June 21, 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



583 



ROSES UNDER GLASS IN SUMMER 



By Arthur Ruzicka. 



With the weather getting warmer 

 and warmer, it will be necessary to 

 take great precautions to keep the 

 roses intended for summer blooming 

 going in full swing. To do this the 

 first thing to guard against will be 

 the hot rays of the sun, and a too dry 

 atmosphere in the houses. The for- 

 mer does harm only at the roots, as 

 roses themselves love sun and plenty 

 of it, but they want their roots moist 

 and cool. To accomplish this it will 

 be necessary to keep the plants well 

 mulched at all times, and if the plants 

 have any growth at all, do not let 

 them get at all dry. Water them well 

 as soon as the soil shows the slight- 

 est dryness. Often this will be only 

 along the front rows, and if this is the 

 case, then only the front rows should 

 be watered, but try and have them 

 even so that the whole house can be 

 watered at the same time. Often it 

 will get so that they are rather un- 

 even, then the only thing to do is to 

 give the whole house a thorough 

 watering, going over the dry places 

 first, and then watering the whole 

 house once more and thoroughly, also 

 evenly. To throw the water all over 

 is not watering, as then some plants 

 get it while others get none or very 

 little. 



Feeding. 



As the plants in the summer grow 

 more rapidly than at any other time 

 they will also take a little more feed 

 than they do at other seasons of the 

 year. We find it will be best to feed 

 the plants regularly, once a week, ap- 

 plying a little bonemeal one week and 

 a little liquid manure the next week. 

 Care should be taken at all times to 

 see that the plants are not too dry 

 when feed in any form is applied. It 

 will be better to water the plants with 

 clear water first, and then apply the 

 feed, and if it happens to be the bone- 

 meal, then water the plants once more, 

 giving them only water enough to 

 soak in the bonemeal. When applying 

 liquid manure, water first with clear 

 water, then apply enough liquid to 

 saturate the soil in the benches with- 

 out dripping through very much. This 

 will make a little liquid manure go a 

 long way. 



Shading. 

 As a rule I would not advise any 

 shading at all in the rose houses, but 

 there may be an exception here and 

 there where a private grower has a 

 houseful on the south side of some 

 buiding where the sun is extremely 



hot. In such cases it will perhaps be 

 best to shade a little, and the follow- 

 ing method will be the best, as the 

 shading can be removed with very lit- 

 tle trouble. It is just common whiting 

 mixed with water and applied to the 

 glass on the inside with a syringe 

 such as is found on every private 

 place. Spray the mixture on and if it 

 is done a little carefully there will be 

 very little that will get on the plants, 

 and this will wash off very easily 

 when syringing. To take off the shad- 

 ing it is only necessary to turn the 

 hose on the glass from the inside and 

 it will come right off — no scrubbing to 

 remove, no trouble. For roses it is best 

 to shade this way, as well as for carna- 

 tions. There will always be enough 

 rays of sunlight get through to keep 

 the plants from suffering, and as the 

 shadows will keep moving all the time 

 there will be no danger of burning any- 

 where. 



Planting. 



Planting should now be in full 

 swing, for the better the plants get 

 established and rooted, the better they 

 will flower next winter. One cannot 

 be too careful in preparing the soil for 

 planting, or in cleaning out the bench- 

 es. See that all old soil is removed, 

 and the old soil cleaned out from un- 

 der the benches before they are 

 washed out, then whitewash them 

 well, sprinkling the boards with water 

 before the lime is applied. This will 

 make the job easier, and it will be 

 better too, as all cracks will be filled 

 with lime. Use the lime in almost a 

 paste, the thicker the better. By 

 sprinkling the boards well there will 

 be no trouble to apply it. Not only 

 will the lime keep the benches sweet, 

 but it will help preserve the wood. 

 Benches that are well whitewashed 

 every year will last much longer than 

 benches whitewashed very lightly or 

 carelessly. Add a little bluestone to 

 the lime before using it. It will help 

 do away with the fungi that the lime 

 will not kill. Dissolve the bluestone 

 first by hanging it in a bag in a tub 

 of water. Use no metal containers as 

 the stone would soon eat them up. 

 When applying the lime apply it thor- 

 oughly so that there will be no nooks 

 where the lime will not get. Do not 

 be too saving on it, as the more that 

 is applied the better. Even if a lot 

 does go under the benches It will do 

 a lot of good and no harm at all. 

 Syringing. 



With the rush of planting on, the 



average place may run a little behind 

 with the work. Whatever may have 

 to be let go, see that the syringing is 

 taken care of, so that there will not 

 be a whole lot of spider getting into 

 the houses now, to come forth and 

 make trouble next fall. Rip out all 

 weeds, as they are great homes for 

 spider as well as for a whole lot of 

 other insects that later prey on roses. 

 When syringing see that the hose is 

 applied right where it is needed the 

 most, and that is right under the 

 leaves, and in all nooks and corners, 

 also all back rows. Use good pres- 

 sure, and syringed once this way, then 

 reversed the next time, there will be 

 no danger of any nests starting up. 

 Should there be, mark them and 

 syringe these out especially well to 

 clean out the spider. 



COMING EXHIBITIONS. 



Will secretaries please supply any 

 omissions from this list and correct 

 dates that have been altered: 



June 21-22, New York — Annual meet- 

 ing and exhibition of the American 

 Sweet Pea Society at American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History. Wm. Gray, 

 secretary, Bellevue road, Newport. 



June 24-25, Jenkintown, Pa. — Exhi- 

 bition of sweet peas, hardy perennials 

 and hybrid perpetual roses of the 

 Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. 

 David Rust, secretary, 606 Finance 

 Building, Philadelphia. 



June 25-26, Newport, R. I. — Summer 

 show of the Newport Horticultural So- 

 ciety at Convention Hall. Fred P. 

 Webber, secretary, Melville, R. I. 



July 5-6, Boston, Mass. — Exhibition 

 of sweet peas of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society. Wm. P. Rich, 

 secretary, Horticultural Hall, Boston, 

 Mass. 



August 9-10, Boston, Mass. — Exhibi- 

 tion of gladioli and phlox by Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society. Wm. 

 P. Rich, secretary, Horticultural Hall, 

 Boston. 



September 4-6, San Francisco, Cal. — 

 Annual show of the Dahlia Society of 

 California at Palace Hotel. F. C. 

 Burns, secretary, San Rafael. 



September 9-11, Hartford, Conn. — 

 Fall flower show of the Connecticut 

 Horticultural Society. Alfred Dixon, 

 secretary, Wethersfield, Conn. 



September 11-14, Boston, Mass. — 

 Dahlia, fruit and vegetable exhibition 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety. Wm. P. Rich, secretary, Horti- 

 cultural Hall, Boston. 



September 18-19, Providence, R. I. — 

 Dahlia show of the Rhode Island Hor- 

 ticultural Society. E. K. Thomas, sec- 

 retary, Kingston, R. I. 



