HORTICULTURE 



December 9, 1905 



The American Beauty 



low TO GROW "SPECIALS" AND PLENTY OF THEM. 



As in the culture of any other specialty, so in the suc- 

 cessful growing of American Beauties, condition of soil, 

 differences in climate, etc., have a material bearing upon 

 practice. But there are some general rules that, intelli- 

 gently followed, will do much ' toward insuring good 

 results in all cases. If the roses are young stock we will 

 assume that they have been planted in May or not later 

 than June 15, and, if two-year-old stock, that they have 

 been rested for a period of ten days to two weeks in 

 June. Your stock will have taken good hold of the 

 soil by end tf August, will have thrown up good canes, 

 and by September you are letting a few buds come and 

 if you are cuiJting some fourtcen-inch to two-foot stock 

 by the beginning of October you are doing well, get- 

 ting a large-sized plant, soil full of roots, and looking 

 for feed. 



Now comes the most serious question — namely, how 

 and what and when to feed ? Lots of growers are afraid 

 to feed too early, thinking that the manure and bone 

 meal they put in the soil at planting time has not been 

 eaten up- yet. But that is a mistaken idea. I claim 

 that as soon as you commence to cut roses from plants 

 they w^nt feed. Of course we disbud early in the sea- 

 son. I don't call that "cutting roses" at all as the bud 

 is cut off when it shows color, and before it take any 

 strength away from the plant, but to get back to the feed 

 question, by end of August you have good sized plants 

 big enough to let them run to flower. Then is the time 

 to commence feeding ; weak cow-liquid at first is, I think 

 the best, about once a week, then stronger and oftener 

 but do not overdo it; anyone who watches his stock can 



easily tell by the foliage if feeding too heavy; it tells 

 first almost in every case on that. 



By October your soil has gone down one to two inches 

 in bench, if on raised or solid benches. Now is a good 

 time to give a little top dressing. The way I put this 

 on is a sprinkling of blood and bone or pure bone meal 

 first (and there are many ways of putting on this to get 

 best results), then about one inch of well-rotted cow 

 manure chopped up fine and then a half-inch of good 

 soil on top of this which with careful watering makes a 

 good mulch and at this time that is where you get your 

 large buds and good foliage. Of course when we mulch 

 we manure water only once a week but before the mulch 

 goes on we were manure watering twice a week; that is, 

 on good growing, healthy Beauties one year or older. For 

 tea roses, I say soak the feed to them after beginning to 

 cut flowers in quantity but at all times keep an eye on 

 the foliage to see that you don't overdo it. Good com- 

 mon sense and judgment goes a long way in the produc- 

 tion of good flowers. 



There is another thing to be considered about now. 

 One house or two will not be in very good crop; that is, 

 you are not cutting a quantity of flowers from it. It is 

 good policy, I always find, to let up on the feed of such 

 for a short time until you see them breaking and throw- 

 ing out strong shoots but when roses are showing plenty 

 of bud then is the time they want lots of feeding to 

 keep up their vitality. 



Morton Grove, III. 



British Horticulture 



MESSRS. KELWAY AND SON's PAEONIES 



In recent years the paeony has gradually extended the 

 ■circle of its admirers, and this enhanced popularity is 

 largely due to the improved varieties of merit which 

 Messrs. Kelway and Son, of Langport, Somerset, have 

 sent out. When the firm first directed their attention 

 to this attractive subject there were but few varieties in 

 cultivation. Many years of careful selection and hy- 

 bridization have enabled Messrs. Kelway to produce a 

 comprehensive collection of all shades of tint. From 

 six to a dozen new varieties are brought out each year. 

 The fact that the herbaceous paonies can be grown any- 

 where and with the greatest ease has made them wel- 

 come in most gardens, while they are found suitable 

 either in the villa garden or the spacious plaisance. 

 They show up well singly, in groups, borders, or planted 

 in grass. Among the newer ones are Lady Romilly, 

 flesh tinted; Mrs. Groyn Lewis, white and scented; 

 Lady Curzon, cream colored centre petals, with white 

 guard petals; Mountebank, pink guard petals and 



lemon-colored centre; Moonlight, pure white. Messrs. 

 Kelway's floral triumphs have appeared to advantage in 

 tlie United States. At the Chicago exhibition in 1893 

 they secured a medal and four diplomas, and last year 

 at St. Louis they were awarded a gold medal, besides 

 many awards in Britain. They hold the record as re- 

 gards the number of first-class certificates and awards 

 of merit granted to a British firm for improved hardy 

 perennials. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS FOR MARKET 



Chrysanthemums are a leading feature at the nurser- 

 ies of Messrs. G. Prickett and Sons, of Enfield High- 

 way, near London. On my visit recently I inspected 

 their stock of from 60,000 to 70,000 plants in pots. 

 Immense quantities of bloom are cultivated for the 

 Covent Garden market. The head of the firm is a 

 skilled grower and raiser and for many years has been 

 prominently associated with the National Chrysanthe- 

 mum Society. A high standard of excellence is attained 

 at the nursery. The plan adopted is to receive a good 

 show of medium size blooms. Eigid disbudding is not 

 adopted, the plants being encouraged to develop a 



