198 



THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



As all the varieties you would grow 

 for this purpose belong to the Tea or 

 Hybrid Tea class you can make the 

 season of rest still shorter and pick 

 good flowers up to the middle of No- 

 vember, and merely lower the temper- 

 ature down to 35 or 40 degrees till end 

 of January, when you can lightly 

 prune and start growing again. 



For this purpose there is no finer 

 white than the grand Kaiserin Augusta 

 Victoria. Perle des Jardins is the best 

 yellow and comes fine in the warm 

 weather. President Carnot, the blush 

 white and pink is splendid for the pur- 

 pose, and for a red Meteor delights 

 in the summer heat. Old La France 

 will flower to perfection with this 

 treatment. 



In our largest cities the summer rose 

 does not receive much attention, for 

 society is largely absent. In our 

 salubrious climate people stop here, 

 and besides that roses are wanted 

 every day in the year. 



My readers will know more about 

 the varieties of the Tea roses to grow 

 than I can tell them, for they are 

 familiar to all. The American Beauty 

 stands first, if not in quantity most 

 assuredly in high quality, and there 

 is nothing in sight to depose it. Bride 

 for white, and Bridesmaid for a clear 

 pink, stand unrivalled, and their 

 parent, C. Mermet, is still a most beau- 

 tiful pink. Meteor is the standard red 

 or crimson, but the beautiful Liberty 

 is likely to depose it. If Liberty proves 



to mention them may be misleading, 

 as they have not yet been proved as all 

 round worthy candidates to displace 

 well known kinds. There will be no 

 lack of advertising if they prove them- 

 selves desirable varieties. 



Within the past two or three years 

 there has been adopted by many rose 

 growers a new method of propagat- 

 ing, viz.: grafting. The necessity for 

 this is because some of our standard 

 varieties, like Bride and Bridesmaid, 

 are showing lack of vigor, and when 

 grafted on the Manetti stock they 

 grow much stronger and better. There 

 is no doubt the stronger and more 

 vigorous Manetti stock must induce a 

 heavier growth to the rose. Unless 

 you are in a large way of business you 

 had better buy your grafted stock if 

 you are not satisfied with the way your 

 own stock grows. For a full and com- 

 plete description of the operation of 

 grafting refer to any of the trade pa- 

 pers containing Mr. Robert Craig's pa- 

 per on that subject, read to the Omaha 

 convention, or to a report of the soci- 

 ety's meeting. You should be a mem- 

 ber of the Society of American Flor- 

 ists; if not, you deserve to remain in 

 the dark. Briefly the operation is this: 

 The Manetti stocks are imported from 

 Europe at a very low cost. In the fall 

 they can be heeled in in a cold frame 

 till winter. In January or February or 

 later pot them in 2^-inch pots, and 

 stand on any bench in about 50 de- 

 grees. As soon as you see root action 



ing of the stem is where the sap flows, 

 and there is where adhesion will first 

 take place. Match the stock and scion 

 as neatly as you can and then tie 

 round the splice with raffia that has 

 been made soft and pliable by wetting. 

 Place the pots immediately in a frame 

 on a bench where the pots can bs 

 plunged in a heat of 65 to 70 degrees, 

 and the tops kept close by the glass 

 covering. It is well to have partitions 

 in the frame for each batch, so they 

 can be aired when needed. In two 

 weeks adhesion will have taken place 

 and then some ventilation can be giv- 

 en, and in four or five weeks the 

 plants can be removed to an ordinary 

 bench. But be careful not to let too 

 much sun or draught be upon them 

 for another two or three weeks. For 

 the first two weeks in the frame the 

 air must be kept moist, but very lit- 

 tle water will be needed at the roots. 

 There is very little evaporation going 

 on and the stock has been so mutilat- 

 ed that there is little for its roots to 

 do. 



Now this seems an elaborate per- 

 formance compared to sticking cut- 

 tings in the bed, but it is not. Like all 

 new jobs, it may be tedious at first, 

 but when once familiar with the opera- 

 tion it is quite simple. 



In conclusion I will say that in my 

 humble opinion there would be no 

 need of this more expensive method of 

 renewing our rose stock if we were to 

 treat our plants more rationally. I 



to be a good winter bloomer the fate 

 of Meteor is sealed, for it is a far bet- 

 ter flower, a true Jacqueminot color, 

 bright and rich, and it does not have 

 the bad fault of Meteor in winter. 

 Perle des Jardins has no rival in yel- 

 low. Sunset, its sport, is a fine orange 

 yellow. 



The above will cover 90 per cent of 

 all the roses grown for cut flowers, 

 but many fine varieties find favor in 

 some localities. Mme. Hoste, Mme. de 

 Watteville, Belle Siebrecht, Mrs. J. 

 Pierpont Morgan, Mme. C. Testout, 

 Papa Gontier, Mrs. R. Garrett, and 

 others, are grown. Several new vari- 

 eties are coming out this winter, but 



Display of Tea Roses. 



has commenced, and consequently sap 

 rising, prepare for grafting. Choose 

 such wood from the roses as you would 

 for cuttings, good healthy shoots and 

 about as firm as when the bud is de- 

 veloped. The graft (called scion) 

 make three inches long, or a little less, 

 with an eye and leaf on top. Cut the 

 Manetti stock down to two inches of 

 the pot and cut both stock and scion 

 obliquely, so that they will about fit 

 together. It is not likely that the 

 scion will be as thick as the stock, 

 which is not of any consequence, but it 

 is of utmost importance that one side 

 of stock and scion should fit exactly, 

 for just below the bark or outer cover- 



am well aware it is not a "new and 

 original" idea with me, but I have 

 thought of it very much of late and 

 can recall a few instances where cir- 

 cumstances would lead me to believe 

 that we are asking too much of our 

 Tea roses. It can't be denied, that we 

 keep our stock of roses up to concert 

 pitch the whole time, perhaps for seven 

 or eight years, or until some new vari- 

 ety replaces an older one. 



A cutting, as before said in these 

 pages, is not a new individual; it is 

 merely the perpetuation of the old, 

 and without a natural rest it must get 

 exhausted. The Tea rose is an ever- 

 green, or nearly so, and a continuous 



