September 6, 1919 



II RT I C U LTUKE 



213 



Be Ready With Steam 

 Katy-dids have now been singing 

 for some time, and although there may 

 not be anything in the saying about 

 frost only six weeks away, it is a sure 

 sign of fall approaching and cool 

 nights in the early future. The days 

 until late October are generally very 

 hot, so often the temperature will run 

 up to and over 90 in the daytime, the 

 nights following are generally very 

 cool, cool enough to start mildew if no 

 heat is turned on. There are also cold 

 rainy days when steam is absolutely 

 necessary to keep the plants in a 

 healthy growing condition. Keep plen- 

 ty of air on all the time and never let 

 the temperature go below 64 nights 

 during the fall of the year when the 

 days are real hot. 



Sulphur. 



With the first pipe of steam around 

 the houses it is best to apply a little 

 sulphur to the pipes whether there is 

 any mildew showing anywhere or not. 

 It will act as a preventive. Apply a lit- 

 tle every ten feet or so on one pipe 

 for every ten feet of width in the 

 house and see that the pressure in the 

 pipes at that time does not exceed ten 

 pounds. If the pressure should be 

 higher, the sulphur is apt to evaporate 

 a little too rapidly, making the fumes 

 very strong all at once, which would 

 likely prove harmful to the plants. Do 

 not close the house up after sulphur 

 is applied even if there is a little mil- 

 dew around. More harm than good 

 will result from this. 



Private growers with only small sec- 

 tions in roses and only hot water heat 

 can evaporate sulphur by placing it 

 over the tops of common lanterns and 

 lighting these, one for every 30 feet of 

 a 20 ft. wide house. Do not turn the 

 wick up too high, and the sulphur will 

 only roast and not melt, yet give off 

 fumes enough to destroy any mildew 

 that may be lurking anywhere among 

 the plants. 



Syringing. 



Lose no chance to syringe as often 

 as the plants will stand it and the 

 weather will permit. With the rainy 

 summer we have had here in the east 

 we are likely to have a dark fall, ami 

 if there should be even a trace of 

 spider anywhere it will likely prove 



very troublesome for the grower. When 

 cutting, tying or doing anything at all 

 around the plants be sure to keep an 

 eye open for any sign of spider any- 

 where and mark these places, then 

 when syringing give these an especial- 

 ly good dose. Should spider appear at 

 all bad in some spots it would pay to 

 mix a little salt in water and spray 

 this on with a hand syringe, using a 

 good teaspoonful of salt to a gallon of 

 water. When applying use a solid 

 stream nozzle and regulate the spray 

 with the finger, getting the water well 

 under the leaves where the spider has 

 made himself at home. 



However, there is no better remedy 

 for spider on roses than a good stream 

 of clear water properly applied, with 

 proper pressure. When syringing be 

 sure to hold the hose so that water 

 will fall on the fronts of the benches 

 as much as possible. The back rows 

 seldom dry out enough as it is. with- 

 out any unnecessary moisture being 

 added. 



Mulching. 



The early planted houses will now 

 be able to use a good mulch without 

 any harm coming of it, and if the 

 plants are at all advanced in growth 

 it will be absolutely necessary. If 

 other work is pressing too hard, apply 

 the mulch to the front rows at least, 

 to protect these from too sudden dry- 

 ing out, which often will eijher kill 

 outright, or will harm the roots enough 

 to give the plants a set back. The 

 time to apply mulch is when the 

 plants are nicely started toward a 

 crop. Make sure they are wet enough, 

 then dust a little bonemeal over the 

 benches and rub this in a little, being 

 careful not to scratch too deep so as 

 not to disturb the roots. Then apply 

 the manure over it, and water imme- 

 diately. Use only well decayed ma- 

 nure, applying it lightly to the back 

 rows, and a little heavier to the front 

 rows, being very careful to apply it 

 very evenly and especially well in all 

 front corners of the benches where it 

 will wear away very fast. 



In watering be careful not to use too 

 much pressure and then be sure to 

 hold the hose so it will not wash the 

 mulch to the center of the benches, 

 leaving it there to pile up and keep the 

 plants far too wet. Needless to say 

 the benches should be thoroughly 

 cleaned before any mulch is applied, 

 all dead leaves and weeds picked off 



clean and taken out of the house, and 

 not thrown under the benches or into 

 the walks to rot and breed bugs and 

 disease and eventually bury and rust 

 out the heating pipes that are there. 



Painting Pipes. 



Be very careful as to what you use 

 on heating pipes. Under no circum- 

 stances use any pipe paint or varnish. 

 This stuff is fine for cold water pipes 

 or for preserving steam pipes in the 

 ground, but for rose houses or in fact 

 greenhouses of any kind, only pure 

 lampblack and linseed oil should be 

 used. And even then ventilate the 

 houses freely when heat is first turned 

 on so the fumes will not do any dam- 

 age. 



COMING MEETINGS AND EXHIBI- 

 TIONS. 



Detroit, Mich. — Vegetable Growers' 

 Ass'n of America, annual convention, 

 Detroit, Mich., Sept. 9 to 13. Sec'y, 

 Sam. W. Severance, Louisville, Ky. 



Hartford, Conn. — Conn. Hort. Socie- 

 ty Fall Flower Show, Sept. 9, 10 and 

 11. Sec'y, Alfred Dixon, Wethersfield, 

 Conn. 



• New Haven, Conn. — New Haven 

 County Hort. Society, annual fall show, 

 Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. 



New York City. — The American In- 

 stitute and the American Dahlia So- 

 ciety, exhibition of dahlias in the En- 

 gineering Bldg., 25-33 West 39th St., 



Sept. 23 to 25. Sec'y, William A. 

 Eagleson, 322-24 West 23rd St. 



New York City. — The American In- 

 stitute and the Chrysanthemum So- 

 ciety of America, exhibition of chrys- 

 anthemums in the Engineering Bldg., 

 25-33 West 39th St., Nov. 5 to 7. Sec'y, 

 William A. Eagleson, 322-24 West 23rd 

 St. 



Providence, R. I. — Rhode Island 

 Hort. Society, flower show, Sept. 18 

 and 19; chrysanthemum show, Nov. 

 13 and 14. Sec'y, Ernest K. Thomas, 

 Kingston, R. I. 



San Francisco, Cal. — Dahlia Society 

 of California, fall show at the Palace 

 Hotel, Sept. 4, 5 and 6. 



Ardmore, Pa. — Exhibition of dahlias, 

 outdoor cut flowers and vegetables of 

 the Pennsylvania Horticultural Socie- 

 ty, Sept. 16-17. Sec'y, David Rust, 606 

 Finance Bldg., Philadelphia. 



Newport, R. I.- — September exhibi- 

 tion of the Newport Horticultural So- 

 ciety, Convention Hall, Newport Beach. 

 Sept. 3-4. 



