October 30, 1915 



HORTICULTURE 



567 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONUl'CTED BY 



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

 by Mr. Kuzitka. Such communications should Invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



Ventilation 



With t!u' iiir oniside bueoniiuj;- cold and colder it will 

 be necessary to Ijc very careful with the ventilators in 

 the Diorning, for the days of summer are gone and it 

 will not do to put air on several inches at a time. It 

 will be necessary to add air very slowly as the houses 

 go up. As the temperature at night will still run 

 around 62, with air, more air can be put on at 64 in the 

 morning, then more at 68 and then again at 72. Care 

 should be taken not to apply too much air at the one 

 time, so as not to chill the houses. On clear mornings 

 the heat can be turned ofE at 66 — that is the steam, 

 for if hot water is used as well, the boilers had better 

 be stopped sooner, for the water will stay warm for 

 some time and the pipes will radiate heat for quite a 

 while after the boilers are stopped off. On chilly, raw, 

 cloudy days, it may be necessary to keep a pipe of steam 

 in the houses all day, but care should be taken that the 

 houses are not allowed to get too warm. 66 to 68 is 

 all the heat that will be needed and if it is allowed to 

 get warmer inside, the roses will be apt to become .soft 

 and will suffer, even if they do not get any mildew at 

 the time. We find that the roses will keep clear of it if 

 they are kept hardy all the time with plenty of air to 

 keep the atmosphere in tlie houses sweet and cli-ar. 

 There may be times when a strong wind blows right in 

 and we are tempted to close the vents a little, but this 

 should not be done. In wide houses with ventilators on 

 both sides of the ridge it will be well to have a weather 

 vane to show which way the wind is blowing, and the 

 air put on the opposite side. When all the air that cm 

 be put on the one side is not sufficient to keep the house 

 cool then a little can be added on the other side, but 

 with the wind blowing hard it will be best to apply only 

 about half as much air on this side as on the other. 

 There is little to gain by carrying a whole lot of air on 

 wet foggy days. Apply only enougji to insure a circula- 

 tion through the hou.scs and let it go at that, for the air 

 inside on these days is drier and healthier than the 

 moisture-laden air outside. 



The Houses at Night 



Any grower who is I'diiunate enough to have a real 

 good night fireman should a])preciate it and see that the 

 man is paid what he is worth for if there ai'e any very 



important men on the place the night man is one of 

 these providing he does his work well and sleeps when 

 he should sleep — that is in the day time. A good many 

 growers will find that their roses will do much better 

 if they are cared for properly at night. To have the 

 houses going up and down is the worst that could hap- 

 pen. The houses should be gradually brought down to 

 their night temperature and then they should be kept 

 there and the heat should never vary more than t'.vo de- 

 grees. One degree is enough to indicate that the houses 

 are going up or down and before they drop more the 

 fault should be remedied. On a rose-growing range 

 there should be little difPiculty in keeping the liouses 

 where they should be and if there is a faulty heating 

 system the sooner it is corrected the better. To elimi- 

 nate all guess work the hot water boilers should Ik 

 equipped with thermometers to register the heat of tho 

 water. Then there should be a good thermometev set 

 up on a post on the north side of the place in an ex- 

 posed position so that any change in the temperature 

 outside will be recorded as soon as it occurs. Then, 

 knowing the heat in the pipes whether it is steam or 

 hot water and the number of pipes to the different 

 houses, it should not be difficult to keep the regular 

 temperature by watching the thermometer outside close- 

 ly. A large private place growing everything in flow- 

 ei's, finiits and vegetables, which called for varied tem- 

 peratures in the different departments was successfully 

 heated from the same place and same battery of boilers 

 by a night man who took care to study out the way to do 

 it right. By knowing just how many turns of a valve or 

 how many pipes are needed to a house to keep it where 

 it should be when the thermometer outside i-ogtstered a 

 cei'tain temperature it was a simple matter to speed up 

 or slacken up the boilers if the temperature outside w(.'nt 

 up or down, and before the houses went either way the 

 required heat was already there. The themometer o.it- 

 side should be watched as much as the thermometer in- 

 side, for it is the temperature outside that drops or goes 

 up before the houses change, taking it for granted of 

 course that the heat is kept uniform. It is poor policy to 

 open and close pipes, as then the house will go up and 

 down. It is far better to regulate tlie heat in the pipes 

 until of course they are not sufficient to cari-y the tem- 

 peratui'c, and then more must be added. Even this can 

 be foreseen by the careful watchman who will know just 

 how long the pipes going will keep the house up where 

 it should be. Look after the houses well at night, for 

 there is no use in wonting to death in the daytime, 

 and then letting them run "every which way" at night. 



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