January 1, 1916 



HOETIOULTUEE 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



^, CONDUCTED BY 



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

 by Mr. Ruzlcka. Such communications should Invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



The First Potting 



The haicli nt' ciiltiiins tluit was put into sand tlie 

 latter jiart i)f NovriiilxT oi' the first days of December, 

 will now be ready for [lotting. Make sure that the })ots 

 are dean. More ti-cjuhh- with young plants can be traced 

 to dirty pots tlian to any other cause. The tirst potting 

 should be in 2^-incb pot>. 'i'wo-inch pots are too small 

 — not for the cnttings hut liccause the plants have to he 

 .shifted into larger pots so soon aftei- the first potting, 

 thus making much more work. We use no crock at all 

 in the small pots unless the roil happens to W heavy. 

 Then a little screened coal ashes will do very nicely. ITsc 

 only enough to cover the bottom of the pot slightly. 

 Make sure that the cuttings are put deep enough for 

 shallow potting is not very desirable. If the cuttings 

 are not put in deep enough trouble will be experienced 

 when syringing later on and then the plants will not 

 break as freely from tlie bottom after they are set in the 

 benches. We find we get much better stems from plants 

 that were potted deep enough at the first potting. Use 

 nice porous soil, not too heavy, as the roots will work 

 into lighter soil much easier. The heavy soil can be 

 used later for repotting into the larger pots. Use only 

 about a four-inch potful of honemeal to a wheelbarrow 

 of soil. If more were to he used it might damage the 

 •roots as these are very tender the first week or so on 

 leaving the sand. 



Where to Put the Plants 



The best and sunniest bench on the place is none too 

 good. We generally take out the old plants and about 

 two inches of soil with thcni. 'Phe rest of the soil is left 

 in the bench and after getting a good coat of ficsh air- 

 slacked lime, is covered with two inches of finely 

 screened ashes. These have to he quite line, otherwise 

 the pots will not set good. Needless to say, the ashes 

 should be leveled, as should the soil before the lime and 

 ashes are put on. See that there is no lime sticking out 



through the ashes anywhere on the bench for if the pots 

 were set on this it would soon stop up the drain in the 

 bottom of each and the plants would not thrive. Where 

 labor does not matter so much it would be a good plan 

 to take out all the soil in the benches, wash these out 

 and whitewash them. Then put on two or three thick- 

 Tiesses of newspaper and spread the screened ashes over 

 this. There will he no danger then of the young stock 

 contracting any disease or insects from the old soil. 



Care in the Propagator 



If the sand in the propagator is to be used again great 

 care should be taken to remove all dead leaves, pieces of 

 hi'oken roots, and cuttings. If any of this were to remain 

 in the sand, fungus would attack these remains and 

 then when the new lot of cuttings ciime in chances are 

 that it would spread to these too and cause trouble. 

 Where sand is cheap and labor not considered it would 

 be well to use fresh sand after thoroughly cleaning the 

 benches. AMtli ^-Mw however, we have used the same 

 sand three or four times without any trouble whatever. 



Shading the Cuttings After Potting 



It will be necessary to shade the newly potted cut- 

 tings carefully the first few days. For this purpose use 

 two thicknesses of old newspaper for the first three or 

 four days. One sheet can then be used and, depending 

 on the weather, can be left off an hoiir in the morning 

 and taken off an hour earlier at night. This time can 

 be prolonged as the roots take hold and finally the plants 

 are shaded only at noon when the sun is very bright. 

 Should air currents in the house pick up the papers, 

 sprinkle them over now and then with the hose. 

 Growers sometimes scatter a little earth over the papers 

 to hold them down, but this is not veiy good for in tak- 

 ing the papers off some of the earth is bound to get into 

 the pots, and these are then apt to get a little too full 

 here and fhere. which will upsei Ibe evenness of their 

 drying out. 



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