November 18, 1905 



HORTICULTURE 



527 



Rose Growing in California 



Some years ago the present president and general 

 manager of the California Kose Company went to Los 

 Angeles and as an experiment started selling a general 

 line of ornamentals through solicitors throughout the 

 Pacific coast and southwest; it took but a few months 

 to demonstrate the fact that roses were what the people 

 wanted — sales running probably 90 per cent, to roses. 

 Good field-grown stock of good varieties suitable for 

 shipping could not be obtained, however, in commercial 

 quantities and it was found necessary to go ahead and 

 produce before much could be accomplished in a satis- 

 factory trade, — satisfactory to the seller as well as 

 buyer. Thus the California Rose Company was organ- 

 ized — it being probably the only exclusive rose poncei'ii 



laigcoi !~Unk ,ind pii)l)<il)l\ hi.>,t assoitment ot e\i i- 

 blooming roses jn the country, a large stuck uf the liv- 

 brid perpetuals are also grown. All roses are grown on 

 own roots exclusively. 



Planting in the field is done any time from December 

 to April of each year. Most of the propagating is done 

 during the summer and fall, — the wood being taken 

 from the plants in the field which are in bloom; cut- 

 tings being rooted under glass in frames out of doors; 

 horse manure being used instead of steam pipes. After 

 cuttings are well rooted and established, no further pro- 

 tection is given them and after being transplanted apd 

 established they go into the field to remain until dug for 

 market. Digging is done from December to February. 

 Roses here retain their foliage and bloom through en- 

 tire year; stock is hardened off by withholding the 

 water; as no rain is had from spring until winter, con- 



ditions are entirely under the grower's control and stock 

 can be pushed as conditions warrant or hardened off at 

 will any time during the fall. 



A great advantage obtained here in propagating 

 work is that they have sunshine — bright weather — prac- 

 tically all the time ; a propagator can readily appreciate 

 what this means. This should be an ideal spot for the 

 rose specialist — one capable of doing something good in 

 crossing, hybridizing, etc., and while so far as Icnown 

 such a man has not yet appeared, it is to be hoped that 

 the right man will soon step into the field and demon- 

 strate what can be accomplished. Many of the good 

 varieties throw good seed pods which seldom do so either 

 under glass or out of doors in the east. 



Why go to Holland for roses when we can turn out 

 better stock at home — stock which is actually of better 

 value for the consumer — the man with a garden? 



The Neighborhood House 



Hartford, Conn., Nov. 8, 1905. 

 P^ditor of Horticulture: 



There was dedicated on Nov. 7 in the village of Wea- 

 togue, in the town of Simsbury, a "Neighborhood 

 House," the first, I think, in the New England States, 

 although there may be others. The "Neighborhood 

 House' has liad rapid, strong and desirable growth in 

 Chicago during the last three years, and is being de- 

 veloped in other cities. These houses are much like 

 neighborhood club rooms, with all the conveniences of 

 the club, only that they have no selected class of mem- 

 bership, but are open to all who happen to live in the 

 neighborhood. The expenses are paid by the Park De- 

 partment. They are open the year around and every 

 day in the year. Their success has been phenomenal. 

 Their appreciation and use by the people exceeds all ex- 

 pectation. It is a movement to make the Park Depart- 

 ment more useful to the people in the larger cities. 

 There does not seem to be any logical reason why a sim- 

 ilar house in a small country neighborhood should not 

 be equally helpful, and now it has come to the little 

 village of Weatogue. It came as a gift from Miss An- 

 toinette R. Phelps of Plartford, who gave her ancestral 

 home. This house is of the old style, built over a cen- 

 tury ago, three stories high; a delightful old colonial 

 home. The lower floor has been rearranged with an 

 assembly room that will seat one hundred, kitchen, 

 pantry, reception rooms, etc. Above the first floor are 

 eleven rooms, some of which are to be occupied by a 

 caretaker, the remainder by the public. The house will 

 be kept open day and evening for the use of the 

 neighborhood. 



There seems to be a movement throughout this coun- 

 try for the establishment of those things which the peo- 

 ple will use as a community, and this, perhaps, is a be- 

 ginning of what may be an extensive movement in New 

 England. Therefore, I think it well to record the open- 

 ing of this "Neighborhood House" in the town of Sims- 

 bury in your paper of wide circulation. There are many 

 neighborhood halls and club rooms for periodical or 

 occasional use in these States, but a "Neighborhood 

 House" with the latchstring always out, controlled by 

 the neighborhood as a whole and not by any sect or asso- 

 ciation, I believe is an innovation in. our country towns 

 and to be a milestone in our upward progress. 



4.a vU^ 



