February 3, 1917 



HORTICULTITRE 



135 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



^ CONDUCTED BY 



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

 by Mr. Kuzicka. Such communications should invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICDI/TURE. 



Apply Bone and Tankage Now 



As soon as the weather gets so that it will be clear for 

 two or three days at a time, it will he perfectly safe to 

 apply top dressings of bonemeal or tankage. This had 

 better be used now, so that the plants will be sure to 

 get the full benefit of it before they are taken out. 

 Sheep manure can also be used, as soon as the plants 

 show good growth coming on. Before applying any of 

 the feii;ilizers it will be well to give all the benches a 

 thorough cleaning, removing all dead leaves, pulling u|i 

 all weeds, also ruhljing over the surface a least bit. Steel 

 .scratches or weeders should never be used for this work, 

 as no matter how careful the man using them can be 

 be is bound to tear some of the roots. If the plants 

 have just finished a crop and are not starved at all it 

 will lie liest to water very carefully and not apply any 

 feed until they start again. Syringing quickly twice 

 a week will help the break. See that the plants are wet 

 enough at the root before applying any fertilizer no mat- 

 ter what it may be. Should they be at all dry, the roots 

 will take the feed up too quickly wlien water is applied 

 and will thus receive a bad check and lose some of their 

 leaves. Better water one day and apply the feed the 

 next. This will insure all plants against any harm from 

 root and foliaL;'e biirnin;;' due to fertilizer. 



Temperature During Cloudy Weather 

 T'he houses will not want to be too warm during dark 

 cloudy or even foggy days. So far the weather has lieeii 

 fairly good, clear and cold. Have the thermometers read 

 about 66F. with a little air on. This on cloudy days. 

 When only partially cloudy, the temperature can be 

 allowed to get to 72, but no higher than that, as the 

 plants would get very soft and be likely to get mildew 

 iiere and there. If the weather should continue cloudy 

 for several days it will be better to run even cooler, and 

 the temperature can be allowed to go down to 64F, with 

 a crack of air on. Of course if it is stormy or the wind 

 blowing very hard it will be better not to carry any air. 

 as ice would be likely to form under the ventilators mak- 

 ing it impossible to shut them tight for the night. 

 Keep the Propagator Going 

 There is only about si.x weeks in which to root the 

 rest of the cuttings to make the required numlier of 

 plants for the season, so the propagator should be kept 

 going full all the time. As soon as the first lot of cut- 

 tings is taken out another lot should be put in, providing 

 the sand is clean enough for them. When taking out the 

 first lot see that the sand is left clean so that there will 

 be no old leaves, and partly decayed cuttings left in the 

 sand to decay and house a lot of fungus which will 

 spring right at the new cuttings and kill them soon 

 after they are put in. Level the sand well, after which 

 it should be gone over with a brick or some other heavy 

 tool pounding it gently yet firmly until it is very finn. 

 Then when the temperature rises to the proper degree 

 1 which should he around 66F, the sand will be ready for 

 ■^ the cuttings. These should lie juit in as rapidly as ):ios- 

 " sible so there will be no chance for their getting diT. 

 A? soon as a piece of bench is filled, water the cuttings 



well, being careful not to use too much pressure so that 

 they will not be disturbed in the sand. After each row 

 is put in they should Ijc well firmed by laying a piece 

 of lath right up to them and tapj)ing this with a hammei- 

 or a brick; not too hard, for the vibration thus produced 

 would be sure to loosen the sand around those nearby. 

 If any of tiie sliadiiig has wasiied otf it will be neces- 

 sary to ap])ly more, especially now that- the days are a 

 little longer and the sun much stronger. 

 The First Potting 

 As soon as a batch of cuttings get so tliat the rootis are 

 half an inch or longer, they cease to be cuttings and 

 become plants. A bench of sand is no place for little 

 plants and the sooner they are taken out and potted the 

 Ijetter for them. Use nice fresh soil such as we sug- 

 gested last week and use clean pots. It will pay in the 

 long run. Whyn lifting the cuttings from the sand see 

 that the work is done carefully so that there will be lit- 

 tle danger of breaking roots. These new roots are very 

 crisp and tender, thus easily broken. Take out only a 

 limited number of cuttings, for it will not take much ex- 

 ]iosure to the air to diy up and shrivel the roots, which 

 will never come to life again once they go down this way. 

 I'nless the soil is very heavy it will not be necessary to 

 l^ut any crock into the small pots used for the first pot- 

 ting. If it should be thought necessary then a little 

 screened ashes will do the trick. Care should be taken to 

 (ill all the pots evenly so that there will be no troul)k' in 

 watering them. The amount of empty space allowed on 

 top for water will have to be determined by the nature 

 of the soil. The top of the pot should hold enough water 

 to thoroughly saturate the soil beneath. If this is de- 

 termined by experiment, and all the pots filled up the 

 same way, there should be no trouble about watering, or 

 keeping the plants evenly wet at all times. 



Where to Put the Plants 



The best bench in the house is none too good for the 

 young plants, as they will or they will not produce the 

 income the coming year. Therefore the front bench 

 should always be taken out and the plants given this to 

 grow on. If time will permit, all the old soil should Ix' 

 taken out, then the bench should be well washed out and 

 whitewashed. After this a layer or two of newspaper 

 can be spread over the bench bottom, over which an inch 

 or two of screened ashes is applied. These are leveled 

 off well and lightly tamped down, after which the bench 

 is ready for the pots. If there is plenty to do, the soil 

 ran be left in the bench, merely taking off about an inch 

 from the top, to get rid of any leaves and mulching that 

 may have been applied when roses were planted there. 

 After this is done and the soil leveled, a good coat of air- 

 slacked or hydrated lime should be applied. This will 

 kill all the earth worms it reaches and those that will 

 remain will never attempt to crawl through the lime 

 into the pot. Over the lime the ashes should be applied 

 using about two inches in order to make sure that no 

 pots will set into the lime, as this would seal the drain 

 in the bottom of the pot? and make it very unhealthy 

 for the cuttings. 



