ROSE 



ROSE 



3015 



at the top, and the outsides can be made perpendicu- 

 lar. The inside should be on an angle, and a base 

 width of 6 inches with the flare on the inside will give 

 the wall a purchase on the soil under the bed and hold 

 it in place. Solid beds are cheaper of construction, 

 provided the land is naturally well-drained. They are 

 more expensive when much ashes or gravel must be 

 used. There is another type of solid bed made by using 

 plank nailed to posts for siding which is just as good, 

 but not durable. The bed built by laying 

 broken stone, to serve as drainage, and 

 which elevates the bed to a better working 

 level, is a permanent and satisfactory one, 

 but natural conditions as to stone make 

 this impracticable under usual conditions. 

 Results as to roses grown on raised tables or 

 benches and on sofid beds vary very little. 

 The raised bench having the heating-pipe 

 beneath it seems to produce better in the 

 winter months. The solid bed having a 

 cooler soil and a greater rooting depth will 

 give a better quality in the summer months. 

 On the yearly average there is small differ- 

 ence in quantity and quality of product, and 

 the question of bed or bench must be settled 

 by the opinion of the owner and the ques- 

 tions of cost and permanence. 



Htating. 



In close connection with houses and beds 

 is the question of heating. It is a univer- 

 sally recognized fact that steam heat is 

 essential to the growing of good roses. No 

 attempt will be made to explain boilers and 

 the piping of the houses, except to say that 

 sufficient steam-pipes must be supplied to carry normal 

 temperature in the coldest possible weather, that such 

 pipes should be evenly distributed over the area inclosed, 

 and that the heat should not be overhead, but on the 

 level with or below the level at which the plants are 

 set. The use of steam is due to the fact that quick heat 

 in rose-houses is necessary. The change that comes with 

 the dropping of the sun in the fall and winter must be 

 counteracted by a quick steam-service to prevent a 

 chilling of the plants. A pipe or two in all big houses in 

 summer nights prevents the condensation of moisture 

 on the plants and means the difference between suc- 

 cess and failure. Hot-water heat is more uniform than 

 steam, but loses because steam can be obtained on much 

 shorter notice. The use of a hot-water system in con- 

 junction with steam is admirable, and in large estab- 

 lishments is to be recommended. The gentle warmth 

 radiating from the hot-water pipes during the day is 

 not detrimental and enables the grower to use more 

 ventilation, which is a distinct benefit. 



Soils for roses. 



Soils for rose-culture should be of clay body, but have 

 enough of more friable ingredients to pulverize readily. 

 The grower usually chooses land for the building of 

 commercial rose-houses which has on it the character of 

 soil required. Good heavy clay turf is the material 

 from which to form the compost for rose soil. The fiber 

 of the turf as it decays gives the humus required and 

 leaves the soil open, porous, and in good condition for 

 root-action. Winter-preparation is to be preferred, and 

 the freshly prepared compost which is not over six 

 months old is in ideal condition. Piling alternate layers 

 of soil and cow-manure, using two parts of good heavy 

 clay turf to one part of cow-manure, makes an ideal 

 rose soil. Horse-manure may be used with good results, 

 or a mixture of the two, but cow-manure has the 

 preference. 



Lowland soil usually has the body and fiber that is 

 needed, and soil which is part of the year under water 

 has been found to be free from eel-worm or nematode, 



191 



which attacks the rose roots; this troublesome pest often 

 infests the soil of the uplands. The meadow soil should 

 be plowed into ridges in the fall and hauled on frozen 

 ground to the place where it is to be composted. The 

 thorough freezing of the spi\ is considered beneficial as 

 it tends to make it more friable. The compost should be 

 worked over when the frost has gotten out, and after 

 settling will be ready to use when needed. A point 

 should be made to lay the soil-compost near the sec- 



3483. Rose pro paga ting-house. 



tion where needed in order to save labor in handling 

 when filling the houses. 



Greenhouse propagation of roses. 



Roses are propagated in two ways for greenhouse 

 growing. These two methods will be discussed sepa- 

 rately, considering roses on their own roots before tak- 

 ing up grafted roses. 



The usual type of wood selected for own-root cuttings 

 is the strong non-flowering growths. These are com- 

 monly known as blind-wood cuttings, but experiment 

 has shown that these growths, if stopped or pinched, as 

 the process is called, can be made to flower, which 

 refutes the statement that such growths are blind, and 

 from these growths flowering plants are produced, 

 which shows clearly that the flowering ability is present. 

 Whether varieties run out by constant use of this type 

 of cutting is an open question which only long-con- 

 tinued experiment can answer, but observation has 

 shown that certain varieties, if propagated from this 

 surplus, or so-called blind growths, will tend to repro- 

 duce more of that growth in proportion and to lessen 

 the production of strong flowering wood. The problem 

 seems to be to get into the cutting a sufficient number of 

 dormant eyes to provide good strong flowering growth, 

 and the cutting of this type taken to the heel or union 

 of the shoot with the flowering stem will have such 

 dormant eyes and make a stronger, more vigorous, 

 better producing plant than the cutting which consists 

 of the top few eyes from a growth of this character. 



The cutting of flowering stems is usually heavier 

 than the blind-wood cutting, and the wood should be 

 hard or mature enough to allow clean cuts to be made 

 without injury to bark or pith. When the bud shows 

 color is the proper stage of development for the propa- 

 gation of flowering wood. Two or three eyes should be 

 used, making a clean cut just below the eye and 

 removing the lower leaf; trim back the top leaves at 

 least one-half, and the cutting is ready for the propa- 

 gating-bed. Cuttings should not be stood in water, 

 but kept sprinkled to prevent wilting. 



