December 4, 1915 



HORTICULTURE 



727 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



Questions by our readers In line with any of the toplis presented on this pajje will he cordially received and promptly 

 by Mr. Ruzlcka. Such communications should Invariably be addressed to the office of llORTICULTUKE. 



answered 



Disbudding. 



With tlie season well ailvaiu-ed now and the roses 

 growing well, it will be neeessary to go over the benches 

 at least once a week and take away all the side shoots 

 that may start on the longer grades of roses. We find 

 that Ophelia especially needs attention in this respect 

 and if this work is not attended to when it should be a 

 good deal of energy and strength will go into these side 

 shoots that should be going into the bud proper. While 

 doing this work it is a good idea to keep an eye open for 

 signs of spot or spider and pick the leaves that are af- 

 fected with the former and burn them. Plants where 

 spider is found should be marked, and then when syring- 

 ing give these an extra good dose. While disbudding 

 it is also well to look for all the poor buds, if there are 

 any, and take these out, giving the side shoots a chance 

 to come on. As a rule these will come good. 



Weeds Under the Benches 



It is not always that weeds will start under the 

 benches, but should some seed have dropped under from 

 the hay that was put into the benches before they were 

 filled last summer and started a crop of weeds sticking 

 out into the walks, get after these at once and remove 

 them. They are nearly always a breeding place for red 

 spider, and although we are not sure that these will 

 crawl from the weeds onto the roses ,we would rathei 

 not trust them. It does not take very long to remove 

 these weeds and the houses are niuch better off for it. 

 The same may be said of weeds in the benches. These 

 should be pulled out as suoii as they appear, for they too ■ 

 are only a breeding place for insects. ^ 



Whitewashing the Bench Sides 



I f there is a huiist- or two on the place which is shaded 

 or which is rather old and dark it can be made much 

 lighter and more cheerful by wetting down the sides of 

 the benches and applying a good coat of hot whitewash. 

 This will have a surprising effect on the light and the 

 roses will surely be heiielited tliereby. Of course this 

 alone will not grow the roses but it will be a great help 

 during the dark months of the winter. If applied real 

 hot to a wet surface the work can be done quickly and 

 it will not rub off so easily. 



The Supply of Pots. 



With the propagating season close at hand it would 

 be well to go over the pot supply and make sure that 

 there is enough of all the different sizes on liand. It 

 will be best not to use two-inch pots for the first pot- 

 ting unless there is a lot of them on hand and it looks 

 bad to see them idle. We find them a little too small, 

 for no sooner are the young roses rooted than they have 

 to be repotted and this means a good deal of work. With 

 the cost of labor ever increasing, saving on the work 

 will cut quite a figure in a year's run of business. It 

 will take a while for the pots to arrive when they come 

 hy freight and the sooner they arc ordered the better. 



The Novelties. 



There will be several new roses to come out in the 

 coming spring and any grower interested will do well to 

 look them up now and see just what they are doing. In 

 order to tell, it is best to see. them growing, as notes 

 can then be made under what conditions they do best. 

 If these are the same asi can.be given on your own place 

 then the variety will no doubt be a success. With the 

 market prices for novelties double those paid for tlie 

 older, varieties. the new roses are well worth looking up. 



SOME NEPHROLEPIS HISTORY. 



Mr. R. C. Benedict, 



Brooklyn Botanic Garden. 



Dear Sir: — What I write you, I can- 

 Bcarcely call information, yet it may 

 help you. When the old Horticultural 

 Building in Boston, Mass.. was erected 

 at corner of Tremont and Bromfield 

 streets, the main floor contained two 

 stores, one occupied by Mr. Southmaid 

 as a fruit and confectionery store, with 

 a nice restaurant in rear, the other by 

 Mr. Washburn as a seed store. 



In course of time Mr. Lucius Foster 

 had, first, a window privilege and later 

 had a large part or whole as a florists' 

 store. Mr. Foster had greenhouses at 

 Dorchester. 1 understood his wife was 

 named Anna, and the fern, named 

 Anna Foster, was a sport in the green- 

 houses of .\lr. Foster. 1 doubt If the 

 fern can now be traced, as .Mr. Foster 

 died years ago. 



On page fi92 of November 27, Horti- 

 cuLTt-HE, is a fern advertisement of 

 H. H. Barrows & Son of Whitman, 



Mass. The form Barrowsii,' I first saw 

 at their place, and I think 1 understood 

 Mr. Barrows that it sported with him 

 from Bostonicnsis. - 



The Boston form I first saw at North 

 Fasten at the greenhouses of the late 

 Frederick L. Ames, and I always sup- 

 posed that form of it had originated 

 on their premises. 



As most of these "suppositions" date 

 back over forty years (I have been in 

 business over fifty-five years) they are 

 somewhat misty. 



Respectfully. 



Fk\NK BuFflNTON. 



Fall River, Mass. 



long ;in(l ^iPiVder, 

 pinnae. 



with sub-divided 



Referring to the set of six-y-five or 

 more varieties of Mephrolepis exaltata 

 already collected and identified at the 

 Brooklyn Hotanic Garden as stated by 

 R. C. Benedict, in our last week's is- 

 sue, we mention .\, .Mentor!, shown by 

 C". Hagenburgcr at the Cleveland Flow- 

 er Show as another new one to be add- 

 ed to the long list. This struck us 

 as a very pretty variety, the fronds 



CHINESE COTONEASTERS. 



Several of the Chinese Cotoneasters 

 in the collection of Chinese plants will 

 be objects of much beauty for several 

 weeks, for many of them retain their 

 fruit until winter and their leaves are 

 only now beginning to take on their 

 brilliant autumn colors. The most 

 beautiful of them perhaps now is the 

 red-fruited Cotoneaslrr Diclsiana. C. 

 ilirarinaia. another red-fruited species, 

 will be more beautiful in ten days' 

 time when the leaves will be bright 

 scarlet. C. hotizonlalis and its vari- 

 ety perpusiUa with their dark green 

 leaves and small bright red fruits, will 

 not lose their autumn beauty much be- 

 fore Christmas. These two plants 

 with their prostrate stems spreading 

 into broad, compact mats are well 

 suited for the rock garden or to train 

 a.gainst low walls. — Arnold Arhoretum 

 Bulletin. 



