August 30, 1913 



HORTICULTURE 



299 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



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Questions by our readers In line with any of the topics presented on this page will be cordially received and promptly answere** 

 by Mr. Razicka. Such communications should Invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



Side Ventilators in September 



With the air full of cold draughts, it is well to keep 

 the side ventilators closed from uow on, unless of course 

 they are in the hands of the expert who knows how to 

 handle them. These cases are very rare, however, and 

 we find it best to keep the ventilators closed and run no 

 chances. Doors that had been left open during the hot 

 summer months will now be safer if kept closed. Many 

 will say that this is all ""bosh"' but experience has taught 

 us that we may escape harm the nine times, and then get 

 it good and proper the tenth time. A drop of preven- 

 tion is better than a whole gallon of cure. 



Syringing 



With the coming of the fall season, all syringing 

 should be done during the morning hours of the day, if 

 at all possible. Should it be necessary to syringe in the 

 afternoon, take great care to shake the plants well to 

 have the plants well dried oS by night. Lime should 

 never remain unapplied after either syringing or water- 

 ing, as this is essential in helping to maintain a pure 

 dry atmosphere around the bottom of the plants where 

 spot has a habit of establishing itself and gaining a good 

 foothold before it is finally discovered. 



Mulching 



Mulching or top dressing will now be in order and, as 

 the whole season's success depends partly on the way this 

 is done, it pays to be extremely careful to have this done 

 properly. A light dressing of bone meal may be ap- 

 plied to the benches before any of the manure is ap- 

 plied. This should be rubbed into the soil very lightly, 

 so as not to disturb the roots m the very least, for while 

 the plants are making roots the plant itself is not grow- 

 ing. Therefore when you tear up the roots with deep 

 scratching, the plants receive a bad check, from which 

 it will take .some time to recover. This may not be ob- 

 served by every one, yet it is the truth. Do not apply 

 too much bonemeal, or too much manure. Better apply 

 a little at a time, and oftener. We find it best to apply 

 just enough to cover the benches very nicely, and then 



give more as soon as the plants consume the largest part 

 of it, as they soon will if they receive proper treatment 

 and are kept growing all the time. 



Lime 



Never apply any lime to newly mulched benches. The 

 lime thus applied would free a large amount of the am- 

 monia contained in the manure, and would no doubt 

 prove harmful to the plants. To say the least it would 

 not be of any benefit, and as good cow manure is rather 

 expensive, it is not to the good of the grower to waste 

 much of it. Most growers will shrink from buying a 

 new piece of hose that is really needed 'and- would prove 

 a good investment, but will think nothing of a heap of 

 manure exposed to the weather and slowly going to 

 waste. It is surprising how much will go to waste, too, 

 slowly and unnoticed in most cases. 



Using Cracked Ice 



With the more valuable grades of roses and other cut 

 flowers it will be a very good investment to use a little 

 cracked ice in the shipping boxes, being very careful of 

 course to see that no ice comes in contact with the flowers 

 themselves. Apply the ice to the stems of the cut 

 blooms, if you use it. 



Burning of the Foliage After Mulching 



This is chiefly due to the fact that the manure apply is 

 either too hot or too green. As often as we advocate 

 using manure a year old, or at least old enough to be- 

 come well decomposed, we find much manure applied 

 right out of the stable. This of course has to be han- 

 dled just so, or serious harm may result. To be on the 

 safe side it is well to air the houses quite freely right 

 after the mulch is applied. Sometimes the plants are 

 real dry, which is often responsible for the burning of 

 the foliage. We like to have them on the dry side when 

 we mulch, so we can water thoroughly directly after- 

 wards. We generally scrub the houses at the time, this 

 making the air nuith more damp and helping to keep 

 the fumes of the manure from injuring the foliage. 



LANCASTER COUNTY FLORISTS' 

 CLUB. 



Asters, the subject of the last meet- 

 ing, seems to have been a good lead- 

 stone as almost four-fifths of the mem- 

 bers turned out and quite a nice dis- 

 play was made of cut blooms. W. K. 

 Denlinger. of Vintage, Pa., had per- 

 haps the best finished flowers, three 

 varieties of Vick's Royal purple and 

 white and pink Early Branching. John 

 R. Shriner of Greenland Uad an extra 

 fine vase of the Crego type. B. P. 

 Barr exhibited Vick's Violet King and 

 Imperial Giant Purity, also Hohen- 

 zollern rose pink. 



In the discussion which followed, a 

 liquid solution of paris green was rec- 

 ommend'-d as having been successfully 



used for the elimination of the black 

 beetle; the use of an infusion made 

 from quassa chips was also recom- 

 mended. 



The bug that stings the plant and 

 ruins it by stunting seems to be al- 

 most beyond control, some varieties 

 being more susceptible than others. 

 One grower advocated the planting of 

 a row of the variety "Semple" every 

 sixth or eighth row as they seemed 

 especially fond of this variety and 

 would not disturb the others so much 

 if they had these to work on. An- 

 other grower advocated growing them 

 under muslin or canvas the same as 

 seme growers use for tobacco. This 

 method had been tried on a small scale 

 and not only were the bugs kept out, 

 but the quality of the asters was much 

 improved. 



The matter of yellows has given con- 

 siderable trouble in this section and 

 no known remedy has yet been found 

 for this, but the use of low ground 

 is to be avoided and planting continu- 

 ously on the same ground should not 

 be followed. 



Getting seed true to name is an- 

 other problem. One grower said that 

 he bought seed supposed to be Vick's 

 Early Branching and planted about 

 50.000 of them and they were abso- 

 lutely worthless and a total loss, be- 

 ing no more Early Branching than he 

 was a millionaire from money made 

 out of the florists' business. 



The meeting then adjourned to meet 

 September 18th, when carnations and 

 chrysanthemums will be the subject 

 for exhibition and discussion. 



Albekt M. Hkbe, Secretary. 



