September 2, 1916 



HORTICULTURE 



311 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



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Questions by our renrtera In line with nny of the topic* prespntprt on this piiee will he oordlnlly reoelTp<l and promptly aniwered 

 liy Mr. HiiKlrkn. Sui-h cummuuU-atluns Bliould InTarlubly be addressed to tlie oflU-e of HORTICULTUUE. 



Fumigation 



Now that there is U cool night now and then, growers 

 should not neglect to clean cut any fly that may have 

 got in here and there in spite of careful spraying or light 

 smoking. For this purpose we find nothing better than 

 some of the tobacco papers advertised in Horticultuui-:. 

 When carefully done, the smoke will get in under the 

 plants where it is hard to spray and will get out any fly 

 that may happen to be there. A light, quick syringing 

 following tlie fumigation will help clean out the remain- 

 der, as there will be many of the old ones that will not 

 be killed but merely made sick, and if these can be 

 knocked off the plants and under the bench they are 

 sure to perish as they will not have energy enough to 

 crawl back. There should be no weeds or anything under 

 the benches that will house them for theii they are sure 

 to get back to the plants later, as a certain number are 

 gifted with wings which they do not hesitate to use the 

 first chance they get. If there arc very many of the pests 

 it will be well to smoke the house again the following 

 night if conditions are right. This means that the 

 temperature should be below 70 degrees F. and the 

 plants plenty wet enough at the root. It is best to 

 fumigate on a quiet night as the smoke will go through 

 the house better than it would on a windy night. With 

 old leaky houses it is best to smoke on rainy days or 

 nights as all air crevices and cracks in broken glass will 

 be full of water and the fumigation will be much more 

 effective. Tobacco stems can be used where time will per- 

 mit, and when used right with good stems tlie work will 

 be equally effective. It is not a very pleasant task though 

 and great care must be taken to see that the stems do 

 not burn with a flame as the smoke would be very hot 

 then and would surely burn the plants. It is not a good 

 idea to have the stems too wet, as the smoke will then be 

 weak because it will be about half steam. Just wet them 

 enough to keep them from burning with a flame. It 

 will be necessary to prepare the stems at least two hours 

 ahead of the time they are to be used. The water will 

 then have plenty of chance to work through the stems 

 so that they will be moist all the way through yet not 

 wet. When using stems a large smoke pot made for the 

 purpose should be used and this can be pulled through 

 the house, filling it up properly. We get best results 

 by going through first filling the house about half, and 

 then coming back through and filling it up proper. This 

 gives us a chance to see air pockets and judge tlie way 

 the smoke will behave. The house can be filled much 



more evenly this way, as it is quite a proposition to be- 

 gin and fill the house right up from the one end. If 

 many houses are to be done it is best not to use the same 

 pot all the time, as it is bound to get too hot and not 

 work right. One hour's use is the limit for one pot, 

 after which a fresh one should be started. It will work 

 better, give denser and cooler smoke and be more satis- 

 factory all the way around. 



Those Annoying Spiders 



No, it will not be red spider that we refer to tliis 

 lime. It will be real spiders, those that have 

 a habit of stretching cobwebs at night across the walks, 

 that catch the grower's face in the morning when he 

 comes around to cut his roses. These spiders do no 

 harm to the roses that we can see, but are very annoy- 

 ing for reason already stated. We discovered a way to 

 get rid of this, quite by accident, but it seems to do the 

 work and it certainly is much more pleasant to cut and 

 carry an armful of roses without having to stop to brush 

 the cobwebs from the face. We find a little fine bon&- 

 meal dusted over the plants with a pair of bellows wiU 

 drive tlie spider away, and the webs will disappear 

 almost as soon as it is applied. The stronger the smell 

 of the bone, the more effective it will be. Needless to 

 say, the bone should not be applied so that the plants 

 are covered thickly, but apply just a slight dusting. 



Grasshoppers and Caterpillars 



With the side air open occasionally, there will be a 

 number of grasshoppers getting in and these are verj- 

 far from being an asset. See that the boys get them 

 whenever they are cutting, watering or scratching. 

 Never stop until the one that you see is dead. Tliey will 

 eat off the finest of the buds and in this manner do far 

 much more damage than one would think. Another 

 pest is a tinv caterpillar that eats out the under side of 

 the leaves. Hand picknng is the only thing that will get 

 rid of these and if growers will keep tlioir eyes open 

 when cutting or disbudding there need not be very 

 many around. They seldom operate singly, for the eggs 

 arc laid by some moth or butterfly in a bunch and 

 there is generally a whole colony of the posts under the 

 leaf and'^then when that leaf is "eaten off they are reaxiy 

 to start on the next one. It is hard to reach them with 

 poison as tliev do not take the whole leaf, but just the 

 cells under the protecting top shell. There are also 

 worms that bore into the stalk and many of the finest 

 shoots are sometimes affected. The wide-awake gi-ower 

 will have his eve on this, and as soon as any suspicious 

 looking shoot appears it is taken off at once and Imrned. 

 A good idea, too, is to catch and kill and burn all butter- 

 flies and other insects that get into the houses and can- 

 not find their way out. We say bum them because it 

 often happens that there will he a lot of eggs ready to 

 be laid, and if the insect is not burned these eggs will 

 hatch just tho ^ainc Do away witli them good and 

 proper. 



