3 o8 



GARDENING. 



July 



country grown in that manner. Many 

 people prefer budded roses because quicker 

 results can be obtained and where the 

 grower keeps a careful watch for "suck- 

 ers" they are just as good, assuming that 

 thev are budded low and properly planted; 

 but" too many of the cheap roses vended 

 by itinerant dealers, auctioneers and the 

 large department stores are the work of 

 cheap labor, budded high on stocks that 

 have never been disbudded and are a very 

 poor investment for the planter. Better 

 buy from some reliable grower who 

 knows what a good plant is and has a 

 reputation as a grower to lose. If your 

 watch wants mending, you don't take it 

 to the blacksmith. 



But pot-grown plants, although cost- 

 ing more at first, are cheaper in the end, 

 for the reason that not one in a hundred 

 will die if properly planted, while there is 

 alwavs a percentage of loss under the 

 most careful planting with dormant roses. 

 The loss is always greater where experi- 

 ence is lacking and therefore the beginner 

 should always get pot grown plants. It 

 is only about two weeks ago that an 

 acquaintance living near me asked me to 

 stop and see his roses. He looked ruefully 

 at them and asked me when they were 

 going to start. I replied: "Probably 

 when the Keeley Motor or a successful 

 air ship does." They were as dead as 

 Julius Caesar and were probably dead 

 when he bought them at a bargain from 

 a street merchant. "Beware of a great 

 pennyworth." 



If bloom is desired the first year,— and 

 it is usually desired the first minute and 

 every minute thereafter — two year-old 

 plants of the hybrid perpetual and hybrid 

 tea and climbing roses should alone be 

 planted. Young plants of these classes 

 make good blooming plants the second 

 year, but will not bloom the first. Even 

 in the tea, or monthly section, it will pay 

 to get two-year-old plants as bloom will 

 be obtained sooner and in greater quan- 

 tities. But even the smallest plants in 

 this section will bloom the first year. 

 Plants from 3 inch pots, rooted early the 

 preceding fall and kept at a low tempera- 

 ture during the winter, will give splendid 

 results; but beware of the long, slender 

 one-stem plants that have been forced to 

 get length at the expense of vitality. 



GARDEN CULTURE. 



When the roses are planted then it will 

 not do to fold your arms and let nature 

 do the rest. She will do it to be sure by 

 sending up weeds and sending also vari- 

 ous animals— called bugs, for brevity's 

 sake— to partake of the feast you have so 

 carefully prepared for them. These unin- 

 vited guests must be ejected and some 

 means will be suggested later on. The 

 insects and diseases which attack the 

 rose (and other plants as well) are usu- 

 ally the effect of a condition and not the 

 cause; troubles of this kind rarely attack 

 healthy and vigorous plants. It is the 

 weakened, sickly plants which are the 

 victims. The best rertedy, then, is pre- 

 vention. Keep your plants in good health 

 by a little care and attention, and there 

 will be little trouble from these pests. 

 Ultimate success depends in a great meas- 

 ure on the care given to the plants after 

 planting. The soil should be stirred fre- 

 quently with a fork, hoe, or hand culti- 

 vator, so as to keep it mellow, as well as 

 to keep down weeds. This is particularly 

 necessary during dry weather, as ground 

 which is frequently cultivated will be 

 found to retain moisture far better than 

 if it be allowed to become baked into a 

 hard crust; in addition to this it induces 

 a development ofyoung roots close to the 



surface. Care must be taken, however, 

 not to hoe too deeply so as to injure the 

 young roots. Another important point 

 is to cut off all the flowers which are past 

 their prime, as not only are they unsightly, 

 but they tend to weaken the plant by 

 forming seed pods; by removing them the 

 strength which would otherwise be 

 wasted, goes to form new growths, thus 

 increasing the number of blooms. If a 

 good sprinkling of bone meal is worked 

 into the soil about the middle of June, it 

 will prove of great benefit. 



PROTECTING TEA ROSES. 



The tea or monthly roses are not 

 entirely hardy, where the thermometer 

 tails twenty-five degrees below the freez- 

 ing point, so that protection is absolutely 

 necessary. The best way to do this is to 

 throw up the earth around the plants, a 

 foot or so, and.cover it with well rotted 

 stable manure, then bend the branches 

 down an \ fasten them securely within 

 three inches of the ground, tying them to 

 stakes driven in for that purpose, or 

 tying them to each other if feasible. Then 

 spread dry leaves or rough litter over 

 them to a depth of sav six inches. This 

 should not be done, however, until severe 

 cold weather sets in, so that the foliage 

 is off the plants and they are thoroughly 

 ripened, which is usually about Decem- 

 ber 1st in this latitude. This covering 

 should not be taken off until all danger 

 of severe frost is over, say about April 1 

 in this section. As soon as the ground is 

 free from frost and it is dry enough to 

 cultivate, the portion that was thrown 

 up about the plants, and the manure 

 which was placed on it, should be levelled 

 off, the ground cleared up, necessary 

 pruning looked after before growth sets 

 in, and then the beds are ready for an- 

 other season's blooming. 



These directions as to covering with 

 leaves or litter and bending down the 

 branches do not apply to the hardy roses 

 but that portion of them relative to 

 throwing up the earth and putting on 

 manure does. As mice are apt to find a 

 winter's shelter under the leaves or litter 

 and eat the bark of] the roses, poison 

 traps should be laid for them. Throwing 

 up the earth and covering with manure 

 are the most essential features of these 

 recommendations because if the crown of 

 the plant is preserved in the tea section, 

 they will bloom well from the new 

 growths even if the tops are killed off. 

 One thing more in cultural instructions 

 and I am done. During long-continued 

 dry spells, be sure that the beds do not 

 suffer for water, and when you water at 

 all do it thoroughly, no mere surface 

 sprinkling, as it only aggravates the 

 plants without benefitting them, put the 

 hose on and let it run until the bed is sat- 

 urated to the roots of the plants. 



INSECTS AND DISEASES. 



And now for the insects and disascs. 

 These could be dilated upon to a weary- 

 ing length and then all that might, could 

 or should be said would not be said, so I 

 will be as brief and concise as possible. 

 The first in the animal line is green fly. 

 This is one of the most common, but for- 

 tunately the most easily destroyed of any 

 insect that attacks the rose, as it suc- 

 cumbs to tobacco in any form, the most 

 convenient being tobacco dust, which 

 should be liberally scattered over the 

 plants, and be sure that it reaches the 

 under side of the leaves, first wetting the 

 foliage so that the dust will adhere to it. 

 This should be done as soon as the plants 

 start to grow, so as to prevent the insects 

 from gaining a foothold, in which case, it 

 is very difficult to get rid of them. The 



rose beetle, rose chafer, or rose bug, that 

 "pesky critter" which eats up the young 

 buds and tender leaves, almost defies 

 destruction; he is invincible, usually be- 

 cause of his numerical superiority, but 

 hand-picking and knocking off on sheets 

 early in the morning, also a liberal use of 

 the powder bellows and pyrethrum pow- 

 der will get away with him. Open vials 

 of bi-sulphid of carbon hung among the 

 plants is an efficacious remedy, but I 

 think most people would tolerate the 

 bugs sooner than that. The rose leaf- 

 hopper is another annoying pest. Treat 

 him to w hale oil soap, or kerosene emul- 

 sion and treat the rose slug to the latter 

 beverage also; they don't like it and it 

 doesn't like them, so get them together 

 and let them fight it out to a finish The 

 only sure remedy for the root gall-fly, a 

 small larva which attacks the roots, pro- 

 ducing galls, causing a rapid loss of vital- 

 ity and eventually killing the plant at- 

 tacked, is to dig the plant up root and 

 branch and burn them when found to be 

 badly affected. 



Mildew is a species ot fungus generated 

 by exposure to chilling winds, and is ap- 

 parent by the presence of a grayish white 

 film on the affected parts; it is very hard 

 to effect a cure in the open air, where the 

 conditions which produced it are beyond 

 control; but it can be held in check by 

 dusting the plants with flowers of sulphur. 

 Black spot is a parasitic fungus which 

 manifests itself in the form of round or 

 irregularly shaped black spots upon the 

 upper surface of the leaves. Generally 

 only the full grown leaves are attacked 

 and it gradually spreads through them, 

 destroying the circulation of the sap and 

 causing a premature fall of the foliage. 

 The moss roses, hybrid perpetuals and 

 the hybrid tea roses are more subject than 

 the tea or monthly class to this disease. 

 There is no known certain remedy for it up 

 to the present time. The only thingtobe 

 done is to pick off and burn all affected 

 leaves so as to prevent its spread, as it is 

 quickly contagious. It is usually a con- 

 sequence of an injury to the roots either 

 by an excess of moisture or an excess of 

 drought. When grown out of doors the 

 danger from drought may be remedied 

 by watering, — but nothing can guard 

 against injury from dull, wet weather. 

 Spraying with Bordeaux mixture before 

 the leaves unfurl is a preventive remedy. 

 Rose leaf spot is usually found where 

 there is poor drainage and in crowded 

 corners, or when the plants are too thick. 

 Reverse these conditions to get rid of it 

 and burn diseased parts. Rose rust is 

 another form of fungoid disease, which 

 can be checked by using the copper fungi- 

 cides. Cleanliness, preventing overcrowd- 

 ing and good cultivation are the best 

 safeguards however against all these. 



VARIETIES TO PLANT. 



And now comes the most difficult ques- 

 tion to decide, viz.: what varieties to 

 plant. This is where the doctors are sure 

 to differ. There are in existence at the 

 present time, say in round numbers, two 

 thousand five hundred varieties of roses, 

 an embarrassment of riches. If I had the 

 space every one of them would be planted; 

 the real pleasure of a rose garden does 

 not consist so much in comparing reds 

 with whites, yellows and pinks as in 

 studying the nice distinctions and indi- 

 vidual characteristics. Many we learn 

 to love for their faults. 



The late Mr. Peter Henderson related 

 an amusing story in "Gardening for Pleas- 

 ure" bearing upon this question, which 

 is worth repetition. An old German flo- 

 rist said to him once: "I haf so mooch 

 droobles mil de ladies ven dey comes to 



