March 22. 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



269 



Rose Growing 

 Under Glass 



Feeding 



To get a real good crop for Easter, the plants will take 

 quite some feed as soon as the shoots are showing which 

 should he about now. Liquid manure will be the ideal feed 

 from now on, and of course if no bone or tankage had 

 been used during the fall and winter, it will be well to 

 use this quite liberally, especially on plants that are to 

 be carried over another year. Before applying any feed 

 in any way see that the plants are always wet enough 

 for they will not stand feeding when they are dry. The 

 roots will take it up too rapidly, and the result will be 

 that it will get into the systcm'of the plants undigested, 

 stop up the circulation of sap, and the plants will die as 

 a rule, or else get very sick and take a long time for them 

 to recover, if ever. Use a good cow manure, not too 

 fresh, mix well with water, and if possible turn steam 

 into it to cook it up a bit. A bag of fine bone can be 

 dumped in too, making it all the richer. Have it well 

 strained to run through the pipes easily, without any 

 danger of stopping up the mains and laterals. Water 

 the plants first with clear water, and then apply enough 

 liquid to saturate the soil, at the same time not ha,ve it 

 run through too much. This will make the liquid go a 

 good way. When applying bone and other fertilizers, 

 do not apply a heavy dose all at once, rather give the 

 plants a little at a time and apply it, say every week on 

 a certain day so there will lie no omission. By careful 

 cutting, the plants can be kept so that they will be able 

 to take it at all times without any danger of overfeed- 

 ing. Where no facilities fur applying liquid manure are 

 installed, sheep manure, chicken manure tankage, acid 

 phosphate can be used to take its place, also a light 

 dressing of cow manure every so often as the plants take 

 it up can be applied. 



Cutting 



Witli the coming of warmer weather, it will be neces- 

 sary to get the stuff cut a little tighter, especially on 

 places where there is no icebox to harden the stuff before 

 it is shipped, and to keep it cool while it is in water. 

 Change all the water in the jars every day. It will pay 

 in the long run, and only takes a few minutes after 

 packing to dump all the water, and let the jars air for a 

 while. With plenty of jars, wash half of them out well 

 with hot water ami soap, and then set them out in the 



CONDUCTED BY 



Questions by our readers in line with any of the topics pre- 

 sented on this page will be cordially received and promptly 

 answered by Mr. Ruzlcka. Such communications shonld 

 invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



sun for two or three days. It will sweeten them up 

 wonderfully, and the water will keep much cleaner, and 

 that means that the roses will keep much longer if they 

 have fresh sweet water, rathen than stagnant water. 

 At no time should the jars be unclean enough to drink 

 out of. When cutting, where there is a heavy crop, 

 some of the roses can be cut down to one eye, thus giv- 

 ing the cut bloom a little more stem and perhaps put- 

 ting it into the next grade. Keep the heads together 

 well when cutting so that they will not bruise. Every 

 mark will show when the ultimate consumer gets the 

 roses, and that goes against them every time. Retailers, 

 too, will come for someone's stock, often way out of their 

 way once they know it is all that can be expected, and 

 the result is that some growers' stock is always sold 

 before it reaches the market, while other stuff has to go 

 begging. This of course has not been the case the past 

 winter, but with more and more stock coming in all the 

 time, roses will have more competition than they have 

 had. Get them to the home in good shape and benefit 

 the whole rose growing business. 



The Young Stock 



It is well to go over all the young stock to see just 

 what is needed in the different varieties. Later, per- 

 haps, young stock will be very scarce, and the result will 

 be that growers may have to plan what they can get, 

 which is not always the most profitable thing to do. Also 

 see that all the young stock that is being grown at home 

 is not suffering in any way, and is being cared for prop- 

 erly. Do not let any plants get pot bound too severely, 

 and if in a pinch it is not possible to repot when the time 

 comes, give the potted plants a little bonemeal. This 

 will keep them going for about two weeks, when the 

 process can be repeated, hut then they must be shifted. 

 As mentioned before, see that they are wet enough 

 when the bonemeal is applied for reasons stated. In re- 

 potting, see that the plants are well cleaned oil, and all 

 small plants are set to the front of the hench, and all the 

 taller and stronger plants to the rear. This will give 

 all the plants an equal show, and they will even up bet- 

 ter. Discard all weak, and poor plants as it is money 

 lost to nurse these along. Use clean pots, and fresh soil 

 so the plants will have every show to keep growing right 

 on without any stop. 



PRUNING CLEMATISES 

 Though this is often needful work, 

 it is very apt to be overdone. The 

 spring-flowering montanas should be 

 left severely alone, save where much 

 overgrown. Clematises of the patens 

 and lanuginosa class require no more 

 than a mere tipping back of weakly or 

 dead wood. The Jackmanii and those 

 of the Flammula and viticella sections 

 may be cut right back to a few eyes 

 from where last year's wood started. 



This will increase the number of 

 flower-bearing shoots and induce the 

 plants to bloom low down as well as 

 on top. But while hard pruning un- 

 doubtedly tends to heavy flowering, it 

 is questionable whether a great mass 

 of bloom is really so effective as a 

 more open distribution of color. In- 

 stead of removing the parts cut off, it 

 is a good plan to leave these as sup- 

 ports for the new growth. A more 

 natural and pleasing effect will in this 



way lie obtained. We always prune 

 the above kinds in March, even though 

 new growth may have by that time 

 started. — The Garden. 



Lincoln said: "When an occasion is 

 piled high with difficulty, we must rise 

 to the occasion." There are war tasks 

 to be concluded, readjustments to be 

 effected, individual and national pros- 

 perity to be achieved. Buy Thrift 

 Stamps and W. S. S. 



