August 18, 1917 



H KTI C U L T U R E 



175 



Get the Boilers Ready 



Cool niights are not yet here to stay, yet they are 

 enougli for a warning as to what is coming. Septem- 

 ber will soon be here with its first frost, and steam will 

 be needed. No time should be lost in overhauling all 

 boilers or at least boilers which must be used as soon 

 as steam is needed. Pipes that may have leaked last 

 winter and spring will have to be replaced and the 

 whole heating outfit put into first-class shape. See 

 that the smoke pipe is in good condition and replace 

 all rusted or burned-out parts now before the boilers 

 have to be used. With prices away up on everything, 

 the only way to avoid heavy upkeep bills is to do things 

 right in the first place. It costs money to have two or 

 three men repairing all the time, even thougii their 

 time is charged to the growing. Bricked-in boilers 

 should be carefully cleaned inside and out and all bad 

 or burned-out bricks replaced, also grates and firing 

 tools should be looked over and got into shape. It will 

 be a good policy, too, to have the boys dump all the odds 

 and ends of old boards and lumber waste right where it 

 will be handy to get at when steam is needed quick 

 some cool night. Also coal. Some should be on hand 

 now or else ordered at once even though the main su])- 

 ply for the winter remains uncontracted for. 

 Bottom Leaves on Beauties 



It will be necessary to go o\ er all the Beauty beuelies, 

 or at least over benches planted quite early and remove 

 all leaves that touch the soil. Xo matter how careful 

 a grower may be to keep his plants dry at night, if 

 leaves touch the soil tliere will always be some con- 

 densation there, and this will slowly but surely lead to 

 one thing — spot — and tliat is the one disease that will 

 ruin Beauties faster than anything else. When the time 

 comes to pick these leaves be sure to let an experienced 

 hand attend to it, for an untrained man at this work 

 can easily do much more harm than good. The main 

 thing is to get only the leaves that actually touch the 

 soil, and leave all the others alone; To pick oft' any 

 more than the necessary ones would mean harm to the 

 plant and this must be avoided. See that the,, lea/ves 

 are picked right into a box or something and not 

 thrown into the walks or under the bench. The green- 

 house must be sanitary ami clean to insure healthy 

 plants, and were these leaves left there to rot they would 

 be sure to breed disease of some sort. 

 Lime 



It is none too early to start in blowing lime undci- 

 the rose plants, the last thing at night following a 

 watering or syringing, or on rainy days when it is not 

 very warm, when the vents are kept pretty low. There 

 is a little trick in blowing the lime under the plants 

 which should be remembered when the work is being 

 done. Do not use too much force, get the lime dust 

 among the plants, and lot it rise there. If too much 

 force is used the lime will be blown all the way across 

 the bench and into the walk where it will do very 

 little good. On wet days wlien blowing lime to dry out 

 the air a bit blow it into the air above the walks filling 



up the house with the dust as wiien fumigating. This 

 will take up a lot of that chilly moisture leaving the 

 air too pure to breed mildew and spot. Dry air- 

 slacked lime should be used, or the more expensive 

 hydrated lime. It should be perfectly dry in order to 

 absorb moisture. Damp lime is of little u.-;c. 

 Cleaning Up 

 With the planting all done, cleaning up under the 

 benches should start at once, and be kept at until the 

 work is done. It may not seem very important, but it 

 should be done thoroughly and all soil thus scrai)ed up 

 should be taken out at once. Wlien all is done a good 

 dusting of lime under the benches will help sweeten up 

 the house, also discourage all insects and fungi from 

 making themselves at home under the rose benches. 

 While tills work is in progress it will be well to mark all 

 faucets that leak and have these replaced as a leaky 

 faucet is a bad thing in a gi'eenhouse, not only because 

 it wastes a lot of water but because this very water it 

 wastes causes further loss by making the house un- 

 healthily damp and the walks muddy. Get faucets 

 with washers next time. They break the pressure some 

 and take a little more time to turn on and off, but they 

 are easy to repair when they start leaking while the 

 others must be thrown away as soon as they leak a 

 little. Every once in a while someone will succeed in 

 grinding them down with pumice stone, but it is hard 

 work and will not pay. Emery is too coarse and sharp, 

 cutting grooves in the brass and making the faucets 

 leak more than ever. 



The Liquid Manure Tank 



This should be put into shape at once if it needs to 

 be overhauled, as it will soon be needed especially on 

 old stock that was cut back early in the season. These 

 old plants have the roots and if they are given haK a 

 chance they will make some top, too. In order to get 

 long stems they will require feed, and plenty of it, 

 which will cost money unless a good liquid manure 

 tank is at hand to supply the real rose feed. If there 

 is no manure tank on the place see that one is made 

 at once. It will pay for itself the first season, and 

 plants are much easier to handle when fed this way, for 

 if a dark spell should set in the liquid is withheld and 

 the plants suffer no harm as they would were the feed 

 applied to the benches. Then, too, the cost of applica- 

 tion is next to nothing when compared to the cost of 

 applving plant food to the benches. 

 Mulching 



Houses planted early in the season will need a little 

 mulch of good manure to balance the food ration in the 

 soil, and also to protect the tiny rootlets that will now 

 be coming to the surface. See that the plants are not 

 too dry when the mulch is applied, and see that it is 

 watered in as soon as the manure is on the benches. Do 

 not applv manure to a piece of bench today and a little 

 more tomorrow. Wait until the plants are in a right 

 condition to take it and that is when a crop starts to 

 come, the voung shoots being about an inch long or 

 slightly loiiger, and then apply it to at least a whole 

 bench at once, watering it well. If fresh manure has 

 to be used do not apply it to a whole house at once, and 

 see that there is plenty of air left on to let whatever 

 ammonia escapes, out through the vents where it will 

 do the plants no harm. Before applying the mulch 

 clean off the benches well, and sprinkle a little bone 

 meal which can be "rubbed" in: not scratched with 

 iron wccders which tear the roots all to pieces but with 

 the hands only, being careful not to go too deep. 



