September 21, 1912 



HORTICULTURE 



407 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



^____^ CONBCCTKD BY 



Questions by our readers In line with any of the topics presented on this page will be cordially "^^'^Id and promptly answered 

 by Mr. Ruzicka. Such communications should inTariably be addressed to the office of HORiICUL.iUKi<.. 



American Beauties 



Go over all your Beauty Itenebes at least once a week 

 and pick oS all yellow leaves and keep an eye open for 

 ppot. This is very important although many growers 

 fail to realize this fact. It is very easy to pick off one 

 or two blackspots that may be found on a yellow leaf next 

 to the soil, much easier in fact than the many hundreds 

 ihat may result from not ])icking the one or two. Of 

 course, blackspot will not spread unless conditions are 

 favorable, and we find clean plants kept clean will pull 

 through dark and warm weather much easier than plants 

 with traces of disease on them. 



Wc find air-slaked lime blown under the plants in 

 the evening after each syringing or watering, does a 

 good deal to present spot. Well-ventilated houses are 

 also much more easily kept free from it than dark, poorly 

 ventilated houses. During rainy or damp weather we 

 use lime first thing in the morning, blowing plenty of it 

 underneath the plants. jMueh of the fine dust will rise, 

 filling the air of the house with it. This is just what 

 i? wanted, for the little particles of lime will absorb large 

 (jLiantities of moisture, and this they bring down with 

 them as they gradually settle. This leaves the atmos- 

 phere much drier than before and all rose growers know 

 what that means. 



Tying 



Keep the Beauties tied up. Not only does the house 

 look much neater, but you will find your plants will pro- 

 duce far more flowers if kept tied up neatly than if they 

 i;re tied only now and then. If your plants are not tied 

 and are allowed to go so for any length of time spider 

 or spot will surely set in and you will then be in for it. 



If your Beauties are on stakes, take care not to bunch 

 them up too much or you will be inviting trouble. As 

 stated m these columns befure we have no use wliatever 

 for stakes in American Beauty houses, although we like 

 them with almost all the other roses. We keep all of our 

 Beauties on wires and find we get much better results. 



Cutting 



While the hot weather lasts, the buds are very apt to 

 come more or less deformed. We take especial pains in 

 cutting to pinch out all the badly deformed buds, let- 

 ting the wood remain in the house. Usually the shoot 

 coming out from the side bttd will bear a good bud, 

 and this can then be cut. and will bring a fair price, 

 whereas a badly defonned bud is almost worthless. 



Another important thing is not to cut all the wood 

 away from tlie plant, leaving only the part below the 

 bottom wire. We always pinch out the last shoot; this 

 gives the plant a little foliage to breathe through. 

 Platrts that are cut down like that require but very little 

 water, until after they begin to break and if you have 

 many such plants among your lot be careful with the 

 hose. 



We cttt all the flowers down to two eyes above the 

 bottom wire, except in the front rows where we will cut 

 a bottom break off within four or five inches of the 

 ground. This should never be done except in the front 

 rows, ai? it is none too good for plants that have but 



little sunlight and usually run a little on the wet side. 

 If you find some of your plants all cut down, among 

 others which have more or less wood, take a little air- 

 slaked lime and put around them. Also go easy when 

 watering and try and overlook them twice out of every 

 three times watering. These plants, if overwatered now 

 will not produce any cut flowers all winter long, even 

 though they will throw considerable wood, and buds in 

 the spring. 



Shavings and Cow Manure 



We have received a letter from Mr. J. W. Y. asking 

 if it would be safe to use cow manure containing con- 

 siderable wood shavings that were used' for bedding, same 

 being fairly well decayed. In reply we wish to say that 

 we see no reason why cow manure containing wood shav- 

 ings could not be used for roses under glass, especially 

 wlien these are well decayed. We presume Mr. Y. has 

 reference to wood shavings that are sold in bales pur- 

 posely for bedding in stables and not carpenters' shav- 

 ings or shavings containing old bark. We find manure 

 containing shavings lietter at times than manure with- 

 out them, as they absorb large quantities of liquids, and 

 these gradually wash out and are taken up by the plants. 

 The only thing to be on the lookout for is to be sure such 

 phavings contain no insects that would be injurious to 

 the growth of roses. 



To go further we wish to state we never apply but 

 very little mulch at a time, applying more as fast as the 

 plants need it. We would recommend mulching about 

 ^5 feet of bench with said manure and then carefully 

 watch the plants. If it is harmful it will show within a 

 week. 



Another important fact must not be overlooked in 

 using manure of any kind. Do not close the ventilators 

 down tight after applying a mulch. Air the plants 

 freely. Rose houses should never be closed down at night 

 at this time of the year. We believe in giving the plants 

 plenty of air, even at the expense of a little coal. 



A Point on Packing Beauties 



After your boxes are all lined make a little cushion to 

 put in the end of the boxes where the buds are to lie. 

 Not for the buds to lie on but to keep the buds from 

 being jammed up against the end of the box during 

 transit. After you pack about 50 — say extras or fancies 

 — make two holes in the box, one on each side at the 

 proper distance from the bottom and pass a piece of rope 

 arottnd the outside of the box and into the box through 

 these holes. Then tie the roses down with the ends of 

 the rope. This will fasten the roses firmly to the bot- 

 tom and when done right will hold them in place no 

 matter how hard the bo.x is thrown against a side of a 

 concrete btiilding or some such soft objects that cut 

 flower boxes often come in contact with during transpor- 

 tation. After you pack another tier repeat this opera- 

 tion and all your roses will be securely fastened and 

 bound to arrive in your salesrooms in good condition. 

 Bemember that newspaper is cheap so put a sheet be- 

 tween each row or two of the long-stemmed buds and 

 save the foliage. Leaves badly torn from thorns going 

 through them will not make the roses more salable. 



