10 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



Fbbbdabx 25, 1909. 



A SUMMER ROSE HOUSE. 



Will you please state what is the best 

 way to make a summer rose house? I 

 have a mum house, with raised benches. 

 Would you plant the roses on the benches 

 or on the ground! If on the ground, 

 would the old mum soil be all righf, plac- 

 ing it on the ground, spading it all up 

 and putting about six inches of rose soil 

 on topt What are the best plants to 

 start with — 21/^ -inch or 4-inch pot plants 

 or dormant stock? What size of wire 

 would you use for the plants and how 

 high should they be? G. G. 



Summer roses invariably do best on 

 ground benches. Old mum soil would 

 not be suitable for the purpose. Procure 

 some good, loamy sod and add one-fourth 

 of good cow manure. Chop it all up and 

 mix thoroughly, adding a 4-inch potful 

 of bone meal to each bushel of the com- 

 post. 



At this season well grown plants from 

 2% -inch pots are good stock for planting, 

 though from 4-inch pots the results will 

 be quicker. Unless you have had some 

 experience with dormant stock, it is bet- 

 ter to leave it alone. Kibes. 



ROSE ANTHRACNOSE. 



We are forwarding under separate cover, 

 by express, specimens of our rose-trouble, 

 which is confined to one house of Ivory 

 and Uncle John. For several seasons 

 we have kept a part of our stock over 

 for a second year, and we started to 

 follow out this method last summer, but 

 along in July we noticed that some 

 plants began to fail and the trouble 

 seemed to spread in colonies around the 

 first plants affected. We then cut out 

 these blocks of unhealthy plants, re- 

 filled the place with fresh soil and 

 planted fresh stock, but in a short time 

 those plants adjoining the plants first 

 affected also showed the trouble. All 

 the new shoots came out very weak, with 

 thin, small foliage, of a pale green color, 

 which soon after showed brown blotches 

 toward the edges and finally dried up 

 and fell off — the tips of the shoots first, 

 and finally the whole branch drying up. 



A peculiar feature of the trouble is 

 that in its first stage it generally shows 

 on only a part of the plants and the 

 others appear vigorous, but the healthy 

 part generally succumbs to the trouble 

 after a while. We have kept on tak- 

 ing out affected plants right along, and 

 replanting. The specimens sent are 

 plants that were set in late in the season 

 and did not make a heavy growth. 



We have been trying to fight it off by 



withholding water, and as a consequence 

 have a fair sized crop of spiders on h&nd, 

 of which we have no fear, as we have a 

 splendid water supply and know how to 

 reduce that trouble. 



Will it be wise to take cuttings from 

 plants now apparently healthy? 



Will you kindly put us right in this 

 matter, so as to prevent this trouble 

 from occurring again? S. F. C. 



The plants reached me in excellent 

 condition, which gave me a chance for 

 a careful examination. While there are 

 a few eelworms present, they are not 

 numerous enough to cause the trouble. 



The worst trouble is the disease called 

 rose anthracnose. Tliis disease frequent- 

 ly attacks Golden Gate and Chatenay in 

 tiieir second year. It usually manifests 

 itself by showing a dead iwig, which 

 commonly commences to die at the top 

 and continues to die toward the base 

 of the branch. At the same time the 

 plant continues to put forth new and 

 vigorous growths, which are attacked 

 in turn and succumb. 



This is a disease which is hard to erad- 

 icate, and as the plants affected must 

 have lost some vitality, it would be risky 

 to propagate from them. 



Elvery affected plant should be thrown 



out and all decaying matter removed. 

 Spray once a week with the copper 

 solution, using a very fine spray, so that 

 every part of the leaves and stems may 

 receive its quota. The solution consists 

 of the following : Copper carbonate,, 

 one ounce; ammonia enough to dissolve 

 the copper; water, twelve gallons. 



This trouble usually shows up in Feb- 

 ruary or March, and as the days get 

 warmer the plants least affected will 

 outgrow it. Cleanliness and plenty of 

 ventilation are favorable factors in its 

 extermination. Bqes. 



BLASTED ROSE PLANTS. 



What is the matter with my Beauties,, 

 Brides and Maids? My Beauties grow 

 nicely until almost ready to form the 

 bud; then they blast and start growing 

 anew from where they are blasted. This 

 condition has lasted about a month and 

 is steadily becoming worse. The sepals 

 of the Brides and Maids grow to such 

 length (being, in. fact, almost developed 

 leaves), and are twisted about the petals 

 so tightly, that they force the bud 

 through the side having the least re- 

 sistance. The ^enclosed bud will perhaps 

 provide you with a clearer idea of my 

 trouble than the explanation I write you. 



W. R. 



From the appearance of tlje bud en- 

 closed, there is evidently some trouble 

 at the roots. This blasting of the 

 growth, with the subsequent growth from 

 below, is one of the indications of the 

 trouble called rose anthracnose, a serious 

 affair in a rose house. 



Throw out all affected plants, dead 

 branches, leaves, etc. Stir up the sur- 

 face. Give plenty of ventilation, with 

 a night temperature of 56 degrees and 

 a day temperature of 60 to 80 degrees, 

 and no feeding. As the days lengthen, 

 those plants not already affected may 

 outgrow the trouble. Bibes. 



POMPONS AND SINGLES. 



A correspondent has written me ask- 

 ing cultural notes on how to grow pom- 

 pons and singles with the idea of pro- 

 ducing fine sprays of flowers, market 

 sprays, as he terms it. 



They can be propagated at any time 

 now, as the cuttings are in shape to take 

 off the plants, and propagation can con- 

 tinue till the middle of June. The 

 earlier rooted stock can be topped for 

 cuttings or kept pinched back till tho 

 middle or end of June, when the plants, 

 can be set out on the benches, single stem 

 plants about 6x6 to 6x8, and larger 

 plants that may carry a dozen shoots 

 more room proportionately. 



As the plants grow, the shoots should 

 be kept tied to wires or whatever sup- 

 port is used until after the bud (which 

 in the large flowered types would be 

 called the crown bud) appears. Around 

 this bud or break, for it is really tho 

 natural break of the plant, many shoots 

 begin to appear, and these are allowed 

 to spread out and produce as many buds 



as they will. A little judicious thinning 

 of the buds where the clusters are too 

 numerous is time well spent, but much 

 thinning is a waste of time and destroys 

 the natural beauty of the sprays. 



There is as much difference between 

 well grown singles and pompons as there 

 is between exhibition flowers of the large- 

 flowered kinds and the rubbish that 

 passes in so many markets as the com- 

 mercial grade. The artistic decorator 

 grows enthusiastic when he sees beauti- 

 ful sprays of the light and graceful 

 singles, and many fine dinner tables were 

 graced with nothing else last fall in 

 New York. 



Some growers say there is no money 

 in pompons or singles. The trite but 

 true remark that there is room at the 

 top applies here as well as anywhere. 

 Do not think that because the flowers 

 are small the plants do not need feed- 

 ing with liquid fertilizers like the large 

 fellows. They do need it and show by 

 the better foliage and more brilliant 

 coloring of the flowers when they hare 



