810 



HORTICULTURE 



June 22, 1907 



bizarros and bybloemens are badly mixed up. The 

 bizarres have yellow grounds shaded with violet or pur- 

 ple; the bybloemens liave white grounds painted with 

 rose or cherry red. The breeders are plain colored, 

 called Mother tulips. They make excellent border 

 l)lants, have very long flower stems and can be had in 

 almost all colors. 



THE DARWINS 



The Darwins are improved breeders and are excep- 

 tionally valuable for their lateness of flowering and 

 very long stems. When the flowers first open the 

 petals are rather short, but in a few days they lengthen 

 oiit considerably. Some of the varieties have miserable 

 colors while other are exceptionally attractive. Some 

 of the finest varieties are the following: Margaret, 

 rosy pink, with a pale blue base; Glory, early, fiery 

 scarlet; Gustavo Dore, rather early, pink; Liberia, 

 early, very dark; Angelina, soft rose; Beatrice, carmine 

 rose; Clara Butt, very fine form, delicate salmon rose; 

 Europe, carmine; La Candeur, white; May Queen, rose 

 and pink; Painted Lady, milky white; Pride of 

 Haarlem is the finest variety of all the Darwins, in 

 my opinion. It has finely formed cerise- scarlet flowers. 

 The Sultan has medium sized flowers of deep velvety 

 black. Another dark variety with finely shaped flowers 

 is Zulu. For a good bright colored early kind there is 

 nothing better than Sieraad Van Flora, color vivid rosy 

 red. There are many more varieties but those men- 

 tioned are the cream of the kinds that have been grown 

 this year. 



When the Darwin tulips are better known they are 

 sure to become favorites with florists for cut flowers. 

 They last for two weeks when cut. They are very ef- 

 fective as border plants, their tall stems and strildng 

 flowers being quite conspicuous. 



To be Continued. 



Roses Under Glass 



AMERICAN BEAUTY 



Many of the large growers have, during the past few 

 years, planted a number of houses as early as February 

 in order to maintain a supply of Beauties all the year 

 round. The majority of growers, however, do not 

 possess a sufficient amount of glass to enable them to 

 adopt this practice, and June usually finds them still 

 hesitating. 



Planting should now be pushed forward as vigorously 

 as possible, so that the young stock may make some 

 headway before the real hot weather commences. 

 Every day of delay now is curtailing the growing sea- 

 son, cutting off, in fact, the best and most active part 

 of it. Beauties should have a long season of growth 

 to develop a stocky, bushy plant, before putting them 

 into crop, if we desire to have them in good bearing 

 shape by the holiday season, when the demand is good 

 and prices fair. 



THE RISKS OF lATli PLANTING 



The fetes, entertainments, etc., attending college 

 commencements often call for large supplies of Beauties 

 and other roses, which is an inducement to defer plant- 



ing for a week or two, under the impression that this is 

 a saving method and that by greater care and attention 

 to the younger stock they may be brought to the same 

 stage of development as those which were planted 

 earlier. Late planted Beauties, however, in order to 

 catch up even in appearance with early planted stock, 

 require more attention and coddling and are usually 

 hustled along at such a rapid rate that the growth is too 

 soft and spongy to enter on the winter with a fair 

 chance to set their buds in time for the best and most 

 remunerative market of the season. 



ESSENTIALITY OF AIR AND WATER 



Too much importance cannot be attached to the 

 proper manipulation of the ventilation. Abrupt changes 

 of temperature should be avoided as much as possible. 

 At the same time, plenty of fresh air day and night, is 

 one of the most important essentials in Beauty grow- 

 ing. If the nights are too cold to admit of this without 

 firing it is a poor system of economy to withhold heat, 

 and this applies not only to the culture of Beauties but 

 to all classes of roses under glass. The Beauty is a 

 rapid grower and a gross feeder. Therefore large 

 supplies of water are necessary to keep the food in an 

 assimilable form. This liberal use of water entails per- 

 sistent cultivation of the soil to keep it sweet and the 

 surface free from cakeing. This should be continued 

 until the roots approach the surface so closely as to 

 make further cultivation injurious. 



INSECTS AND SYRINGING 



Although greenfly are not so troublesome during the 

 summer months, a light fumigating once a week will 

 prevent their gaining a foothold and thus make it 

 easier to keep them in subjection during winter. Eed- 

 spider is very partial to Beauties, and a few days' 

 neglect on the part of the grower to use the syringe is 

 sufficient for this pest to found a colony. Advantage 

 should be taken of every bright day to sj'ringe the 

 young stock, and during hot spells a second syringing 

 during tlie afternoon will be of great benefit, helping to 

 cool the house, recharge the air with moisture, and giv- 

 ing to the foliage that firm, rubbery texture so notice- 

 able in well-handled stock. To be effective syringing 

 must be accompanied by a sufficient force of water to 

 dislodge the spider and break up the web under which 

 the eggs are deposited, and be so directed that the 

 under sides of the leaves receive the full force of the 

 spray. In order to accomplish this without injury to 

 the young sappy shoots tying should be strictly at- 

 tended to. 



THRIPS THE WORST PEST 



Of all the insect pests that infest roses, thrips, per- 

 liaps, do the most damage, and by reason of their small 

 size and wonderful activity are the most difficult to 

 combat. Fumigating wth tobacco — in fact tobacco in 

 any form — has little or no efilect on them. Hydrocyanic 

 acid gas seems to lie the only effective means of de- 

 stroying this pest. But as there have been some losses 

 in connection with this method of fumigating many 

 growers hesitate to adopt it. 



FORMULA FOR HYDROCYANIC 



The following formula is perfectly safe and will not 

 injure the plants : Water one pint, commercial sul- 

 phuric acid one pint, cyanide of potassium 2 1-2 ounces. 

 This quantity is for every 1,500 cubic feet of at- 

 mosphere in the house. The cyanide should be what is 

 known in the chemical trade as "ninety-eight per cent, 

 pure," and can be bought of the local druggist, who 

 should be requested to wrap it in packages of 3 1-3 



