12 



The Florists^ Review 



October 23, 1913. 



TEMPEKATURE FOR KILLARNEY. 



lu my answer to H. TJ. A. in the is- 

 sue of Tlie L'eview for October IG, my 

 meaniiifj mi{,'ht be misunderstood. The 

 subscriber asked if 80 degrees at noon 

 is too hif:li for Killarney. I said "80 

 dej:rees is too hijj;li a temperature for 

 Killarney at any time if it can be 

 ivejit lower by fj;i\infi more ventila- 

 tion." In other words, if on a hot 

 <lay the ventilators are full open and 

 the temjierature runs up to 90 degrees 

 or more, it lan not be prevented and 

 does not materially iniure the ]ilants. 



W. .7. K. 



THE WHITE SUNBURST. 



Is tlu're the oi)portunity for a wliite 

 Sunburst that was found" awaiting the 

 yellow parent? Sunburst has proved 

 an easy doer thus far, for a quality 

 rose, with most of the growers wiio 

 have tried it. Jt really has not had 

 a thorough comnuM'ci.'il test, for last 

 season all the wooil available in win- 

 ter months w;is taken for jiropagating 

 jiurposes. Suidiurst is recognized as 

 the yellow rose of quality, and if it 

 jirov'es to <lo as widl in midwinter as 

 it iloes jirior to the jiropagating sea- 

 son, its commercial future is assured. 

 Xow comes forward Ira ]'. Sturycs, 

 l)ro]>rietor (d' the Haker Floral it Seed 

 Co.. liakcr. Ore., with a white sport 

 of Suidturst. As a forcing rose it will 

 come into comjietition with \Vhite Kil- 

 larney, whi( h is a (|uite dilVerent I'rop- 

 osition from conqieting with Perle, or 

 even with Mrs. ^Vi^■d or Melody. 



TO PREVENT MILDEW. 



Will you kimily tell me how 1 can 

 jirexcnt mildew from coming on my 

 loses.' \\ e watcii the t einjier.at lire 

 carefully; mir wateriiii: is !-i;:ht, and. 

 exce]it tiiat our houses are low. we 

 can find i.o <a'.:se for the appearance 

 of the trouble. < im yon t(dl me of 

 any other good remeily. besides the 

 burning: of suljdiur, and how can I 

 prevent more of the mildew from 



coming.' 



K. M. L. 



Suli>hur has so far been found to be 

 the best remedy for mildew, ,'ind is 

 used eitlier by dusting it over the fo- 

 lia^'e in the form of a i)0wder or by 

 jiainting it on the heating pipes. Grape 

 Dust is also use<l a great deal in the 

 first-mentioned ■"'.ay, with good results. 

 ]>ut it is not so much a remedy as a 

 jireventive that you are probably look- 

 ing for, and th(> jirevi'utive is to keep 

 a little heat in the houses from now 



on every night and on chilly days, leav- 

 ing enough ventilation on the houses 

 to keep the temperature down to the 

 light figure. It is especially important, 

 also, to keep the plants in good grow- 

 ing condition, as in most cases the 

 l)lants have received u check from 

 some other cause before mildew has 

 attacked them. The presence of mil- 

 dew is fa\ored either by too close an 

 atmosphere or by weakness of the 

 jdants from being starved. 



W. J. K. 



SEEM TO NEED FEEDING. 



I have a bench that contains about 

 100 own-root Killarney, White Killar 

 ney and Eichmond roses, which do not 

 seem to be doing well. They were 

 jdanted in the last week of July, from 

 ;! inch pots, after arriving in rather 

 ]>oor condition. The Killarneys were in 

 l)ad shape, beinir alfected with black 

 spot and red spider. The Richmonds 

 were clean, but small and weak-look- 

 ing. They all dropped most of their 

 leaves, but the wood looked well and 

 hail ]ilenty of good eyes, just starting. 

 Tliey broke well and made a fair start, 



A "White Sunburst. 



but the foliage looked dry and harsh is 

 time went on and they seemed to ^e 

 starved. I watered them once wi h 

 Bon Arbor, as I was doubtful wheth r 

 the soil was rich enough. They fresn. 

 eued up after that and looked betti r, 

 but did not maintain the improvemei t. 

 About three weeks ago they had a 

 slight touch of mildew and I evap- 

 orated some sulphur on a small <.il 

 stove. The air was quite strong with 

 the sulphur fumes and a few davs 

 afterward the plants began to dr ip 

 their leaves. Could I have used too 

 much sulphur? It did not catch fi:i>. 

 There has been no mildew since then. 

 The Killarneys are doing better now, 

 but the liichmonds are not making 

 much headway. The soil is a hea y 

 clay loam and is none too rich. They 

 were kept on the dry side; that is, the 

 bench was not soaked, only wateri^d 

 around the plants, until I was advised 

 a week or two ago to soak roses that 

 were not doing well. I then gave the 

 bench what I thought was a thorough 

 soaking, but not enough to run throuj^h. 

 Since tlieu no water has been applied 

 excejit in spraying, but the bench has 

 not dried out yet, though the drainage 

 is gooil. We are having dark, muguy 

 weather, with the outside temperature 

 sehlom under 60 degrees. I turn on a 

 little heat every night, with the top 

 ventilators open about an inch. 



Shouhl I mulch the plants? I have 

 some old, thoroughly decayed manure, 

 a mixture of horse and cow manure. It 

 the plants were outside or were lari^cr 

 and stronger, they would get the muleli 

 at once, but I am not sure about younj; 

 stock and I know the mulching can he 

 overdone. W. ('. 



\i' the soil in which the roses were 

 planted does not contain one-tliiro 

 i)arnyard manure and a good sprinkliuL' 

 of bone meal, about one pound to fivt 

 s(|uare feet of bench, it is probably toe 

 poor to iH-rmit the plants to make ;i 

 good growth. Moreover, even if tlu 

 soil does contain sufficient foo<l to sup- 

 ply the plants, if it is not dissolve'! 

 with water the roses can not absorb it 

 and will not make a good growth. TLe 

 fact that tiie plants, as stated, were 

 refreshed for a time by the appbca 

 tion of a stimulant, seems to show that 

 they were in neeil of it and probal)!}' 

 want still more nourishment. 



.\ light mulching with the deca -c '• 

 manure, as suggested in the inqu ry 

 will do them good — about a good <'oU| 

 bl(> handful to each row on both s.'le^| 

 of the bench. Dissolve this thoroughly 

 by working it through the hand w iil>' 

 the water is running over it. unfi i' 

 is all fine. Do not let it lie on tli' 

 beiicli in lumps, as in that casi i' 

 would only dry up and the ]ilants W' iil 

 get no benefit from it. If tlii^ pb "'" 

 freslien up again after receiving h" 

 dose, give them another in two or t rr' 

 weeks. "Little and often" is the "1' 

 to follow until you have good, st' '"-' 

 jdants, an<l even then the jilants vil- 

 do better if the benches are not o >'f 

 loaded with manure, but kept ope ti* 

 allow tln^ air to get to the roots. 



That the roses dropped their le: vi- 

 after the sulphur was evaporated ii t'" 

 house, is no doubt due to an ovcri '^''' 

 The best way to fumigate with sul) li"; 

 is to keep it painted on the hea i"- 

 pipes. The fumes of an oil stove a"^' 

 injurious to the plants and may i''"' 

 have had something to do with t''' 

 dropping of their leaves. W^ J. I*^- 



