can all be grown 

 successfully in a temperature of 55 to 

 60 degrees at night in the same house. 



In a general way it might be said 

 that with the exception of the variety 

 Meteor, nearly all the varieties of forc- 

 cing roses could be grown successfully 

 in the same house. It is simply a mat- 

 ter of convenience and appearance. On 

 a large place, separate houses are de- 

 voted to different varieties, merely to 

 facilitate the work of running things 

 on a systematic basis: at the same 

 time it enables the grower to study 

 more carefully the needs of each va- 

 riety and thereby keeping it under 

 more complete control. S. A. B. 



MODEL ROSE HOUSES. 



The accompanying engravings are 

 from photographs of the rose houses 

 of Mr. Henry Hentz. Jr., Madison, N. 

 J. As will be noted in the illustra- 

 tion, this place consists of nine 

 houses 175 feet long. Two of them are 

 even span, with the back end parti- 

 tioned off for use as propagators, etc. 



The houses are all modern iron- 

 frame structures, erected by the Lord 

 & Burnham Co., and are heated with 

 the new hot water sectional boilers, 

 furnished by the same firm. 



This year roses are grown exclus- 

 ively. Bride. Bridesmaid and Beauty 

 are the varieties. They are in excel- 

 lent condition, some of the best buds 

 that reach the New York market from 

 this section coming from this place. 

 Most of the stock was planted in July, 

 and for a while made but little top 

 growth, but the benches were soon 

 filled with roots, and when cool weath- 

 er set in the plants made some fine 

 breaks, coming in crop a little before 

 Christmas and producing a good quan- 

 tity of fine buds since. 



Well rotted manure was put 

 through a manure grinder, similar to 

 the one described in The Review some 

 time ago, and then spread evenly on 

 the benches. For greenfly tobacco 

 stems are used. They are placed in 

 pieces of chicken netting about 6 feet 

 long and 4 feet wide. These pieces are 

 filled with a small quantity of tobacco, 

 folded over lengthwise and hung on 

 nails or hooks under the benches near 

 the walks. The wire will last a long 

 time and can be carried out and re- 

 filled as often as desired. This is about 

 the most economical and cleanest way 

 of using stems the writer has seen. 

 Sulphur is painted on the pipes to keep 

 down mildew, which, however, can get 

 but little foothold, as the plants are 

 healthy and grown cool. All in all. 



