November 29, 1913 



HORTICULTURE 



731 



ROSE GROWING VNDBR GLASS 



^ CONDUCTED BT 



Questions by our readers in line with any of the topics presented on this pnge will be cordially received and promptly answered 

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



The Sod Heaps 



This was commented on some time back, yet no doubt 

 there are many places that have not begun to put up 

 any soil for the next season. There may be an early 

 freeze that will put all work with the soil at a stand- 

 still, so if the soil heaps have not been made no time 

 should be lost in putting them up. Good cow manure 

 is the proper thing to lay between the layers of the sod, 

 and where it can be had there is nothing better. Horse 

 manare is too light, and we would not use it unless 

 there was nothing else that could be had. Put a six-inch 

 layer of manure between each two layers of sod which 

 should be about a foot thick. In plowing the field where 

 the sod is to be taken, do not plow very deep, — just deep 

 enough to allow the men to pick up the sod nicely. 

 We would not ad\'ise using loose soil in the heaps, un- 

 less it was necessary to do so. Using sod that is picked 

 up with the fork is the best, and where it is possible to 

 obtain all such, the heap will be a very good rose soil 

 when it is turned over in the spring. We would not rec- 

 ommend mixing any bonemeal into the soil at this time 

 of the year, unless it be the very coarse bone, such as is 

 used extensively by fruit growers under glass. It is 

 bone broken up into pieces about as big as peas, and al- 

 though it is very slow in action you will find the little 

 rose roots wrapped right around it when you take the 

 plants out the following spring. 



Picking Up the Dead Leaves 



There will be some dead leaves around the plants even 

 in the best cared-for liouses, and to prevent disease and 

 insects keep these picked up and keep everything nice 

 and clean. Do not syringe them under the bench as is 

 the custom with many, but pick them up and burn them 

 as soon as possible after each syringing. The walks 

 should be swept up clean, too, this helping to do away 

 with large numbers of red spider and greenfly, for if 

 there are any present in the house, some of them will 

 come down with syringing, and there is no safer way 

 to dispose of them than to burn them. Of course in the 

 houses that are kept clean there will be very few, but 

 even then there is likely to be one here and there. 

 Better destroy it right there, so that it will not have a 

 chance to breed its thousands of sons and daughters. 



The Christmas Crop 



With Christmas only a little way ofiF, growers will be 

 looking forward to the time when all the cut flowers are 

 a little higher in price than at any other time of the 



year. The Beauties will at times come in for Christmas 

 and the growers who have a nice promising house of 

 these will realize a good profit. All buds that will be 

 fit to cut on Christmas will be well formed now, or 

 should be well formed, or they may be too late. It will 

 not be advisable to run the houses warmer to bring them 

 into bloom. It is better to miss the Christmas prices 

 and have plenty of stuff during January and February, 

 when the prices are equally as high, and sometimes 

 higher, and far more steady. Let us hope there will 

 be no blizzard to paralyze the trade, and that the 

 business will be good. 



Heavy Wrapping Paper 



The prices that flowers will bring, will be too high 

 to risk any frozen flowers so have plenty of heavy paper 

 on hand, and as soon as the weather gets so cold that 

 it will not be safe to ship the flowers the ordinary way, 

 wrap up the boxes with the heavy paper on the outside. 

 This will do wonders in keeping the frost out, as one 

 sheet of good paper on the outside of the box will do the 

 work of two sheets on the inside. Put plenty of paper 

 on the inside of the box, too, for this is very important. 

 As a rule newspaper can be bought very cheap, and to 

 use it is no extra labor, so do not be afraid to use plenty 

 of it. 



Liquid Manure 



As it now looks, we can safely say that the cold 

 weather will prevail and it will not be harming the 

 plants to use a little of liquid manure every now and 

 then, using it quite weak to begin with, and gradually 

 increasing the strength until it is as thick as it will 

 run through the pipes. At times manure water is used 

 much earlier in the season and where the plants can 

 take it, it is very well to do so, giving the plants all they 

 will take. As a rule, however, we seldom use it until 

 after the turn of the year, in the Beauty houses, unless 

 the weather is cold enough before the new year. In ap- 

 plying, make sure that the plants arc wet enough, as it 

 may damage them somewhat to water them with the 

 manure water when they are on the dry side. Not that 

 they have to be soaking wet, but wet enough so that the 

 roots will not make a liurried grasp on the water as it 

 leaves the hose. Good cow manure is the best thing to. 

 use for the makinir of liquid as it contains all tlie neces- 

 sary elements, in aliout the right proportions. Where 

 it can not be had there are various substitutes that will 

 have to be compounded to make up as nearly as possi- 

 ble the same liquid that cow manure would make. 



