Jancabt 18, 1917. 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



BAMBLER ROSES FOR EASTER. 



Will you please tell me when to bring 

 in baby rambler roses from the cold pit 

 to have them right for Easter? I have 

 been in the business only a short time 

 and have heretofore bought plants 

 which alreadv were forced. 



V. M.— Ont. 



Give the plants a temperature of 50 

 degrees at once, spraying them freely 

 until they break. After this give them 

 more heat, 58 to 60 degrees at night if 

 possible. Spray them more sparingly 

 once growth has got a good start. 

 Avoid cold drafts, which would start 

 mildew. Feed the plants with liquid 

 manure until the flowers start to open, 

 then discontinue it. C. W. 



TIME TO HOUSE RAMBLERS. 



We have a nice lot of Tausendschon, 

 Dorothy Perkins and other rose plants 

 that were grown in 4-inch pots last sum- 

 mer and now are dormant in cold- 

 frames. When shall we start them and 

 liow shall we handle them to have them 

 in bloom for Easter? How long does it 

 take them to flower and what is the 

 proper temperature? J. W. E. C— 111. 



Shake the roses out of the 4-inch pots 

 and give them a shift into 5-inch or 

 oi/j-inch pots, using a good, strong loam. 

 House the plants at once, giving them 

 u temperature of 50 degrees until they 

 break. Later raise the temperature to 

 <50 degrees. They will need all the 

 time between now and Easter, which is 

 April 8, to be in flower. It will be an 

 advantage to have flowers opening a 

 little in advance of Easter. The plants 

 then can be placed where it is a little 

 cooler. C \V. 



RHEA REID ROSES DYING. 



I am sending a Ehea Reid rose plant 

 for your inspection. The plants have 

 been in a bench for a year and a half. 

 Last spring they did finely, but now 

 many of them arc suddenly dving. Can 

 you give me any advice as" to the treat- 

 ment of them? R. A. W.— Mich. 



The rose plant received had a large 

 mass of roots, but the top was nearly 

 <lead. What leaves were left on the 

 plant were small and were brown at 

 the ends. The soil that came with the 

 plant was a good clay loam, a fine soil 

 lor roses. Judging from the large mass 

 «r roots on the plant, it seems likelv 

 tnat water and feed have been applied 



too sparingly, forcing the plants to 

 reach out and try to find enough nour- 

 ishment to support the tops. It might 

 be suspected, also, from the appearance 

 of the foliage, that there is considerable 

 alkali in the water, and, aS the plants 

 had been kept too much on the dry side, 

 the roots took up part of this alkali 

 with the water, and the alkali burned 

 the tops. 



The best treatment in such a case 

 would be to give the soil a thorough 

 washing out by watering heavily for 

 two or three days in succession, flood- 

 ing the benches each time. Then, in 

 about a week, when the plants show 

 new life, give them a feeding of half 

 decayed manure, preferably cattle ma- 

 nure, dissolving it well with water so 

 that the roots can take it up imme- 

 diately. As the days are getting longer 

 now, the plants will need considerable 

 feed and water to keep them going. 



W. J. K. 



LATE SPRING STOCKS. 



We would like to have some informa- 

 tion as to the proper time to sow seeds 

 of the following, so that the plants will 

 be in bloom by the first week in May: 

 Agcratum, 2, 3 and 4-inch pots; alyssum. 



2 and 3-inch pots; bellis, 2-inch; forget- 

 me-not, 2 and 3-inch; impatiens, 2 and 

 3 -inch; heliotrope, 3 and 4-inch; pe- 

 tunia, 2 and 3-inch; salvia, 2, 3 and 4- 

 inch; verbena, 2 and 3-inch. What is 

 the proper temperature for each of 

 these? G. L. C. & S.— Pa. 



Ageratum, twelve weeks; alyssum, 

 nine to ten weeks; heliotrope, twelve 

 to fourteen weeks; single petunia, four- 

 teen to fifteen weeks; salvia, ten to 

 twelve weeks; verbena, twelve to four- 

 teen weeks. Bellis perennis and forget- 

 me-nots are better if treated as bien- 

 nials. Seeds sown in August and win- 

 tered outdoors or in a coldframe bloom 

 finely for Memorial day. Some of the 

 bellis sown now might flower, but the 

 forget-me-nots would be a doubtful 

 proposition. It is hard to give precise 

 periods, as much depends on the tem- 

 peratures, the season the sowing is done 

 and the care the seedlings get. A tem- 

 perature of 55 to 60 degrees at sowing 

 time, and 55 degrees at night when 

 potted, will suit about all the plants 

 named. Heliotropes and salvias prefer 

 a little more heat than alyssums, 

 ageratums, verbenas and petunias. 

 Both bellis and myosotis need cooler 

 treatment. I would suggest sowing 

 these with pansies early in August an- 

 other season. C. W. 



TO LENGTHEN LILY STEMS. 



Please let me know if I should shade 

 my giganteum lilies to have longer stems 

 on them. They are growing in pots and 

 are on the middle bench in the green- 

 house, where they receive the full sun- 

 light. They are coming in unevenly, 

 some being three or four inches tall and 

 others eight inches. H. H. — 111. 



If you shade the glass it will lengthen 

 the stems on your lilies materially. Run 

 the plants warm and moist. C. W. 



Norwich, England. — Robert ITolmes is 

 distributing a novelty which he calls the 

 Tomtato. It produces tomatoes on the 

 stem and potatoes at tlic root. 



Orleans, France. — A notable feature 

 of trade activities in this, the third, year 

 of war, is the way in which French 

 women who have been left without male 

 help have kept their establishments go- 

 ing pending the return of the men. Tlic 

 French nurseryman's wife in nearly 

 every case is a competent business person 

 and a worker. 



London, England. — A nurseryman told 

 the Camberiey Tribunal last week how 

 British nurserymen are capturing the 

 trade formerly carried on by Germany 

 with America. One firm, he said, had 

 received an order from America for 

 765,000 rose trees, an order that for- 

 merly went to Germany, and his own 

 firm were exporting from $30,000 to 

 $35,000 worth of rhododendrons to 

 America in February and March. The 

 German nursery trade with America 

 was stopped by the blockade. 



London, England. — The gardening 

 l)ress is having a serious time, worse now 

 than during earlier stages of the war. 

 There have been a number of suspen- 

 sions, the most recent being that of the 

 Gardeners' Magazine, which ranks sec- 

 ond among the gardening journals. The 

 Gardeners' Chronicle still appears regu- 

 larly, but is greatly reduced in size, 

 especially in its advertising section. The 

 so-called trade journals are doing better 

 than the gardening papers of general 

 circulation. 



Rotterdam, Holland. — The Nether- 

 lands government, under its recent order 

 wliereby Dutch ships trading with 

 American ports were put under restric- 

 tions as to the class and quantity of 

 merchandise they should carry, com- 

 mandeered for wheat and flour the en- 

 tire cargo space of the 17,149-ton steam- 

 ship Nieuw Amsterdam, which left New 

 York January 6 for Rotterdam, accord- 

 ing to officials of the Holland-America 

 line. Thus far no restrictions have 

 been placed on the merchandise to be 

 taken on westward trips and horticul- 

 tural goods will move as usual. 



