October 28, 1916 



HOETICULTUEE 



567 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONUUCTKD Bt 



'Z^C/C^i^^K,t^<^^^~-<^ 



Qneitions by onr rMderg In line with »nj of the topic* presentMl on this pnge will be cordially received «Dd promptly aniwertd 

 by Ur. Rurk'ka. Such cummunlcatlona aboald UiTarlably be addreaaed to the office of HURTICULTt'UEL 



Liming the Benches 



Most growei's will tijiiii'e to Ijo a little oil' croii during 

 this time of the year wlieii the chrysan the minus are in 

 the market by tlu' tlioiisancl, which as a rule means that 

 the price of roses di'ops a little. In order to have the 

 plants off crop it is necessary to cut a crop jtist before 

 the chrysanthemnni season, and if this is done the plants 

 will now be about swelling buds for another croji. At 

 this stage if the soil is as most soils are, getting a little 

 packed so that it does not drain freely, and green here 

 and there, a liming of the benches will help correct tlie 

 condition and at the same time help the plants a great 

 deal. To do this fresh air-slacked lime should be used. 

 Hydrated lime is ideal but it is more expensive in .some 

 sections of the country. T,imestone should not be used 

 as it is too slow in action, which may be all very well 

 out in the field but in the rose hou.ses an immediate re- 

 sponse is necessary from everytiiing if the grower is to 

 pay himself decent wages and earn a reasonable rate of 

 interest on the money invested. The best way to do is to 

 rhimp a barrel or two of lump lime right on the ground 

 outside and sprinkle it with a hose until it starts to 

 slack when more water should be added until the lime 

 forms a fine powder. It will be necessary to keep it 

 stirred so that it will not be too wet in places. It will be 

 too hot to use at once but will soon cool o2 so that it can . 

 be applied and it should then be applied without delay 

 if the benches are in shape to take it. It is best to have 

 the plants a little dry at the root and when the lime is 

 applied rub the l)enches over a little, getting all weeds 

 and yellow leaves off as the work is done. Wliere time 

 will permit it would be ideal to have the benches thor- 

 ouglily cleaned before the lime is applied but this is 

 not always possible, although it is much better for the 

 plants to have the benches clean. After the lime is 

 scratched in the iilants can get a good watering so that 

 it will get right into the soil. Once in a while there will 

 be a bench tluit will not dry out at all. In a case of this 

 kind the lime can be applied and rubbed in, and no water 

 applied until after the plants are dry enough. The lime 

 will cake when this is done at times but it can easily 

 be broken up by scratching the benches over, and will 

 not be a loss; in fact it will stay on the benches longer 

 and the plants will take it up as they need it. Care 

 should be taken to have the lime free from unslacked 

 lumps. If there were any they wiU slack right after 

 watering and care should he taken to go over all the 

 benches and scratch these up so that there will not be 

 too much lime in one ])lace. Care should be taken to 

 apply the lime very evenly and should there happen to 

 be a little more here and there see that it is spread 

 ii round when the benches are scratched over. 



Tying 



Go right after this especially in the Beauty houses. 

 Other roses do much better if kept tied but they will not 

 be ruined l)y being left untied, as Beauties will. It is 

 very hard to syringe or do anything around the Beau- 

 ties if they are not tied up properly and we consider 

 proper tying a very important thing in their culture. 

 All long stems that an: too high above the top wire 

 should be bent down and these should be kept nicely 

 even so that all the tops will look as if they were growing 

 to a tightly stretched line. This will give them all an 

 equal show and prevent one from shading the others too 

 much. Of course all stems that are showing buds should 

 be allowed to remain up as the buds will develop much 

 better and there will be no danger of breaking the stem 

 while bending it down, as tlu; stems get harder after the 

 buds begin to show. All extra heavy stems can be left 

 up, too, as they make a nice showing, and the chances 

 are that if they were bent down they would be broken. 

 Ill tying Teas, care should be taken not to bunch the 

 plants up too much. To put a string right aroimd the 

 plant and draw all the gi-owth to the stake tightly may be 

 a quick ^\ay to do but is far from proper and when the 

 welfare of the plant is considered it is absolutely wrong, 

 as a plant tied thus will lose a good deal of its foliage 

 and will not produce the buds that a iiroperly tied plant 

 will. It will also be impossible to keep spider out of 

 plants thus tied and will be a nuisance while cutting. 

 The proper way is to tie all growths between the first 

 and second leaf" from the bottom, so that when the buds 

 are cut off the remaining eyes will be already tied, thus 

 making it unnecessary to tie the coming growth again. 

 When thus tied the plants wiU look neat and will have 

 all the chance in the world to develop; will be easy to 

 syringe and no trouble to cut, as the string will serve as 

 a guide so the man with the knife will lose no time, as 

 all buds can be cut one eye'above the string. 



Taxus Cuspidata 



(See .Cover Illustration) 

 The Japanese yew is perfectly hardy, does not burn 

 in winter, and in every way is a valuable evergreen 

 for New England gardens. Indeed, Prof. C. S. Sar- 

 gent has stated that this yew is the finest plant which 

 Japan has contributed to our gardens. Introduced to 

 the Parsons Nurseries, Flushing, L. I., N. Y., in the 

 early '60s of the last century, it is by no means as well 

 known as its merit entitles it to be. It is splendid as 

 a specimen plant on the lawn or elsewhere, and ought 

 to be used as a hedge plant. Fine specimens are 

 scarce, those at the Bayard Thayer estate being among 

 the best. The plant shown on the cover page of this 

 paper is one of eight moved by Superintendent William 

 .\nderson to its present location five years ago. It is 

 twelve feet in height and ten feet through. 



