128 



horticulture: 



February 3, 1906 



Cultivation and Care of Young Rose Stock 



1 presume that by now every successful grower lias his 

 rose stock started for another year and some potted in 

 their first pots and that some of the earliest are ready 

 for a shift into larger pots. If in two-inch pots a shift 

 to three-inch pots is sufficient, and when potted greater 

 care and attention to watering is essential. Do not 

 over-water them; rather go over the benches two or 

 three times a day giving attention to the dry plants, 

 than to give them all a general watering whether they 

 need it or not. Do not forget to syringe thoroughly 

 every bright day and even on some days when there is 

 no brightness. ' Syringe young stock often and thor- 

 oughly as the red spider does like to get in his work on 

 young stock, and always bear the fact in mind that you 

 are starting up young stock for another year's flowers 

 and that whatever you omit to do now you will suffer 

 from at flowering time next season. It is not often that 

 I use Biblical phrases, but this one suits the case in 

 hand that -whatsoever a man soweth that, shall he also 

 reap." So, also, if you start good stock and look after 

 it properly you shall be cutting good flowers next season. 



When repotting young stock from twos to threes is 

 a good time to grade your stock for no matter how care- 

 ful one is there are always some weak plants. Get these 

 weak ones together in one part of the bench so you can 

 give them a little more careful attention than is given 

 the general lot. When potting is also a good time to 

 add a little fertilizer to the soil; pure ground bone, 

 pulverized sheep manure, blood and bone mixed, or sep- 

 arate, and lots of other fertilizers are used for this pur- 

 pose. For myself I prefer blood and bone mixed. It 

 comes in one hundred pound bags already mixed and a 

 four-inch pot full to a bushel of soil is about right. In 

 a few days after repotting you can almost see the stock 

 growing. 



The temperature in the plant houses can be raised a 

 hi tie. too, after repotting, or when well-rooted through 

 in twos. A temperature for nights of sixty-two and 

 days seventy to eighty witli plenty of ventilation is about 

 right, but watch the ventilators for any change in the 

 weather. Do not let the plants get chilled or a cool 

 draught strike them at any time or you will see an 

 immediate retarding of growth. Plants in bench which 

 have been given a partial rest for the last three weeks 

 can be started up slowly by keeping them a degree or 

 two warmer at nights and applying a little more water to 

 the roots than we have been doing for the last month, but 

 do not be in a rush with them; start them up slowly and 

 you will cut more and better flowers than if two hasty 

 with them. 



If you intend to run a house or two of American 

 Beauties over summer (and I will say there is always a 

 good demand for good American Beauties and good 

 prices for them in June, July, and part of August) now 

 is a good time to get ready for them by cutting the 

 plants down to fourteen or sixteen inches from the soil. 

 No need to replant them in fresh soil ; if your soil is a 

 little soured give it a slight scratch over the surface and 

 apply a top dressing of unslacked lime and that, with 

 the drying out and rest they have had, will enable them 

 in start nut nicely. Don't start them too hastily; at 

 first fifty-six to fifty-eight at night is enough for them 

 and plenty of air during the day in cloudy or bright 

 weather in a temperature of sixty-five to seventy will 

 bring them along nicely. Syringe frequently in bright 

 clays and do not let the wood shrivel up or it will be all 

 off. I will have more to say on this later on as the 

 season advances. 



U'^oS'sr^- 



Odontoglossums 



Odontoglossum crispum and kindred species, Pes- 

 catoreii, Lindleyanum, triumphans, odoratum and the 

 many natural hybrids supposed to lie the results of 

 intercrossing of the species already named can be so 

 successfully grown in New England, in fact are grown 

 so well that some collections though perhaps not quite 

 so extensive, and perhaps do not include such rare 

 varieties, compare favorably with European collections. 



They may be seen doing well under several methods of 

 treatment; no tw^o growers Have exactly the same ideas, 

 but to insure success a dry atmosphere in winter and a 

 close atmosphere in summer should be avoided. 



The low temperature in winter necessitating strong 

 fire heat is as important a matter for consideration as 

 the humid heat of summer. A fixed winter tempera- 

 ture is not advisable. Grown in a sunny position from 

 September until early in March the temperature may 

 be allowed to run up with sun heat but the atmospheric 

 moisture should be maintained at the same time and in 

 cold weather the night temperature may fall to 1"> 

 degrees I', and if i intained in zero weather by 



fire heal too much attention cannot lie given to the 

 maintainence of a mo mosphere night; and day. 



eudo-bulbs will not shrivel 



and lose their vitality. Tin moisture in the atmosphere 



will act as a s nst thrips, the worst insect 



the growei it. "Eternal vigilance" is 



certainly the price of many edontoglossum spikes. 



The excessive heat and humidity for a wdiile in sum- 

 mer is trvino: to the plants. The heat alone could he 

 remedied by the evapon of water, but accompanied 



as it generally is by humidity it is difficult to produce 

 evaporation in an atmosphere already saturated. 



At this time odontoglossums are liable to attacks of 

 fungi which attack and cripple the young growth. This 

 is not noticeable until some time afterwards when the 

 apical portion of the first leaves which have been punc- 

 tured refuses to expand naturally. The inner leaves 

 become contorted giving the growth a crippled appear- 

 ance. We at first attributed this to thrips, but noticing 

 a rather rusty appearance on the leaves, we showed it 

 to a well-known morphologist and microscopist who pro- 

 nounced it fungi. 



It may be that the spores gain entrance through the 

 punctures made by insects, but it is more likely that 

 the moist -inline of the young growth offers just the 

 right conditions for the growth of the spores as well as 

 a convenient resting place. The remedy would be to 

 keep as free a circulation of air around the plants as 

 possible. Last summer we took out the glass entirely 

 from the end of the north house nailing up cheese cloth 

 in its place. The results, we thought, repaid the trouble. 



The question of compost is one upon which there is 

 a great diversity of opinion. Much may be said in favor 

 of fern fibre, but a medium we have tried and can recom- 

 mend is Belgian leaf-mould. Nearly all European 

 growers use it either pure or in mixture with excellent 

 results in each case. 



