■■&-'":ir. 



302 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



December 20, 1904. 



pense of these large grafted plants be- 

 gan to be quite an item, and so it was 

 decided to import stocks and to try all 

 the methods of grafting which it was 

 thought might be adapted to the new 

 system. 



The American Process of Grafting. 



The old idea used to be to coat the 

 union of the graft and scion with a 

 smearing of grafting wax and to run 

 the plants at a somewhat lower temper- 

 ature than is now considered proper. 

 This, however, was a very tedious pro- 

 cess and in the mind of the American 

 grower it was altogether too slow, con- 

 sidering the fact that he had to produce 

 during the three winter months all of 

 the plants which he intended to set out 

 for the coming season. Then, by ex- 

 perimenting, it was found that by rais- 

 ing the temperature and increasing the 

 moisture the waxing process could be 

 omitted entirely and a more satisfac- 

 tory union could be produced in Jess 

 time and with less labor. 



After these encouraging results with 

 Catherine Mermet and other varieties 

 all the leading roses of that period were 

 tried on the Manetti. Niphetos, Bon 

 Silene, William Francis Bennett, Lady 

 Mary Fitzwilliam and many others of 

 lesser note, showed a marked improve- 

 ment over own-root plants. 



The Famous Gjrnelia Cook. 

 One of the most interesting sights 

 for visitors to our place during the 

 latter part of the '80s were the great 

 banks of that grand old favorite, Cor- 

 nelia Cook. The term "banks" is 

 used advisedly, for banks they really 

 were, the style of growing being en- 

 tirely different from anything now in 

 vogue. The plants, which were all in 

 solid beds, were at that time forced as 

 long as seven or eight years. "Where 

 the beds wer6 wide enough, about seven 

 feet, the plants were placed in rows 

 three feet apart across the bed. An 

 iron trellis in the shape of an inverted 

 "V" was built in between each two 

 rows and the plants tied down to this, 

 leaving one row facing east and the 

 other west. As the plants were grown 

 80 long in the same bed they made fine 

 canes and these, when thoroughly 

 ripened off during the summer, produced 

 magnificent blooms the following sea- 

 son. I remember one house in particu- 

 lar 300 feet long, with a single row of 

 plants lengthwise of the back bed and 

 tied back to a trellis, leaving the whole 

 bank facing the south. This indeed, 

 when in the midst of a full crop, was 

 a truly wonderful sight. 



Now, one of the causes which un- 

 doubtedly contributed to these results 

 and which, by the way, was not made 

 known for some time, was the fact that 

 all these fine plants were grafted on 

 the Manetti stock. Finally, however, 

 when Charles Anderson, of the John 

 Henderson Company, a great admirer of 

 thig method of forcing, was let into the 

 secret, he immediately set about graft- 

 ing his own Cooks and was so elated 

 with his success that he was unable to 

 hold on to his secret. 



Stock for Marechal NieL 



It was in a somewhat similar way to 

 this that that finest of all yellow roses, 

 Marechal Niel, was treated. This vari- 

 ety had failed to thrive on the Manetti 

 and, while it gave very satisfactory 

 results on the Banksia, still it seemed 



in time to outgrow this, being in fact 

 a more rapid grower than the stock it- 

 self. Mr. Montgomery having read of 

 Dean Hole's very high opinion of Glorie 

 de Dijon as a stock for Marechal Niel, 

 decided to give it a trial under glass at 

 Waban Conservatories. A house 35x100 

 feet, twenty feet to the ridge, containing 

 sixty plants on this stock, was laid out 

 with one large bed and the plants 

 trained on upright trellises across the 



house. These plants in time made 

 canes enough to completely fill the 

 house, and bore in one crop from 25,000 

 to 30,000 blooms, the product being 

 shipped as far as Washington on the 

 south, Montreal on the north and Chi- 

 cago on the west. No better stock than 

 Glorie de Dijon has ever been found 

 for Marechal Niel, either for out-of- 

 doors or for indoor forcing. 

 (To be continued.) 



NEWER VARIETIES. 



A retrospective view of conditions pre- 

 vailing during the past year in the rose 

 f rowing world reveals many interesting 

 acts, which, if carefully considered, may 

 be of paramount use to us during the 

 coming and future years. 



That we are yet far from perfection 

 is evidenced by the fact that our hybrid- 

 ists and growers are still seeking after 

 something better in the way of varieties 

 and methods of culture. The industry, 

 energy, skill and intelligence which the 

 hybridists have brought to bear on the 

 subject during the past and preceding 

 years entitle them to the thanks of the 

 growers particularly and of the public 

 generally. Many of their productions are 

 as. yet only on trial and to the credit of 

 the craft there is not that inclination to 

 rush a new variety on to the market with- 

 out testing its qualities that existed a 

 few years ago and growers will have more 

 confidence in investing in these, knowing 

 that they have already passed through 

 the ordeal. 



In Hill 's Richmond we have a red rose 

 which has all the ear-marks of a winner, 

 it is robust and of good habit, easily 

 grown, a profuse bloomer, the form and 

 keeping qualities of the bloom of a high 

 grade and the color just right. That Mr. 

 Hill, after all these years of trial, sees 

 fit to put it on the market is evidence 

 enough that it is a good thing and cer- 

 tain to find a place among the best. That 

 there is still a good demand for reds is 

 evidenced by the fact that ninety per cent 

 of our growers are still trying to grow 

 Liberty. 



Among the pinks, La Detroit seems to 

 be gaining in favor, being a free grower, 

 of excellent constitution, very productive 

 and a good seller. There not being as 

 yet enough of it grown to entitle it to a 

 separate quotation in the market, it is 

 hard to prophesy if it will supersede the 

 old Bridesmaid. It has evidently come 

 to stay. 



Chatenay is proving itself an all- 

 around favorite, producing some wonder- 

 ful canes and blooms of a high order. It 



is easily grown and free from nearly all 

 the diseases that aflliet other roses and, 

 if properly handled, is almost immune 

 from the ravages of mildew. It is so 

 easy a "doer" that the grower who can- 

 not handle this rose with success had bet- 

 ter quit growing. 



Rosalind Orr English is another of Mr. 

 Hill's introductions and deserves a place. 

 Its color would be hard to define, being a, 

 shade of pink something after the order 

 of Lawson carnation but brighter and 

 probably will satisfy those who admire 

 this shade in a rose. In form it is all 

 that can be desired, has excellent keeping 

 qualities and in habit resembles Chate- 

 nay, of which it is a seedling. 



The new light-pink rose, Wellesley, a 

 seedling raised at the Waban Conserva- 

 tories at Natick, Mass., is sustaining a 

 good character and will no doubt fill a 

 long felt want in that shade of color. 



Killamey is another rose that seems to 

 be coming to the front and, because of 

 its many good qualities, will also find a 

 place in public favor. 



Along with these new varieties of na- 

 tive birth we are promised some E'uro- 

 pean novelties which bear high reputa- 

 tions but whether they are able to bear 

 the vicissitudes of climatic changes and 

 our exhaustive methods of culture is a 

 question of the future. 



We have, however, sufficient food for 

 thought for another year in trying to find 

 the peculiarities of these varieties, so 

 that by another year we may have con- 

 fidence to plant in quantities. 

 . That the past year has been progress- 

 ive there is no doubt and that it has also 

 been financially a success is also true. 

 That the coming year may prove equally 

 good to both hybridists and growers and 

 that we may be all prosperous and happy 

 is the New Year's wish of Ribes. 



BRIDES AND MAIDS. 



We have a house of Bride and Brides- 

 maid roses that were propagated in Sep- 

 tember and grown cool all winter, until 

 March, when they were started with more 

 heat and planted about the middle of 

 June out of 3-inch pots into four or five 

 inches of soil. We used sod with about 

 one-fifth cow manure, also bone meal. 

 The Bridesmaids were very slow to start 

 but both did very well during September 



