July 20, 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



55 



Rose Growing 

 Under Glass 



Planting 



Do not delay planting in any way now, as all young 

 plants must be in by the first of August in order to get 

 established before the short days of the winter hit them. 

 A poorly rooted plant will never grow, and it will take 

 some time for the plants to root in properly. The 

 weather has been ideally cool, even if a little wet, giv- 

 ing growers an excellent chance to hustle the planting 

 along. Hot weather may start in almost any time, 

 greatly hindering the work of replanting. Get it done 

 now 



Soil 



The later the planting is done the more carefully 

 should soil be selected, and if it has been put up since 

 last fall care should be taken to have it well prepared for 

 the benches. This is one job that it will not pay to 

 scrimp on, as we are bound to do here and there with 

 shortage of help on all sides. Have the soil well chopped 

 and thoroughly mixed with manure. If the soil has 

 been piled up without any manure in it try and add at 

 least some real old manure which seems to contain the 

 right kind of bacteria to put the soil right, and these 

 are lacking in fresh manure. Plants will do much better 

 in soil like this than they will in soil with a lot of fresh 

 manure in it only. Use cow manure, even if it will cost 

 two or three times as much. After some experience with 

 horse manure as a substitute, we like the cow manure 

 better, especially for American Beauties. Aim to have the 

 manure well distributed so that there wiU be no patches 

 of extra rich soil and some of very poor soil after the 

 benches are aU filled. Proper care taken when cutting 

 the sod before it is taken in will take care of all this. 

 Try and turn the soil over twice, especially if it is rough 

 and coarse. It will save a whole lot of extra work and 

 worry when it comes to scratching up the benches, even 

 if it does take another day of precious time before it 

 can be wheeled in. By keeping the rain ofE the heaps 

 by means of canvas covers, or straw, the soil should not 

 be too wet and ought to be quite easy to work. \\Tien 

 cutting the soil, see that the men cut all the way down 

 in a straight line. Men like to dig under the heap and 

 let it fall over but this is a lazy man's way and soil thus 

 handled will never be in the shape it should. 



Bonemeal 



Use plenty of bonemeal in the soil at planting time, 

 especially when you expect to run the plants longer than 

 one season. Add it to the sod when the latter is turned 



^ . CONl 



CONDCCTED BY 



Questions by our readers in line witli any of the topics pre- 

 sented on this page will be cordially received and promptly 

 answered by Mr. Ruzicka. Such communications should 

 invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



over the seeoiul time. Then let it lie for two days at 

 least, and the chances are it will heat a little, thus doing 

 away with a whole lot of weed seed which seem to enjoy 

 getting right in where they are least wanted, and getting 

 real busy at the very first opportunity. See that this 

 is put in evenly all through the pile, so that all plants 

 have an equal chance at it. They will find it fast 

 enough, so see that it is there, all over for them to find. 

 In buying look for quality always and only never mind 

 the price. You may be able to buy some bone which is 

 the dust from a knife handle factory, and this of course 

 differs from the bone which is made only from raw bone 

 from butcher shops aaid packing plants. The latter of 

 course is the one to use, as the former is nowhere near as 

 good. Xever buy bone by price only, as it is an ex- 

 pensive way to do. 



Depth of Soil in Benches 



The later the plants are put in the less soil should be 

 used which should not be over four inches even in the 

 early planted houses. There is nothing to gain with 

 deep soil for roses. Not only does it take much more 

 work to wheel in that much more soil and then wheel 

 it out again in the future, but it makes it very hard to 

 control the plants in the winter time when the days are 

 dark and short. Three inches of soil is plenty for any 

 rose we know now forced in the greenhouses, and this 

 means about four inches of rough soil when the benches 

 are filled. Level the benches well before they are filled 

 so that they will not be much deeper in some places than 

 they are in others, and then be very careful to level off 

 the soil well. It is best to have a man right there, two 

 men rather, one on each side of the bench, and have 

 them level the soil as it is brought in. A little experience 

 in this line will soon enable the men to make a real good 

 job of leveling, and that is what is necessarj'; no half 

 wav work on this point. The coarser pieces of sod 

 should be kept moving fonvard all the time so that they 

 will get into the bottom of the bench, possibly over 

 some space between the boards where the men were a 

 little too generous when the bench was built and drain- 

 age provided. 



Tying 



Houses that have been planted earlier in the season 

 will have to be tied up now. if this work has not been 

 done as yet. It will do the plants good to lie around a 

 little after planting, especially Beauties, but it should 

 not be overdone, or spider and spot are likely to set in, 

 and we know only too well what a combination they 

 make. Put Beauties on wires and on wires only, using 



