June 10, 1916 



HOETICULTURE 



787 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



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

 by Mr. Ruzicka. Such communications should Invatiably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



Planting Time 



Planting tiiiio Jias now iirrived in earnest even on the 

 smaller places, and with labor hard to get, no time 

 should he lost in getting the houses planted and ready 

 for another year's work. r)o not use any poor plants as 

 it is a big loss in the long run. Tt will he much better 

 for the pocket book of the man backing the business to 

 buy good plants if those grown at home do not come up 

 to the mark. There are times when even with the best 

 of care a lot of plants will become pot-bound and will 

 not have a very good color. These plants are not poor 

 though, for no sooner are they planted than they will 

 begin to gTow very fast. With prices always growing 

 smaller and the cost of labor, etc., always climbing, it 

 is necessary to keep the houses producing so that there 

 will be no idle benclics at any time. Grow the plants in 

 four-inrJi pots if at all possible. With good culture and 

 care in syringing and watering, these plants can be 

 grown so as to cut even before they are ]3lanted, and 

 after careful planting in the benches, will begin to cut 

 more and more. 



Depth of Soil in the Benches 



E^ery gro\Ver has his own idea as to the proper depth 

 of soil in the benches but with us we find that the less 

 we can use the better. Three inches, with four as the 

 limit, is plenty with our way of grow'ing-. This does not 

 mean three inches of loose soil w-hich w-hen packed would 

 not give the plants any space to root in, but three inches 

 of well firmed soil. Tt is a great saving in many ways 

 not to use too much soil. In the first place it takes 

 about half the sod that it would were the benches heaped 

 full, which means a great saving there. Then comes the 

 wlieeling in and then wheeling out. The less soil in the 

 benches the sooner this work can be done, and the 

 quicker the work is done the smaller the expense. Then 

 when the roses are growing we fhid it much better to 

 have their roots well confined as they are then much 

 easier to handle. Too much soil is the cause of many 

 a Beauty bench running blind all the time, with stems 

 running along thirty or forty feet. Were the roots eon- 

 lined as they should be this would not be so apt to haj)- 

 pen. With less soil in the benches, more can always be 

 added tow-ards .spring wJien the plants need it, in the 

 iVirm! of mulch whereas were the benches filled top full, 

 .none can ho taken away in the winter should it lia]ipeii 

 to be a very dark one. The plants will also dry out 

 much better in the winter if less soil is used, thus gi\ ing 

 the grower an opportunity to give the plants more water, 

 and the oftener the benches can be watered the better 

 tliey will grow. 



Building New Benches 



Hero and there new benches will have to be put up 

 and a word or two on these wdll not be out of place. All 



joints should lie painted if it is not possible to paint all 

 "the '"two by fours" and boards. Care in driving nails 

 will keep the benclies from^ decay a great deal too. The 

 less nails used the better. It is quite unnecessary to put 

 two nails into a board wherever it crosses a cross piece. 

 With good cross ])ieces, two nails ought to hold a six- 

 teen-foot board in place, and they do not have to be 

 twenties either, for eight-penny nails are long enough. 

 It will not be necessary to use galvanized nails as the 

 common wire nails will last as long as the boards and 

 that is all that is necessary. One very important item 

 is the drainage, or the space between the boards. When 

 the plants are gi'own on the small amount of soil plan, 

 the spaces between boards should not be more than half 

 an in^'h. with one quarter to three eighths as the stand- 

 ard. This will 1)0 plenty of drainage unless there is a 

 bench tliat is shaded badly, wlien more drainage will 

 have to be given. N"othing is gained by leaving spaces 

 an inch or more as these wide spaces only let a lot of 

 earth througli, making a great deal of extra work in 

 cleaning it out from under the benches. It is hardly 

 ]jossible to keep only four inches of soil in the bench 

 with such wide spaces for drainage as the watering will 

 M-ash much of the soil right through, leaving the roots 

 exposed to the air, which does them very little good and 

 often a great deal of harm. In buying lumber be sure 

 to order such as will fit the benches without much waste. 

 Boards four, eight, twelve and sixteen. feet long can be 

 used without much cutting, giving preference to the 

 latter, as the worl< of lauilding can be done much quicker 

 and it is easier to keep track of the lumlier when it ar- 

 rives. Narrow strips of one-ply roofing put between the 

 cross pieces and the bottom of the bench, will shed the 

 w-ater away from the two-by-fours and thus make them 

 last much "longer. These shoitld be wide enougli lo 

 allow the edges to he bent down a little so that the water 

 will run oft". 



Syringing 



Care sould be taken not to have the plants dry when 

 syringing. It will not hurt to water late in the al'ter- 

 lioon, especially if the steam pipes are kept hot at night, 

 so that there will be no excuse for not liaving the plant.s 

 wet enough for the syringing day. 'I'he sun is very ■ 

 strong now and it will not take much to bum the leaves. 

 It will not hurt the plants to be a little wet, as they will ; 

 (In- out fast enough if they are old [dants and growing 

 fi-eelv and the young plants can be syringed so that • 

 hardly any water is thro\ni on the benches. Use plenty 

 ol' pressure and use an open hose if possible. It will 

 >ave the leaves, and .save many a lengtli of hose, for 

 most nozzles are hose bursters. With ■an open hose the 

 work can be done veiT quickly so that it will not takCj^J 

 any more water, neither will it be necessaiy to soak tjj^^j 

 wiiole house if care is taken and the one syriu'giitg... 

 keeps moving. The old way of standing in one place 

 a long time wliile syringing is a little out of date. The 

 (piickcr the work is done the better. 



