November 11, 1916 



HORTICULTURE 



631 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



, CONDDCTKD B¥ 



Queitloni by our readeri In line witb tnj of the topic* prMcnted on tills pace vHI be rordUlljr recelred and promptlj aniwered 

 by Mr. Ruzlpka. Snch commnnlcatloD* ahoiild ISTarUbly be addreued to the office of HOKTICTTLTrKB. 



Feeding 



As soon as tliu plants begin to -how a lar,i;r iiimibcr of 

 red shoots,, it is a good sign that they are lieginniiig to 

 come back, and that there will soon be anotlier crop of 

 buds. To help lengthen the stems it will be necessary 

 to feed the plants, as nearly all the plant food that the 

 new crop will take should come out of what is put on 

 and not out of the soil in the benches, as replanting 

 time is a long way off, and the soil must be kept rich or 

 the plants will begin to go back. Care will have to he 

 taken, however, not to overfeed, for they can easily be 

 ruined by large doses of strong manure or fertilizer 

 when not in condition to take it all. Some varieties wiii 

 take more and stronger feed than others, which fact 

 should be borne in mind when applying mulch or when 

 feeding. Then, too, there may be some benches that are 

 not at the right stage of growth to get the feed. It is 

 not right to go over the place every so often with feed 

 applying it heavy all over. The proper way is to as- 

 certain which benches have a crop just beginning to 

 come, and these only should receive additional feed, in 

 such form as is available and suitable. Xever use pure 

 nitrate of soda on rose benches except in rare cases on 

 the harder growing varieties such as Radiance, Stanley, 

 etc. Other strong fertilizers the same way. If applied 

 too heavy, a w'eak, soft growth is sure to result and a 

 dose of mildew almost sure to follow. Bonemeal is an 

 ideal feed, and no one can go very far from right in 

 applying this. Do not apply too heavy a dose ; a light 

 sprinkling is plenty, and for best results should be ap- 

 plied very evenly so that all the plants will get an equal 

 share. Tankage, sheep manure, blood and bone are all 

 excellent things to use at time?, but we advise growers to 

 experiment with them before using either extensively. 

 If there is a good supply of cow manure, liquid manure 

 can be made, and this, with a light dose of bone n(jw and 

 then, will give the plants enough to eat. Keep enough 

 mulch on to protect tlie roots and to have the surface 

 of the soil quite rough at all times. 



Soil for Potting 



Xow is the time to ihink about the supply of soil for 

 potting, and if there is none put away for the winter 

 it is about the right time to do it now. If there is no 



shed liandy to store tlie soil and thus keep it from freez- 

 ing hard, a heap of it can be covered over witli leaves (ir 

 clean straw. The leaves if used should also be clean, 

 raked out in the wildwood if possible, so that there will 

 be little danger of their lieing affected with some 

 fungus that might get into the soil. If the latter 

 method is. to be u.sed it will be best to wait until the 

 ground freezes a couple of inches, and then cover up 

 the heap desired, 'i'his will make it better for if it should 

 be covered with tlie leaves too soon the soil would get 

 wet and stay wet, and getting no air it would soon lose 

 a goodly portion of its "life" and plants potted in this 

 soil would not respond so readily as in soil bubbling over 

 with life. When storing the soil in a shed make sure 

 that it is well ventilated. The left-over soil heaps will 

 make excellent potting soil and these should be choppt'd 

 down and brought in now if the work has not been done 

 already. 



The Sod Heaps 



In sections where the soil i^ heavy, work on the sod 

 heaps should go right on until they are all put up. If 

 tilings keep as they are it will be difficult to get the her.ps 

 up next spring, so if there is anv chance at all go on 

 with the work now. The soil is still in a fairly dry con- 

 dition, and is not so hard to handle as it will be later. 

 If the manure for the heaps is not on haii.l now. what 

 there is can be made to go further by putting in only 

 very thin lavers and later on when manure is jilentiful 

 it can be hauled and stacked right on the heap. Then if 

 the winter should be mild the sod heap can be cut down 

 after enough manure is ])ut on top, and the whole busi- 

 ness turned over. Or the work can remain until early 

 spring. It should, however, be done some time before 

 the soil is to be used in the benches so that the manure 

 will have plenty of time to work through and put this 

 into condition for the plants. 



Working Ahead 



With help scarcer it will lie well for growers to work 

 ahead as much a,s possible. Thus the soil tliat is taken 

 in for potting can be screened, sand can lie screened also 

 for the projiagator next month and many other things 



mav be done in advance if ' ^ 



time will at all permit. 



For 



Thanksgiving Day 



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