The General Care of Private Greenhouses 



* 



AT first glance it would seem a com- 

 paratively easy matter for any 

 gardener of experience and intel- 

 ligence, to write a practical and instruc- 

 tive essay on the care of private green- 

 houses. A little reflection, however, will 

 soon convince anyone that such is by no 

 means the case. It is not that there is a 

 lack of material to work upon ; on the 

 contrary, there is far too much, for to 

 touch upon all the different points, even 

 in the briefest manner, would be out of 

 the question in an article of this descrip- 

 tion. The difficulty is to know what to 

 select and what to reject of the almost 

 endless details, which, while trivial 

 enough in themselves, often play an im- 

 portant point in successful greenhouse 

 management. 



Theoretically, the main points in 

 greenhouse management, are the same 

 under all conditions. But, if we attempt- 

 ed to carry them out in practice we 

 should often meet with very indifferent 

 results. The truth is, that in this, as in 

 most things pertaining to horticulture, 

 no rules exist which would give the same 

 results in all cases. It it meant simply 

 the cultivation of a lot of plants, or the 

 gardener had himself alone to please, it 

 would be a different matter. But, as in 

 this case — when all is said and done — the 

 main point is to please the owners, the 

 gardener must use whatever methods he 

 finds from experience are the most suc- 

 cessful, paying little attention to arbi- 

 trary rules or preconceived ideas. While 

 there are of course many other points to 

 be considered, those given below will be 

 sufficient for the purpose of this article. 

 Stripped of all frills, they may be placed 

 roughly as follows : A continuous and 

 uninterrupted succession of bloom, effec- 

 tive arrangement, variety and cleanliness. 

 It will, of course, be well understood 

 that quality is of the utmost importance ; 

 but, as it would necessitate giving a lot 

 of cultural directions, it will not be 

 treated as a separate subject. 



CONTINUOUS SUCCESSION OF BLOOM 



In order to grow sufficient plants to 

 maintain a continuous succession of 

 bloom through six or eight months of 

 the year, the skill of the gardener is 

 taxed to the utmost limit. From the 

 first to the last of the year, he has to be 

 continually planning what to grow, and 

 how best to grow it, what to force, or 

 what to retard, and the best time to pro- 

 pagate this, that or the other thing, so 

 that they will mature at the proper sea- 

 son. In fact, this point requires more 



•A portiOB of a paper read at the convention of the 

 Canadian Horticultural Association at Niagara Falls, 

 Ont., in August. It will be concluded in next issue. 



W. J. Wilshire, Montreal 



care and forethought on the part of the any time a good geranium than a poor 



gardener than all the others combined. orchid. 



There are certain parts of what may be In purchasing or propagating any 



called the "greenhouse season," notably kind of stock, quality should be made the 



the early spring months, when there is first consideration. It is also better to 



naturally a greater abundance oT flowers grow too many of each kind than too 



A Beautiful Confer in 



Greenhouse of Mr. H. B. An^jus, Mo 



than at others. These can, to a certain 

 extent, be allowed to take care of them- 

 selves. The careful gardener will direct 

 most of his attention to such plants as 

 will tend to prolong the flowering sea- 

 son as much as possible, or give the 

 greatest amount of flowers during the 

 dullest months of the year. Crops should 

 follow one another without a break, and 

 in sufficient quantity, not only for the 

 embellishment of the conservatory, but 

 for any extra decorations for which they 

 may be required. People are not apt to 

 consider time or season if they wish to 

 make use of their greenhouses for any 

 special purpose, and the gardener who 

 is able to meet successfully sudden de- 

 mands upon his stock, will often save his 

 employer much annoyance, and himself 

 humiliation. 



Of the many plants worthy of cultiva- 

 tion for this purpose it is not necessary 

 to speak, nor to suggest what to grow, 

 or how they should be grown. Each 

 must study his own conditions, require- 

 ments, and, it might be added, his capa- 

 bilities. For while it not even remotely 

 suggests that a man should not grow 

 anything he pleases, it does more credit 

 to his stubborness than his good sense, 

 if, after repeated failures, he persists in 

 trying to grow things, which for this or 

 any reason are beyond him. Better at 



214 



a Private Conservatory 



ntreal— Mr. W. J. Wilshire, Gardener 



few. This not only allows a choice of 

 the finest plants for stocking up, but it 

 is very handy sometimes to be able to 

 cover up a failure in one kind with the 

 surplus plants of others. As before 

 stated, particular attention should be 

 given to plants that can be brought into 

 flower late in the season. It is just as 

 important that the place should be look- 

 ing well the last day of the season as the 

 first. 



We are often told that people do not 

 care anything about their greenhouses, 

 once the snow is gone. But, depend 

 upon it, they will be interested in them 

 as long as they contain anything inter- 

 esting. Keeping the flowers in a dreary, 

 flowerless condition for five or six weeks 

 at a stretch, is enough to cause the 

 most enthusiastic to become indifferent. 

 As this is the one thing of all others to 

 prevent, if possible, things should be so 

 managed that when the time arrives for 

 the employer and his family to leave for 

 the country, their chief regret will be in 

 leaving their conservatory behind them. 



EFFECTIVE ARRANGEMENT 



Instead of making effective arrange- 

 ment of the different plants an important 

 point in greenhouse management, some 

 really excellent plantmen seem to think 

 that it is about the last thing to be con- 

 sidered. Having succeeded in raising a 



