37:.' 



HORTICULTURE 



Marcli 21, 1908 



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SOW NOW FOR I 



WINTER FLOW^ERING I 



PRIMULAS 



CHINESE PRIMROSES 



Farquhar's Giant, Pinks. Pkt. $ 1 .00 



Farquhar's Improved Giant Blue. Pkt. .75 

 Farquhar's Giant, Red. Pkt. 1.00 

 Farquhar's Giant White. Pkt. 1 .00 

 Giant. Duchess. Pkt. .75 



Orange King I New I. Pkt. 1.00 



I R. (SlJ. Farquhar ®. Co. 



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PRIMULA STELLATA. Star Primrose 



GianL White GianL Pink Giant, Red 



Each of the above colors. PkC .75 



PRIMULA OBCONIGA GRANDIFLORA 



Giant. White Giant. Pink Giant, Red 



Each of Che above colors. PkC .50 



6 (Si, 7 So. Market St. 



BOSTON, MASS. 



INDOOR COMMERCIAL ROSE CUL- 

 TURE. 



A I'aper by Kber Hulmes bet'oie tbe Gar- 

 deners' and Florists* Club of Boston. 



Liet US look for ajiiomeiit at the rose 

 growing industry twenty years ago, 

 that we may better appreciate the 

 situation today. We had then such 

 varieties as Gontier, Bennett, Bon Si- 

 lene, Safrano, Mermet, and other good 

 ones. It cannot be said that these have 

 run out or have deteriorated. They 

 have simply been superseded by better 

 varieties. We had an illustration of 

 this recently in the Safranos exhibited 

 by W. H. Elliott at the Boston show. 

 At that time also we had the old style 

 house, 100 ft. long and about 18 wide, 

 with wooden walls and benches built 

 up high to bring the plants up to the 

 light. Now, We build glass walls and 

 keep the plants nearer the ground. The 

 question might naturally be asked, to 

 what do you attribute the advance in 

 the quality of roses produced today 

 over those of that period? The reply 

 is, first of all the modern house. If I 

 had to follow the rating given to flow- 

 ers in the exhibitions taking 100 as a 

 total, I would give the modern house 

 ■10 points. The other 60 I would divide 

 equally between the use of grafted 

 stock, improved methods of growing, 

 and new and better varieties in culti- 

 vation today. 



As to Size of House. 



Taking these points in this order, 

 what is the best house? and another 

 question often asked is, what is the 

 limit of size? We have a house 

 22X.500 feet, even span, continuous 

 ventilation at the top on both sides, 

 containing five benches, which I like 

 very much. It is a very easy house to 

 build and maintain. The width could 

 be increased to 34 or 36 feet at a slight 

 additional cost, and the extra space 

 obtained would be of great value for an 

 extra bench or wider walks. It is an 

 old saying that the best roses grow 

 next to the walks, for the more air 

 and light the plants get the better the 

 results. We have another house 54x300 

 ft., which I like better, with the possi- 

 ble exception that it is not so easy to 

 make repairs on a high roof as on a 

 lower one. These large houses are 

 easier to heat than the smaller ones. 

 They catch every ray of sunlight in 

 winter, fires can be banked earlier and 

 started up later than in the smaller 

 houses. It is no experiment now, but 

 it is a fact that with the larger body 



of air the temperature does not fluc- 

 tuate as it does in a small house. 



We find that our large house runs 

 evener on cold nights with less trouble 

 than smaller ones. With ventilation 

 at the top on both sides and front 

 ventilators hinged at the bottom so 

 that the air strikes upward instead of 

 directly on the plants, the temperature 

 can be controlled in spite of the long 

 stretch of roof. It costs a little more 

 proportionately to build the larger 

 house, for it must be made stronger 

 and braced to withstand any gale that 

 may blow. The steeper the pitch, the 

 greater the resistance, and the large 

 houses are triumphs of the builder's 

 skill. I think that 60 ft. is wide enough 

 for any rose house. The only limits 

 to the length are the size of the field 

 and the purse of the builder. I believe 

 that the largest houses produce the 

 largest flowers, everything else being 

 equal, and no man needs any better ar- 

 gument in favor of this type of house 

 than the fact that men like Elliott and 

 Montgomery, who are the most con- 

 servative and at the same time the 

 most progressive rose growers we have, 

 after years of experience with large 

 houses, erect larger ones. 



Grafting. 



The next consideration is the prac- 

 tice of grafting so common now, in the 

 place of using own root plants. I can- 

 not do better than recommend Mont- 

 gomery's treatise on grafting to any- 

 one wanting this sub.ject explained in 

 a digestible manner. I might say, 

 however, buy the very best stock ob- 

 tainable, ,\s son as received, we un- 

 pack and bury in a cold cellar away 

 from frost, first a layer of loam, then 

 one of stock, until all are covered, 

 taking it out as required for potting, 

 or it can be heeled in, in a cold green- 



house if there is room and no cellar or 

 shed is available. If you have no cold 

 house in which to start the stock, 

 clean out a pair of benches on the north 

 side in the coldest part of your house, 

 and hang up burlap to keep out the 

 sun but not so as to exclude the air. 

 Keep well damped down and syringed, 

 being 9areful not to get the roots too 

 wet. 



The grafting case, also, if it has to 

 be built in a rose house, should be on 

 the north side or it will be difficult to 

 keep the heat down as the season 

 advances. Cheese cloth makes a good 

 shade for the grafting case, and under 

 these same conditions a cloudy day is 

 to be preferred to a sunny one for this 

 operation. We prefer standing up to 

 a table about the height of a potting 

 bench when grafting; it is as comfort- 

 able as the position you assume when 

 sitting down to this work, and a man 

 can work faster when he does not have 

 to keep changing his position. A good 

 man will graft from 150 to 175 an hour. 

 U is important that the grafts should 

 not l)e allowed to wilt, but should be 

 placed in the case as quickly as possi- 

 ble, which should be as air-tight as it 

 can be made, and closed up at once. 

 More plants are killed, perhaps, by 

 improper treatment in the case than 

 in any other way, and there is a good 

 deal in knowing enough to let them 

 alone for the first five days or so if the 

 thermometer reads aright and the 

 plants look fresh and moist. If, how- 

 ever, the case should be too hot, or 

 dry, or seem too full of moisture, I 

 would not hesitate (with the ventila- 

 tors in the house closed^ to open the 

 case for a few minutes and remedy 

 the defect. It is important to keep 

 water out of the cut until it has healed 

 thoroughly. 



We find when buying young stock 



NEW fVly Maryland rose 



" My Maryland '' has more good commercial points 

 than any other Rose. Price, 2 1-2 inch pots, $25.00 per 

 hundred; $200.00 per 1000; $5.00 per dozen. 



JOHN COOK, 318 N. Charles St., Baltimore, Md. 



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