22 



The Florists' Review 



May 14, 1014. 



ROOTING ROSE CUTTINGS. 



I have cuttings of American Beauty, 

 Killarney and White Ivillarney roses 

 which 1 have tried for months to root. 

 My cutting bench is under the pipes 

 and it is laid with li/>-inch clay tile, 

 close together. The cuttings have all 

 been good, having been taken from 

 bench roses. 1 have tried some with a 

 slanting cut and some with a straight 

 cut. The sand, which is taken from a 

 sand pit, is pressed firmly around the 

 cuttings and they are watered for the 

 first two or three days; afterwards 

 they are sj)rinkled in the morning, so 

 that the leaves will be dry by night. 1 

 would like to know why the leaves turn 

 l:)lack -and fall off after a week, the 

 <'uttings turning black, beginning at 

 the bottom eye? 1 try to keep the 

 temperature of the sand at from (i5 to 

 70 degrees in the daytime and from 60 

 to ()2 degrees at night, but still 1 am 

 unsuccessful. R. M. 



If the cutting bench referred to is 

 underneath the lieating pipes, as stated 

 in this letter, it will be impossible to 

 root rose cuttings on it. A bench to 

 root roses is best made out of lumber 

 or other material, about si\- inches 

 deej), having good drainage in the bot- 

 tom. If made of 6-inch hoards, a 

 quarter of an inch between the boards 

 is sufficient. On top of this place about 

 two inches of coarse gravel or crushed 

 stone, such as is used for concrete 

 Aiork, and on top of this four inches of 

 clean, sharp sand. Press this down 

 firmly with a brick or pounder made 

 out of a piece of 2x6 about ten inches 

 hng, with a handle fastened to it. 

 Ciive the sand a thorough watering to 

 clean out any impurities it may contain 

 anil it is ready for the cuttings. 



Place the cuttings in the sand in 

 rows about two inches apart and three- 

 quarters to one inch apart in the rows. 

 After the cuttings- are placed in the 

 ^and give them a good watering to 

 settle the sand well around each cut- 

 ting, and after that water them well at 

 leant every two days for the first three 

 weeks. If the bench is made as di- 

 rected and the water drains off as it 

 should, f good watering every morning 

 is not too much; it will keep the cut- 

 tings in good shape, with the water 

 contained in the sand always pure, 

 whicii is the main secret of success in 

 rooting rose cuttings. Have enough 

 heat under the cutting bench to keep 

 the temperature as near as j>ossible to 

 65 degrees both day and night. Give 

 the cuttings all the light there is, but 



no sun. Shade them, if possible, by 

 :il retching a cloth along the south edge 

 of vhe bench, so that the cuttings have 

 a giod circulation of air at all times 

 without having the sun shining on 

 them. Keep the top temperature as 

 lioar 5") degrees as possible. As the 

 days are getting warmer now, this will 

 be hard to do, but if the cuttings are 

 kept well watered and have plenty of 

 air {( little higher temperature will not 

 hurt them. W. J. K. 



OUTDOOR ROSES IN AIJ\.BAMA. 



I have planted out 100 gtafted hybrid 

 tea roses here, in central Alabama, for 

 summer blooming. Will you please tell 

 me how to treat them during the sum- 

 mer? They are 1 -year-old stock of 

 Double Killarney and Double White 

 Killarney. Some are in bloom and 

 bud. Should these blooms be removed 

 the first aunimer? How far should the 

 stems be cut back when removing the 

 blooms? The plants are about six to 



ten inches high and some have a little 

 sprout about three inches from the 

 graft. Should the flower be cut below 

 this branch or just above? Should any 

 of the shoots that sprout from the graft 

 be allowed to grow? 



I also have some own-root, 2-year-old 

 plants of Rhea Reid, which I have just 

 planted. Should they be cut back any? 

 Is there any book I could purchase that 

 treats of grafted roses? H. A. C. 



See that the roses do not suffer from 

 want of water, and give them a heavy 

 mulching, preferably of well-rotted cow 

 manure. You should cut the blooms the 

 first season about one-half the growth. 

 In fact, you should cut all of the new 

 grpwth, whether blooming or not, at 

 least one-half in midsummer, so as to 

 insure a good, strong cut the second 

 year; otherwise you will get nothing but 

 sickly stems on the next year's flowers. 

 Cut the flowers just above the sprout of 

 which you speak. As to the new shoots, 

 leave all those that spring from the 

 graft, but not those that spring from 

 below. 



Cut one-half of the wood back on the 

 own-root Rhea Reid that have ^just 

 been planted, and see that they are 

 well mulched. The best authority 1 

 know of on grafted roses is Montgom- 

 ery 's book, which you can purchase 

 from The Review for 25 cents. While 

 the roses are growing, every care should 

 be taken to keep them in good condi- 

 tion. You will find that in our Alabama 

 climate you will have to be careful to 

 keep the stock free from red spider and 

 other insects. I find that just as much 

 spraying is required in the open air as 

 in the greenhouse. W. C. Cook. 



GLADIOLI ON THE FARM. 



If every farmer who reads the 

 Country Gentleman absorbs the enthu- 

 siasm Maurice Fuld put into an article 

 published there May 2, there will be a 

 shortage of gladiolus bulbs this season, 

 but no shortage of cut blooms a little 

 later. According to the heading, "easy 

 culture and rich profits make gladiolus 

 growing attractive." Said Mr. Fuld: 



' ' The gladiolus will grow in anj' good 

 garden soil, preferably in a plot where 

 grass has been growing and which has 

 l)een turned under with a lot of manure 

 the fall before. Moisture-retaining soil 

 will grow good flowers, sandy soil will 

 grow clean bulbs, but heavy clay soil 

 will grow heavier and plumper bulbs as 

 well as better flowers. 



"Such bulbs as one finds offered in 

 seed books or even by commercial grow- 

 ers in their regular lists are not the 

 stock to be used by the commercial 

 grower, for these are usually known as 

 first size — that is, completely grown 

 bulbs. Second, third and fourth-size 

 bulbs are the best sizes to purchase in 

 the beginning, for they produce ex- 

 cellent flowers as well as additional 

 bulbs to make the stock permanent. 

 Fourth-size bulbs, measuring from half 

 an inch to three-quarters of an inch in 



diameter, are the best to buy, for they 

 are the cheapest and produce as 

 good flowers as the second size. They 

 cannot always be procured, however, for 

 the growers usually retain them for 

 their own use. 



"The ideal selection of varieties is, 

 perhaps, of greater importance than any 

 other feature in making commercial 

 growing- of gladioli profitable. Among 

 the florists' sorts America is perhaps 

 the leading variety. This year there 

 are probably not less than 10,000,000 

 bulbs available, all of which will be 

 planted. The flowers when well grown 

 almost always bring from 3 to 4 cents 

 the spike, even from the wholesale 

 florist. It is true that many gladioli 

 are sold in the wholesale market for as 

 low as 1 cent a stalk, but for the reason 

 only that they are inferior in quality. 



"Only quality obtains the best 

 market price. America is an ideal 

 variety to grow, because it is of a 

 marketable pink color, has a good stiff 

 stem and large flowers, most of which 

 open at one time. All these points tell 

 in the selling power of a variety. 

 Clear, delicate colors, such as pink, 

 white and yellow, always sell more 

 readily than the darker shades of 

 scarlet, rose, crimsjjn, lavender and 



[OoDcladed on pace 4S.] 



