30 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Dbcember 10, 1908. 



and I think it quite possible that this 

 poison may grow and permeate the whole 

 plant and its offspring in the way of 

 cuttings, regardless of punctures. We 

 find, too, as a rule, that when a variety 

 begins to show these spots, it marks the 

 beginning of deterioration of that vari- 

 ety. Unless selection of cuttings is car- 

 ried on most critically, the variety will 

 last but a fe^v seasons. By avoiding all 

 plants which show these spots when tak- 

 ing off ctittings, one can sometimes free 

 a variety of the trouble, but it takes 

 several seasons, and unless a variety is 

 of unusually strong constitution it will 

 not outgrow it entirely. Some of the 

 best varieties have gone in that way, 

 which means careless growing and care- 

 less propagating. 



The variety Enchantress has been 

 showing these spots for several seasons 

 and I have noticed that each season there 

 are more complaints of them. This vari- 

 ety has usually much vitality, else it 

 would not have withstood it this long. 

 That it will go by this route I feel cer- 

 tain, but how soon it will give up the 

 fight no one can say. 



It is also noteworthy that in most of 

 such cases one can find a grower here 



and there who will have a variety in fine 

 health long after everyone else has dis- 

 carded it. That proves that careful se- 

 lection of cuttings, followed by careful, 

 sane, methods in growing, will keep a 

 variety up in vigor and health. Rich 

 food, excessive watering or any form of 

 crowding will Wake matters worse, so 

 avoid everything of that kind. 



A. F. J. B. 



WHO GROWS BRITANNIA? 



I should like to hear from carnation 

 growers who have tried the new English 

 carnation, Britannia, raised by A. Smith, 

 Enfield Highway, Middlesex. Let us know 

 if it is a good variety for American 

 growers. We shall be glad to know 

 what anyone with experience has to say 

 about it. W. I. N. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY 



Joseph Heacock Co., Wyncote, Pa., reg- 

 isters Carnation Dorothy Gordon ; parent- 

 age, Lawson and Enchantress; color, 

 light pink; flower well built, good calyx, 

 stem and substance, fragrant; a strong 

 grower and a great bloomer. • 



Albert M. Here, Sec 'y. 



ROOTING ROSES OUTDOORS. 



Please tell us how the California grow- 

 ers root roses and carnations in the open 

 ground. At what season are they put 

 in the soil and what sort of wood is 

 used? Also please state the subsequent 

 treatment. Do you know the process 

 used in the south of France? 



Southerner. 



There is but one way the world over 

 to root cuttings of roses in the open 

 ground, and this is dependent on the 

 nature of the cutting itself, the soil in 

 which it is planted, the climatic con- 

 ditions and their subsequent handling 

 after planting. Taking the four men- 

 tioned conditions as a whole, it is hardly 

 necessary to add that they must all be 

 favorable to the growth of the cutting, 

 for if any one of them is overlooked 

 there is but one result, and that is — 

 failure. 



To begin with, the wood chosen for 

 this purpose is in direct connection with 

 the conditions; or, to be more explicit, 

 the wood is ripe at that time of the 

 year after we have had a touch or two 

 of frost or after our first rains. These 

 are usually sufficient to cause the stock 

 plants to drop most of their foliage. 

 Or, if there has been no check in the 

 growth because of the non-appearance 



of expected cold weather or rain storms, 

 the wood must be worked up anyhow, 

 and trenched in bundles of a hundred or 

 so, until a heavy rainfall gives assur- 

 ance that it will be safe to plant in the 

 open. If, by any , chance, the expected 

 dampness does not materialize in suffi- 

 cient quantity to make a favorable time, 

 recourse must be had to irrigation. Thif 

 is both expensive and unsatisfactory, 

 but occasionally it is done. 



About the first of December is the 

 proper time to make rose cuttings in 

 the central portion of the Pacific coast 

 region, and nothing but the hardest 

 wood is used. Soft, pithy branches are 

 discarded, and there are no other pre- 

 cautions necessary, except to trim off 

 any leaves that may remain and see that 

 there is an eye or two well down toward 

 the bottom of the cutting. The cut- 

 tings are usually made about one foot in 

 length. 



The soil should be well worked up, 

 and, as I have already stated, the plant- 

 ing should be preferably after a heavy 

 rain or two, but if this does not come to 

 pass and the cuttings have been made 

 and heeled in temporarily for several 

 weeks, so that there is danger of their 

 smothering, they will have to be planted 

 anyhow, and artificial watering given 

 instead. 



They are usually planted ten inches 

 apart in the rows and the rows them- 

 selves are four feet apart, thereby giv- 

 ing plenty of room for a horse and cul- 

 tivator to pass between, them later. 

 Should it become necessary to artifi- 

 cially water them, a drill is drawn along- 

 side the rows and a good flooding given 



several times at short intervals, to as- 

 sist in root forming. 



This brings us to the subject of the 

 subsequent handling of the growing 

 cuttings. It is well, when they are 

 planted, to draw the earth well up to 

 them and leave not over thr^e inches of 

 the top exposed. The keeping of the 

 soil loose afterward, as well as remov- 

 ing weeds in close proximity, is done 

 with a hoe, but the main cultivation is 

 by horse and cultivator in the center of 

 the row. This is kept up every three 

 or four weeks during the spring and sum- 

 mer, or until the growing season is prac- 

 tically over at the approach of cold 

 weather. 



I might add, under the heading of 

 climatic conditions, that planting is never 

 done during extremely frosty weather, 

 or during the prevalence of dry winds, 

 which often visit us during the plant- 

 ing season. 



A strong growing tea or hybrid per- 

 petual rose will usually grow from three 

 to four feet in a season from a cutting, 

 while a hardy climber will usually grow 

 twice as much. 



Eoses are divided into three classes — 

 varieties that are preferably grown on 

 their own roots, varieties that make a 

 fair growth in that way, and varieties 

 that are difficult to root and are conse- 

 quently budded instead. 



To the first division belong all the 

 wild stocks used either for budding or 

 grafting, about fifty per cent of the 

 noisettes and a majority of the Bengal, 

 ramblers, banksias and briars. To the 

 next division belong the hybrid te?is and 

 about fifty per cent of the hybrid per- 

 petuals, teas, mosses, polyanthas and a few 

 other classes. To the last division belong 

 the balance of the rose family, including 

 some from every class that are almost 

 impossible to make into salable plants 

 from cuttings in one season. In some 

 cases it is because it is almost impossible 

 to make them root at all, and in others 

 the roots are so tender and weak that 

 a strong plant cannot be assured until 

 the second or third season. With all 

 these varieties budding is resorted to, 

 as well as with difficult rooting or weak 

 growing kinds, belonging to the first 

 and second divisions. 



The growing of budded roses has as- 

 sumed large proportions on the Pacific 

 coast, and by its assistance many nat- 

 urally weak growing kinds have been 

 induced to bring out their best qualities 

 and become the most popular selling 

 sorts. Not over fifty per cent of our 

 best roses make satisfactory plants when 

 grown on their own roots, and it be- 

 comes necessary to bud them on a 

 stronger growing sort before they will 

 pay for the' space they occupy in the 

 garden. 



The cuttings are dug one year after 

 planting and are usually graded in three 

 sizes. If the soil is rich and there has 

 been a good amount of moisture, and if 

 the soil has been well cultivated, there 

 should be a heavy percentage of No. 1 

 plants; that is, those that are sold for 

 first size. If conditions along the lines 

 I have mentioned have not been favor- 

 able, the growth will be less vigorous 

 and smaller sized plants will result. 



Regarding soil for the growing of 

 roses, it might be well to remark that 

 cuttings can be better rooted in soil that 

 is partially sandy, while after they have 

 become rooted they make stronger plants 

 in heavy adobe soil. This is practically 

 true of all roses. 



Carnations, being of such easy growth. 



