January 9, 1902. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



217 



Ball Decoration Arranged by Mrs. C. Eickholt, Galveston, Texas. 



ROSES. 



Seasonable Hints. 



Tliose who have not already got their 

 propagating house in working order had 

 better begin at once. If stock for own 

 planting only is wanted it is time 

 enough to begin propagating at New 

 Year's if the house is large enough to 

 accommodate the quantity of stock re- 

 quired at one propagating, or even with 

 a second batcli in February, as there is 

 ample time with good treatment to 

 make nice stocky plants in 3 or 3J-inch 

 pots by the middle of May. These I pre- 

 fer for my own growing rather than 

 earlier rooted stock. 



The benches in the propagating house 

 should be overhauled and put in good 

 order and given a coating of hot lime 

 wash. Select sharp, clean river or pit 

 sand and put on the bench to a depth 

 of four inches, and when pounded firm 

 water thoroughly; it is now ready for 

 the cuttings. Those who have not a 

 propagating house should select a bench 

 in a rose or carnation house where a 

 command of bottom heat can be had, 

 and board up the front and back so as 

 to confine the heat under the bench and 

 bring the temperature of the sand as 

 near CO degrees as possible, with a house 

 temperature of 50 or 52 degrees, or even 

 a degree or two higher won't hurt much. 



In selecting the wood for cuttings, 

 care should be taken to take nothing but 

 the most robust and healthy, passing by 

 all weak, poor or discolored foliage, as 

 on the proper selection of wood depends 

 the health and vigor of the future stock. 

 Whatever kind of a cutting is wanted, 

 single-eyed or two or three-eyed, use a 

 well sharpened knife, making a short, 

 clean cut. Avoid making a long slice, 

 as it takes longer to form a callous and 

 the rootlets do not arrange themselves 

 in such a perfect form as with the 

 smaller cut. Keep the wood moist dur- 

 ing the operation and until the cuttings 

 are inserted in the sand. 



Take an ordinary butcher knife and 



make a cut in the sand two inches deep 

 and see that every cutting touches the 

 bottom, as a cutting that is hung has 

 a poor chance to root. Give one good 

 watering to firm the sand around the 

 cuttings. The sand should never be al- 

 lowed to become dry. SjTinge lightly 

 on bright days. Keep the house moder- 

 ately moist by wetting the paths and 

 shade from bright sun!=hine. Good shad- 

 ing can be made from very thin cheese 

 cloth and should be removed as soon as 

 the sun ceases to shine on the bench, 

 stock treated in this manner being much 

 superior to that which is rooted entirely 

 in the shade. The temperature of the 

 sand should be kept as near as possible 

 to GO degrees, with the temperature of 

 the house at 48 to 50 degrees. 



Roses Turning Yellow. 



S. T. S. writes: "What is the matter 

 with my roses? For the last two or 

 three weeks they have been turning a 

 sickly yellow. It began in one place and 

 is spreading. There was spider in the 

 place where the plants began to turn 

 and I made them quite wet. Thought 

 maybe I had soured the soil. What can 

 I do for them?" 



This state of affairs can arise from 

 so many difTerent causes that it would 

 be mere guesswork without more data 

 to ascribe it to anything definite. S. T. 

 S. does not say what varieties he has 

 the trouble with, nor describe his mode 

 of treatment up to the time the trouble 

 began. 



The most common cause of yellow 

 foliage at this season is trying to force 

 them along prior to the holidays, and 

 in many cases the plants break down 

 under the strain. It may be a case of 

 overwatering or (from the fact that it 

 is spreading) it may be eel- worm. To 

 determine if this is the cause let S. T. S. 

 carefully lift one of the worst affected 

 plants and wash all the soil from the 

 roots and examine them carefully. If 

 eel-worms are present he will find nu- 

 merous small tubercles from the size of 



a rice seed to that of a small pea. These 

 cysts, on being opened and put under a 

 magnifier, will be found to contain 

 twenty or thirty worms, very much re- 

 sembling eels. 



The only remedy for this trouble is 

 to lift every affected plant with the sur- 

 rounding soil and burn them. After 

 eel-worm has got hold of a plant its 

 doom is sealed. 



In the meantime S. T. S. should keep 

 his temperature at 56 degrees nights, 

 70 degrees on bright days and allow 

 the benches to become moderately dry. 

 By using a Childs nozzle with spoon 

 attachment the syringing can be effect- 

 ually done with half the volume of 

 water. 



Golden Gate. 



Since its introduction this rose seems 

 to have held its own and, even according 

 to some growers, it is improving. The 

 lack of grace, deficiency of petalage, 

 sparseness of foliage and want of solid- 

 ity of color are faults the rosarian sees 

 in it. It has many merits to recommend 

 it to the commercial grower. It is of 

 good constitution, very productive, and 

 last but not least, it is a good seller, 

 and so long as it possesses these qualifi- 

 cations it will continue to be grown in 

 quantity. In its younger stages it very 

 much resembles the old Niphetos, but as 

 it grows older it produces fine, long, 

 straight canes which bear a bud very 

 much of the shape of a good Niphetos, 

 but much larger, the color being a white 

 ground, shading off to a delicate shell 

 pink. 



It succeeds well in a temperature of 

 5fi to 62 degrees and being a robust 

 grower requires periodical mulchings, 

 with liquid feeding once a week in bright 

 weather. Being a rapid grower, the fo- 

 liage, young wood and buds are of a 

 soft texture, making it an especial fa- 

 vorite of greenfly. It is almost free from 

 (he attacks of mildew, so much so that 

 on one place I saw it growing vigorously 

 and clean in a house of Brides and 



