May 31, 1913 



HOETICULTUEE 



819 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



i/lyCSi^y.ZA^<^ 



Questions ^^o"; readers In line with any of the topics presentwl on this page will be cordially received and promptly answered 

 oy Mr. unzicKa. Such commanlcatlons should Invaluably be addressed to the office of HORTICDLTUBE. 



Order 



With the usual rush around Decoration Day over 

 we once more take hold of houses and try, with all 

 the hands at it, to put those that may have been allowed 

 to recede just a little, back to their standard of order. 

 If order should prevail anywhere at all, it is certainly 

 at a florist's place. To see no system, no harmony of 

 the men, shows poor management and means loss in 

 the returns of the year. The planting should go on 

 without a hitch, and the man who sees ahead, will have 

 all the wheelbarrows fixed and in good order long before 

 nature shows any signs of spring. With everything kept 

 in order any job undertaken will be done easily and 

 quickly, for "well begun is half done." Unhappy is he 

 who waits with his sod heaps until planting time comes 

 along. It seems bad enough as it is without stopping 

 to put up a half dozen sod heaps. 



Crimson Cfover and Roses 



Now is the time to plough under that patch of crim- 

 son clover that is busy storing up valuable nitrogen from 

 the unlimited supply in the earth's atmosphere. Yes, 

 plough it under as soon as it is in blossom and sprinkle 

 some lime over it before the plough does its duty. This 

 will help to decompose it and sweeten whatever acidity 

 may be brought into the soil through the ploughing 

 under of a green crop. Some crop could be grown on 

 this field, but we would prefer to leave the field alone 

 and seed it down to grass early next fall, which will 

 assure an extra fine crop of hay the summer following. 

 and guarantee extra fine sod for fall — sod free from all 

 weeds, for the field should be harrowed now and then 

 to remove all noxious growth that may spring up here 

 and there before the grass seed is put in. Wliat differ- 

 ence between sod grown to order and the common 

 natural sod? As much difference as there is between 

 wild flowers and the improved cultivated varieties. 



As to w^hich varieties of grass to use for the sod, let 

 it be mostly orchai'd grass, which makes A-No.l hay 

 and excellent turf, for all purposes where such is re- 

 quired. The coming profitable establishments are those 

 that will be able to produce a few by-products — same as 

 the most successful manufacturers — turn all waste into 

 something useful. 



The Boilers 



Right here is where many fail — giving but little at- 

 tention to the boilers, the very minute the fire is allowed 

 to go out. "Oh, I have had enough trouble all winter, 

 so forget it." Tliat is just it. The wise man will go 

 over his boilers as critically as if he were just about to 

 purchase them, and will mend all faults and put in any 

 necessary repairs. Then thoroughly clean all the boilers, 

 oil them up with fish oil, or some other cheap but efli- 

 (»ient oil, and then they will be there to respond when 

 he calls them to arms at the beginning of next firing 

 season. It is a poor policy to wait until frost and then 

 begin to repair, wiring for extra parts, shipping by ex- 

 press; more needless expense, and then losing hours of 

 sleep worrying over the parts that the express company 

 had unfortunately miscarried to the tropical regions 

 where boilers are quite out of place. Oh, well, next 

 year — but then we do the same thing over again. 



Care of the Wires 



Another thing which runs into a neat little sum — 

 much larger in fact than many of us would supjjose, is 

 ihe wires that hold all those valuable roses in place, 

 'i'ake care of these, and remove all string, raffia, in fact, 

 anything that may be clinging to them, before finally 

 coiling them up neatly to put them away until they are 

 needed again next fall. See that they are free from 

 snags and other defects, caused by careless handling. 

 Then do to them same as the boilers, oil the wire coils 

 l)y dipping them into the oil. You will be surprised 

 how far a gallon of oil will go, and the oil that is ( ?) 

 ill the can under the faucet of your barrel of auto oil, 

 is the very thing. It is surprising how much oil can 

 be saved by keeping some can under the faucet, a few 

 drops at a time, but it means a pint or more every now 

 and then, and there are only eight pints to a gallon. 



The Pots 



Under the bench is not the proper place for pots, 



unless it is the potting bench, and then they should 

 never be put under the potting bench unless they are 

 clean, and clean they should be. Better stack them up 

 where they are to be washed, and make sure they are 

 under cover from the hot rays of the sun. The sun will 

 harden the pots too much, and it is not good for the 

 pots to be too hard and brittle. A good pot should be 

 porous and absorb water, which is a very important 

 feature in pots. 



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■ hy aihertising'jfoui goods in lie 



Horticiditimre 



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