556 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



OCTOBER 27, 1S98. 



third of a bushel of lime to a barrel 

 of water. I examineo them the next 

 day and found an odd one dead, but 

 nine-tenths of them were as healthy as 

 ever. 



I then bought some bisulphide of 

 carbon and made holes ten inches 

 apart with part of a broom handle, 

 pouring a teaspoonful of zhe bisulphide 

 of carbon into each hole, and covered 

 it up with fine soil. I experimented 

 on six feet ei' a Wootton bench. The 



.^^ 



Hybrid Perpetuals. 



If you force any hylirid perpetual 

 roses it is time to prepare for them. 

 In the case of houses being too far re- 

 moved from a city to cart in plants for 

 Easter trade the roses in pots are out 

 of the way by April, which gives you 

 abundance of time to prepare for 

 clirysanthemums again, or maybe six 

 weeks to spread out and finish off 

 many of your important bedding 

 plants such as geraniums, cannas, etc. 



Thousands of budded roses are im- 

 ported every fall from Europe, but for 

 some reason, perhaps the journey over 

 and the length of time they are dug 

 before shipping, are not satisfactory 

 for forcing in pots the first year. If 

 carefully heeled in for the winter, cut 

 down low in the spring and planted out 

 when ground is dry in the spring, they 

 will make fine plants for lifting and 

 potting the following fall, or if potted 

 in the spring in ."i or ti-inch pots, cut 

 well down and grown all summer, 

 they will be in excellent shape to force 

 tlie following winter and could be 

 flowered much earlier than those lifted 

 from the .ground the same fall, provid- 

 ed they were ripened and slightly rest- 

 ed in October previous to being forced. 

 Since the American Beauty is so large- 

 ly grown, and more particularly Me- 

 teor, which is so much the color of 

 .Jack, the forcing of Jacqueminot and 

 other hybrids for the holidays is about 

 abandoned for the good reason that it 

 would not pay. Thousands of roses 

 are. however, grown both for the 

 lilooms and for pot plants to come in 



next day they were all about dead. I 

 waited three days to see if any injury 

 was done the roses, but it did not hurt 

 them and I could not then find a live 

 larva, so I bought more and went over 

 all the benches. I had a man to fill 

 the holes up with fine soil as soon as 

 the liquid was poured in. as it evapo- 

 rates very quickly when exposed. It 

 is very inflammable. The ventilators 

 were kept wide open day and night 

 until all the gas had disappeared. I 

 have three benches forty-five feet long 

 and three feet wide, and it took four 

 pounds of bisulphide of carbon at a 

 cost of $1.08. 



JAMES WHEELER. 

 Brookline. Mass. 



SES 



during the mouths of March, April 

 and May. and it is of these I would at- 

 tempt to give you some hints. 



Easter is the season when the larg- 

 est number can be sold and the best 

 value obtained for both plants and cut 

 blooms. The time it takes to bring the 

 plants into bloom or at their best from 

 their perfectly dormant condition will, 

 of course, vary according to the season 

 you want them, and to some extent in 

 the varieties. Supposing you wished 

 them at their best the middle of April, 

 then from eleven to thirteen weeks 

 would be needed to bring them in, that 

 is, supposing you started with a night 

 temperature of 40 degrees and slowly 

 increased till they were in flower. If 

 the plants have been carried over in 

 pots during the summer and have 

 made good strong growtlis. they will, 

 as stated above, be easier to force, 

 both as regards care and time, for be- 

 ing well established and roots undis- 

 turbed, there is nothing to prevent 

 them breaking good and giving you 

 perfect flowers. From now till January 

 these plants would be best in a cold 

 frame or in some sheltered place out 

 of doors where protection from very 

 hard freezing can be given. 



Many of us will be growing roses 

 that we lift from the field or purchase 

 from nurserymen who have grown 

 them this summer. Buy home .i^rown 

 plants and there is little fear of fail- 

 ure unless you try to force them too 

 early. There is no reason for delay 

 and the middle of November is as late 

 as it is desirable to pot them. Several 

 of the best hybrid roses make a poor 

 growth on their own roots and can 

 only be purcliased when budded, and 

 if all is budded stock none the worse, 

 in fact all the better for forcing in 

 pots. You had better pay a fair price 



for good strong plants, and that I 

 would call a plant with from three to 

 five stout shoots. They are easier to 

 handle and pot after being cut down, 

 so that is the first operation as soon 

 as you dig or receive them. The lower 

 they are cut the better appearance the 

 plant has. but you should leave at least 

 three good eyes to each strong slioot. 

 Sometimes the lowest eyes are weak 

 and would give you only a feeble 

 growth and no flower. Small, spind- 

 ling growth cut out entirely. 



Pot into 5 or 6-inch pots, or still 

 larger if the plants are extra strong, 

 using a good fresh, rather heavy loam, 

 to which add a fifth of animal manure. 

 Pot firmly and water thoroughly, and 

 then plunge in a frame, using leaves 

 or some easily handled material. Cover 

 with glass, and on all warm or sunny 

 days .sive plenty of ventilation. Here 

 they will remain till you want to bring 

 them into the greenhouse. I have no- 

 ticed during this operation that there is 

 little or no root action takes place for 

 three months if left in the frame, but 

 they are preparing for it in excellent 

 style, and when you start tliem going 

 in a night temperature of 40 degrees 

 the roots almost immediately start 

 and keep pace witli the tops. The 

 principal object to observe is to start 

 slowly and gradually increase the 

 temperature, which is the natural con- 

 dition of most deciduous shrubs that 

 have to make a growth before the bud 

 is developed. The lilac is quite dif- 

 ferent, its flower bud is formed the 

 previous fall and all you do with heat 

 is to force it out. Then you are able 

 to bring it in from the cold and force 

 out the flower in three weeks. With a 

 rose this would be an utter failure. 

 Syrin.ging. of course, is of the greatest 

 benefit to a rose in all its stages of 

 growth, especially when it is breaking 

 its dormant buds. 



If you force any Crimson Rambler, 

 and they are grand for the purpose and 

 are now established as a leading East- 

 er plant, they should not be cut down 

 at all as you would the Hybrid Perpet- 

 ual. If they have canes seven or eight 

 feet long, shorten them to four feet or 

 leave tliem longer if very strong. Treat 

 them the same as the other hardy 

 roses and allow twelve weeks to bring 

 them into flower. When bringing them 

 into tiie greenhouse put about four 

 strong stakes into the pot, two feet 

 above the soil, and tie the canes of 

 the Rambler spirally around the 

 stakes. It will help very much to in- 

 duce an even break of the eyes, so that 

 the bottom of the canes will be as well 

 furnished as the top, and in this shape 

 they make a well fiUed-up, handsome 

 plant. 



There are many Hybrid Perpetual 

 roses that force well, but a great vari- 

 ety for the purpose is not at all desir- 

 able. Here are a few of the best: 

 Genl. Jacqueminot, crimson; Barones = 

 Rothschild, light pink: Anna de Dies- 

 bach, rose; Clio, blush almost white; 

 Ulrich Brunner, cherry red; Magna 



