June 12, 1915 



HOKTICULTUEE 



783 



GROWING ROSES UNDER GLASS. 



(A paper by Robert Beechwood, gardener 



for Mrs. S. W. Allerton, Li\ke Geneva, 



Wis.) 



A rich claj' soil taken from an old 

 pasture without clover seems to suit 

 most roses. In the early tall plow the 

 sod as thin as possible and put in a 

 pile with layers of 12 in. sod and 6 in. 

 fresh cow manure and this will be 

 ready for using when required the fol- 

 lowing spring or summer. Whether to 

 grow roses grafted or on their own 

 roots is a big question and I think for 

 the private gardener for most varie- 

 ties own-root stock is to be preferred. 

 The best time to root cuttings is Janu- 

 ary and February. For the propagat- 

 ing bench use 3 inclies of good sharp 

 sand, free from soil, over 1 inch of 

 rough ashes. The temperature should 

 be 55 degrees to 58 degrees with lu 

 degrees more bottom heat. Use three- 

 eye cutting, one in the sand and two 

 above, from flowering wood firm but 

 not hard. Pot as soon as rooted into 

 good fibrous soil without fertilizer and 

 shade from the sun for a few days. If 

 potted again before benching, soil as 

 used for the benches can be used. For 

 summer blooming, March planting is 

 best and for winter. May and June. 

 Use benches 5 inches deep with bottom 

 boards 4 to 6 inches wide and at least 

 14 inch apart. Soil should be chopped 

 but not too finely and to each yard of 

 soil used, add about 25 lbs. bone meal, 

 a pail each of fresh slaked lime and 

 hardwood ashes. Fill the benches firm 

 to 4 inches, putting the rougher soil 

 on bottom. Plant firmly 15 inches 

 apart each way and water each plant 

 immediately. For the first four weeks 

 only, the plants will need water and 

 the rest of the bench should be kept 

 moist by syringing but after that the 

 entire bench may be watered. On 

 sunny days, plants should be syringed 

 in the morning and on very hot days, 

 again in the afternoon, but never 

 syringe or spill water in the house 

 after 2.00 P. M. Healthy plants re- 

 quire lots of water and when growing 

 should never be allowed to dry out. 

 Water till the bench is wet to the bot- 

 tom and dripping through but not run- 

 ning through. Carnations are bene- 

 fited by an occasional drying but not 

 roses. Some varieties require a higher 

 temperature than others but about 58 

 degrees to 60 degrees at night with 10 

 degrees to 15 degrees rise during the 

 day suits most varieties. When the 

 sun heat raises the temperature to 65 

 degrees it is time to put on a crack of 

 air which should be added to gradu- 

 ally to keep Ijelow 75 degrees when 

 possible and taken oft' gradually to 

 lower temperature steadily to 65 de- 

 grees by early evening. From spring 

 till fall, a little air over night is help- 

 ful even if we have to fire to keep up 

 temperature. Plants should be staked 

 when planted and tied early to with- 

 stand hard syringing. 



.'\fter planting nur aim is to get a 

 good sized bush, so for the first three 

 or four months, buds are cut when 

 they are the size of large peas to leave 

 three to six eyes and the stronger the 

 growth the more eyes can be left till 

 we have a bush about 15 inches high 

 and then we can start cutting roses 

 back to two or three eyes, but to get 

 good roses you must have a good-sized 

 plant and it is better to sacrifice a few 

 flowers once in a while to help build 

 the plants. About four months after 

 planting they should need some top 



PLANT HOUSES AT WAVERLEY, MASS. 



The accompanying cut shows one 

 section of the well-known plant grow- 

 ing establishment of the W. W. Edgar 

 Company at Waverley, Mass. The pho- 

 tograph was taken Easter week, this 

 year, by Fred Lautenschlager of 



Kroescliell Bros. Co.. ('liicai;u. The 

 entire Edgar plant is heated by Kroes- 

 chell boilers. Herman Bartsch cul- 

 tural ability and Kroeschell boiler effi- 

 ciency would seem to be a winning 

 combination judging from the quality 

 of the Edgar product. 



dressing which should be about three 

 parts cow manure and one part soil 

 with some bone meal added. This top 

 dressing can be repeated every two 

 months till spring when liquid cow or 

 sheep manure get quicker results. Let 

 the strength of the plants be your 

 guide in feeding and the stronger the 

 plants the more feeding they will 

 stand. Under no circumstances should 

 roses be fed when dry. If they require 

 water, water them first, then feed 

 them. A sprinkling of slaked lime and 

 wood ashes is very good to keep the 

 soil sweet and should be given about 

 every six or eight weeks. The high 

 grade fertilizers are not to be recom- 

 mended. The houses should be fumi- 

 gated every ten days for aphis. For 

 red spider syringing is the most effec- 

 tive and this should be done thorough- 

 ly w-ith a good hard spray on the un- 

 der side of the foliage. 



Of the diseases we have, mildew and 

 black spot are the most troublesome. 

 Luckily black spot is nearly confined 

 to American Beauty. Both diseases 

 have about the same causes, among 

 which are draughts, sudden changes of 

 temperature, stuffy atmosphere and 

 dampness. Prevention is better than 

 cure, but even the best rose growers 

 seem to have some trouble with dis- 

 eases. Whenever black spot is seen, 

 remove all the infected leaves at once 

 and burn them and then spray the 

 plants with a mixture at the rate of 

 5 ounces carbonate of copper. 3 quarts 

 of ammonia to 60 gallons water. Some 

 of the many fungicides will help, but 

 find out if they discolor white paint 

 before using, or you may find your 

 otherwise white paint turned brown. 

 For mildew, sulphur is the best remedy 

 and may be used in many different 

 ways. An easy and effective way is to 

 dust it on the plants. If the day is 

 sunny, close the ventilators and let the 

 temperature rise to 85 degrees, then 

 blow sulphur in the air and on the 

 plants and keep tb'> lM>Mse closed for 



an hour, then give air gradually. 

 When we are using fire heat, sulphur 

 mixed with water is put on the hot 

 water pipes. In fall, before we start 

 hard firing, in my opinion, is the most 

 critical time for the rose grower, as 

 the plants seem to want a natural rest. 

 A few degrees more heat at this time 

 will help to keep them going. This 

 is our worst time for mildew and a 

 good way to fight it is on a dull day 

 to close the ventilators and keep sul- 

 phur melted in frying pans by oil lamp 

 stoves. They must however be watched 

 very carefully and unless thoroughly 

 understood should not be attempted, as 

 if the sulphur ever burns to the bot- 

 tom of the pans, your foliage will all 

 drop the next day. Plants may be 

 kept over for a second or even a third 

 year by giving them a rest. For win- 

 ter flowering, rest in June and July. 

 Open all ventilators and doors, syringe 

 and water only enough to keep the 

 wood from shrivelling and keep this 

 up for four or six weeks. Now prune 

 out all blind wood and prune back the 

 rest to 18 to 21 inches if they are to 

 be laid down and 12 to 15 inches if to 

 be left standing. Fork over the top 

 soil very liglitly with a hand fork and 

 apply a top dressing of half good soil, 

 half cow manure, some bone meal and 

 a sprinkling of fresh slaked lime and 

 you are ready for running again. P\)r 

 summer blooming, rest in winter, keep- 

 ing the temperature just above freez- 

 ing. Start at 10 degrees about the 1st 

 of March and gradually rise to regular 

 temperature and otherwise treat same 

 as for winter blooming. 



In conclusion. 1 will say treat your 

 roses as you treat yourself. You don't 

 want to sit in a draught: if you are 

 thirsty, you don't want to wait till to- 

 morrow before quenching your thirst. 

 If you are hungry, you want food and 

 you want the food that suits your 

 digestion. When sick, you want special 

 attention till you are well again. The 

 same rules apply to your roses. 



