April 15, 1916 



HORTICULTUEE 



523 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDCCTED BY 



Packing Beauties 



In packing long stemmed Beauties be careful to jjut 

 paper between the layers of specials as they are packed 

 in the boxes. In using wooden boxes, one hundred to a 

 box, and with the standard paper boxes, seventy-five to 

 a box, twenty-five to a layer with paper between the lay- 

 ers is the way we have always packed them. The paper 

 should never be omitted, for if no paper is put in the 

 thorns are bound to punc-tui-e the leaves badly, thus 

 making the roses loss valuable. .\s soon as the warmer 

 weather sets in (we had a snow stonn on the 8th and 

 9th, snow still on the ground) ice will have to be put 

 into the boxes, and surely no place depending on a home 

 supply will be short of natural ice this coming summer. 

 [n icing use wooden boxes : crush the ice to pieces about 

 the size of walnuts and scatter them among the stems 

 of the roses at the foot of the hoxes. Care should be- 

 taken not to have the ice come in contact with the buds, 

 as they would be apt to spot badly. Use plenty of paper 

 lining as this will help to keep the roses cool and they 

 will arrive in a much better condition. Do not lay the 

 buds too close to the end of the box and be sure to put 

 in a tissue paper cushion between their heads and the 

 end of the box. It is also well to tie them fast by put- 

 ting a rope around the bottom of the box on the outside 

 and running it through tlie sides, and tying the ends to- 

 gether over the stems of tlie specials. Tliis will keep 

 them from sliding around and getting broken and 

 bruised. This same thing can be done in packing the 

 long grades of the Tea roses, for they break even easier 

 than the Beauties and they certainly show the bruises 

 more. Avoid lining the boxes \vith waxed paper, for 

 this makes ideal sliding grounds and as soon as the box 

 is moved the roses slide at once. With paper going up. 

 it is almost as well to use only newspaper in the boxes, 

 putting onh^ a slici-t nf nianilbi jiapcr arrmnil the licads. 



Watering Potted Stock 



It will be necessary to watch the potted plants very 

 closely for they will dry out very quickly on the bright 

 sunny days when the ventilators are up and the air in 

 the house quite dry. The plants in the edge rows will 

 dry out fir.st and they may have to be watered even 

 though no water is given to the rest. When the wliole 

 batch is to be watered water the edge rows first and then 

 water all the plants, so that the front rows will get two 

 waterings. This will make them about even, for the soil 

 in the first few rows of pot-s being drier than the rest, 

 will shed the water more, and it will r\m right through 

 without saturating the soil thoroughly. In watering use 

 a rose nozzle and not very much pressure. Beginning 

 with the first rows water these all the way across tlic 

 bench and come liack witli the next two. Do not ski)) 

 all over the bench as it is imiio.^siblo to water evenly in 

 this way. To keep the plants watered evenly is a great 

 item in successful propagation, so it is necessary to be 

 very careful. Careful ])(>tting will help a great deal for 

 if the pots are all filled up to the same point the re- 

 maining space will be the same, and if these spaces are 

 filled evenly with water there should not be much dif- 

 ference in the moisture in the different pots. Mixed 

 pots should never be used- for potting roses, as some of 



them are hard, some soft, some porous and othei's not, 

 and the result will be that the plants will never he even. 



Syringing Young Beautie.s 



Great care will ha\c to be taken in syringing young 

 Beauties, especially those wliich have been potted into 

 fours, and have grown quite tall. If tliis work is done 

 in a haphazard fashion, many of the plants will be 

 knocked loose in the pots and will lay down, after which 

 it will be impossible to keep them free from spider, Tliey 

 will also grow weak and spindly, thus rendering them 

 useless for growing on. By careful syringing, using a 

 steady spray with slow side to side motion, no harm will 

 be done and the plants can be kept free from insects. If 

 there are any that are too tall for the pots they should 

 be tied to a hyacinth stake or something similar to help 

 hold them in place. All syringing should be done as 

 early in the morning as possible so that the plants will 

 have every chance to di7 off before night. It is very 

 easy to get a dose of spot into potted Beauties, and it 

 is very hard afterwards to get rid of it. To protect 

 against this, and to insure stronger growth, space the 

 plants if at all possible, sinking the pots about half into 

 the ashes to keep them from dijing out too fast and 

 from falling down when syringing. This method will 

 take up a great deal of space but it will pay in the long 

 run, as plants thus grown will be of miich better quality 

 and have far more vitality than if croweded together 

 any old way. It will be necessary to syringe four-inch 

 stock from both sides and even' time there is a chaneo. 

 for the young plants should be kept clean at all costs. 



Watering Asparagus and Smilax 



These two greens will take a lot of water, especially if 

 they are growing at all w-cll. Unlike roses, they enjoy 

 a wamr moist atmosphere and to give them this it will 

 be necessary to dampen down llie walks in the cross 

 houses three or four times a day in addition to the 

 watering. They will take water about every other day 

 if there is nothing wrong with the drainage, and if tliere 

 is it will be as well to water them anyhow from now on, 

 thus insuring a good sujjply of fresh water for the 

 plants at all times. Plenty of feed can be applied 

 either in the form of liquid manure, mulch or sheep 

 manure, tankage, bone, almost anything that has plenty 

 of food in it. A little nitrate of soda sprinkled over 

 the benches when the tops of the plants are dry will 

 help a good deal, but too much should not he put on at 

 one time. The plants should not be dry at the root, l)ut 

 tlieir tops or foliage must be dry or the fine particles 

 of soda will stick to them and burn them badly. Watch 

 out for spider on the ])lants from now on, for if it 

 should get into them it will nearly i-uin either smilax 

 (IV a.sparagus, as it is difficult to clean them out once 

 they gain a foothold. Fumigate regularly too, for both 

 asparagus and smilax are often used in decoration of 

 dinner tables and it is no credit to (he flower trade to 

 liave insects crawl out on the tnlilr-i from {\\v <.'reoiis. 



Keep the Bench Fronts Mulched 



The mulch applied to the benches will dissolve very 

 rapidly along the front and unless more is applied the 

 plants will suffer from exposure. We ajiply three coats 

 of mulch to the bench fronts where the rest get only 

 one. At times some of the front benches, or the top 

 benches in the old three-quarter span houses, need the 

 mulch much sooner than the rest of the house. In that 

 case apply it. At this time of the year it will not mat- 

 ter so much. It is only in the fall that it is best to 

 keep the whole house even if it is possible. Feed the 

 plants all (hey will take being only careful not to u.-^^ 

 material containing too much nitrogen, as this would 

 make the growtli soft, and likely cause a do.«e of mildew. 



