754 



HORTICULTURB 



November 28, 1914 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



COXDJJCTED BY 



(iS(^y^cJ^-<^ 



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

 by Mr. Ruzlcka. Such communications should invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTUBK. 



Trouble With Mrs. Aaron Ward 

 Dear Sir: 



I am sending you a piece of Mrs. Aaron Ward plant ask- 

 ing you if you will kindly inform me what is wrong with 

 them. The stems do not get over four or five inches long. 

 We also grow Killarney Brilliant, Double White Killarney, 

 American Beauty, Richmond and Hadley, in the same 

 house. The leaves seem to turn yellow and drop quite 

 freely on all the varieties except the Hadley. These are 

 doing fairly good, only the buds do not get as large as they 

 should. These roses are in about three and one-half inches 

 of soil; they were set out July 1st. I have given them a 

 top dressing of cow manure, bonemeal, a little wood ashes 

 and liquid manure. Is fresh cow manure the best for 

 liquid, and how to make it to be most useful? Kow often 

 is it advisable to use lime? 



Yours respectfully, N. H. C. 



New York. 



The tip.s that you sent us for examination arrived 

 pretty well dried up. Such samples should be sent in 

 wet moss so that they arrive still fresh and green. How- 

 ever we were able to locate at least a part of your trou- 

 ble. The plants are infested with an especially healthy 

 tribe of red spiders, and these were all alive, crawling 

 over your letter in search of something to eat. It will 

 take quite a little work and patience to rid your plants 

 of these pests at this time of the year. They must be 

 numerous for they will not start on the new growth un- 

 less their numbers are so great that they grow faster than 

 the plant itself. If you do not Icnow what they are, 

 take a magnifier and turn it on some of the leaves and 

 you will see little red spiders, very similar to small 

 chicken lice and about as destructive. Tliese suck 

 the very life out of the plants. This will account 

 for your leaves dropping and you must begin 

 at once and syringe the plants well on every clear 

 morning. Wlien we say syringe we do not mean just 

 merely throwing water all over the plants, but throwing 

 the water in a fine mist at great pressure against the 

 plants from underneath, and shaking the hose or nozzle 

 to go up and down the plant. This will take most of 

 the spiders off, and blow them to kingdom come. We 

 would recommend some insecticide, but we are afraid 

 you may use it too strong and bum your plants. If 

 you wish to try it, do so on a few plants and if no harm 

 results then dose the whole house. Syringing, however, 

 is the cheapest and safest. As soon as the plants are 

 free from spider they will look a little better, and may 

 grow real good again. Let us hear from you as you go 

 along. Fresh cow manure is not as good for making 

 liquid as decayed manure, same as is used for mulching. 

 The liquid made of the latter is more available to the 

 plants, and they can use it at once. The best way to mix it 

 is to have two tanks, one higher and one lower. Have a 

 narrow trough between the two about a foot square, with 

 several screens in it, using two of each kind. The last 

 should be the finest, and this will take all the coarse 

 stuff out of the water. Put the manure into the upper 

 tank, and fill with water, mixing the manure well, and 

 then open the gate into the trough and lot the water go 

 through the screens. Having two of each kind, one can 

 always be taken out to be cleaned, and the other will do 



the work meantime. If you read our weekly notes, you 

 will find an article on this subject every now and then. 

 There is no set rule for the use of lime. This must be 

 used as the plants need it, and the grower must judge 

 for himself, always experimenting on a small scale before 

 applying it to the whole house, unless he is sure of what 

 he is doing. Lime, however, is quite harmless, and if 

 not applied directly after mulching or after using any 

 kind of a fertilizer, will never harm the plants, if ap- 

 plied in a moderate dose. Air-slacked lime should be 

 used for this purpose. The knots that appear on the 

 plants should be cut off and burned at once. If they are 

 badly affected pull tliera up and bum them, destroying 

 even the soil. This disease is a bad one, aimilar to the 

 black-knot on plums, and we call it tree etneer. Some 

 experiment station, or the TJ. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture could tell you more about this, gira its correct 

 name, etc., as we have no laboratory with powerful mi- 

 croscopes to ascertain just what the diseaie ii. 



Sheep Manure 



To growers who have not had very much experience 

 and to experienced growers who have never used sheep 

 manure for roses we would advise that they experiment 

 with it before giving the whole place a coat of it. Sheep 

 manure is very concentrated, and is especially rich in 

 nitrogen ; that is why we would not advise using it, be- 

 fore the turn of the year, except in rare eases. After 

 that the plants will naturally grow more vigorously, and 

 even if the plants do receive a little too much of it they 

 will take no harm, for they will grow out of it, or at 

 least will stand a little more show of doing lo. In our 

 various experiments we have found nothing better for 

 Beauties than the old-fashioned cow manure, for this is 

 well balanced for the purpose, and makes an excellent 

 plant food. Teas and other roses we found less par- 

 ticular, and many substitutes were used. Sheep manure 

 did well with Killameys and otlier roses of that type, 

 being given in moderate doses and applied very care- 

 fully. The lump manure, or the manure in its natural 

 state we found was best turned into liquid, and thus ap- 

 plied. A little bonemeal added to this with a least touch 

 of soot, and the same heated and applied warm to 

 benches in mnter, proved an excellent tonic for the 

 plants, and benches thus treated bore flowers of a better 

 color. The foliage was better colored as well. Later we 

 hope to go into tliis question a little deeper, and wiU 

 perhaps devote a whole page to tlie one subject. Cow 

 manure is hard to get in many places, and if we can 

 substitute the sheep manure, it would be a relief to a 

 good many growers. 



Soot 



A little soot applied to the benches when the buds are 

 just about to show color will be a wonderful help to put 

 a little extra pink to the roses of tliat color. This ap- 

 plies to the red roses as well, and the only thing to do is 

 to remember that too much of the soot might prove 

 hanuful to the plants — the soot itself to the roots, and 

 the smell of it to the leaves. Apply just enough of it to 



