August 15, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



207 



if the soil were in a reasonably moist 

 condition. Since the first of November 

 we have had a total rainfall of less 

 than 1 1-2 inches up to the loth of 

 March, and during that time we have 

 only had three storms where the preci- 

 pitation was one-quarter inch. Then 

 again we have had a great many warm 

 winter days, and especially warm days 

 in February, March and April, which 

 makes the buds swell, only to be se- 

 verely frozen later on. 



During this same period the nights 

 are generally about 25 degrees colder 

 than the days but this difference some- 

 times reaches to more than 50 degrees, 

 and on rare occasions to nearly 60 de- 

 grees. It is obvious that a day tem- 

 perature of 70 degrees, followed by a 

 night temperature of 20 degrees in 

 April, is more than any rose plant can 

 well withstand. 



The drying winds and the bright 

 sunshine also work a great deal of 

 harm, and with us it is more essen- 

 tial to provide protection from the 

 sun than it is from the cold. We find 

 that plants on the north side, of a 

 tight board fence generally come 

 through the winter in pretty good 

 shape, while those on the north side 

 of the same fence are very apt to die. 

 Tea roses do not seem to have vitality 

 enough to withstand our winters even 

 when protected, but the hybrid teas 

 do very nicely and are planted quite 

 largely. Climbing roses are apt to 

 have the wood badly killed back un- 

 less they are in a position where they 

 are sheltered from the sun. 



Owing to our dry winters, few 

 hardy roses are planted in the fall, 

 and spring planting of field-grown 

 stock often meets with failure unless 

 the planting is done very early. In 

 our establishment we have advocated 

 the planting of young roses from four- 

 inch pots in preference to field-grown 

 stock, the results being much more 

 satisfactory. By fall these roses are 

 vigorous bushes and in good condition 

 to endure the hardships of the winter. 

 Roses on their own roots are much 

 to be preferred to budded stock for 

 the garden, because if the tops are 

 badly killed back they are likely to 

 make good growth again from the 

 bottom. 



Colorado's Florists Are Intelligent and 

 Progressive. 



I find that in many quarters the 

 idea prevails that an apprentice who 

 has served a year or two in the east 

 can come to Colorado and rank as a 

 first class florist. In other words, it 

 is thought that "our methods are 

 crude, our growers ignorant and un- 

 skillful, and our structures of an obse- 

 lete type. We are apt to be a little 

 resentful of such an assumption, for 

 it is erroneous and while I do not 

 wish to appear boastful, it is due the 

 florists of our section to. say that they 

 are an intelligent lot of men. whose 

 character and methods will not suffer 

 by comparison with the florists of any 

 other section. While our houses are 

 net as exDensive or as extensive as 

 some in other parts of the country, 

 thev are in the main well suited to 

 the' purposes for which they are in- 

 tended. Our rose growers do not cut 

 a large number of flowers on extra 

 long stems that would grade as 

 "specials" in this market, because our 

 market does not demand much stock 



of that grade, and also because our 

 climate tends to produce a more slen- 

 der growth and a more early setting . 

 Of the buds; but the stock averages 

 well, is well colored unless faded by 

 too much sun, and would sell well in 

 anj market. 



Advice to the New-Comer. 



Nothing which I have said should 

 be construed as intimating that the 

 problems with which we contend are 

 more difficult than those encountered 

 in the eastern states, but they are 

 different. Our ranks are constantly 

 being augmented by accessions from 

 the east, and any florist who has suc- 

 ceeded there may confidently expect 

 to succeed anywhere; but he will 

 make a great mistake if he allows 

 his previous success to blind him to 

 the fact that a strange country means 

 strange conditions, and that tl 

 who have gone before him are in all 

 probability able to aid him by a re- 

 cital of their own mistakes. Whether 

 they will aid will depend largely upon 

 his own attitude. 



The people of the west speak of a 

 new-comer as a "tenderfoot," and un- 

 til he has become acclimated he will 

 find it politic to assume a meek and 

 lowly demeanor. If he does he will 

 receive a cordial welcome and find 

 his fellow florists a lot of good fel 

 lows; but if he begins by commenting 

 adversely on what he sees, and sins 

 still further by predicting the things 

 he proposes to accomplish, he cannot 

 wonder if the natives stand back and 

 prepare to laugh, when he proves the 

 trulh of the adage that "Pride goeth 

 before a fall." 



Most rose growers who come to our 

 climate from the east come with a 

 feeling that the dry air and continual 

 sunshine are all that they need to in- 

 sure success, and there is no disguis- 

 ing the fact that we are free from 

 troubles that are so serious a matter 

 to our eastern brethern during the 

 dark days of winter; but dry' air and 

 sunshine are not the only essentials. 

 The regions where vegetation grows 

 luxuriantly are regions that have a 

 humid atmosphere and the cloudy 

 days which necessarily come with such 

 an atmosphere. Many a rose grower 

 has come to Colorado, and scorning 

 advice has attempted to dry off his 

 roses in the summer for the purpose 

 of starting them up later, as he had 

 been accustomed to do. The drying 

 Is easy but the subsequent starting is 

 a problem. We frequently carry over 

 roses to the second and even the 

 third year, but we do not attempt to 

 stop them, and we keep them prac- 

 tically in full growth, even if we pro- 

 pose to transfer the bushes from one 

 house to another. 



(To be cent: n 



NEWS NOTES. 



The Thomp on Carnation Co., Joint, 

 111., lost one of their greenhouses by 

 fire on August 3. 



A card from A. Letithy of Roslin- 

 dale, Mass. announces his safe arrival 

 . Belgium. 

 Hans .1. Koehler will go to Seattle 

 Wash., tit the end of Angus' I 

 perintend the planting of the giounds 

 for ile AJaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposi- 

 tion for Olmsted Bros. 



II. S. DeForest. of the Pierson 

 Ba, ('«, N< V, York, has just re- 

 turned from a successful western trip. 

 John I! Taylor, Bayside, N. V. had 

 a [ 0SS i i a bi in S1000 on chimm j ami 

 glass in the severe thunderstorm on 

 August 7. 



C. B. Knickman of McHutchison & 

 Co., New York, sails for Europe on 

 August 13. on a business trip. Eng- 

 land, Holland. Belgium, Germany. 

 e and Switzerland will he visited 

 lie will he accompanied by Orlando 

 Harrison of Berlin, Md., ex-president 

 of the National Association of Nursery- 

 men. 



S. P. McGrew has been appointed 

 receiver for the Fairview Floral Co. 

 of Springfield, O., with assets at $23.- 

 600 and liabilities $13,350, on the peti- 

 tion of Dr. C. S. Kay and M. S. Kirk- 

 ick. two of the heaviest stock- 

 holders. The business will be con- 

 tinued for the present. The plain- 

 tiffs took this step to protect them- 

 selves against personal notes issued 

 tor Hie company. 



What, appears to be one of the most 

 acceptable devices ever offered for the 

 convenience and economy of the 

 greenhouse man is the Castle pipe 

 coupling advertised in another page of 

 this paper. It is ingenious and sim- 

 ple, requiring no mechanical skill. 

 threading or other expensive delay 

 and can be applied directly to boiler 

 tubes, being particularly useful in a 

 sudden emergency. It is worth in- 

 vestigating. 



WANTED Immediately 



First class American 

 Beauty Grower 



DALE ESTATE, Brampton, Canada 



CHICAGO PERSONALS. 



William Lynch, of Hunt's, leaves on 

 .Saturday for Niagara Falls to I 

 the firm's convention exhibit oi 

 Wittbold watering device, To-Bal. 

 cement benches, etc. Among tie 

 canonists Miss Mamie Corbet! of Bas- 

 set! K- Washl ntn's, is in Wiscoi 

 John Horstruan, of the same fin 

 taking au outing; Miss Ji se] : 

 of the Flower Growers' Market 

 to Michigan. 



