September 15, 1917 



HOETICULTURE 



301 



Syringing 



If the plants are free from red sj^ider as they should 

 be it will be necessary to syringe more than once 

 a week to keep them clean. With the days already 

 much shorter it will be necessary to start as early in 

 the moming as possible in order to be done before noon. 

 The day chosen for the work should be a clear one and 

 the houses to be syringed will be better off if they had 

 been watered the day before. By no means should 

 they be dry as the plants would be sure to burn. 

 Syringe as rapidly as possible taking care to hit all 

 plants, especially the lower leaves, as it is hei'e that 

 spider will start as a rule. It is also well to be espe- 

 cially careful around all corners and braces, also where 

 the hose ends meet, half way between faucets. Hose 

 should be long enough so there will be no danger of a 

 nest here. Any steam pipe passing bench end from 

 overhead should be wrapped to keep the heat from the 

 plants right near it. Ordinaiy newspaper will do and 

 this in turn can be wrapped with red resin building 

 paper to make a neater looking job. Wrapping these 

 pipes this way wiU also help to keep spider from start- 

 ing there. If there are any places where there is a 

 little spider, these should be marked and all such 

 places should be given an extra dose of water properly 

 placed. Use plenty of pressure, yet not so much to 

 tear the leaves. Syringe so as to throw the spent water 

 into the walks as much as possible, and not on to the 

 bench. It will also be well to syringe as much of the 

 bench as possible from the back, syringing only the 

 first and part of second row from the front, holding the 

 nozzle so that the water will not go to the back very 

 much. In wide houses always syringe the back 

 benches first so they will have a chance to dry. The 

 front benches will always drv off faster. 



Shaking Plants After Syringing 



As soon as the plants are syringed the helper should 

 follow at once and shake tlie plants free of as much 

 water as is possible by this method. This especially 

 applies to Beauties, and if the work is done soon 

 enough they will not take long to dry off. With Teas 

 a short stick can be used to tap the stakes. This work 

 can be done very quickly and it is surprising how much 

 water can be taken off by a -li;_dit shaking. 



Keep the Houses Warm Enough 



It has been a remarkaldy cool summer here "out 

 west" and we have prospects of an early frost. The 

 thermometer will have gone down to 50 or less every 

 night for the last two weeks. This means steam is 

 necessary, as no house should go below 64 nights with 

 plenty of air on. Growers cannot be loo careful in 

 this matter, as the roses can suffer a severe check and 

 may get a dose of mildew if they are not kept warm 

 enough. Keep a pipe of steam around the houses on 

 wet chilly days with air on all the time, not keeping 

 the houses above 68 if possible. Never even for one 

 night should the houses be allowed to get cold. Have 

 the right man right on. the job, as it will he warm in 



the evening and then turn cold suddenly toward morn- 

 ing. A little sulphur on pipes will kill any mildew 



tliat may bo starting. 



Drainage 



Winter will soon be here so get right after the drain- 

 age system if it has not been taken care of yet. See 

 that all catch basins are clean, all ditches open, no 

 drain tile stopped up — this outside as well as in the 

 houses and cellars. See that all open tile are properly 

 protected by screens to keep out Mr. Mnskrat or other 

 animal which might choose the tile for a home, making 

 a nice compact nest in it somewhere just out of reach 

 of the longest rod on the place. This will save a great 

 deal of annoyance by keeping out animals and loose 

 leaves and matter floating with the water when this 

 begins to run. 



Rush the Boiler Repairs 



If the boilers are not in shape it will be necessary to 

 rush this work in order to have all in good shape when 

 they are called on to work. Iron will not be cheaper 

 for a long time to come, so all parts needed should be 

 bought at once regardless of price. Everything de- 

 pends on the heating system and this should be in first- 

 class shape. See that all flues are tight and joints, 

 elbows and connections to smokestacks, so no draft is 

 lost. See that all dampers work properly so heat is not 

 wasted and boiler can be controlled easily. See that all 

 ash pits are deep enough to take all ashes for a day 

 without banking up against the grates. It is a man- 

 killing job to have to remove ashes every time a fire is 

 cleaned. Have the ash pit deep enough to hold ashes 

 for twenty-four hours without coming within a foot of 

 tlie grates. Have sides of pit slope so ashes are easily 

 removed with a long handled shovel. 



The Flower Pots 



If time will at all permit try to have all the pots 

 washed up and ]nit away properly so they will be ready 

 to use when needed. A small pot washer such as ad- 

 vertised in Horticulture or a home-made affair driven 

 by electric motor or small gas engine will make quick 

 work of washing the pots if they can be allowed to soak 

 for some time to soften the scum and dirt. Wash them 

 inside and out being careful to clean them especially 

 McU on the inside right near the top. Should these re- 

 main the least trace of scum about the level of the soil 

 it will quickly spread as soon as anything is set in the 

 pot and the scum has something to work on. If pond, 

 brook or river water is used for watering this scum 

 would spread all the faster. Wash the pots well and 

 store properly in racks keeping the different sizes sep- 

 arate ready to be used. Locate all racks where they are 

 easy to get to so that it will not be a weelc^s work to 

 get the pots when tliey are needed. 



Supply of Plant Food 



See that there is enough tankage and bone and other 

 fertilizers used on hand now. The fall and early win- 

 ter is the time to use such plant foods as tankage, blood 

 and bone, bonemeal, etc. Use as much of these as is 

 safe and do not mulch too heavy, and then toward 

 spring reverse the operation unless the plants are to be 

 run another year and then use bone, tankage and plenty 

 of mulch, too, otherwise plenty of mulch and liquid 

 manure, saving the lione and the tankage for young 

 plants and plants cut back later. The railroads are 

 very busy and will be busier as time goes on, which will 

 moan that deliveries will be slow, so get the orders in 

 now. 



