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HORTICJLTUBE 



February 22, 1913 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



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Questions hy our readers in line with any of tlie topics presented on this page will be cordially received and promptly answered 

 by Mr. Ruzicka. Suah communications should inTarlably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTUKE. 



Spider 



Be very careful uot to allcjw ili-. Spider to become 

 acquainted with the under side of the foliage of the roses. 

 This is likely to happen as soon as syringing is neglected 

 the least bit. Keep right at it and syringe the houses 

 thoroughly every week. When syringing, syringe so 

 that the water does not fall back on the benches. Try 

 to send as much of it into the walks as possible. There 

 are several reasons why this should be done and one of 

 them is that the water after leaving the plants generally 

 contains a spider or two, and if these are thrown down 

 into the walk and not back on the bench they will be 

 where they can hardly get to their comfortable positions 

 again, and this is just what is wanted. With the many 

 insecticides on the market, trials can be made with one 

 or two of the better class and results can be watched. 

 But we would never advise anyone to rely on these alone 

 to keep their houses free from this dreaded enemy. 



Mildew 



Some of our readers who do not know what mildew 

 really is will no doubt wonder why we allow this sub- 

 ject to come into these columns so very often. Yet there 

 are places where it ought to come much oftener to keep 

 the growers from forgetting to pay proper attention to 

 their air. Houses properly ventilated will seldom get a 

 dose of mildew. And mildew is not the only thing good 

 ventilation will prevent. Quality roses are always pro- 

 duced in well ventilated houses. 



In the Propagating House 



Here is where things ought to be quite lively at the 

 present time. Here, too, care should be used in turning 

 the wheels of the ventilators, for the cuttings demand as 

 much care in this respect as the old plants do. We try 

 to keep the temperature in this house as cool as possible 

 without being cold. This is froin 52 to 56 degrees F. 

 The object of this is to keep the young cuttings from 

 growing before the roots start. If this should happen 

 the young cuttings will not root so very well, and what 

 is more, the cuttings should not make any growth in 

 the sand, as it is not the right kind. The young cut- 

 ting has plenty of chance to grow after it has been 

 properly potted anil placed in the rose house proper. 



Watering 



With perfect drainage there is little fear as to over- 

 watering, and during this cold weather when plenty of 

 fire heat has to be used, the sand should be carefully 

 looked over to see that there are no dry spots anywhere. 

 Cuttings should never be allowed to wilt and we should 

 always bear this in mind. Aim to water in the morning 

 so that the cuttings have a chance to dry off before 

 night. It does them no good whatever to remain so, 

 and should they happen to be Beauties, then a dose of 

 spot is likely to appear. Watch out for this and the 

 minute one is seen it should be picked off at once. It is 

 much easier to do this than to wait until the spot spreads 

 all through the batch. 



Selection of Wood for Propagation 



If we are in no hurry to have plants real early, we 

 much prefer to propagate during this month than any 



earlier, or later either. The wood now will have the 

 effect of tiie longer sun, and we find it is much easier to 

 handle than the earlier-taken cuttings. In selecting 

 Beauty wood, it is well to use only wood with the live 

 thorns on it, as the wood with dead thorns is likely to be 

 a little hard and therefore a little more difficult to root. 

 Of course that is not saying that this wood should never 

 be taken as that would not be true, for there are thou- 

 sands of Beauty plants grown and no attention is paid 

 to the wood in this respect. Aim to have the wood 

 about the same quality all the way through. It will 

 pay to do this, for the cuttings will run much more 

 even than if the wood is of several different kinds. With 

 Killarneys it is well to select wood from plants bearing 

 only the very deep pink flowers. Carefully observing 

 this rule the pale pink Killarney can in time be weeded 

 out and most of the good rich color type of plants will 

 remain. With the whites it is the same way. Take cut- 

 tings from the strong healthy plants bearing the most 

 double flowers and you soon will have a strain of Kil- 

 larney that will be hard to beat. 



The Value of a Practical Training 



The "fallacy"' of Mr. Jenkins" article on "Xeglected 

 Opportunities" lies in the fact that human nature is 

 unchangeable or as the old saying is "It is hard to put 

 old heads on young shoulders." How many of us can 

 look back after reaching the age of 30 years and not 

 regret the opportunities, something useful which we 

 have neglected of learning? The developing youth can 

 hardly be expected to change into the serious-minded, 

 observing man of mature years in a day. In comparing 

 the college graduate to the engineer who is a graduate of 

 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or a doctor 

 who is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Mr. 

 Jenkins loses sight of the fact that the engineer and the 

 doctor get the practical training as well as the theoretical. 

 The doctor's college course is supplemented by a hospital 

 experience where he gets the actual practice in the treat- 

 ment of different cases under the supervision of doctors 

 of larger experience. But where is the agricultural 

 college that can give the practical training sufficient to 

 "fit a young man to take charge of an estate of some 

 extent? The only place he can get it is on a private 

 estate under a competent superintendent and a young 

 man who would be willing to spend a few years in actual 

 practice in that way after his college course would prob- 

 ably be better qualified than the average gardener. Why 

 is it that the majority of the private places in this coun- 

 try are filled by men of foreign birth ? Simply because 

 these men have had the opportunity of a wider experience 

 gained by working on the large estates on the other side, 

 and thereby are lietter qualified. The ability of the man 

 to "produce the goods" is just ^s important in private a.« 

 in commercial gardening and being a good talker and up 

 in the use of scientific terms will not carry a man very 

 far, if the ability to accomplish results is not behind it. 

 The case of a professor formerly connected with the Agri- 

 cultural Department is an example. He persuaded a 



