QUESTION AND ANSWER DEPARTMENT 



Roses for Northern Ontario 



What roses would you suggest for conser- 

 fttory culture in this part of Ontario? In 

 lie list, include some good climbers. — E. E. 

 Fort William, Ont. 

 Bush roses: — Bride, white; Kaiserina 

 Lugusta Victoria, ivory white; Killarney, 

 jiilvery pink; Bridesmaid, rose pinlc ; 

 Uchmond, crimson scarlet ; General Mc- 

 Irthur, crimson scarlet. The first four 

 |re tea or everblooming- roses and the 

 last two named are hybrid tea roses. 



Climbing roses : — ^Marechal Neil, yel- 

 low ; Gloire de Dijon, creamy yellow; 

 l.amarque, very pale yellow, almost 

 white ; Chromatella (cloth of gold). The 

 first two named are the best kinds of 

 climbing roses for a conservatory. The 

 two last named are very strong growers 

 and suitable specially for budding other 

 varieties on. Niphetos, a white bush 

 variety, and other varieties succeed splen- 

 didly when budded on these roses. — Wm. 

 Hunt, Ontario Agricultural College. 



Lily of the Valley 



What should be done for a bed of lily of 

 the valley which has been neglected and 

 has almost stopped blossoming? — H. R., On- 

 tario Co., Ont. 



If the bed of lily-of-the-valley men- 

 tioned is very much crowded, I should 

 advise taking out, here and there all over 

 the bed, clumps about six to eight inches 

 in diameter, removing from one-third to 

 half of the entire clump. Fill the spots 

 from where the roots have been taken 

 with good soil. Plant the clumps re- 

 moved in another suitable position. Light 

 soil and partially shaded position is best 

 for lily-of-the-valley. This thinning out 

 and transplanting is best done in August 

 when the roots are resting. A good 

 watering once or twice during the growth 

 of the plants this spring with a solution 

 of liquid cow manure would possibly help 

 the plants temporarily. By removing a 

 portion of the plants as mentioned, it 

 does not risk the whole of the bed at one 

 time. — Wm. Hunt, Ontario Agricultural 

 College. 



Starting Flowers in Hotbed 



1. Can cinerarias, calceolarias, cyclamen 

 and Primula sinensis be grown in a hotbed? 

 2. Do wallflowers come single in the per- 

 ennial varieties? Should the buds be pinch- 

 ed off when they are beginning to bloom in 

 the house?— Mrs. H. N., St. Catharines, 

 Ont. 



I. The plants mentioned could be 

 grown in a hotbed, but it would be advis- 

 able to sow the seeds in flower pots sunk 

 in the hotbed ; for, as the seeds are very 

 small, it is difficult to manage them in 

 a bed. The seeds are sown on the sur- 



face of the soil in pots and merely pressed 

 in. The pots should then be kept covered 

 with blotting paper until the seeds germ- 

 inate. Care should be taken in giving 

 the bed good ventilation as soon as the 

 seed germinates as the tiny plants are 

 very delicate. If the seedlings are 

 started in the spring they may be trans- 

 planted to pots later on and kept in a 

 cold frame all summer and should be in 

 good condition for blooming in autumn 

 or early winter. If the plants are 

 started in summer they can be brought 

 on so that there will be good strong 

 plants to bring into the house by winter, 

 but these plants would not bloom till to- 

 wards spring. 



2. Flowers come both single and dou- 

 ble in the perennials varieties. It is not 

 necessary to nip the buds when they are 

 beginning to bloom if the plants are well 

 grown. — W. T. Macoun, Central Experi- 

 mental Farm, Ottawa. 



Heating a Greenhouse 



What would be the best method of heat- 

 ing a greenhouse sixty by twenty feet 

 which has a bench down the middle and one 

 on each side? To obtain the best results, 

 should the pipes be placed under the bench- 

 es or along side of the walls? Should hot 

 water or steam be used? What size of pipe 

 would be the best? I want to grow a gen- 

 eral collection of greenhouse plants and to 

 propagate bedding plants from seeds and 

 cuttings in the same house. — A. S., Orillia, 

 Ont. 



Estimate the area of glass ; count side 

 walls of wood as one-third or one-half 

 glass. For steam in the neighborhood 

 of Orillia for rose temperature, allow 

 heating surface equal to one linear foot 

 of one and a quarter-inch pipe to two 

 square feet of glass ; for carnations, 

 three-quarters of that amount ; for vio- 

 lets, one-half of that amount. 



For hot water, substitute two inch pipe 

 for one and a quarter-inch and use same 

 proportion, giving a circulating head 

 from highest point above the boiler from 

 which the water commences to cool, to 

 the surface of the grate, of six feet for a 

 run of loo feet and return. Steam is best 

 for long houses. Water may be best for 

 small houses not over loo feet long, but 

 that is a question. 



Heating pipes should be both on the 

 walls and around the benches and pro- 

 portionately distributed with the glass to 

 be heated. This is a very important 

 point to be observed, as much of the suc- 

 cess in growing depends on the proper 

 distribution of the heating pipes. One- 

 inch steam pipe is all right for houses up 

 to, say, 300 feet in length, but for longer 

 houses use one and a quarter-inch pipe 



lOT 



up to, say, 600 feet in length. There 

 should be either a walk between the side 

 benches and the walls or an open space 

 of not less than four to six inches ; the 

 walk is preferred. 



The proper temperature to be carried 

 for different plants or flowe.rs, or what 

 can be successfully grown in the same 

 temperature is a question for gardeners 

 to answer. It would be a difficult matter 

 to give in full the best method of heating 

 a greenhouse unless the individual condi- 

 tions and requirements are known and it 

 will well repay one requiring to heat a 

 greenhouse, who does not understand it 

 personally, to engage some one who does 

 to advise him in the matter. The subject 

 as to the best way to heat a greenhouse 

 has been pretty well discussed already 

 in the trade papers but what may have 

 been considered correct yesterday may 

 in the more recent experiences be all 

 wrong to-day. — R. W. King, Toronto. 

 Ont. 



Cellar-wintered Plants 



W. Norman, Elmira, Ont. 



As the days of spring become warmer, 

 we will be bringing our plants up from 

 the cellar. At this time, considerable 

 care is necessary ; for, as they have been 

 enjoying a long period of rest, they are 

 comparatively dormant. Place them in a 

 north or east window for a start and 

 water very sparingly for a time or the 

 soil will become sour and the roots rot. 

 Do not re-pot until growth starts ; in 

 fact, it is quite unnecessary to do so at 

 all if you use the commercial fertilizers 

 procurable at all florists for the purpose. 



Do not cut down or trim your plants 

 until new leaves begin to form, otherwise 

 they will start to rot from the top. Try 

 the following treatment if you wish to 

 have strong sturdy plants that will give 

 a wealth of bloom : Get some good 

 bones, smash these with a hammer, and 

 put a layer in the bottom of your pots. 

 This will give first class drainage, and 

 also give all the fertilizer necessary for a 

 year or two. 



When vigorous growth has once start- 

 ed, move to the sunny windows of your 

 house. Spray the leaves occasionally, 

 and when necesssary to water immerse 

 in a pail until the water covers the soil 

 to the depth of an inch or two. Leave 

 them in this till all bubbling ceases. The 

 soil will then be thoroughly soaked 

 to the centre, and the plant will derive 

 much more benefit than by many water- 

 ings given in the old way from the top of 

 the pot. 



