224 



HORTICULTURE 



February 23, 1907 



The Deciduous Calanthes 



now THEY ARE GUOWN IN THE GREENHOUSES OF 

 6. -M. "VVHITIN, WHITTNSVII.T.E, MASS. 



As the flower spikes are cut the pots are placed 

 beneath the bench where it is light and dry but where 

 there are no hot water pipes and the temperature runs 

 about 60 degrees and they are kept here until the growth 

 starts. The bulbs are then shaken out of the soil, the 

 TOots cut off close to the bulbs, the bulbs set in shallow 

 boxes partly filled with sand and the boxes set on the 

 benches well up to the glass, the glass having been first 

 lightly shaded. The boxes of sand are kept always 

 moist. The roots soon start, and when these are about 

 an inch long the plants are potted in their flowering 

 pots. 



The potting material is rotted sod with the fine soil 

 sifted out; a little spent cow manure or leaf soil is 

 added, with a little sand and bone meal which has been 

 damped for two weeks or more well mixed in. I fill 

 the pots about two-thirds with crocks, filling with com- 

 post up close to the rim, being sure to make it firm, 

 then making a depression to set the bulb in, being care- 

 ful not to injure the roots but pressing the soil firm 

 around the bulbs and using a small stake to steady them 

 until they take root, after which the tie is cut and the 

 £take taken away. 



When the bulbs are potted they are watered; then 

 they are looked over every morning and if any plant 

 seems dry it is watered and every bright morning the 

 plants are syringed until they commence to flower, 

 when the syringing is stopped, but the watering is kept 

 up as long as the foliage is green. When the young 

 bulbs commence to swell we give them liquid manure 

 until part of the flowers are open. 



Wlien the weather becomes warm we put up a cloth 

 shading on rollers, which is let down when the sun is 

 bright until about October flrst, when the shading on 

 the glass answers. 



To liave good bulbs we must have good foliage ; good 

 bulbs mean strong spikes and good flowers. In making 

 the manure water we use hen manure, bone meal, soot 

 and sheep manure in equal parts. 



Calanthes like a warm liouse to grow in ; they do best 

 at 70 degrees at night, but we cannot keep it so warm 

 in spring and fall ; GO at night in the spring is all we 

 can do, but in summer we run it up to 70. Taking 

 the solid bottom out of the bench and putting in a slat 

 bottom so the heat from the pipes comes direct on the 

 plants helps greatly when the house is cool. 



Calanthe Veitchii or Veitchii superba, if it can be 

 gotten, and vestita luteo-oculata, are the two best to be- 

 gin with; grow them one bulb to a pot, using 4, 5 or 6- 

 inch pots, according to the size of the bulbs. 



Roses Under Glass 



II. 



Careful selection of wood is a very important factor 

 in successful propagation, the most experienced men 

 usually being delegated to this task. As the future 

 constitution of the plant depends largely upon the char- 

 acter of the wood selected, it is essential that in order 

 to maintain a continuous growth of healthy, vigorous 

 stock, we take only the most suitable wood, passing by 

 all weak and sprawly stems, rejecting that which shows 

 signs of reduced vitality, and cutting wood which is in 

 a half-ripened condition from the healthy, strong grow- 

 ing plants. 



Considerable difference of opinion prevails as to 

 whether '"blind" wood, or flowering stems make the best 

 cuttings; some favor the flowering stems, others are 

 just as strongly in favor of good blind wood, claiming 

 that the after treatment of the cutting is of greater im- 

 portance. We must also take into consideration the ex- 

 pense attending propagating from flowering stems. 

 Few growers would care to denude their plants of buds 

 when, by reason of the dark, short days which prevail 

 at this season, roses are scarce and command good 

 prices. 



The cutting table should never be piled up with 

 wood; it is far safer to take off a small quantity at a 

 time and keep it well moistened during the process of 

 making it into cuttings. 



CUTTINGS. 



Opinions regarding the style of cuttings are almost 

 as numerous as are the growers, some consistently ad- 

 vocating one eye, while others as earnestly advise two 

 and three eyes. For Beauty, Richmond, and varieties 

 from which bottom canes are desirable, the three-eyed 

 cutting seems to be most generally used. Some growers 

 condemn this practice, but others who have tried it 

 with success are content to stand by it. 



In making the cutting use a sharp knife and cut 

 clean and short; not a long slicing cut, but one almost 

 straight across, as tlie smaller the wound the quicker 

 will be the healing process and more uniform the ar- 

 rangement of the young roots. The cuttings should not 

 be allowed to remain long on the table in an exposed 

 condition, hut as soon as possible after being made 

 should be placed in the sand. To perform this opera- 

 tion a rather thick bladed knife i? necessary; with this 

 draw a line straight across the sand, making the cut 

 about two inches in depth; tliis brings the base of the 

 cutting about midway between the surface and t!ie bot- 

 tom of the sand, thus securing a uniform amount of 

 heat and moisture where these essentials are least liable 

 to fluctuation. 



The cuttings should then be put in about ,in inch 

 apart, taking care that each cutting reaches the bottom 

 of the cut; press the sand down firmly around them 

 and proceed with other lines, leaving a space of two or 

 two and a half inclies between each row. Beauties, on 

 account of their heavy foliage, require more room. 

 Water them thoroughly and shade carefully. Shading 

 is not meant to exclude the light, but to protect tlie cut- 

 tings from the direct rays of the sun, and should l)e re- 

 moved as soon as the sun ceases to shine on the bench. 



A good way to arrange the shade cloth is to loop it 

 on to a wire stretched full length of bench and fastened 

 to the sash bars, posts, or whatever is most convenient, 

 allowing it to hang down so that the lower edge of cloth 



