3018 



ROSE 



ROSE 



The question of humidity in the house is a serious one 

 with the wide, large houses, and where the atmosphere 

 lacks moisture the growths will be hard-wooded and 

 the plants will not be prolific. It is safe to say that a 

 house with all cement walks fails to grow good roses for 

 lack of humidity, and the gravel or ash walk will do 

 much toward furnishing the atmosphere the needed 

 moisture. 



Varieties. 



Varieties to grow depend largely on the market to 

 which the grower caters. There are two types of green- 

 house roses: those which are at their best in the warm 

 summer months, and those which are at their best in 

 cooler weather. 



The varieties best suited for summer cutting are My 

 Maryland and its sports, Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, 

 Francis Scott Key, and Mrs. Aaron Ward. 



For general use, the best varieties are Killarney and 

 its sports, which are numerous, and of which Double 

 White Killarney, Killarney Brilliant, White Killarney, 

 and Killarney Queen are such notable examples that 

 they must be mentioned; Ophelia, Mrs. Aaron Ward, 

 Mrs. George Shawyer, Hoosier Beauty, Hadley, 

 Milady, Richmond, Radiance, Lady Alice Stanley, 

 Jonkheer J. L. Mock, Sunburst, Mrs. Charles Russell, 

 American Beauty, and the Polyantha roses-^Cecile 

 Brunner, Perle d'Or, and George Elgar, which are 

 widely used for corsage bouquets and decorative work. 

 Mrs. Aaron Ward, Double White Killarney, Mrs. 

 George Shawyer, Killarney Brilliant, and Ophelia are 

 the best varieties for cutting continuously for the 

 entire year. Of these varieties mentioned, American 

 Beauty, Mrs. George Shawyer, Radiance, Lady Alice 

 Stanley, and Sunburst are better grown upon their own 

 roots, while the balance of the varieties are superior 

 when grafted on manetti. Mrs. W. C. Whitney was 

 formerly grown as a forcing rose. 



Cutting the flowers. 



Proper care and cutting of the flowers has as much to 

 do with financial success in the rose industry as the 

 proper growing of the plants. Just when flowers are 

 mature enough to be cut is a matter of variety to a 

 considerable extent. Those varieties which do not have 

 many petals should be cut in the bud, while many of the 

 very double varieties, such as Francis Scott Key and 

 Mrs. Charles Russell, should be allowed partly to 

 expand before being taken from the plant. How much 

 wood to leave when cutting the flowers is also a ques- 

 tion of variety to a certain degree, but as a rule two 

 good eyes are sufficient. Certain varieties which natur- 

 ally throw strong flowering growth from the main stems 

 or hard wood can be cut to one eye from good-sized 

 plants. There is a tendency of plants to increase in 

 size and become awkward to handle if much growth is 

 left in cutting, and production from large overgrown 

 plants is as a rule no greater than from plants more 

 closely headed in by carefully cutting the flowers. 



It is customary with some growers to "pinch" all 

 flowering shoots when the bud has reached the size of a 

 pea, and this removal of the bud and first leaf causes 

 a new flowering growth and gives a longer stem, as the 

 flower is cut back to the proper place in the older growth. 

 This method of pinching allows the grower to control 

 the time of maturity of the crop very accurately, eight 

 weeks in the early winter months and seven weeks in 

 February and March being the necessary time for the 

 maturity of the new flowering shoot. This varies a few 

 days with the character of the growth when the pinch- 

 ing is done; those shoots nearer maturity will require 

 less time than the softer or more immature growths. 

 There is also a slight difference in varieties as to the 

 time required to mature the shoot and flower. Thus 

 pinching allows the grower to bring in a crop at the 

 holiday season and produce flowers for exhibition use. 



The stronger and more vigorous the growth pinched, 

 the better the quality of the resultant flower and by 

 selection of strong heavy flowering growths and by 

 pinching and careful timing, the roses for exhibition 

 purposes are produced. 



When flowers are cut they should at once be placed 

 in water and kept at a temperature from 38 to 42 for 

 several hours to harden them. The stems and flowers 

 fill with water and are then in a condition to be graded. 

 The American Rose Society has established a grading 

 standard to which the leading growers adhere in prepar- 

 ing the product for market. Length of stem is the basis, 

 but quality and substance of bud should be in propor- 

 tion to length of stem, and a poor quality flower on a 

 large stem on the open market will by no means com- 

 mand the price of a good flower on a stem of the same 

 length. In grading, keep the flowers uniform in length 

 of stem and quality. 



Marketing cut roses. 



There are three methods of marketing cut roses, viz.: 

 retailing direct to the consumer; supplying flower shops 

 direct; and the shipment of the product to the com- 

 mission stores which supply the large city florists. It 

 is of first importance to have the product reach the 

 consumer fresh, well hardened, and not too open, for 

 the demand for open flowers is limited. Careful pack- 

 ing for the wholesale market necessitates wooden 

 boxes with cross cleats to hold the roses from moving 

 about in the box, which bruises the flowers. Wooden 

 boxes allow the use of ice to keep the flowers in condition 

 for sale. Heavy waxed paper between the layers of 

 flowers in the boxes aids in handling them conveniently. 

 Any precaution taken to insure the product reaching 

 the consumer in perfect condition is a paying invest- 

 ment, for a good product has little value when bruised 

 and in poor condition. 



The sale of flowers direct to the consumer by the 

 grower is becoming greater every year, many of the 

 leading florists operating their own ranges of glass and 

 using the product in their own store. The demand 

 from the large cities where this is not possible to any 

 great extent is increasing yearly. Returns from money 

 invested is in fair proportion to the money earned by 

 investments in any well-conducted line of production, 

 but is dependent upon the skill of the grower and the 

 business-like conduct of the enterprise. The risk of 

 handling a perishable product and the property risk also 

 is heavy, owing to wind, hail, snow, and ice. Deteriora- 

 tion is also heavy because of the excessive humidity 

 necessary to good culture. Rose-growing is an industry 

 catering to the demand for a luxury, and the path to 

 profit is often a thorny one. \y_ R PIERSON. 



Rose insects. 



pucg o oy-ve young 



f her fife. A generation is completed in less than a 



full of the solution. 



SMALL GREEN ROSE APHIS (Myzus rosarum). A green plant- 

 louse much smaller than the preceding; more troublesome in green- 

 h 



houses than in the open. 



Treatment. Same as for the rose aphis (above). 



AMERICAN ROSE SLUG (Endelomyia rosae). -Greenish or yellowish 

 larviE that skeletonize the upper surface of the leaves. The eggs 



