240 



HORTICULTURE 



Febniarr 19. 1916 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



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Lining the Boxes for Shipping 



The cooler, clear weather nienlioned Inst week, devel- 



,,,,,.,1 into -■ ,.\v and lalor to clear with tiio tliennometiT 

 :ir. 'uiil li' ill day, and below zero at night. This is 

 a great change from two weeks ago, luid it is well to 

 see that the boxes are lined accordingly. Frozen roses 

 are not only a loss to the grower but to the wholesaler 

 as well, to say nothing of the disappointment to the 

 retail store that may have been waiting for the ship- 

 ment. Paper is chcai) — much cheaper than roses — ami 

 it pays to use plenty of it during this severe weather. 

 See that the comers of all boxes are well lined as it is 

 here that most of the cold comes in, as the ends of the 

 boxes are always sticking out of the delivery wagons. 

 The tops and bottoms and sides will not suffer so much 

 as these are generally protected by other boxes piled on 

 top and a blanket over the topmost. Paper boxes are much 

 warmer tlian the old wooden ones, and will not have to 

 be wrapped on the outside unless the wind is blowing 

 very strong and the weather very severe. Wooden boxes 

 are much colder and had better be wrapped with heavy 

 wrapping paper, putting several thicknesses of news- 

 paper under this. As in lining boxes, make sure the 

 corners are well protected by careful folding, and see 

 that the boxes are tied securely so that, they will not 

 go to pieces as soon as the express man looks at them. 

 With cold weather, snow and ice, trains are bound to 

 be a little late and all the men anxious to get out of the 

 weather, so that the roses will be handled very quickly 

 and often very roughly. Pack the blooms carefully and 

 see that the roses cannot slide all over and shake up and 

 down. A box of damaged Beauties may lose 40 or 50 

 dollars to the grower, while ten cents' worth of paper 

 and a little time might have saved it. 



Watch Heavy Snows 



During a heavy snow storm it is well to see that the 

 snow does not pile up in front of the houses as it rolls 

 off the roof. It is here that the trouble usually begins, 

 and if the front of the houses is not kept cleared the 

 snow will soon pile up so that it will be impossible for 

 that on the roof to slide down and it will start piling up 

 until some damage is done especially in some of the old 

 houses. It is very unpleasant work to go out in the 

 storm but the effort is well worth while. Wliere the 

 houses are connected with a gutter in the center see 

 that the snow pipe is started as soon as it starts to snow, 

 and not when the snow is piled up high between the 

 ridges. Do away with it as fast as possible. Often the 

 snowfall will not amount to anvthing or will turn to 



rain, but there is no way of telling and it is best ikjI to 

 take any chances. We have had a very mild January, 

 and that as a rule means a severe February, t)ut this is 

 better than to have blizzards in Marcli and April. 

 Keep Boiler Flues Clean 



All boiler flues should be bnishcij or iilown out at 

 least twice a week during this severe weather. If this 

 is not done a good deal of coal will be wasted as it will 

 take just so much more heat to go through the thick 

 coat of dirt that sticks to the flues and fire passages of 

 the boilers. A piece of rag tied to a stick will do a 

 good deal of work and do it better than nu)st brushes, 

 in sectional boilers. Tubular boilers need brushes of 

 course but if these are taken care of they will last a 

 long time and will more than pay for themselves with 

 the coal they save. The way most boilers are built it is 

 a very simple matter to clean the flues even with the 

 fires going. However, there are times during the day 

 that the boilers are not used and the cleaning can be 

 done very nicely. If the place is large enough to have 

 a night man and a day fireman these men will take 

 enough interest in their work to keep the boilers clean. 

 If they do not they should be stirred into action by the 

 management and if necessary more help given, as with 

 the large boilers it takes two good men to handle one of 

 the brushes properly. Also see that the ash-pits are kept 

 clean all the time, for grates cost money. Now is the 

 time to note where the ash-pits are not deep enough to 

 take the ashes for twenty-four hours, and these should 

 be deepened unless it is impossible because of water or 

 some such drawback. 



Propagation 



If there is still a shortage of plants, see that the 

 propagator is kept going all the time now, as April 

 will soon slip around to us and it will be a little more 

 difficult to control the temperatures in sand and above 

 the cuttings. Although it is not impossible to root cut- 

 tings in April we like to get all in before the middle of 

 March so as to have the work out of the way before the 

 rush of spring work. As fast as the cuttings root see 

 that they are ])oltod, for as soon as they have roots they 

 cease to be cuttings and become plants, and a bench of 

 sand is no [ilace for them. Then too they are open to 

 attack by any number of fungous visitors and the quicker 

 they get into soil the better. Make sure that all dead ciit- 

 tings,topsof leaves, etc., are removed from the sand as the 

 cuttings are taken out, if the sand is to be used again, 

 as this vegetable matter will make excellent food for the 

 wrong kind of bacteria and fungus to breed from and 

 live on. Keep the sand clean. 



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HorticiuiltiUDr' 



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Publicity among the kind of readers reached 

 by this paper is THE SORT OF PUBLI- 

 CITY THAT PAYS. 



