Makch 6, 1902. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



489 



New Fern, Nephrolepis Piersom. 



ducing a most graceful and beautiful ef- 

 fect. The fronds are broad and lieavy 

 and very full. 



The originators say the plant is ex- 

 actly like the Boston fern as to growth. 

 liardiness and general adaptabilit}', and 

 believe it will quickly supersede that 

 well tried sort, on account of its beauty 

 and general desirability. It will be in- 

 troduced in the spring of liui.'i. 



ROSES. 



Seasonable Hints. 



During the past few weeks I have had 

 several inquiries as to the best method 

 of carrying roses over a second season. 



This is a practice which I do not 

 favor in the least, as from ray own 

 experience and that of numerous ac- 

 quaintances who are expert growers, the 

 results have been far from satisfactory. 

 There are few growers of note who have 

 not at some time tried it and if the 

 experiments had been successful they 

 would not go to the trouble of raising 

 j'oung stock, renewing their benches, 

 etc., every year. 



Circumstances sometimes compel a 

 grower to carry over a house, but lie 

 rarely does it from choice. It is usually 

 the inexperienced that has recourse to 

 this method. When a house has been 

 planted late, and the plants have only 

 attained their best condition in March 

 or April, it certainly looks as if they 

 would be in the pink of condition f'li- 

 another season's work, and it seems a 

 sacrifice of time and labor to throw 



them out and plant anew. Kxperience. 

 however, tells us difterent. 



The methods adopted by experts are 

 many. One of the safest and easiest to 

 carry out is to begin in June or early 

 in ,luly to gradually withhold water in 

 order to ripen the wood and to get the 

 roots as near to a dormant state as can 

 he done with safety. They must neve- 

 be allowed to become so dry as to wilt 

 the soft wood, nor to shed their leaves 

 or cause any injury to the fibrous roots. 



During this period .syringing will have 

 to be carried ou as usual to keep down 

 spider; this will give nearly all the 

 water they will require. If allowed to 

 Ijeconie too dry the soil will begin to 

 crack, which it should not be allowed 

 to do. In order to hasten the ripening 

 process ventilation must be given freely 

 night and day, and a close watch kept 

 for the first signs of mildew. This treat- 

 ment will usually ripen them sufficiently 

 in three weeks or a month. 



The small blind wood should then be 

 carefully pruned out and as much of 

 the surface soil removed as can be done 

 without injuring the root^. A- compost 

 of one-third well rotted cow manure and 

 two-thirds fibry loam should then be 

 put on to replace that removed, taking 

 care not to make it any deeper than it 

 was before. Tie the strongest canes 

 down to encourage the dormant eyes 

 that are lower on the stem to break, 

 water the bench until it is thoroughly 

 soaked. After this soaking it can be 

 allowed to become moderately dry until 

 the eyes have started, and a healthy 

 growth begins. Syringing twice a day 



during blight weather materially helps 

 the eyes to push through. Night tem- 

 ])erature should be as near 56 degrees 

 as the season w'ill allow, day tempera 

 (ure during bright weather 70 or 75 de- 

 grees. 



After they are fairly started and 

 growing vigorously a richer mulchimjr 

 can be applied. It is better to mulch 

 lightly and frequently than to run any 

 risks by putting it on too thick. With 

 the exception of more care in watering 

 as the days begin to shorten, they re- 

 quire the same treatment as young stock. 



Grafting. 



'thas." writes: "In grafting Bride, 

 Bridesmaid and Liberty on the Manet • 

 you first pot the Manetti in '2i-inch 

 pots. Should the JIanetti then sprout 

 or break some before ready for graft- 

 ing? Should the scion for grafting be 

 dormant, break or leaf or should the 

 scion have one new shoot ? What growth 

 of wood makes the best scion?" 



The root action of the Mauetti stocks 

 should be started previous to grafting. 

 This will cause some of the eyes to 

 break. These should be rubbed off when 

 the scion is attached. The scion can be 

 of either strong, well ripened blind 

 wood, or flower stems of the same qual- 

 ity as used for cuttings, and should have 

 all the new >oft growtli removed. 



Carrying Roses Over. 



J. W. M. write(>: "We have a bench 

 of roses, young plants set last June, 

 that have not done very well during 

 ihe winter but are now sending up fine 

 strong shoots. One of the firm says 

 to replant with young stock, the other 

 advises to carry them over. What would 

 you advise? The roses are mostly 

 Brides, Woottons and Perles. They 

 have been grown cool and yet the stems 

 have been weak all winter. Why is it? 

 Have had no mildew. Is there any way 

 to get long steuuued Woottons? If you 

 advise me to carry said bench over 

 please give your plan for doing so." 



Plants which have not done well dur- 

 ing their first winter, however well they 

 may look at present, are not likely to 

 do any better if carried over. Young 

 liealthy stock planted early in June and 

 properly cared for during the summer 

 months will make plants by October 

 that will give far more satisfactory re- 

 sults. 



If the plants were of a weakly growth 

 in the fall, the cool treatment would 

 rather retard than encourage the devel- 

 opment of strong stems during the win- 

 ter. With the advent of spring the 

 strong canes will naturally begin to put 

 in an appearance. 



To get long stems on Woottons, the 

 night temperature should be 60 degrees, 

 running up to 75 or 78 degrees with 

 sun heat. They ought also to get peri- 

 odical mulchings. A compost of two- 

 thirds well decomposed cow manure and 

 one-third good rose soil, with a gen- 

 erous sprinkling of bone flour thoroughly 

 incorporated and spread on the bench 

 one inch thick. They also delight in 

 liquid food once a week during bright 

 weather. 



In seasonable hints during the com- 

 ing season, which I will try to have 

 from two to three weeks ahead of time, 

 will be found directions for potting, 

 planting, care of benches, etc. 



■J. W. JI. will find the subject of car- 

 rying roses over treated in this week's 

 seasonable hints. Eibes. 



