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HORTICULTURE 



January 29, 1916 



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ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



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QuestluDl tij our rpiidfri In llnr with «nr of tlie topl'H prnsfiitpd on tliU piiKe will he rordlnllj rc<<-lve<1 and proinptly antw*r«d 

 b7 Ur. Iluilokn. Su h c'diujuiinlrnttoDB tlMiiiM liiTsrtebl; be addrested to tbe offlce of IlUUTICULTt'KB. 



Keeping Well 



Altliougli .siiiiif (Pl llii' j;i\)\vcrs will <lo cvcr^ tiling to 

 keep their roses and other plants in jK-rfect liealth all 

 the time, thev are none too careful in taking care of 

 themselves. With an epidemic of grippe all over the 

 country greenhouse men can be none too careful. The 

 main thing in the greenhouse is to keep the feet diy 

 and as it is very difficult to syringe in rose houses and 

 stay dr)', all wet clothes should be removed as soon as 

 the work is done, and clean dry clothes put on again. 

 A good deal of suffering from rheumatism can be avoid- 

 ed by keeping dry. Never run outside, or go home 

 through the cold with wet clothes on. Do not dress too 

 warm while in the greenhouses, but make sure you wear 

 sufTicient clothes while out. These few lines may not 

 be rose growing but a week's confinement with grippe 

 may cost the grower heavily in real good money through 

 harm to roses. This may be found so especially among 

 the smaller growers. 



Feeding 



With February here, and the days getting longer 

 there will l)e little danger from overfeeding, as the 

 plants will feel the spring as much as anything and will 

 grow very fast if tliey are given half a chance. Liquid 

 manure can be used at least once a week, and if the 

 plants are especially robust and growing real good, 

 twice a week will do no harm. Tankage, sheep manure, 

 and other fertilizers can be used in addition to the 

 liquid manure, the only thing to caution against being 

 not to have the houses get too warm mornings. The 

 sun will be much stronger from now on and will heat 

 up the liouses much quicker than during the short days 

 of December. See that the houses are aired on time in 

 the morning, and that the heat is taken off as soon as 

 they are warm enough. 



Mulching 



Be sure to see tliat the ])lants are kept mulched all 

 the time, so that there will be no bare earth exposed to 

 the rays of the sun anywhere. Plans that are allowed 

 to suffer in this respect will not do so well, for they 

 will at times have trouble getting all the water they 

 need, and the rays of the sun will kill a good many 

 tiny rootlets which fill the surface of the soil and sup- 

 ply a large portion of the plant food. It will not be 

 necessary to have the mulch very thick, and it should 

 never be broken up too fine. Lumps about the size of 

 walnuts are ideal, as they allow all the water to soak in, 

 and will also let all bone, tankage, etc. drop between 

 them to the tiny roots which these lumps protect. Cow 

 manure makes ideal mulch, but where none is to be had, 

 coarse sods chopped up to the proper size will do. These 

 if spread evenly over the benches will keep the soil from 

 washing around when the plants are watered. To save 

 time it is necessary to use a little more pressure than 

 ■was customarj', but with the benches protected by prop- 



er niulchiiig, it can be done without any harm to the 

 jilants. 



Lime 



As Boon as the leaves on any of the plants become 

 very soft and with a sickly yellow color, it means that 

 they have been over watered and will be greatly helped 

 by a dose of lime and a little drying out. Use fresh 

 air slacked lime, and no agricultural lime or ground 

 limestone. There are so many dilferent kinds of lime 

 sold under "agricultural" that the only way to know 

 what is what would be to have the manufacturer guar- 

 antee the material, and then have it analyzed at some 

 experiment station. We like to use the common lump 

 lime which comes packed in barrels. We buy three or 

 four and dump these into a bo.\ made for the purpose 

 on a platfonn in the manure tank. The damp air here 

 will slack the lime naturally and we have all we need 

 as a rule without slacking any. Should it not slack 

 fast enough, a can of water sprinkled over it will do 

 the trick. The amount to apply to the benches should 

 not be excessive. Enough to whiten the surface of the 

 benches will be plenty. This can be watered in at once 

 or allowed to lay on the benches for a little while. If 

 allowed to lay there it will cake and the plants will not 

 get all of it at once. It will be necessary to go over 

 the benches and scratch these caked places up so that 

 they will not keep air and water out of the soil. If 

 the grower is careful the plants will not be allowed to 

 get bad, and taken in time, it will be an easy matter 

 to get them back into their proper condition. As soon 

 as the plants show signs of improvement, a little more 

 water, and a little more plant food will send them right 

 along. 



Bonemeal 



Unless the old soil that comes out of the greenhouses 

 can be used to good advantage, or the plants are to be 

 run over, we would not use any more bonemeal from 

 now on, as the plants will not get the full benefit of it. 

 We would prefer to use tankage sheep manure, or anv 

 of the quicker plant foods, as the rcses arc sure to get 

 most of the food that there is in these. Use bone only 

 for the potted jjlants when [lotting, and on benches that 

 are to be run over, without transplanting. 



Some Rose Troubles 



MR. nUZlCKA, 



Dear Sir: I wish to ask your advice again — about my 

 rose liouse tliis time. This house is exposed to the north- 

 east and is on very high ground. I have always had some 

 trouble with the roses on one of the benches, and am led 

 to suppose that it is due to one or more of the following 

 causes: (a) The bench is too warm owing to its being 

 sheltered by the palm house, being on the main direct flow 

 from the boiler, and the brick wall at the back which re- 

 flects the sun. and the plants become too soft; (b) the 

 ventilator being on one side only, too much cold air gets 

 In in some directions of the wind. Can you tell me of a 

 rose, preferably a white one, that will be likely to do bet- 



