18 



The FIorists-Rcvkw 



Seftembeb 23, 1915. 



roots certainly have not. rotted,- as 

 yours have done. 



The trouble is not baused by stem- 

 rot, because stem-rot attacks the stem 

 above the surface of the soil,, while in 

 the case of both the plants submitted 

 the rotting occurred at the roots or the 

 base of the stem. 



Is there anything wrong with your 

 water! It might be that your water 



is not suitable for plants. If you ap- 

 plied too much water right after 

 benching the plants, it might have 

 caused the rotting. This is especially 

 true with a soil that contains prac- 

 tically no fibrous matter, such as yours. 

 Is it possible that you watered ex- 

 cessively at the roots instead of spray- 

 ing overhead suflSciently. 



A. F. J. B. 



ilUSSELL AND SHAWYEB BOSES. 



Will you kindly publish an article on 

 Sussell and Shawyer roses? I am a 

 Killarney grower, and this is the first 

 year I have grown Russell and 

 Shawyer. I am having considerable 

 trouble with mildew and black-spot. 

 How can I rid Russell of black-spot and 

 Shawyer of mildew! What is the best 

 method of feeding Russell and Shaw- 

 yer! I have been using only manure 

 water. Is thirty to fifty pounds of 

 water pressure suflScient to keep plants 

 free from red. spider! I secure pump 

 pressure from a 1%-horsepower gaso- 

 line engine, which is connected with a 

 pressure valve set at about fifty pounds. 

 This method does not seem to give the 

 desired results. What do you advise? 



R. E. A.— Neb. 



The Russell rose is a great success 

 with some growers and as great a fail- 

 ure with others. When one has had 

 the pleasure, as I had last week, of 

 walking through the houses at Waban. 

 Mass., and seeing Russell in its glory, 

 as grown by Alex. Montgomery, one is 

 forced to conclude that Russell is a 

 wonderful rose. Mr. Montgomery's 

 method, as I deduced from conversing 

 with him, is to keep the plants on the 

 dry side and feed them liberally. 

 Treating a rose aa an aquatic may suit 

 some varieties, but it is no way to 

 treat Russell if you are going to keep 

 black-spot away. Aside from the ques- 

 tion of water, Russell does not seem to 

 present any problems that would be 

 considered serious by the up-to-date 

 rose grower; if it does, I am not ac- 

 quainted with them. R. E. A., in com- 

 mon with most of us, is suffering from 

 a singular summer. The excessive mois- 

 ture in July and August, combined with 

 a high temperature and close, stuffy at- 

 mosphere, furnished ideal conditions for 

 the rapid spread of black-spot, and this 

 disease, in some sections, on both the 

 indoor and outdoor roses, became epi- 

 demic. When the weather becomes 

 cooler and drier, black-spot will not be 

 so troublesome. When roses are badly 



infected with black-spot, the affected 

 leaves should be picked off as far as 

 possible, without stripping the plants 

 too much, keeping a dry, buoyant at- 

 mosphere. Cease syringing for a time, 

 save to spray the plants with a copper 

 solution to kill the spores of the dis- 

 ease and prevent its spreading. The 

 solution should be in the proportion of 

 one to 100. On days when the beds 

 must be watered, it should be complet- 

 ed before noon, so that the houses will 

 have a chance to dry by nightfall. Dry 

 lime dusted over the beds with bellows 

 will help dry the moisture when the 

 weather is damp. The lime will be found 

 to be an excellent germicide. When 

 the weather becomes cool enough to 

 permit a line of steam through the 

 houses, the spot will disappear, if at- 

 mospheric conditions are satisfactory. 



The foregoing remarks apply with 

 equal truth to the cultivation of 

 Shawyer, though Shawyer does better 

 at 56 to 58 degrees in the winter. I 

 believe Russell is more at home in a 

 temperature of 60 to 64 degrees at 

 night. 



Shawyer never showed any mildew 

 with me, and I always put its presence 

 down to the fact that many growers 

 keep the house too hot and too wet, 

 causing the plant to make too rapid a 



growth, and consequently become more 

 susceptible to mildew or any other dis- 

 ease. Shawyer is a rapid grower any- 

 way, and needs little of the' forcing 

 treatment. Aa a rule, Shawyer makes 

 a growth long enough, without any 

 pinching of the flowers, to grade up 

 to extras. 



The pressure On the valve set at fifty 

 pounds does not by any means indi- 

 cate that fifty pounds is always avail- 

 able. A strong pressure is necessary to 

 get good results when syringing. If 

 R. E. A. had 100 pounds of pressure on 

 hand, he could easily cut it down if 

 necessary by not turning the tap on 

 full, but he cannot raise the pressure if 

 the limit is low. 



Some growers use a mulch of horse 

 manure, with continuous heavy water- 

 ings, as food for Russell and Shawyer. 

 Others use nothing but liquid cow ma- 

 nure, cooked before it is applied, and 

 still others use a mulch of cow ma- 

 nure from time to time, and no liquid 

 fertilizer. Feeding seems to be largely 

 a question of local conditions and ex- 

 pense. Chas. H. Totty. 



HOW TO STOBE BOSE PLANTS. 



I am growing a house of roses for 

 summer blooms, but wish to lift the 

 plants this fall and store them until 

 March of next year. The varieties are 

 Kaiserin, Taft and Lady Hillingdon, 

 own-root, planted in May, 1914, in 

 solid benches. I have a good, airy 

 cellar, that averages 36 to 40 degrees 

 during the winter months. Can I 

 safely store the plants in the cellar 

 until next March, after drying them 

 off in October and tying them in 

 bunches and covering with burlap! 



R. J. P.— N. Y. 



A dry, airy cellar should afford good 

 storage for rose plants during the win- 

 ter months. After holding off the water 

 for a couple of weeks, lift the plants 

 and heel them close together, pressing 

 some moist soil between the roots to 

 keep the air off. By this method the 

 plants will keep during winter better 

 and more safely than if tied in bundles. 

 If the temperature is kept as close 

 to freezing point as possible, the plants 

 will stay dormant and make a good 

 start when planted in the beds in the 

 early spring. If the plants are pruned 

 when lifted in the fall, they will re- 

 quire less space for storing. 



W. J. K. 



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I SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS I 

 I FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS | 



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CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN SOUTH. 



Southern growers are busy with the 

 chrysanthemum crop. The buds have 

 been taken on all of them, except a few 

 of the varieties wanted for late flower- 

 ing. The side shoots appear in a re- 

 markably short time, and they must be 

 picked off. The plants must be gone 

 over every few days and all the shoots 

 cleanly removed. Keep the tops of the 

 plants well sprayed on bright days un- 

 ti color shows, to eliminate all risks 

 of red spider, and continue the spray- 

 ing with nicotine extract at least twice 

 a week. 



Some feeding is necessary to obtain 

 good-sized blooms. The stimulants gen- 

 erally used are manure water, nitrate 

 of soda and ammonium sulphate. The 

 latter two are used in liquid form, a 

 4-inch pot being dissolved in flfty gal- 

 lons of water. When using manure wa- 

 ter, see that the manure is fresh and 

 strong. A wheelbarrow full of manure 

 will make 100 gallons of good strength. 

 If any of the manure water is left over, 

 you can use it in conjunction with 

 either the soda or ammonia by diluting 

 with clear water to the proper propor- 

 tion. 



