December 13, 1913 



HORTICULTUBE 



807 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDCCTKD BY 



i/u(lyny(^-^/u<^J''~<y^ 



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

 by Mr. Ruzicka. Such communications should invariably be addressed to the office of HOETICULTURE. 



The Xmas Retail Trade 



On many rose-growing jDlaces there are prospects of a 

 good retail trade which can be handled to good advan- 

 tage by the grower?. Have some nice cut flower boxes 

 on hand as these appeal to the lady buyers, and do not 

 make the mistake so often made, of wrapping the boxes 

 on the outside with ordinary paper. This makes the cut 

 flower box resemble a shoe box, which is not nice, and 

 is no advertisement for the place and for the trade in 

 general. As business will teach us, we must never lose 

 an opportunity to advertise, even though it will not 

 benefit us directly. If we can create a greater demand 

 ' for flowers we should do so, for we shall be benefited by 

 it in the long run. Do not try to ring in any inferior 

 stock, as it will come back to you in the form of lost 

 business in the future. Have all orders filled with the 

 best possible stock, all fresh cut, that will give the buy- 

 ers satisfaction. Where shipments are to go by express 

 for any distance it is a wise plan to tie the roses to keep 

 them from sliding around and breaking. Use good 

 strong boxes so that there will be no danger of their 

 being crushed, when the express companies pile other 

 boxes on top of them. We have heard of one place that 

 certainly had the goods, but, as one person remarked, 

 their way of packing was so imperfect that it was use- 

 less to have anything shipped from there. 



Greens With the Flowers 



Always arrange the price of the flowers so that you 

 will be paid for the green that you are asked to give 

 with the cut roses. We find that people hate to pay 

 extra for the greens, yet do not mind to pay a little more 

 for the flowers themselves, if plenty of green is included 

 in the price of the flowers. Try to have a good supply 

 on hand at all times, as it is a gi'eat asset to retail trade. 

 Plant all the nooks and corners where roses will not 

 grow, and you are bound to have enough to last all 

 through the season. It should be started as early in the 

 summer as possible so that it will make plenty of gi-owth 

 before the cold weather sets in, after which it can just 

 sit still, and be cut as needed. This will make very good 

 green, too, for it will be much better than that which is 

 not quite full grown. It is well to have a little of each 

 asparagus, and some smilax. If you have the time and 

 space put in a little of paper whites and other bulbs, the 

 blooms of which will help very greatly to fill your retail 

 orders, and can be used very nicely in making up designs. 



Plants as a Side Line 



Where the retail trade is handled at all, there is 

 always an opportunity to sell a good many plants that 

 can easily be grown in some of the cross houses that are 

 hardly fit for anything else. It is surprising what a 

 large number of different plants can be gi'own good 

 enough to be sold, and at a good profit. Do not handle 



•the very delicate plants as they will not prove satisfac- 

 tory to the buyers who have a hot reading-room to keep 

 them in. Better have only the plants that will stand 

 all the misuse that they may be expected to encounter. 



Care of Shaded Houses 



Every now and then there will be a house on the 

 place that is shaded by some other house, and necessar- 

 ily will require a little different treatment than the other 

 h(;uses are receiving. The main thing will be proper 

 watering, for the house will not dry out as well as the 

 other houses, and will therefore take less water, and 

 more carefully applied. Such houses should receive 

 much less soil than any of the others, for if the benches 

 are filled up full of soil, more trouble will be on hand. 

 Syringe such a house the first thing, so that it will be 

 drying off when the other houses are being syringed. 

 Before watering make sure of the condition of the soil 

 before you apply any quantity of the water. At times 

 the soil will appear a little dry at the surface, where it 

 will be real wet down in the bottom. At times it is just 

 the reverse, and the soil will be real dry in the bottom of 

 the bench, while the surface will seem quite wet. Do 

 not let the soil get sour before you apply lime to the 

 benches, for in a house that is shaded the soil will turn 

 sour very easily, as the purifying rays of the sun will 

 not reach it enough to help keep it in good shape. 



Soot 



AVliere there is a house that is just full of buds almost 

 ready to show color, nothing will turn better color into 

 the flowers than a little soot, that can be scattered over 

 the benches before watering. The amount applied 

 should not be excessive, as the soot is very strong and 

 may damage .some of the foliage somewhat. Apply just 

 enough to blacken the surface of the soil in the benches, 

 and let it go at that. Better a little oftener than too 

 much all at once. 



The Inventory 



The new year will soon be here, and with it will come 

 more problems. Although the books on a rose-growing 

 place will close in July, still there is nothing better than- 

 to make an inventory on the first of the year, and if 

 one had been made the year previous, you can soon tell 

 where this and that went, or at least know that it is 

 missing. On a place where the inventory was a mys- 

 tery, it was made when a new manager blew in, and the 

 men who had always worked on the place were very 

 much surprised at the amount of junk that had been 

 lying around, and was never of any use. This was 

 cleaned out, and at once the place looked more pros- 

 perous, as compared to the tumble down place that it 

 appeared to be only a little time before. Get at it and 

 make an inventory, and find out just what is there and 

 what is not. 



