406 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



Jaxl.vry 21, 1904. 



portance of deauliness aud pure air and 

 how eloselv these conditions are asso- 

 ciated Ti-ith health, the ground under the 

 benches and the walks would be as free 

 of weeds and decaying matter as the 

 soil on the benches. Were thtse matters 

 more closely studied there would be 

 fewer diseases, and as weeds and rub- 

 bish are the favorite sheltering places of 

 thrips and red sjiider, if these are rigidly 

 excluded, these 'pests will be easier kept 

 in subjection. 



We can now expect an increase in the 

 duration of sunshine from day to day 

 and can with more confidence resort to 

 liquid feeding. This can now be applied 

 to healthy stock more frequently, adding 

 a little to its strength as the season ad- 

 vances. Mulching should also be re- 

 newed when necessary. Ventilation can 

 also be given more freely and advantage 

 should be taken of every bright day to 

 admit plenty of fresh air, as this is one 

 of the most essential requirements of 

 health. While this is being practiced 

 due care must be taken to guard against 

 sudden and extreme fluctuations of tem- 

 perature, as this is a fertile source of 

 mildew. These sudden changes also se- 

 riously affect the tender growths, caus- 

 ing checks which often result in mal- 

 formed buds, especially in Beauty crops. 

 and causing black heads in Meteors, 

 which, when once started, are hard to 

 bring back to good color again. 



At this season any neglect in the 

 weekly fumigation will be followed by 

 the appearance of hosts of green-fly 

 which now multiply rapidly and which 

 will greatly add to our troubles and call 

 for more energetic efforts to again get 

 them under subjection. Eibes. 



SPIRAEA JAPONICA. 



We have about thirty pots of Spiraea 

 japonica which were planted about the 

 first of November and put immediately 

 into the propagating house. About the 

 first of December we moved them into 

 the rose house. Only one has shown any 

 signs of leaves. The roots look strong 

 and healthy. Please tell us how they 

 should be treated. L. L. B. 



We think there is nothing the matter 

 with the spiraea roots, only a great mis- 



take was made. If they were imported 

 roots you must have put them into the 

 |)roj)agating house directly after they 

 were received. It 's simply a ease of 

 I heir having no rest and they will take 

 a few weeks' rest in spite of the heat 

 you gave them. So many times has the 

 very simple operation of forcing the 

 spiraea been written up in the columns of 

 the Eeview that I don 't understand how 

 you have escaped it. ' ' Read, mark and 

 inwardly digest" all you see in the Re- 

 view and you won 't make many mis- 

 takes. By this time most likely your 

 spiraeas will be showing signs of growth 

 and if you want them for Easter, and 

 that's the only time they are profitable, 

 it will likely still be too early unless you 

 keep them cool anel shaded during the 

 month of March. Next fall unpack and 

 place in flats with a little soil or litter 

 over the crowns and keep them under the 

 snow and allow about ten weeks in the 

 greenhouse to bring them into flower. 



W. S. 



ROSES A SECOND YEAR. 



We purchased last year a very fine 

 stock of roses from the E. G. Hill Co., 

 Richmond, Ind. The roses are in very 

 fine condition and as they are not quite 

 a year old, I hate to throw them away 

 this year. They are in excellent condi- 

 tion, and have been blooming well this 

 season. Now, the question arises, can 

 we grow these roses another year by 

 giving them three or four week 's- rest 

 in May? Will they pay us in the cut 

 flower business, and will we get good 

 results from same the coming season? 



C. E. S, 



Tliis is a question which is propounded 

 to mo several times a year. It does seem 

 like a sacrifice to throw out stock just 

 when it looks to be approaching its best, 

 but experience teaches us that there is 

 greater risk of failure, more work and 

 skill required to carry a house over with 

 profit than in handling young stock, 

 ilost of us have given way to this feel- 

 ing from time to time, and many have 

 been the attempts to do this successfully. 

 Some have succeeded fairly well in car- 

 rying them over, not only one season, 

 but three or four. One grower of my 



acquaintance has a house which is three 

 years old, and so well is he satisfied with 

 his experiment that he contemplates car- 

 rying it over yet another season. 



The majority of these experiments, 

 however, are usually so much of a fail- 

 ure that one trial is all we care to risk. 

 PersonaU}', I favor young stock, as by 

 this method I have had most success 

 and have seen more success attending 

 well handled young stock than with car- 

 ried over stock however skilfullv han- 

 dled. 



I have a theory that in the future our 

 cultural methods will so improve that 

 carried over stock will be the rule, as it 

 is among English growers. This, how- 

 ever, being in the experimental stage, is 

 a subject for expei'ts and as experiments 

 are simply a groping after knowledge 

 and are therefore liable to failure, it is 

 safer for the ordinary grower to abide 

 by established and certain methods if he 

 wishes to avoid such. Ribes. 



SOFT GROWTH. 



We have Bride and Bridesmaid roses 

 that are growing nicely, but the trouble 

 is that when a,, bud sets on a cane it 

 stands open, with stumpy green petals. 

 By, leaving it on it makes a tolerably 

 faiT rose, but is wide open. The side 

 branches of the same plants make good 

 buds and roses. We used rotted sod, 

 four parts to one of manure, with ten 

 pounds of bone meal to 100 square feet 

 of bench. What is the trouble and the 

 remedy? C. H. H. 



Those canes which are produced from 

 or near the base of the plant during the 

 short and sunless days are frequently so 

 devoid of woody fiber that they are in- 

 capable of developing the buds properly. 

 Cutting them back to the eyes which 

 are likely to produce the strongest lateral 

 shoots is the most profitable way to treat 

 them. As this condition is most preva- 

 lent where the soil is deficient in cal- 

 careous matter, a sprinkling of lime has 

 often a very beneficial effect. As the 

 days lengthen, accomp.anied by a longer 

 duration of sunshine, when ventilation 

 can be more freely given, the wood will 

 be of a better quality, and the defect 

 will disappear. Eibes. 



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Sectional View of Vegetable House Eighty Feet Wide Operated by W. H. Weinschenk, New Castle, Pa. 



