202 



HORTICULTURE 



February 17, 1917 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



CtM^^^^(^i^j'^^ 



itlons by our readers in line with any of the topics prsented on this page will be cordially received and promptly answered 

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



Mulching 



The sun IxuDg much stronger during the day the roses 

 will easily take much more feed than they have been 

 getting all along. It will also be necessary to give pro- 

 tection to the roots, as these will sufEer if the soil in 

 the benches is laid bare and ex2:osed to the rays of the 

 sun and to the air. There is nothing better for this 

 work than old well decayed cow manure, which to be 

 just right will have to l)e composted some time in ad- 

 vance and turned over about once in a week or fortnight 

 to insure its decaying, and to break up the la.rge lumps 

 into smaller ones, thus insuring a good even mixture all 

 the way through. If no well decayed manure is on liand 

 then fresher manure can be used, but it will have to be 

 used very carefully sjo as not to liurn the roots and foli- 

 age. Before jiuttiiig it on have the plants well watered, 

 and if time will ])ermit, clean the benches thoroughly of 

 all dead leaves, weeds and other waste matter. Another 

 important thing is to make sure that the plants are in 

 the right stage to receive the nnilch. To be this way 

 they should just be starting for another crop of flowers, 

 and the growths about three inches long. Do not apply 

 the manure too heavily at the one time. If it happens 

 to be a least bit fresh, use only about a shovelful to four 

 square feet of bench. Tliis will have to be spread care- 

 fully, so as to put more to tlie front of the benches and 

 much less to the back and centers. Right after the 

 mulch is applied, water the benches well. This will 

 wash the manure into the soil at once, and also kill any 

 heat that may be in the manure. If the weather is 

 severe when the mulching is done it will be best to do 

 only a bench in one house, so that the fumes would not 

 burn the leaves. If the weather is milder, more can be 

 applied at the one time and a little air carried during 

 the day, and at night for the first two nights, after which 

 it will be safe to run the houses same as usual. Avoid 

 using manure that has too much long straw in it. If it 

 is real sliort it will not matter so much. 

 Disbudding 



The plants will sliow new >i;iiis of life now tliat spring 

 is nearing, and it will be necessary to go over them twice 

 a week to make sure that all the side growths are taken 

 off as fast as they appeai- cm the buds proper. On rare 

 occasions it will be advisable to leave the buds as in the 

 case of strong bottom breaks which generally throw a 

 poor bud, making it better if the side buds are allowed 

 to remain on until about the time that the bud proper 

 begins to show color. Wlien disbudding it will be well to 

 watch for plants that are pretty well cut off, and if there 

 are any short stems with baids just about showing, the 

 bud* should lie removed, thus giving the plants a little 

 more growtli to carry and giving them a better chance 

 to grow. The stems disbudded will th.row one or two 

 shoots which will not take very long to grow into good 

 flowers. AVhen these are cut they can be taken away 

 back to the original two eyes, which will keep the plants 

 low, doing away with a lot of unnecessary hard wood. 

 The stems thus cut will also be much longer, so there 



is no loss whatever, for if the buds are taken at the right 

 time the eyes below will branch out almost at once, and 

 the flowers following will be only a few days behind the 

 date tiie original luids would have flowered. 



Cleaning Young Stuff in Pots 



There are times when even with the best of soil and 

 clean pots, the soil around the young stock wiU get green 

 on the surface, sometimes so badly that if it were left 

 alone it would seriously hamper the growth of the new 

 plants. To rid the plants of this it will be necessary to 

 go over the pots one by one with a small hand soraper 

 and remove the very surface of the soil with all the 

 green scum. This will take a good deal of labor but it 

 will be time well spent, the plants being worth fully 

 more in the end. As the work is done, all poor and dead 

 plants can be thrown out. The best and tallest of the 

 plants should lie put to the back of the bench, giving 

 the entire front to the smaller and weaker plants. It 

 will be necessary to do this and if the work is done right 

 tlie plants will all have an equal show. The taller plants 

 will take more water, but being in the back they will 

 not dry out so fast as the poorer ones in the front, which 

 again will not take as much water, but lieing to the front 

 they will dry out much quicker. In this way all the 

 jjlants will run nearly the same as far as moisture is con- 

 cerned, with the exception of the first row in the front 

 and rear, which naturally will dry out very fast and may 

 have to be watered two or three times to one watering 

 of the rest. A little hydrated or air slacked lime applied 

 to the plants right after they a.re cleaned will help keep 

 rhc soil sweet and open. Or if time will permit they 

 ran be watered ^ith lime water which is made by put- 

 ting about a peck of stone burned unslacked lime into a 

 ba.rrel and adding enough- water to slack it. After it is 

 thoroughly slacked the barrel can be filled to the top with 

 water, wliich is allowed to settle, and the plants watered 

 witli tlie clear liquid. It will not hurt if a little of the 

 lime from the bottom of the barrel is stirred into the 

 watiT. (iiily tlie ]ilantR would look disfigured. 



Care of Young Beauty Plants 



The.se y\\\\ have to receive altogether different treat- 

 ment than gi\en the other roses, especially when it comes 

 to spraying. All other varieties will take spraying late 

 in the afternoon, yes even at night during zero weather. 

 This is not the case with- Beauties, however, which 

 should never be sprayed in the afternoon and never at 

 niglit. If they were there will surely follow a bad dose 

 of spot \\hich will give the plants a severe check and 

 cause tliem to lose much foliage which they need very 

 badly when they are just starting. Also be careful to 

 go over the young plants very often, and take off all the 

 little buds that may begin to show here and there. If 

 these were allowed to remain on until the flowers opened, 

 the plants that bore them would never amount to any- 

 thing, being only weaklings. Do everything that- will 

 keep all the energy that the plants now possess and if 

 there is any way in which more can be adiled. do ^^n. 



