August 25, 1917 



HOETICULTURE 



221 



Rush the Staking 



^^'ith the planting aud tho cuttiug back all done 

 now, the next thing to tackle !>; the staking and tying. 

 This should be rushed tlirough now before the plants 

 get too far ahead although a little lying around will 

 do them good, inducing a great many bottom breaks 

 which would not come if the plants were straight up. 

 With tlie prices of stakes way up in the air it will be 

 well to tie some of the roses to wires, being careful 

 to pick out strong growers sucli as Ophelias, White 

 Killarney, Shawyer and a few others, although tlie 

 latter had better go on stakes unless it can be handled 

 just so on the wires. Have all the wires for stakes 

 directly over the row, and see that the stakes are put 

 in straight. It does not take veiy much longer to do 

 the work right and the finished job is certainly worth 

 the little extra effort. Put braces at least fifty feet 

 a]iart to hold the wires in place and keep them rigid 

 while the ])lants are being syringed or shook after 

 syringing. On wide benches with five rows of plants 

 or on a three-row side bench it will be best to tie all 

 the plants to the stakes before the two front rows of 

 stakes are put in. Use good string for the first tying, 

 as it has to last at least a year, and if the variety is 

 such that it will lie I'un for another year or two, these 

 strings willstay right on, and the plants will not have 

 to be tied when they are jjruned and started again 

 for seasons to come. The same good string should be 

 used to tie stakes so they will stay tied for at least 

 three years as it often happens that roses are grown 

 as long as that without being transplanted. In tying 

 bo careful not to bunch up the plants too much as 

 this would mean lost foliage, and trouble with spiders 

 later. Tie each shoot separately and never put a 

 string around the whole plant. Try to tie just be- 

 low the second eye when tying flowering wood; this 

 way the cutter can always cut one eye above tlie string 

 and thus save time. 



Soil for Winter's Potting 



The propagating season will be here before we know 

 it, and if there is no suitable soil on hand the growers 

 will be under a severe handicap, as it is no fun at all 

 to have a liig lot of cuttings ready for pots and no 

 suitable soil to use. Sod that \vas left over after the 

 wheeling was done is ideal and if there is a supi)ly of 

 this one need look no further, merely hauling it in 

 or covering it up with manure or litter after the first 

 few frosts. If, however, there is no soil on hand no 

 time should bo lost to put u]) a heap of suitable size, 

 using manure that is jiartly decayed. .\s soon as the 

 heap is up, turn the hose into it to soak it good and 

 then turn it over in a week or two, being careful to nii.^ 

 the manure well with the sods, and as the soil is to 

 be used for potting, cho]i it u)) as fine as possible, leav- 

 ing the heap with a flat top to catch all the rain, and 



if it is not frequent enough to keep the soil moist, tnri\ 

 tlie hose in once a week. This will help decay and 

 the soil will come into condition much sooner than 

 if heaped up dry and left to itself. 



The Propagator 



If the pi'opagator is not used for growing some fall 

 crop, and still holds last wintei"'s sand and other odds 

 aud ends, it should be cleaned out at once, and if not 

 wanted right away, the benches should be washed out, 

 whitewashed, cleaned underneath, lime scattered 

 around freely, and then left until the house is wanted. 

 The lienehes can then receive another coat of lime to 

 which some copper sulphate is added and the house is 

 ready for use. Do not neglect this cleaning any longer. 

 It will mean better success in rooting cuttings. Just 

 ti-y it and see. 



Rose Growers' Vegetables 



There are little odds and ends in vegetables that can 

 lie grown in corners and cross-houses with a little care. 

 -Vmong these are tomatoes and seed of these should be 

 started soon. Select .some good forcing variety, as these 

 will produce good tomatoes and hardly any vine. Do 

 not give them too much soil, and confine the roots to a 

 limited sjiace, giving only a moderate amount of water. 

 'I'bey will not do as well as they would in a regular 

 tonnito house, but they will do fairly well. Lettuce 

 can easily be gi'own as well as cauliflower. Beans are 

 not always a sure crop in rose houses but often tnni out 

 well, (ireeu onions can be had all winter by planting 

 either seed or sets at regular intervals, as can spinach, 

 beets and carrots, using the French forcing variety of 

 the latter. These things are very little trouble, hut a 

 great pleasure to people fond of vegetables. Tit a few 

 tliis wintei'. 



Fumigation 



Do not let Mr. Greenfly and bis flock infest the 

 rose houses. As soon as a sufficiently cool night comes 

 along, give them a dose of smoke, either tobacco stems 

 or some of the tobacco papers advertised. The plants 

 can also be sprayed which is rather difficult while the 

 xentilators are wide open. The fly will make his home 

 right under the leaves where it is almost impossilile to 

 reach him with the spray, while smoke will go any- 

 where. Always fumigate right after watering, i. e., 

 smoke the night after having watered the day before, 

 trying if it is at all possible to syringe on the day fol- 

 lowing the night of fumigation. The hose will take 

 care of whatever fly was not quite killed by the smoke. 

 See that there are no weeds under the benches to In'ced 

 the fly or house it when it is knocked off the benches 

 while syringing. Most of the nicotine extracts and 

 otlier prepared insecticides are very liighly concentrated 

 and should be used with great care, never stronger than 

 recommended at first. If you decide to spray, see that 

 the plants are wet enough at the roots, and then do not 

 sjn'ay until toward evening unless the day happens to 

 be cloudy. Fumigating during thunderstorms is ideal 

 as it is cool enough, the rain completely sealing all 

 openings in the glass. Tlu> temperature inside should 

 be below seventy before the houses are fumigated an<l 

 even then they should be opened in about an hour. If 

 stems are used be careftd not to let them burn with a 

 flame as this would make hot .smoke which would be 

 likely to bum the plants. Fill the houses evenly and 

 densely, not having the stems too wet, for this would 

 make a lot of steam wbicli kills the power of the smoke. 



