Apiil 3, 1909 



HORTICULTURE 



477 



ed. The withered flowers must also 

 be carefully picked up, and no petals 

 left on the ground. This is a strict 

 rule among well-lfept rose gardens. A 

 watchful eye should be always kept 

 on budded roses, as they often throw 

 up suckers, which must be at once re- 

 moved, or mischief will be the result. 

 I have seen at Lenox, a fine rose 

 bed that was neglected for two years, 

 and on the third year there was noth- 

 ing left but suckers, which had out- 

 grown all the grafts. At the begin- 

 ning of August the plants will have 

 thrown root canes from three to five 

 feet high. These should be cut back 

 to three feet. This simple light prun- 

 ing will strengthen the canes for the 

 following flower season, and at the 

 same time will give a pleasing sight 

 of uniform harmony to the garden. 

 Winter Protection. 

 Winter protection, in this cold, 

 heartless latitude, plays a very im- 

 portant part. One who comes from 

 south of New York would not think 

 of protecting roses, as experience has 

 taught us all over the New England 

 States, except where near salt water. 

 At the end of November or December, 

 or in fact as soon as heavy frosts are 

 due, but before such frosts arrive, 

 standard roses are detached from their 

 stalks and the crowns bent down. A 

 hole in the ground is made and the 

 crown laid in it and partly covered 

 up with the soil, with two cross sticks 

 to hold the branches down. All Ramb- 

 lers are laid down in the same man- 

 ner. Hybrid Teas and Hybrid Per- 

 petuals are bent half down tied over 

 each other, and as soon as heavy frost 

 is in sight all the rose garden is cov- 

 ered with a light layer of leaves, and 

 with long straw manure or bed hay. 

 One year we did not cover our ramb- 

 lers, and in the spring all were frozen 

 to the very bottom. I find a little ex- 

 tra work will save lots of trouble, ind 

 pay well in the end. 



BUNGALOWS AND ROSES IN CALIFORNIA. 



WHY SO MANY SMALL GROWERS 



FAIL WITH ROSES. 



P.iper read before llie .American Rose 



Society Dieetirg at Buffalo, .N. Y., bv 



W. W. Coles. 



Tn traveling over the country visit- 

 ing floral establishments we find that 

 not over 20 per cent, of the small 

 growers make a success of roses. In 

 fact, by far the larger per cent, do 

 not get enough out of their rose space 

 to pay for the fuel. I have reference 

 only to the florists who grow roses. 

 carnations, and a general assortment 

 of flowers and iilants in a limited area. 

 I know there are quite a number of 

 florists, with but 10,000 to 25,000 feet 

 of glass who make a specialty of 

 roses and whose stock is a credit to 

 many of the larger growers. But this 

 paper is for the small, all around 

 grower, and if it benefits even a very 

 small per cent. 1 shall feel well re- 

 paid for the short time it has taken 

 me to pen these remarks. 

 Conditions. 



The first great handicap is a lack 

 of suitable conditions. Carnations bed- 

 ding plants and a general line of stock 

 are grown in the same house, in same 

 temperature, with success varying 

 from fair to very good. Then roses 

 are attempted. Under such conditions 

 they cannot be kept at the proper 

 temperature without hurting the other 



P''amous as are the bungalows <it (.'ali- 

 fornia, half their charm, it is undisput- 

 able, would be lost were they robbed of 

 their floral decorations. The trailing 

 rose, in particular, gives beauty to the 



liungalows. and down near the base of 

 Mt. Lowe, porticos, touched off with 

 the climbers, touch the heart of every 

 stranger. The photo shows such a one. 

 FELIX J. KOOH. 



Steele. Often they cannot be prop- 

 erly syringed on account of soakiug 

 other stock close by, and red spider 

 gets a foot hold. Sometimes doors 

 left open carelessly or necessarily for 

 other purposes, causes a draught and 

 starts mildew. On account of spoil- 

 ing tender stuff in the house, fumiga- 

 tion is put off and aphis gets a hold. 

 Shading is put on for other stock, and 

 roses suffer under their part of it. 

 Under such conditions it is practically 

 useless to try to grow roses. 



If a separate house can be devoted 

 to roses the above conditions can be 

 eliminated. But even then there are 

 usually many difficulties. A night fire- 

 man is seldom kept and while the 

 temperature may be kept right in day- 

 time it is allowed to fall at night. 

 Then the grower usually has so many 

 other duties that the houses are some- 

 times neglected. If the house was not 

 built for roses perhaps the heating is 

 inadequate and things cannot be kept 

 right even with the best of attention. 

 The above are conditions as they ex- 

 ist in hundreds of places. Added to 

 this is a lack of knowledge of rose 

 growing, and greatest or all, whether 

 the knowledge be great or small, is the 

 lack of doing what is known. The 

 grower knows that ha shotild plant 

 early in June but it is put off on ac- 

 count of the press of other work. He 

 knows he should syringe and fumigate 

 regularly, but for one reason or an- 

 other it is not done. We will give a 

 few general cultural remarks but insist 

 that the grower's success depends on 

 combined knowledge and doing. 

 Culture. 



On such places the gi-ower usually 

 puts in a batch of cuttings, roses, carna- 

 tions, geraniums, etc., in January or 

 J'Voruary. When rooted they are usu- 

 ally potted off and grown in the same 

 house with a miscellaneous lot of 

 plants. The result Is usually a weak 

 lot of plants covered with red spider 

 and mildew. They are shifted fro'n 

 2-inch pots to 3-inch and sometimes 

 grown under shaded glass. Sometime 

 in June or July they are planted on a 

 bench, the glass still shaded, and a few 

 panes of glass out here and there; 

 which, however, he will put in .good 

 shape next week. But next week he 

 is busy with the funeral work and the 



following week the carnations in the 

 field must be hoed or weeded and he 

 thinks the roses will grow if they re- 

 ceive water once a day. The result is, 

 in September or October, when his 

 plants should be strong and healthy 

 for the winter, they are weak and 

 puny, but the red spider and mildew 

 are still with them. To make matters 

 worse a few roses are needed during 

 the summer for funeral work and the 

 life is cut out of the plants to save (as 

 the grower thinks) expenses. A few 

 roses are usually cut in October and 

 November at a time when they can be 

 bought from $2.00 to $4.00 per 100, but 

 from December 1 to April 1, when 

 roses are wanted and usually scarce, hia 

 plants are standing still and do not 

 return enough to pay for the fuel It 

 takes to keep them alive. 

 The Remedy. 



In the first place the small grower 

 or retail florist who uses but an aver- 

 age of 75 to 100 roses per week should 

 not try to grow his own cut roses. He 

 would make more money to buy them 

 from some good grower, but those who 

 feel That they must or will grow their 

 stock should plant nothing but strong, 

 healthy, clean plants. If he cannot 

 .grow them he should buy them and 

 plant them in good rich, new, mellow 

 soil, some lime during the month of 

 June. If the house is shaded, even if 

 only slightly, see that It is all re- 

 moved. 



The next important thing is to re- 

 pair all broken glass and as soon as 

 one is broken or blown out replace it 

 at once as you would have to do in 

 winter. Prom July 1 to September 1 

 give them lots of air and lots of water 

 at all times. I firmly believe there are 

 more roses ruined during the summer 

 for want of water and air than from 

 any other cause. It is money well 

 .spent to hire sufficient help in June to 

 plant ropes, as one month in June and 

 July for roses planted on a bench is 

 worth three times as much as in 

 October and November. Keep the buds 

 pinched off until the plants are strong 

 and healthy and breaking freely, and 

 at this point a top dressing of cow 

 manure will bo beneficial. 



Do not grow too many varieties. 

 For the small grower or beginner I 

 would recommend but three kinds: 



