(iOO 



HORTICULTURE 



November 1. 19:3 



PROPAGATING ROSES GROWN 

 OUTSIDE. 



Mr. Ruzicka: 



De:ir Sir: — I would like to ask you the 

 Iiest plan to propai.':ite Wm. R. Sinitb. tbe 

 Cochots and K. A. Victoria which have 

 been grown out in the open ail summer 

 for cut flowers. We want to take them 

 up and heel them in but want to use the 

 wood for propagating. They have had 

 two or tliree frosts. I am very much in- 

 terested in your articles in HOUTICUL- 

 TrKK. Respectfully, 



J. S. L. 



Hartford City. lud. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM OCONTO. 



In reply to query from Mr. L., would 

 state that we find the wood from 

 roses growing outside for summer 

 flowering too hard as a rule to propa- 

 gate well and root freely. We would 

 prefer to lift the plants and plant 

 them in a bench in the rose house if 

 none of the varieties that are wanted 

 are grown inside. Should there be no 

 rose houses on the place, it will be 

 much cheaper to buy the required 

 number of plants, unless a very large 

 number are wanted, for to propagate 

 roses succes -fully one has to have 

 very little of other things to attend 

 to. If the roses mentioned have been 

 watered frequently, and the wood is 

 not too hard then we would proceed 

 the same as we would with the regu- 

 lar greenhouse types. As Mr. L. men- 

 tions that the roses in question have 

 had one or two frosts we are afraid 

 the wood is too hard to root readily. 

 and a much better plan will be as 

 suggested. These plants do not have 

 to be allowed to flower, and will pro- 

 duce far more wood if all the buds are 

 pinched. Cuttings taken before the 

 first day of the year will form veiy 

 nice plants for jjlanting out in the 

 spring. Should the first two have 

 plenty of long shoots, these can be 

 cut up into regular cuttings, heeled in, 

 or better still buried in ground that 

 is well drained, and set out next 

 spring. If however the ground where 

 these are set cannot be irrigated, they 

 will not do very well, and cannot be 

 relied on to produce the necessary 

 plants for the coming year. 



A. Ruzicka. 



THE WATER REQUIREMENT OF 

 PLANTS. 

 A review of the literature on the 

 water requirement of plants, Bulletin 

 285 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, in its 

 96 pages, supplies an extended biblio- 

 graphy of the subject and presents 

 the results of the leading experiments. 

 Among the topics considered are the 

 effect of soil moisture content, soil 

 type, cultivation, soil mass, fertilizers, 

 previous crops, soil temperature, air 

 temperatures, shade, air humidity, 

 carbon dioxide content of the air, para- 

 sites, the relative leaf area, frequent 

 cutting, defoliation, amount of growth 

 or number of plants per unit of soil 

 mass, and the bearing of the age of 

 the plant on its water requirement. 



In addition, there is a consideration 

 of the water requirement of different 

 kinds of plants, and the determination 

 of water requirement of crops under 

 field conditions. 



The bulletin is the work of Dr. 

 Lyman J. liriggs, Biophysicist, and 

 Dr. H. L. Shantz, Plant Physiologist, 

 Bureau of Plant Industry. U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture. 



This is one of Elmer D. Smith & 

 Co.'s seedling novelties which was cer- 

 tificated at Cincinnati on October 18th. 

 Oconto is a white Japanese Incurved 

 of large size with strong ridged stem 



NEW HAMPSHIRE TOILS AND PAS- 

 TIMES. 

 The following letter just received 

 from Vernon T. Sherwood, formerly of 

 Boston, but now located at Charles- 

 town, X. H., will, we think, interest 

 and entertain many of our readers and 

 so not wishing to appear selfish we 

 l)ass it around without even asking 

 Mr. Sherwood's permission: 



I-'riend Stewart: — 



.lust a few n<)tes for old-time sake. Dur- 

 ing a drive from hero to Clareniont. eight 

 miles north of here, I calloil upon Stevens. 

 1 he oul.v florist, w;m runs about 10.000 feet 

 of glass. He was enlarging a recently 

 built greenhouse, trying to keep up with 

 the dem;ind for flowers v.hli-h Increasi's 

 very rapidlv. Carnations are the leading 

 feature, and he had a nice block of cbrys- 

 .inllicmnms just coming into flower. 



('l.-ircmonl is a rapidly growing New 

 l^ngland town: th-' Sullivan Machine Com- 

 pany .-ire doubling their facilities and it is 

 the shopping center for miles arouml. 



Tellows I'";ills. on the Vermont side of 

 the Connecticut river, has (Jeo. Halliday. 

 the florist. 'I'iiis young num. althougli es- 

 tablished just more than a decade, Is thor- 

 iiuglily np to-date in every way. He lias 

 a modern gn'eiihonsc. iron-frame construc- 

 tion, erected last vear as an addition to 

 tiis older houses at present rtlled with car- 

 nations and chrysanthemums, lilies and 

 I'riniula oticonlca. The land is planted to 

 choice fruits. iieach"s and ap|)le trees chief- 

 ly, liiw heaib-.l and well kept. .Mr. Halli- 

 day has taken first prizes for his fruit in 

 !t<»ston and is well known for miles around 

 as a first cl.ass fruit grower. Naturally 

 Mr. H-iUlday believes In spraying, in con- 

 trast to a cider maker wlm owns a large 

 (prcdiard and says it does not pay to spra.A'. 

 altliongh he does burn out the tent cater 

 pillar. There are some who nniintaln thai 

 the russet apple makes the best <'ider, and 

 perhaps it does; but the russet has less 



and perfect foliage like IKiuatello. 

 This will be a companion for Chryso- 

 lora, coming into perfection October 

 liith. Height 4 ft.; best bud August 

 30th. 



Juice than many, and therefore it takes 

 nn>re to make :) gallon. 



T.overs of t)niar and followers of Isaac 

 Walton wtinld do well to sojourn here for 

 a few da.^'s near this cider mill, for there 

 is a pond teeming with perch and Imrn- 

 Iiout and last year's cider as clear as crys- 

 tal, is a t!iii:g for city folks to dwell upon; 

 to par.iphr.'ise Omar — "a Jug of cider, a 

 loaf of bread, and with thee 1 could he 

 happy for ever." 



What think you of cypress bars forty 

 .vears olil ami still sound excei>t for the 

 ends on the w;tll plate V We pulled down 

 our graiM'ry this autumn and rebuilt, ptit- 

 ting in Hi X 24 glass; pulled out an old 

 flue and reln>aled with a Illtchings boiler 

 in another house; repainted everything — 

 residence, farm buildings, greenhouses and 

 fences. 



Now for a coon hunt, during the still 

 hotir? of the night, climbing up a nearby 

 tree and shooting the cixm ; then the most 

 Infernal rack<'t. as the dog grabs the coon, 

 or the coon grabs the dog. In which case 

 it sometimes becomes advisable to club the 

 coon to death. 



Well, frieii';, I have rambled a little, hut 

 it is the nearest approach to a talk across 

 the table at Locke's, and I hope that you 

 will get as intich pleasure out of it as I do. 



WINTERING BAY TREES. 



Editor of HOKTICI'LTC KIC: 



Please inform a subsi-rlber the best wa.v 

 to winter Hay Trees in tubs, and also the 

 most practical way. — II. F. 



l-'all lilver. Mass. 



We keep in a cool shed with light 

 on south side of same at 40 to 46 de- 

 grees Fahrenheit. A place cool and 

 moist, they like best. A cellar will 

 give about the same conditions. Tem- 

 perature would do with air and light. 

 H. H. Bartsch. 



Waverley, Mass. 



