December 18, 1915 



HORTICULTURE 



811 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



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

 by Mr. Ruziclsa. Such communications should Invariably be addressed to the office of HOKTICtJLTDKE. 



Feeding During December. 



We are now going through the shortest days in the 

 year, and unless the plants are growing very freely, the 

 amount of feed given them will have to be somewhat 

 the plants all that they will take. If bonemcal is 

 limited, until the New Year, when it will be safe to give 

 the plants all that they will take, and if they are grow- 

 ing good— there will hardly be a limit. If bonemeal is 

 to be used and the plants are in need of a little food, 

 then apply it now, for they are sure to get a large por- 

 tion of it. We would not use much of this after the 

 first of February. We prefer sheep manure, tankage, or 

 other manures that may be available, not forgetting 

 liquid manure. If the plants are not dried out properly 

 the soil can nearly always be found to be acid or may 

 contain large numbers of earthworms. These can be 

 killed and the soil sweetened by an application of 

 fresh hydrated or air-slacked lime. These are the 

 only two limes w^e would use in the rose houses. This 

 dose of lime can also take the place of plant food as il 

 will decompose a good deal of matter in the soil, thus 

 making available plant food that would otherwise lie 

 inert. 



Syringing. 



As often as the weather will permit the plants 

 should receive a good syringing so that there will be no 

 spider anywhere to start breeding as soon as the warmer 

 and brighter days of the spring come. They are a long 

 way off as yet but most places are clean in the fall but 

 are allowed to breed spider during the winter months 

 and these come out in such large numbers in the spring 

 that it is almost impossible to keep them down. Syringe 

 early in the morning and shake the plants as soon as 

 you are through so that they will have every possible 

 chance to dry off before the night comes on. Do not 

 neglect dusting plenty of air-slacked lime under the 

 plants, especially in the Beauty houses. If not too cold, 

 it is also advisable to carry a little air until about nine 

 at night, unless the houses are not very tight and get 

 plenty of air as it is. The thing to avoid is a damp, 

 stale atmosphere, as this will soften the plants so that 

 they will be almost sure to get a dose of mildew. It will 

 also have a good deal to do in turning the flowers pale. 

 Syringe as rapidly as possible, being careful not to throw 

 too much water on the benches. 

 Tying. 



It will be necessary to go over the plants quite often 

 and see that there are no buds up against the glass 

 where they will freeze into the ice that forms on cold 

 mornings. Growers with wide houses with high sides 

 will not have to worry about this but all the growers 

 have not the up-to-date houses built but recently. All 

 varieties, save the Beauty, will not mind going untied 

 for a while, but the latter will not bud if allowed to lay 

 around at all. Keep after the tying as much as possible, 

 especially in the Beauty houses. We have seen a case of 

 a growers failing to grow Beauties successfully merely 

 because they were not tied up properly all the time. 

 Some of the long shoots will have to be bent down, and 



in doing this be careful to keep the growth on the same 

 side of all three wires as it is rather unhandy to have 

 them mixed up. Keep the tops all the same distance 

 above the top wire as this will insure a square deal to all 

 the tops and give them all a chance to get some sun and 

 set, for Beauties that will not set are not very profitable. 

 In tying teas to stakes be careful not to bunch them up 

 too much, as they are bound to lose some of their leaves 

 this way nnd are much harder to syringe. 



Blackspot 



Mr. Arthur Kuzicka. 



Dear Sir: — Mr. George C. Thomas, Jr., in his "The 

 Practiial Book of Outdoor Rose Growing," second edition, 

 suggests a new remedy for black spot in the shape of a 

 formaldeliyde solution. He credits the "American Florist" 

 issue of June 14, 1914, and the National Rose Society of 

 England with the recommendations of tliis remedy. 



Have you ever tried this remedy or know of any one 

 \vho has, and what has been the results obtained? This 

 remedy has no doubt been tried out the past season by 

 some rose growers, and it certainly would be very inter- 

 esting to me, and perhaps others as well, to get some re- 

 port on its use in this country. 



Black spot is, of all the diseases and enemies of the 

 rose, the worst that I have had to contend with in out-door 

 rose growing. We can control mildew by spraying and 

 dusting with the usual recommended remedies, but black 

 spot strips our roses of foliage, blights the bloom and re- 

 fuses to respond to sprayings. If the formaldehyde solu- 

 tion has any virtue, the rose-growing public ought to know 

 it, for there is nothing so discouraging as a disease of this 

 kind and the laborious and tedious taslc of picking off 

 diseased foliage, recommended by the writers, and its con- 

 stant repetition acts only as a check, and a mild one at 

 that, and dampens one's ardor for roses. 



Yours truly, J. N. P. 



Washington, Pa. 



I am very sorry to say that I have never tried the 

 treatment mentioned and I do not know of any gardener 

 who has. Our outdoor rose growing has been limited, 

 I regret to say, to only such varieties of roses that do 

 not contract blackspot so easily and should any of these 

 get it we have never gone to any trouble to cure it out- 

 side of a spraying or two oi some good fungicide which 

 wo thought best to use. We are interested in cut roses 

 commercially you see, so we cannot spend more on a 

 plant than about a fourth of what we get from it. With 

 [irivate gardeners it is different as the roses are wanted 

 i-egardless of cost. The only real cure for spot we have 

 ever been able to find satisfactory is to grow the plants 

 out of it. In other words, try to keep the plants grow- 

 ing all the time. This can only be done by being very 

 careful to prepare a good soil when they are planted. 

 Tlie soil should be well drained if it is inclined to be wet 

 and the plants should be watered only in the early morn- 

 ing when dry weather sets in. In watering it is best to 

 water thoroughly, so that the water goes a good ways 

 down. We also find it helps to mulch the plants as soon 

 as hot weather comes around as this keeps the soil cool 

 around the roots and the plants do not suffer so badly. 

 It may be that some of Horticulture's readers may 

 have tried the remedy recommended in the book you 

 mention, and if they have I am sure they will be glad 

 to write of their experience. 



