AUGUST 18, 1898. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



30t 



If I were to build houges, especially 

 designed for summer roses, with a 

 winter crop of something else, they 

 would be equal span, with the bridge 

 running north and south, and the larg- 

 est possible amount of roof ventila- 

 tion. They would be 19 feet wide, with 

 a path running each side next the 

 walls, and a narrow path in the center. 

 Someone may say your center support 

 will come in the center of your path. 

 To obviate that the east rafter could 

 be 12 feet and the west rafter 11 feet, 

 which throws your ridge just where 

 you want it. viz., to one side of the 

 center path. If the roses were planted 

 to remain four or five years, then I 

 would put the bed on the ground, but 

 if to be removed every spring then a 

 bench 18 inches from the ground hold- 

 ing 5 or 6 inches of soil. Remember 

 it is in July and August that you want 

 your best roses, and 6 inches of soil 

 will not dry out as quickly as 3^^ 

 inches. 



American Beauties for summer use 

 should be propagated in December or 

 early January, and grown along with- 

 out a stunt till they are by e.irly April 

 good plants in 4-inch pots. Directly 

 Easter is over and you have room, 

 plant the Beauties, but only on a 

 bench. In about 7 or 8 weeks you will 

 begin to cut roses and continue to cut 

 profusely till November. By that time 

 you need the bench for lilies or some 

 other crop. After a few days of dry- 

 ing off you can lift the roses, cutting 

 the strong shoots down to a foot from 

 the ground and cutting out the weak. 

 These plants, if potted in fi-inch pots 

 and plunged in cold frame or pits and 

 brought into heat eleven or twelve 

 weeks before Easter, make the finest 

 pot roses that can be grown. Three 

 years ago we had several hundred 

 treated exactly as described and many 

 of them had 12 to 15 buds and flowers, 

 and brought at retail from .$1.50 to 

 $2.50 each. The house had paid finely 

 ■during the summer, far better than 

 chrysanthemums and not so much 

 work, and the pot roses were another 

 profit. I know of no other rose of 

 that class that would pay to plant for 

 summer bloom. 



Now come the hybrid teas and teas. 

 Everyone knows what a grand white 

 rose is Kaiserin Augusta. President 

 Carnot, grand for summer, as I have 

 proved; the beautiful La France. Old 

 Perle gives us perfect flowers in sum- 

 mer and the despised Wootton also 

 produces fine buds, and there may be 

 others well adapted for summer that 

 are not profitable for winter. If you 

 planted these roses to remain a few 

 years you would pick roses, and fine 

 ones, from April to November. In De- 

 cember, January and February letting 

 the temperature fall down to say 35 to 

 40 degrees, giving them a complete 

 rest; in March thinning out the weak 

 wood, shortening back the strong, giv- 

 ing them a good mulch, and so on, you 

 go again for another summer. 



Perhaps you would not like to see 

 the house lay idle for four months in 

 winter. Then you must follow a dif- 



ferent plan. You must have good, 

 strong plants and plant not later than 

 April the first. They would pay finely 

 during summer and to the end of No- 

 vember, when they could be thrown 

 out and lilies, azaleas or other crops 

 take their place. Various combinations 

 could be worked it you had several 

 houses, for instance, roses, planted in 

 April, as near the beginning of the 

 month as possible, lilies from Decem- 

 ber to Easter, chrysanthemums to fol- 

 low the lilies; December the firs':, H. P. 

 roses in pots; they would be out by 

 March or early April and the second 

 year come your Kaiserins and Carnots 

 again. 



This is occupying the house the year 

 round, and keen competition and the 

 times demand that this must be the 

 order of our business; no more empty 

 benches at any time as we used to see 

 twenty years ago. Still I believe tak- 

 ing labor and expenses and the cost of 

 young plants, that to leave the plants 

 in the solid bed. at any rate three 

 years, would be about as profitable as 

 throwing them out every fall, and the 

 increased quantity of buds you would 

 get from the old plants over the young 

 ones would be very considerable. 



I have been prompted to pen the 

 above because I have seen this sum- 

 mer how difficult it is to purchase 

 good, clean roses, and having had some 

 experience with the varieties and 

 methods described I have confidence 

 that if the advice is followed the re- 

 sults will be satisfactory. At the same 

 time I fully appreciate the fact that 

 many of our growers know all the 

 points I have given, but it is not for 

 them I wield my pen. It is for those 

 who like myself are always anxious to 

 learn from anybody. Certain it is that 

 there is room for more good roses in 

 summer. WM. SCOTT. 



TOAD STOOLS IN ROSE BED. 



Please let me know through The 

 Florists' Review what I shall do to 

 eradicate a fungus that is showing all 

 over my rose beds. My roses are in 

 the best of health but I am afraid the 

 toad stools may injure them. Their 

 odor is very noticeable on entering the 

 houses. SUBSCRIBER. 



If "subscriber" wishes to clean off 

 all trace of fungus let him stir the sur 

 face of his rose bed to the depth of 

 about three-quarters of an inch. tha< 

 roughly pulverizing the soil: this 

 done, spread a quantity of dry "air 

 slacked lime" evenly over the entire 

 bed, using about a pint of iime to 

 every two square yards of surface; 

 stir it well in the soil and leave 'in this 

 condition over night; about 9 a. m. 

 the following day give the bed a light 

 watering, keep a little on the dry side 

 for at least a week, and he will soon 

 find all trace of fungus disappearing. 



In this connection it might be well 

 to add a word regarding ventilation. 

 Many growers still have an idea that 

 roses belong to a class of hot house 

 plants and are afraid to open the ven- 



tilators wide enough to admit a draft 

 of fresh air — "afraid of getting mil- 

 dew," as they explain it. I am free 

 to say there is more mildew and black 

 spot and other diseases contracted by 

 subjecting roses to such hot house 

 treatment than by the move natural 

 "fresh air" treatment. During the 

 summer months, when the thermome- 

 ter seldom goes below 65 degrees Fah- 

 renheit, the ventilators should never 

 be entirely closed; always leave a 

 crack of one or two inches on all 

 night, gradually increasing ventilation 

 as the temperature rises in the morn- 

 ing until it reaches 80 degrees; at this 

 point raise the ventilators to their 

 full height and let them remain open 

 Iduring the middle of the day. gradual- 

 ly lowering them as the temperature 

 falls in the afternoon until by 6 p. m. 

 they can be lowered to about an inch 

 and remain so for the night. Treated 

 in this manner there is little chance 

 'of fungus growth gaining .any foot- 

 hold. S. A. B. 



LEAF-ROLLER ON ROSES. 



I would like to ask through the 

 columns of The Review how to get rid 

 of the leaf-roller on rose plants. 



W. E. H. 



This ruinous pest may be de- 

 stroyed by using the following solu- 

 tion, allowing it to remain on all day; 

 it may be syringed oft the following 

 morning. One-half pint whale oil 

 soap, one-half pint extract of tobacco 

 (Rose leaf), to four gallons of water. 

 Mix thoroughly and apply with a sy- 

 ringe. Three or four applications will 

 completely destroy them. S. A. B. 



w 



THE RETAIL FLORIST. 



This department will, we hope, be of 

 great interest to all florists— to those 

 who work in the finest stores and to 

 those who "make up" on the potting 

 bench alike. We shall endeavor to 

 give a review of the very latest styles 

 and valuable hints in all the branches 

 of floral decoration. We shall treat 

 only with flowers and material ob- 

 tainable at the time of writing. Any 

 questions pertaining to decorations or 

 the art of arranging flowers will be 

 cheerfully answered and we trust that 

 all our friends will assist in making 

 .this department interesting and in- 

 kstructive to the thousands who work 

 in the florists" stores. 



This being the dullest time in the 

 store, we should devote our thoughts 

 to renovating and painting. Every 

 ambitious florist aims to outdo his 

 neighbor or rival in "appearances," 

 but we should remember that the fin- 

 est store cannot always boast of the 

 finest trade. "Glitter" is not, there- 

 fore, absolutely necessary to a good 

 business, but cleanliness and artistic 

 ability is. Have the interior of your 

 store painted white, or, more prefera- 

 ble, a rich cream color; it makes the 

 store light and the color will harmo- 

 nize with any flower. A clean store 



