November 16, 1912 



HOKTICULTURE 



667 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS 



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QnestloDB by our readers In line with any o( 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 HORTICtlLTDRE. 



Watering 



Be careful and not allow your plants to become so 

 dry between waterings, that the soil becomes hard and 

 cracks here and there. This does not do the plants any 

 good and will likely do great harm. Beauties will quick- 

 ly show the effect of being kept too dry as the growth 

 will become thin and spindly and all leaves will be small. 

 Later trouble will be experienced in making the wood set 

 as it will just grow along and no signs of buds. We 

 always advocate letting the plants become quite dry be- 

 fore watering them again, and then watering very heavy, 

 but this must not be carried to extremes. In watering 

 be careful not to wet the bottom leaves any more than 

 you can help. Also water in the morning, and do not 

 do any watering after noon, or you will be inviting a 

 dose of black spot, and you know what that means. 



Killarneys, Eadiance and a few others of the free- 

 growing varieties will take just about twice as much 

 water as Beauties will and should be watered accord- 

 ingly. Many growers make the mistake, where Beauties 

 and Killarneys are grown together. Often the Kil- 

 larneys have to be watered twice while the Beauties are 

 being watered, only once. 



Some growers have a habit of holding the hose a long 

 distance from the surface of the bench, practically syr- 

 inging the bottom foliage of the plants. This is im- 

 proper and dangerous as well, as pointed out above. 

 Some will say — "Oh they grow just as well" — but take 

 it from us there is a difference when one gets eight to 

 ten blooms from one Beauty plant and another only 

 three or four. That is the "just as good" way, and we 

 leave it to the growers themselves to decide which pays 

 in the long run. 



Yellow Leaves 



Do not be worried if your roses appear to be losing 

 a large amount of foliage. If the plants are growing 

 nicely with large, perfect, glossy leaves, you need not 

 worry even if a large number of the bottom leaves turn 

 yellow and fall. It is better thus than to get a dose of 

 spot or something and having to pick them off. Plants 

 that are well cared for and not allowed to become ex- 

 tremely dry while growing, will not lose any leaves, save 

 the old ones that have accomplished their work and are 

 worse than useless, for were they to remain the foliage 

 would become so thick that it would be impossible to 



keep it free from spider and spot. With Teas it is the 

 same. If these are carefully tied so that they are not 

 bunched up too much around the stakes and as long as 

 the tops are of a good color, strong and vigorous, do not 

 worry about a few yellow leaves around the bottom. 



We find Eadiance to be a very good rose to hold its 

 foliage and the Double White Killamey about the poor- 

 e.'^t in this respect. Often after cutting a heavy crop 

 the plants are almost bare save the two leaves left with 

 the two eyes when cutting. It is surprising, however, 

 how quickly the plants come back to crop, a light syring- 

 ing once or twice during the morning hours of the day 

 doing a great deal to help them along. 



The New Roses 



By all means try to see some of the new roses growing 

 and if your bench room will warrant it, try them out 

 for yourself. When one stops and looks back a few 

 years, one can note the great strides that have been 

 taken toward improving and modernizing rose growing 

 of the past. Not so very long ago the first Killamey 

 made its appearance and since then several of its sports 

 — White Killarney, the Double Killarneys, Killamey 

 Queen, Dark Pink Killarney — have practically replaced 

 the original, just as Bride and Bridesmaid replaced their 

 parent the Mermet. 



Wliile in conversation with one of the prominent rose 

 growers of this country, I inquired as to the amount of 

 bench space devoted to the culture of these two old 

 standbys^the Bride and Bridesmaid — and the reply 

 was, "Four benches and no more of them next year." 

 Yet this place was all Brides and Bridesmaids a few 

 years ago. No doubt these old varieties of roses such as 

 the above and the Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, are excel- 

 lent and when grown properly are hard to beat, but 

 when it comes to producing cut blooms for the market 

 these old varieties are not in it. Kaiserin as a rule is 

 a poor keeper and the same may be said of the Bride and 

 Bridesmaid. 



Another thing with most of the new roses is that they 

 can be planted over and over again and they seem to 

 get better with age. A bench of five-year-old Killarneys 

 came to my notice the other day. These had been cut 

 down and replanted each season, and yet a bench of 

 young stock could not begin to compete with these old 

 plants when it came to producing flowers. 



begonias, boronias, carnations, cattleyas, cyclamen, ferns, 

 gardenias, heaths, lilies, palms, roses, etc., etc. 



Not only is there great advance in the quality of the 

 product but the lengthening of the season during which 

 they can be had is greatly increased, thanks in many 

 •cases to the retarding process now so easily accessible. 

 But we seem now to have come to a stop. We are con- 

 tinually asked, "Wliat is there that is fresh?" — and 

 there are many who begin to tire of the same thing over 

 and over again. Yet there are vast numbers of well 

 known gems which are only seen here and there and in 

 hotanical collections that are only waiting for someone 

 to take and give the same special care now meted out 

 to their more fortunate brethren, when they would quite 



as readily respond and would repay the grower who 

 gave it to them. 



I will name a few and many others will no doubt 

 suggest themselves to the reader: Aotus gracillima, 

 aniaryllis, chironias, Clerodendron Balfouri, Choisya 

 terna'ta. Daphne iudica rubra, epaerises, eriostemons, 

 Fabiana imbricata, Hoya bella, Lxoras, leschenaultias, 

 Mitraria coccinea, pimeleas, Eochea falcata, statice; 

 and shall we ever see Boronia serrulata, Lesehenaultia 

 biloba? Oh! the lovehness of them! 



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