102 



H R T I C U L T U E E 



July 26, 1913 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



, CONDUCTED BY 



Questions ^.^u^r^reaeers^ln ^H^f^^^^^^^^^^l^^t^^^Zr^^, ^^ \l ^^o'^ oTio^RVlfcS*^ ""^""^ 



Roses for Flowering Outside 



Our Killarneys, Eadiauce, etc., planted outside for 

 flowering during the summer months are fairly oS crop 

 now. It is better thus, as that insures a nice crop for 

 the fall, for which the plants should be prepared now. 

 Cut off all the old blossomed-out flower stubs and trim 

 the plants out a little wherever it may be necessary. 

 Then hoe the plants well, making sure you get all the 

 weeds. After that it is advisable to apply a good dressing 

 of bonemeal, followed by a mulch of manure. If 

 manure is not to be had, let it be a mulch of any coarse 

 material that may be easy and cheap to get. Marsh hay 

 is as good as anything, no doubt better as it is much 

 cleaner, and the wind does not bother it so much. Ap- 

 ply as much water as the plants will take, and you will 

 be surprised at the quantity and quality of the flowers 

 you will receive for your trouble. 



Mulching 



Some of the early-planted houses, and ^benches that 

 have been run over for another year, will do much better 

 if mulched very lightly. Not so much to feed the plants, 

 but to keep the soil in the benches cool, and thus protect 

 the fine little rootlets that the plants are busy sending 

 out in search of food and moisture. These new roots 

 are very tender, and the direct heat of the sun's rays on 

 the soil in the bench will kill a large number, especially 

 if the soil should be allowed to become ^iust dry acci- 

 dentally as is bound to happen even with the good care 

 that is given the plants. We find it the best to keep the 

 plants continually growing, especially Beauties, although 

 we would never advise forcing them in the least, as this 

 would make them less vigorous for the next winter, when 

 it will be necessary to force them. It is well to remem- 

 ber that if the plants are checked, once, it will take a 

 long time for them to recover. It is very likely that 

 the plants would never fully recover. 



Disbudding 



A very- important item that must not be overlooked at 

 this time of the year (or any other time for that matter) 

 is disbudding — with Beauties more so than with other 

 varieties, for if the buds are not pinched out in time, 

 and are allowed to grow and open on the plants, it means 

 just so much energy absolutely wasted. To prove this to 

 yourself, take two buds just forming, pinch one out and 

 let the other grow and open, and fall off and then cut 

 the stub away. You will soon see which plant will be 

 further advanced, whether the one disbudded in time or 

 one allowed to form a bud and bloom out. In disbud- 

 ding Beauties take all the buds with two leaves, or to 

 speak plainer take the tip of the shoot with the bud, 

 down to a good eye. This will insure a good strong 

 break, which otherwise would no doubt be of a weak 

 nature. Right here is another little point not to be 

 overlooked. Do not pinch out the bud too close to the 

 eye that is to be the coming break. If the shoot is too 

 close, the break will come very weak and will not amount 

 to much. Another important part in disbudding Beau- 



ties is to be sure and remove all surplus breaks from the 

 bottom. "Four breaks to a plant are all that are needed, 

 and all that will be necessary to insure a good stand of 

 growth. Strong vigorous plants, planted in good soil 

 have a habit of breaking from every eye from bottom to 

 the top. As soon as a bud is pinched out all these breaks 

 should be removed save two on top, selecting the two 

 strongest and most promising ones. All this work must 

 be done as soon as the shoots begin to show, for if they 

 are allowed to remain even a little while, they take con- 

 .siderable strength from the plant, which would otherwise 

 all run into the two shoots proper, giving them the ben- 

 efit of all the energy the root can send up, which amounts 

 to a good deal, for the roots are very busy little bodies 

 and it is surprising what wonderful work they will do if 

 given half a chance. 



This all seems like an extra large amount of work, 

 and many will say it is all "hosh" or "rot" or some of 

 the terms which written articles are called by the differ- 

 ent critics, but we have proven that it pays, as the num- 

 ber of special Beauties cut from one plant well cared 

 for was over five besides all the shorter stuff, and the 

 total cut from plants allowed to grow as they will, was 

 little over two specials per plants. A great contrast 

 indeed. 



Distance for Beauties 



Many may have shook their heads when we spoke of 

 planting American Beauties two feet apart in the rows 

 . on the benches, the rows being eleven inches apart. And 

 yet we found the plants so planted cut fully as many 

 roses as those set nearer together, and if there was a 

 difference it was in favor of plants spread out more. 

 However the house so planted looks skimpy for a while 

 and we think twenty inches is the proper distance for 

 Beauties. At any rate there is absolutely nothing in 

 crowding the plants, as the more they are crowded the 

 less flowers will they produce, and the more difficult it 

 will be to care for them properly. This applies espe- 

 cially to syringing the plants, for the closer they are 

 together the harder it will be to keep them clean. 



Good Management 



It is surprising the number of places that are being 

 run at a tremendous expense, all because of a little out- 

 lay that would be necessary to put the place into some 

 sort of a shape so it could be handled with the least 

 expense. "Those happy-go-lucky days are over and the 

 grower who will receive good returns on his investment 

 will be the one that keeps pace with times and does away 

 with all the old-fashioned narrow zigzag houses that still 

 exist here and there. The price paid for operating these 

 old houses for five years would almost build an equal 

 area, of up-to-date large house construction, that would 

 brinff double the interest on the investment, compared 

 to the old tumble-down houses. There is proof enough 

 in the fact that new men starting out for themselves with 

 one new large greenhouse, rapidly grow to own a nice 

 establishment, where the man who has been at it for 



