14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Jandabz 18, 1812. 



one is impressed by the fact that they 

 are handling two or three times as 

 many varieties of roses as are the larg- 

 est dealers on this side of the water. 



En route to Ireland, we will stop at 

 the establishment of Kelway & Sons, 

 at Somerset, and see their splendid as- 

 sortment of hardy perennials, with 

 their sample perennial border for the 

 benefit of patrons who visit them, and 

 their acres upon acres of peonies, which 

 are so beautifully reproduced in color 

 in their 342-page catalogue. 



Beaching Liverpool, it is a small 

 matter to take boat at 10 p. m., and if 

 you are an early bird you will be up 

 in time to see the glory of the morning 

 light on the beautiful harbor of Belfast, 

 a fitting birthplace for the ocean liners 

 like the Olympic and the Titanic, the 

 latter of which we passed as it was 

 still stripped and was being finished 

 and furnished near its launching place. 



Some Famous Belfast Growers. 



There are three great rose growers 

 near Belfast and each one is the best. 

 Across the street from my hotel was 

 the town store of Alexander Dickson 

 & Sons, of Newtownards; they are 

 probably best known to American 

 growers. But of similar prominence 

 there is the firm of Hugh Dickson, pro- 

 prietor of the Eoyal Nurseries of Bel- 

 fast and the winner this year of the 

 national trophy, and thus declared 

 champion rose grower of the year in 

 the British Isles. The proprietors of 

 both firms are grandsons of the original 

 Alexander Dickson. As you well know, 

 both firms are doing excellent work in 

 producing, almost annually, new roses 

 of unquestioned merit. 



In Belfast you will find almost every- 

 one Knows Samuel McGredy & Son also. 

 The present proprietor is a cousin of 

 the Dicksons. He does his own hybri- 

 dizing. He also has a son at college, 

 so that it looks as if there was good 

 promise of good roses to come from 

 Ireland for many years yet, for cer- 

 tainly the climate is what the roses 

 like, the soil is great and they do grow 

 magnificent flowers. I noticed on the 

 lawns around their homes a real riot of 

 roses. Mrs. Roosevelt, for example, a 

 whole bed of them, had blossoms twice 

 as big as any I had ever seen growing 

 in the open here. Caroline Testout was 

 quite as fine as we have it in Pj>rtland, 

 Ore., if not finer. Hence, wnen one 

 was introduced to a new, mnmimed 

 seedling, and the price of $500 ois$l,000 

 was put on it, the question that imme- 

 diately claimed one 's attention was, 

 "How will these roses do in America?" 

 But they have to be tried. 

 [To be continued.] 



Troy, N. Y. — Samuel Hansen, of Lan- 

 singburgh, has built up a snug busi- 

 ness during the short time he has been 

 here. The owner of a fine range of 

 glass and assisted by his better half, 

 he considers himself a lucky man. 



Burlington, Vt. — A. Gebiecke reports 

 good business. Formerly a pupil of 

 Charles Thorley, he has introduced 

 many up-to-date ideas learned in New 

 York city. 



Bennington, Vt. — L. C. Holton has 

 plans formed for extending his plant. 

 The beautiful decorations surrounding 

 the famous battle monument, so much 

 admired by visitors, are done at his 

 establishment. 



BOSES IN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



[A paper by Charles W. Fullgraf, of St. 

 I^ouis, Mo., read before the American Rose 

 Society, in convention at Detroit, January 10 

 to 12, 1912.] 



In answer to a request by your so- 

 ciety to Otto Koenig, St. Louis, for a 

 brief article on "Boses in the Missis- 

 sippi Valley," I beg to submit the fol- 

 lowing paper. It is rather a collection 

 of notes from the representative rose 

 growers in the vicinity than my own 

 ideas, especially in regard to forcing, 

 as I am interested entirely in outdoor 

 work. 



Presuming that the majority of those 

 present are practical growers, I am 

 only touching lightly on the general 

 culture of greenhouse roses, confining 

 myself generally to the varieties, the 

 insect pests and plant diseases, and the 

 type of houses used in my vicinity. 

 In dividing the subject into forcing 

 roses for cut flowers and outdoor roses, 

 chiefly for home use, I will take up the 

 forcing first. 



Greenhouse Boses. 



The culture of roses for cut flowers 

 is not carried on very extensively in 



P. Lambert and Hii New Climber. 



the immediate vicinity of St. Louis, 

 the majority being shipped mostly from 

 Illinois and Indiana. This is caused by 

 the cost of fuel and also the natural 

 soil of these states; it is much richer 

 than that west of the Mississippi river, 

 which is mostly hard, yellow clay. 

 There are, however, a few growers 

 who are growing excellent stock in our 

 vicinity. 



In sizing up the situation, I believe 

 that one of the most important factors 

 is the selection of a proper location 

 and the erection of suitable houses. 

 An ideal location is on a south hill- 

 side, which is protected on the north 

 and west by buildings or a heavy 

 growth of timber. If this can not be 

 obtained, any piece of ground that has 

 an unobstructed southern exposure is 



acceptable. Where there is no protec- 

 tion from the north and west, of course 

 the fuel consumption will be greater. 



The Construction of the Houses. 



The construction of the houses is, 

 in the opinion of many growers, a most 

 important factor. The principal thing 

 is to obtain all the light possible dur- 

 ing the winter months, when the crop 

 is most valuable, and the growers of 

 this vicinity are unanimous in their se- 

 lection of wide, high houses, ranging 

 from twenty-five to fifty feet wide. The 

 majority favor houses thirty-five to 

 forty feet wide, with sides seven to 

 nine feet high, half of which should 

 be glass which is used as ventilation. 

 There are a few large detached houses 

 built in this section, but those of the 

 ridge and furrow type are more com- 

 mon, as they are cheaper to construct 

 and I think give practically the same 

 results. But the two-thirds and three- 

 quarters span houses, with the long 

 side to the south, are considered more 

 desirable, as- they give more light when 

 it is needed most. These houses re- 

 quire slight shade during the hotter 

 portions of the year. The high houses 

 give a much better circulation of air, 

 and a more uniform temperature can 

 be maintained. 



The heating of these large houses 

 should be done by steam, as steam 

 heat is more flexible than hot water 

 heat and requires less piping. The 

 principal objection to steam is that it 

 requires constant attendance, but, as it 

 is necessary to have a man to look after 

 the heating plant of places of this size 

 at all times, that objection is removed. 

 Both low pressure and high pressure 

 at the boiler, with reduction valves and 

 steam traps, are used; the latter proves 

 to be more economical, as a cheaper 

 grade of fuel can be used. 



The interior arrangement, the soil, 

 etc., are too generally known to be dis- 

 cussed at this time, but one advantage 

 of houses of the ridge and furrow 

 type is a walk beneath the gutter, as 

 that space is practically valueless for 

 rose growing. The majority of grow- 

 ers use raised benches, about three feet 

 from the ground, that height being 

 most convenient for work on the 

 benches. 



The Varieties and Their Treatment. 



As to the selection of varieties, the 

 following are considered, by all the 

 growers whom I have consulted, as be- 

 ing the most satisfactory: Killarney, 

 White Killarney, Bichmond, Maryland, 

 Mrs. A. Ward, American Beauty and a 

 few Ivory and Perles. Of these varie- 

 ties, the first five named are grown ex- 

 tensively and give good results for 

 three to four years, but it is much 

 better to plant the Beauties and Perles 

 every year. The young plants should 

 be benched as soon after May 1 as pos- 

 sible, but, where replanting old plants, 

 these can be moved as late as August 

 with, comparative safety. American 

 Beauty plants are used by some grow- 

 ers, after they are taken from the 

 benches, for pot plants for the follow- 

 ing spring. They aro planted out in 

 the field, to be potted up and placed in 

 coldframes in the fall and brought out 

 and forced as needed during the win- 

 ter and spring. They make good pot 

 plants and demand a good price. 



The insects and diseases which have 

 given the most trouble are thrips, mil- 

 dew, black spot, rose-leaf roller and 

 green fly. Of these, thrips seem to 



