582 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



OCTOBER IS, 1900. 



almost every day and kept in about the 

 same temperature as ever afterwards. 



Planting. 



When ready for planting the old 

 plants are thrown out, soil taken out 

 and every part of the benches thor- 

 oughly cleaned of the old soil. The 

 boards are turned over and swept off 

 after which a good coat of hot white- 

 wash is applied. And while we are 

 preparing the soil, etc., the benches 

 get a good sun bath. The soil should 

 consist of a good sod (hauled the 

 summer or fall before using if pos- 

 sible though I have used it fresh from 

 the field) and it should be cut to a 

 depth of about three inches, well 

 chopped up with the spade, and one- 

 fifth to one-fourth of thoroughly well 

 rotted manure added. The manure, is 

 not essential though. As I was short 

 of this material this season I was able 

 to mix but little with the soil, but 

 will make up for it later on by extra 

 feeding. Keep a sharp look out for 

 grub worms when preparing the soil 

 as they are very destructive to the 

 young plants. 



I space the bench boards from 14 

 to 1 inch apart and over the spaces 

 lay strips of sod cut as thin as possi- 

 ble and still hold together, grass-side 

 downwards. The soil is then wheeled 

 in right on to the benches and spread 

 to a depth of about 4 inches. 



We are now ready for planting, 

 which I always do myself. The plants 

 are set 12 to 14 inches apart each 

 way, firming the soil well and leav- 

 ing a little hollow around each plant 

 for watering. The rest of the soil is 

 left rough,, no levelling being done at 

 this stage. Do not attempt to plant 

 when the plants are dry. Water them 

 thoroughly first, and should there be 

 an occasional dry one dip it into a 

 bucket of water. I water the plants 

 as I proceed with planting and aft- 

 erward water them until thoroughly 

 wet through, but no water is given 

 the surrounding soil at this stage ex- 

 cept what it may get from syringing, 

 which is done at least twice a day in 

 hot weather, and when extremely hot 

 I dampen down the walks and plants 

 in the middle of the day, giving extra 

 water to plants when needed. I think 

 it is safest to have them a little on 

 the damp side (though not soaking 

 wet) in hot weather and a little on 

 the dry side during the winter 

 months. 



House Culture. 



As soon as weeds are large enougli 

 to pull weeding is proceeded with, but 

 it I can spare the time, as soon as 

 weeds appear, I go over the soil with 

 a hoe, just on the surface. This de- 

 stroys a good many weeds and makes 

 them easier to pull. We now make 

 the soil thoroughly level and after- 

 ward apply not more than half an 

 Inch of thoroughly well rotted ma- 

 nure to the surface. This retains 

 moisture and keeps the hot sun from 



being so severe on the roots. From 

 now on every part of the soil is kept 

 moist. The ventilators are kept open 

 day and night during the hot weather 

 except in case of storms. 



Towards fall as the weather gets 

 cooler, the ventilators are lowered ac- 

 cordingly, but are very seldom en- 

 tirely closed until cool enough to have 

 steady firing. As soon as the tem- 

 perature falls below 55 degrees in- 

 side for more than two nights in siic- 

 cession a little heat is applied, which 

 is very easilv done with me as I have 

 the single pipe system, of which you 

 know I am a great advocate, simply 

 because I have it to perfection and 

 with low pressure it is the best. I 

 leave a crack of air on until steady 

 firing is started. As soon as we stai t 

 the heat we apply sulphur to one pipe 

 to prevent or check mildew as it will 

 appear sometimes at this season in 

 spite of all precautions. The sulphur- 

 ing is kept up throughout the enliro 

 season and if ventilating is properly 

 attended to there is little excuse for 

 mildew. 



Ventilating. 



I attend to the ventilating myself. 

 As soon as the thermometer indi- 

 cates 65 to 67 degrees the ventilators 

 are raised about an inch and so on 

 during the day as the outside tem- 

 perature advances, and the reverse 

 process is gone through as it de- 

 creases. In the winter months ven- 

 tilating needs hourly attention and 

 sometimes even more frequently. -.It 

 is a very tiresome job, it is true, but 

 in my estimation one of, if not the 

 most important, part of successful 

 rose growing. 



Temperatures. 



There are very few days that I do 

 not ventilate, and more especially so 

 in cloudy weather, even if I have to 

 turn on a little steam to keep the de- 

 sired temperature, which is from 65 

 to 67 degrees with steam heat and 

 from 58 to 60 degrees at night. It is 

 pretty hard to keep just the right 

 notch in a house of different varieties 

 as I am compelled to do in my lim- 

 ited space given to the rose, namely, 

 about 5.O0O feet, so we have to divide 

 with the different varieties. I think 

 from 60 to 62 degrees would be right 

 for Perles, 58 degrees for Brides and 

 Maids, and 55 degrees for Woottons 

 were they grown in separate houses. 

 If the temperature falls below the 

 above figures it will do no harm, pro- 

 viding it is gradual. 



Syringing and Fumigating. 



Syringing is done almost every day 

 with good force under the foliage to 

 keep down the red spider, omitting it 

 on very damp, cloudy days, and even 

 then the walks and under the benches 

 are dampened down at the warm ends 

 of the houses. 



Fumigating is strictly attended to 

 and is done every four or five even- 

 ings. Right here I beg to disagree 



with some of our most eminent grow- 

 ers as to any bad effect on blooms 

 from fumigating, providing it is done 

 judiciously. I have tried evaporating 

 but it was not satisfactory, simply 

 because I did not have the necessary 

 apparatus for it. 



Staking and Tying. 



Staking and tying is one of the 

 most necessary parts I think and It 

 should be done in good season. We 

 generally start about the last week of 

 August as on account of our retail 

 business I cannot plant until the mid- 

 dle of June and up to the middle of 

 July, though the sooner this is done 

 the better and easier. 



Disbudding is religiously attended 

 to. I think it better where shoots are 

 strong enough to cut the shoot back 

 an eye or two. but when not so I 

 merely ipinch off the bud when well 

 developed. If you want good stock 

 >ou must look after this part care- 

 fully. We usually have our first crop 

 about the middle of October. 



Feeding. 



About this time or a little sooner 

 we apply another mulch of rotted ma- 

 nure about % inch in depth, after hav- 

 ing thoroughly cleaned off all de- 

 cayed leaves and weeds. This will 

 now serve as a gentle stimulant and 

 is all that is needed at present. Liquid 

 manure is applied later on as plants 

 need it, which as a rule is when they 

 need watering during the winter 

 months as the almost daily syringing 

 keeps the soil moist enough, except in 

 some particular spots, mostly near the 

 heating pipes. I have no rule as to 

 manure watering nor any particular 

 brand as 1 use horse, cow and sheep 

 manure, either separate or com- 

 bined, when I think it will do the 

 plants good. I have never used chem- 

 icals, so know nothing about them. 

 Have used bone meal, but not lately. 

 I think it may be all right if pure, 

 but the last I used I was far from 

 satisfied with the results. The mulch 

 I use is altogether rotted horse ma- 

 nure; it is always available, as we 

 use a number of hotbeds. I have heard 

 growers say that it is injurious, but 

 I happen to know better, as experience 

 has taught me so. No other mulch 

 is applied until after New Years, as 

 I think the more sun that shines on 

 the roots that are near the surface at 

 this season the better. 



After this time we apply another 

 mulch a little heavier than before, 

 but never more than one inch. As 

 the days get longer more water is 

 needed and liquid manure is applied 

 oftener, say, from ten to twelve days 

 between applications, and increased 

 slowly in strength, but never made 

 very strong as it is better to do it a 

 little oftener rather than make it very 

 strong at one time. 



All the season through tying, dis- 

 budding and cleaning should be strict- 

 ly attended to, especially the latter. 



