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18 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Mabch 10, 1910. 





HARDY ROSES. 



I have a fine piece of ground which I 

 wish to plant to outdoor summer bloom- 

 ing roses for funeral work in all colors 

 but red. After being planted they are to 

 remain permanent. What varieties are 

 best for this purpose? When should they 

 be planted, how far apart and what 

 treatment should they receive from the 

 beginning until the end of each year? I 

 have a good water supply and good soil. 

 I am a resident of Pennsylvania. 



H. J. H. 



Secure your plants early, so that they 

 can be got into the ground whenever 

 frost has left it, which with you will be 

 early in April. Plant in nursery rows 

 three feet apart and twenty-four inches 

 between the plants. Grafted plants are 

 preferable to own-root stock, as they 

 possess greater vigor and last longer. 

 With them it is necessary to remove any 

 Manetti or briar shoots which may start 

 from the bottom. You do not state 

 whether you want hybrid tea or hybrid 

 perpetual roses. The first named are the 

 most persistent flowering, and if you 

 have a good water supply, will give you 

 flowers the whole summer. A few re- 

 liable sorts are: Killarney, White Kil- 

 lamey, Kaiserin Augusta Victorie, Mme. 

 Abel Chatenay, Caroline Testout, Bessie 

 Brown and Captain Christy. Among tea- 

 scented sorts are: Maman Cochet, pink; 

 Maman Cochet, white; and Clothilde 

 Soupert. The Cochets will require lifting 

 and burying, or better still placing under 

 coldf rame sashes over winter. The hybrid 

 teas should be well buried with earth just 

 before the ground freezes up. Many 

 growers prefer to lift and store them 

 thickly over winter in a coldframe, this 

 being less trouble than earthing them 

 up outdoors. 



A few useful and free-flowering hybrid 

 perpetuals are: Mrs. John Laing, Mrs. 

 R. G. Sharman Crawford, Frau Karl 

 Druschki and Mme. Gabriel Luizet. Prune 

 the teas and hybrid teas lightly. Cut 

 down the hybrid perpetuals so as to 

 leave two to four buds of the previous 

 season's growth. Cultivate freely all 

 summer. Use hellebore for the rose slug 

 and spray with whale oil soap for aphis. 

 A mulch of well decayed manure in sum- 

 mer will benefit the hybrid teas. 



C. W. 



Grand Rapids, Mich. — The Grand Rap- 

 ids Greenhouse Co. will devote its ener- 

 gies in the future to roses, carnations, 

 violets, etc., leaving to others the grow- 

 ing of lettuce and other greens for the 

 winter market. 





ROSE CULTURE IN TABLOID. 



[A paper by Andrew McKendry read before 

 the Tarrytowa Horticultural Society, February 

 25.] 



I propagate my rose cuttings about 

 the first week in January, in good, clean, 

 sharp sand, using two-eyed cuttings, for 

 they make plants quicker than those with 

 only one eye. 



If the sand is kept at a uniform tem- 

 perature of 65 degrees and the overhead 

 temperature at 52 degrees, the cuttings 

 will root in about four to five weeks. 

 They are ready to pot when the roots 

 are about one inch long. If allowed to 

 make any further growth in the sand, 

 it will cause the cutting to become weak- 

 ened, as the substance is not there to 

 nourish the plant. 



For first potting, 2*4 -inch pots are 

 generally used, with new soil, sifted 

 through a coarse screen. A little leaf- 

 mold added will help keep the soil por- 

 ous and benefit the young roots. 



The young plants should be placed in 

 a rose house temperature, with watering 

 strictly attended to, and syringing every 

 bright day to keep red spider in check. 



When the 2% -inch pots are nicely 

 filled with roots, shift into 3-inch, add- 

 ing a small portion of well rotted cow 



manure, and a light sprinkle of Clay's 

 fertilizer to the soil; the plants to re- 

 ceive the same treatment as before, keep- 

 ing the buds nipped off, which will cause 

 the eyes below to break, making good, 

 stocky plants. Give the pots plenty of 

 room on the bench, allowing the air and 

 sunlight to get in through the plants. 



If the plants are kept in a good, 

 healthy condition they will require an- 

 other shift into 4-inch pots before plant- 

 ing in the bench, which will be about 

 the latter part of May. The house will 

 have to undergo its usual cleaning, 

 whitewashing the benches, etc. 



The compost to be used should be good 

 fibrous loam, two-thirds soil, and one- 

 third well rotted cow manure, giving a 

 good top-dressing of bone meal after 

 the soil is on the bench, mixing it in 

 well. 



For the first week or ten days after 

 planting, water only around the base of 

 the plants. When the roots begin to 

 find their way through the new soil they 

 will need more moisture. The plants 

 will need immediate staking and tying 

 to make well shaped plants, and to hold 

 them in position so they can be syringed 

 properly. 



Any cool night should then be taken 

 advantage of to fumigate. When the 

 plants have been benched about six 

 weeks or two months they will require 

 an additional inch or two of soil and 

 manure, equally mixed, as the young 

 roots will begin to appear on the sur- 

 face looking for more nourishment. Dur- 

 ing the short days of November and 

 December roses do not seem to relish 

 too much feeding, for the plants are in- 

 clined to be somewhat dormant, and the 

 roots not very active. A light sprinkle 

 of Clay's once a week is beneficial. The 

 other chemical fertilizers are also good 

 if properly used. As the days begin to 

 lengthen and the sun gets stronger, you 

 (Concluded on page 38.) 



DISEASED GERANIUM LEAVES. 



I am sending you under separate cover 

 some geranium leaves, showing a sort of 

 blight or disease of some kind upon the 

 stem, and wish to know what it is, the 

 cause and the preventive. I run the 

 house 45 to 50 degrees at night and 60 

 to 75 degrees in the daytime. I bought 

 the plants from 2-inch pots and potted 

 off into 3-inch pots three weeks ago. The 

 plants are doing well, but I cannot un- 

 derstand why the leaf stems are so af- 

 fected. I thought at first it was sun 

 scald, on account of the plants being 

 made tender wrapped in paper and shut 

 from the light for three days while in 



transit. F. E. C. 



• 



Your night temperature is all right, 

 but we would prefer to hold it at 58 to 

 65 degrees in the daytime, the lower 

 figure for cloudy days. Do not use any 

 shade over the plants. Air freely. Pick 

 off all affected foliage. Do not spray 

 overhead at all. When you water, be sure 



to soak the soil well, and let the pots 

 get fairly dry before watering again. 

 Your stock may have been taken from 

 weak plants under glass. Specialists in 

 geraniums, as in other plants, take about 

 all the cuttings they can get and yours 

 may have possessed some inherent weak- 

 ness. We think they will grow out of 

 this trouble if you air, water and pick 

 them over carefully. Cleanliness means 

 a great deal in geranium culture, so re- 

 move all moldy foliage, etc., and give 

 the plants a fresh stand from time to 

 time. C. W. 



TROUBLE VITH GERANIUMS. 



I am sending under separate cover 

 some geranium leaves. I have 3,000 

 geraniums that were doing nicely until 

 about two weeks ago. After my chrysanthe- 

 mums were off the benches, I set my 

 geraniums on the soil and then I took 

 out the soil and put in fresh cinders, 

 and since then I notice the leaves turn 

 red and some get a yellow ring around 



