November 9, 1912 



HORTICULTUEE 



631 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



CONBCCTin) BY 



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

 by Mr. Ruzlcka. Such communications should Invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



Pinching Growth in Beauty Houses 



Pinching in Beauty houses, like everytliing else, can 

 be overdone and the result may be that the houses are 

 crowded with wood, yet but little stuff is cut. We do not 

 believe in no pinching at all, as it is absolutely necessary 

 to pinch the growth at times to save the plants and keep 

 them thriving. In many cases, especially in the late 

 planted houses, short stuff that is now pinched will 

 flower early in January and it is then when many of us 

 need the roses. 



Do not pinch out any buds that are of any size. Take 

 only those that are about the size of a pea or those that 

 are just beginning to show the bud. Any growth 

 pinched after the bud is nearly developed will become 

 hard and the chances are the break from that will hardly 

 flower early enough to be worth the sacrifice. Then, too, 

 a bud nearly developed will be cut in a few days and you 

 can then look forward to two breaks instead of one. 



Do not do any pinching where there is plenty of wood 

 in the house. If this is done in such houses the plants 

 will be benefited but very little and you less. Take a 

 house where the plants are low and but little wood. Such 

 a house will be greatly benefited by pinching all the 

 short stuff as most of it will then run up into fancies 

 and specials and be cut profitably. 



Pinching Newly Set Growth 



There are many theories about this and will no doubt 

 continue to be, as long as there are different systems of 

 growing Beauties. Many may claim that if they break 

 the tops out of all the short growths now, the break en- 

 suing from the top-most eye will run up a little way, 

 then set and be in for Christmas. No doubt under cer- 

 tain conditions this would work beautifully, as it is but 

 very seldom that a shoot with a joint in it does not set. 

 Taking it as a rule, however, we would advise anyone 



taking or contemplating taking such a system as a stand- 

 ard, to give it a thorough tryout first, before working it 

 on a large scale. 



Those Little Black Spiders 



It is very annoying at times to walk through the 

 houses and have your face full of fine cobwebs all the 

 time. We have often seen these so thick in the houses, 

 that they become a regular nuisance. Cyanide will de- 

 stroy the little black spiders that seem to be responsible 

 for all this trouble, and where it can be used there is 

 nothing else so effective. The little rascals are hidden in 

 nooks and rooks where it is almost impossible to reach 

 them with spray. Syringing will eventually clean them 

 out, as a large number can be washed out, and syringing 

 will knock them around so that life to them will be no 

 pleasure. The simplest, and no doubt the best remedy 

 of all, is bonemeal. Take a little bonemeal and screen 

 it so it will run nicely through a pair of bellows. It 

 should be perfectly dry, too, so as to dust well. This 

 can be blown over the plants, and the little black rascals 

 seem to vanish almost immediately after one or two good 

 doses. Of course do not cover the plants an inch thick 

 with the bonemeal, for it is a fertilizer and will likely 

 burn the foliage if not used carefully. 



• Nitrate of Soda 



Nitrate of soda is really a necessity in the growing of 

 roses, and if iised cautiously and with great care, it is a 

 great help in lengthening the stems of the tea roses, and 

 giving the Beauty foliage extra lustre, and promoting 

 growth as well. In using, remember to use it more as 

 a stimulant, and not as a plant food. In applying never 

 use more than one six-inch pot full for 3000 plants, and 

 never apply it more than once a week, depending of 

 course, on the stage of gi-owth the plants are in. 



BRITISH HORTICULTURE. 

 National Sweet Pea Society. 



A very satisfactory report was pre- 

 sented at the annual meeting of this 

 Society on October 17th. There are 

 now over 1,200 members, and these 

 include residents in Japan, Peru, Rus- 

 sia, Switzerland, France, Germany, 

 Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South 

 Africa and the United States. The 

 Society is in a sound financial posi- 

 tion. Arrangements had been made 

 for holding next year the Society's 

 trial at the Burbage Experimental Sta- 

 tion, Hinckley. Sir George Trevelyan, 

 Bart., was elected president; Edward 

 Sherwood, treasurer; Herbert Smith, 

 Birmingham, chairman of committee; 

 and Chas. H. Curtis, secretary. Sub- 

 sequently, a dinner and conference 

 were held. At the latter a paper on 

 "Rogues in Sweet Peas," was read by 

 Major Hurst, the director of the Bur- 

 bage Experimental Station, Hinckley. 

 It was shown that a majority of the 

 rogues which appear in a stock of 

 sweet peas a second year are to a 

 great extent due to cross-fertilization 



by some outside agency. This cross- 

 fertilization occurs in this country on 

 a rather large scale, although not so 

 extensive as in California. The agency 

 most largely responsible for cross- 

 fertilization in this country is consid- 

 ered by Major Hurst to be the leaf- 

 cutter bee, though weevils and blue 

 tits were also considered to be possi- 

 ble agents. Apparently rogues due 

 to various causes can be almost elimi- 

 nated by breeding sweet peas on Men- 

 delian lines. When this is done not 

 more than five rogues per thousand 

 are given. 



New Chrysanthemums. 



A batch of novelties recently re- 

 ceived awards from the floral commit- 

 tee of the National Chrysanthemum 

 Society. Toddles is a useful single 

 variety, brilliant crimson, with a nar- 

 row yellow zone around the disc. 

 This was shown by H. W. Thorp, Dur- 

 rington. Worthing, Sussex. George 

 Mileham, Leatherhead, Surrey, had a 

 capital trio which were certificated. 

 These were Hon. Mrs. John Ward, a 

 sport from White Queen, primrose 



tint; Master Rex, bright amber Japan- 

 ese; and Miss Joan Miller, rose pink 

 Japanese, with silver reverse. Mrs. 

 John Maher, a good Japanese white, 

 was exhibited by Thomas Page, Hamp- 

 ton, Middlesex, and received a first- 

 class certificate. Norman Davis, of 

 Pramfield, Sussex, received certificates 

 for the following novelties: Sussex 

 Yellow, bright yellow; Ideality, single 

 white; Mrs. Loo Thomson, primrose 

 sport from Mensa, a single; Charles 

 Kingsley, rich yellow single. J. W. 

 Streeter. also certificated, is a prim- 

 rose yellow sport from H. W. Thorp. 

 This was shown by Cragg, Harrison 

 and Cragg, of Heston, Middlesex. 

 Primrose Queen, for which Martin 

 Silsbury, Sandown. Isle of Wight, re- 

 ceived a certificate, is a bright yel- 

 low Japanese bloom. Commendations 

 were made by the committee to the 

 following; Vera Potterton, a pink 

 Japanese, shown by Thomas Page; 

 Phyllis Cragg, a light pink Japanese, 

 shown by Cragg, Harrison and Cragg; 

 White Beauty, a pure white single, 

 shown by Philip Ladds, Swanley, 

 Kent. W. H. ADSETT. 



