December 7, 1918 



H OHT I CULTURE 



353 



J 



Rose Growing 

 Under Glass 



I 



The Christmas Crop 



This coming Christmas is going to be the greatest 

 Christmas in the history of the world and plenty of 

 flowers will be used — more roses than ever. Growers 

 whose plants are well eared for, stocky and able to taiie 

 feed and stand a little forcing, will cut a lot. Care 

 should be taken, however, not to ruin the plants, so as 

 to have something cutting during January and Feb- 

 ruary when roses are naturally scarce and prices often 

 exceed those paid around Christmas. All roses to be in 

 for the holidays should now be showing buds. A little 

 extra feed will help draw up the stems. Liquid ma- 

 nure cannot be beaten for the work. Water well with 

 clear water, then apply the liquid. A little taidcage, 

 bonemeal or l)lood and bone can also be used to good 

 advantage. Phints growing freely will take a light 

 dressing of either every week, using liquid manure 

 about once a week also. Plants must be plenty wet 

 enough at tlie roots when anw feed is applied or they 

 will be crippled at once, and it will be spring before 

 they recover if at all. 



Ventilation 



With coal scarce and liigh it will be necessary to be 

 careful about leaving the vents open, and also about 

 leaving them shut. Boses, to thrive and pay, must 

 have air and although there is such a thing as wasting 

 heat, it is far better to waste a little heat than to be too 

 saving and have the roses suffer from lack of air, with 

 a dose of mildew as a result. Put the ventilating on 

 its winter schedule, and apply more air as soon as the 

 houses reach 64 degTees, or if it had been below "26 de- 

 grees outside and the houses had been closed tight, 

 apply a crack of air at 64 degrees, a little more at 68 

 degrees and more at 72 degrees and then run the houses 

 74 degrees to 76 degrees and even a shade warmer 

 should it be necessary to push this or that house a 

 little harder tlian usual. In the afternoon bring the 

 temperature down gradually, turning in ai pipe of 

 steam when tlie temperature inside drops to 66, and 

 gradually increasing the amount of heat as it is needed. 

 Always have the steam in before the houses are closed 

 down, or put down to a crack, and no matter how cold 

 it may be outside, never should the houses be closed up 

 while tlie sun is still shining. This applies especially to 

 new houses or older liouses in very good condition, as 

 these are very tight and allow little air to get in other 

 than that whicli gets in through tlie ventilators. 



Tying 



Keep up on this at all costs, for roses can be quickly 

 ruined by not being kept tied properly, especially 

 American Beauties which will go blind almost as soon 

 as they are allowed to lip iround the least bit. Spider, 



CONDUCTED BY 



l^CyC^J^yt>c^^^--<^ 



Questions by our readers In Hue with any of the topics pre- 

 sented on this page will be cordially received and promptly 

 answered by l\Ir. Ruzlcka. Such communications should 

 invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



tiio, \\ill surely gain a foothold if the plants are not 

 kejjt straight up, and spot will start on all branches 

 that hang down touching the mulch here and there. 

 Tie them all up, being vej^ careful not to bunch the 

 plants. With Beauties care must be taken to keep them 

 all on the same side of the wires and with Teas tie all 

 shoots just below the second eye from the bottom. If 

 this rule is followed, a great deal of time will be saved 

 in cutting, as no one will have to look around for eyes, 

 merely cutting one eye above the string. Do not put 

 the string around the stake, as is done when tying to 

 wires, for the stakes can never be pulled out without 

 cutting the whole plant loose first, and this would prove 

 a very trying job next July with the thermometer up 

 to 90 in the shade. 



Protect the Boilers 



See that there is enougli asbestos on the boilers and 

 pipes to properly jirotect them from exposure. If the 

 boiler house is too warm it means that a lot of heat is 

 being wasted. This can be easily stopped by covering 

 everything well with asbestos. It is surprising how 

 much more easily steam is kept up afterward. Also 

 examine all mains and see that they are well covered, 

 and high and dry above tlie bottom of the trench, not 

 lying in surface water or else covered with soil. All 

 soil should be removed where it comes in contact with 

 the pipes as this saps the heat a good deal. Paint the 

 pipes where they are in damp quarters and cover them 

 up well. 



Last Call for Repairs 



It is quite cold now to make repairs to glass, etc., but 

 it will soon bei much colder, and snow is now due. Get 

 in the broken glass and do not patch it too much. The 

 amount of cold air that a patched up pane of glass will 

 let in will cost far more to heat than a new pane of 

 glass, and the new glass has to be bought and paid for 

 some time in the near future anyhow. If there are 

 any poor sides in the houses that leak like a sieve, see 

 that they are covered with a good quality of heavy tar 

 paper or light roofing. This will save coal until the 

 walls can be rebuilt. 



Drains 



See that all drains are open and catch basins clean. 

 Unless all drains are properly working water will re- 

 main here and there and cause mischief. All traps 

 should have checks wherever there is danger of water 

 backing up from the sewers. We hapjien to know of a 

 place or two which nearly froze one spring because 

 water came into the cellars faster than it could be got- 

 ten out and rose above the fire boxes and put the fires 

 out. It was never known to happen there before, but 

 then one must be ready for all emergencies. 



