.>4 .•'" 



14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 





Mabch 24, 1910. 



MILDEW ON KILLARNEY. 



I have a small bench of Killarney 

 roses that are affected with mildew "to 

 the limit." I have been painting the 

 pipes with sulphur and dusting with sul- 

 phur for two months, without the least 

 effect. There is scarcely a leaf or bud 

 that is not coated with the mildew within 

 twenty-four hours of coming out. The 

 usual temperature in the house is 50 to 55 

 degrees at night and 55 to 60 degrees 

 in the daytime, and on bright days i 

 let it rise to 75 or 80 degrees. In ex- 

 tremely cold weather the temperature is 

 considerably lower, from necessity. The 

 weather lately has been unusually even, 

 bright and sunny. I ventilate when the 

 temperature reaches 75 degrees. 



These roses were grown in the open 

 ground during the summer, and were 

 shipped to me dormant and kept so un- 

 til December 1. Then they were put in a 

 bed from which mums had been thrown 

 out. The soil was renovated with bone 

 meal and pulverized sheep manure. The 

 plants started nicely and are still doing 

 well, but the product is worthless. Can 

 I do anything more? Is the trouble 

 caused by any of the conditions I have 

 mentioned, or is this variety more sus- 

 ceptible than others? I have a few Crim- 

 son, Pink and Baby Rambler, American 

 Beauty and Richmond growing in the 

 same house, and not a leaf of them is 

 touched. C. P. N. 



If proper conditions exist in the house 

 the use of sulphur is almost unnecessary, 

 as properly grown stock is practically 

 immune from the ravages of mildew. On 

 the other hand, where proper conditions 

 are not maintained, any amount of sul- 

 phur will not prevent the disease from 

 appearing. 



The planting of dormant stock in De- 

 cember is one way of inviting failure, as 

 we cannot expect these plants to have 

 suflScient root action to stand the vicissi- 

 tudes of winter culture successfully. 

 Killarney is not more susceptible to mil- 

 dew than many other varieties, such as 

 Bridesmaid and Bride. Richmond and 

 Baby Rambler are not quite so liable to 

 attack. 



Allowing the temperature to run up 

 to 70 degrees or higher before, ventilat- 

 ing is decidedly wrong and is most de- 

 bilitating to the plants. Commence ven- 

 iniftting in the morning, just as soon as 

 the temperature begins to rise, raising 

 the ventilators only a little at a time, 

 never so much as to perceptibly lower 

 the house temperature, until the sun be- 

 gins to descend, when the ventilators I 

 should be lowered with the same care, I 



never so much as to increase the tempera- 

 ture to any great extent. 



Until your roses begin to regain their 

 health the temperature should not ex- 

 ceed 56 degrees at night and 60 to 62 de- 

 grees during "the daytime. Run the 

 benches rather on the dry side and keep 

 the surface well stirred. Under .these 

 conditions the plants will soon attain 

 natural root action and produce wood and 

 foliage of a character able to combat this 

 and other troubles. Then the day tem- 

 perature can be increased to 75 degrees 

 during bright weather, with benefit. 



RiBES. 



YOUNG STOCK. 



Please tell me what is the proper size 

 of pots for the first potting of rose cut- 

 tings. I have used 2-inch. Would 3- 

 inch pots be too large? I intend to 

 transfer these to the field later. Can I 

 plant them out when the 2-inch pots are 

 filled with roots, or shall I shift to 3-inch 

 pots first? Is there any certain time, in 

 summer or fall, for planting them in 

 the field? I am located in southern Cali- 

 fornia. K. N. 



The proper size of pots for rose cut- 

 tings is 2-inch, and when these are filled 

 with roots a shift into 3-inch pots is 

 the proper treatment. If there is no 

 danger of frost when the 2-inch pots are 

 full of roots, they can be planted from 

 these to the field. 



To gain the full benefit of the gi*owing 

 season, planting should be done as early 

 as the season will permit. In your sec- 

 tion this should be in April or possibly 

 earlier. Ribes. 



POT ROSES FOR EASTER. 



We want to know something about pot 

 rosea that can be grown for Easter trade. 

 We see them on the market here now in 

 5-inch pots. They are apparently Crim- 

 son Ramblers. Can you give some ad- 

 vice as to what kinds are best to grow 

 and what time to start them and where 

 to secure good stock? For our line of 

 trade we want them not to go above 5- 

 inch or 6-inch pots for marketing. 



J. S. & S. 



The variety you probably have 

 seen is the dwarf variety of Crimson 

 Rambler, Mme. Norbert Levavasseur, bet- 

 ter known as Baby Rambler. You 

 should purchase either field-grown stock 

 or plants from 4-inch pots of these in 

 fall. Pot the field plants at once in the 

 size of pots they are to bloom in. Those 

 in pots should go into 5-inch or 6-inch 

 pots when they are started. Of course, 

 the exact time to start them depends on 

 the time you would require them. The 

 earliest lot, started during the first half 

 of January, are now in full bloom, hav- 

 ing been grown in an average night tem- 



perature of 50 degrees. It is best u> 

 start at 40 to 45 degrees and after tli. y 

 break give a little more heat; as high ,is 

 60 degrees at night can be given if n;. 

 quired. In addition to the Baby Ran- 

 bier, you will find Hiawatha, single ml 

 an excellent rambler for 6-inch poig. 

 Dorothy Perkins will also make ni ;e 

 plants in the same size of pots. Y'>u 

 will find many offers of these in the ni-r- 

 sery department of the Review in ti,c 

 propetJSEason. C. W. 



THE ROSE AND ITS HISTORY. 



[A paper by George V. Nash, secretary of 

 the Horticultural Society of New York, reiid 

 at the annual convention of the American Rdse 

 Society, In. New York city, March 16, 1910.] 



When the secretary of the American 

 Rose Society invited me to give a Ice 

 ture before the society, it was with con- 

 siderable hesitation that I consented to 

 do so. I did not know what phase of the 

 subject to take up, what subject I could 

 present to a body whose chief aim ami 

 theme have been the study of the rose 

 and what pertained to it. I finally de- 

 cided to take the title announced for to- 

 day, as one which was sufficiently broad 

 to enable me to touch upon points, per- 

 haps, which were not commonly presented 

 to you. With this idea in view, I de- 

 cided to confine my remarks mainly to 

 the botanical side of the subject, includ- 

 ing the distribution of the genus rosa and 

 the historic evolution of the various types 

 of garden roses. The matters of culture 

 I shall leave to those much better fitted 

 than myself to speak upon such subjects. 



First, then, as to the distribution of 

 the rose. We must not forget that the 

 rose flourished upon the earth many years 

 ago — shall I surprise you by saying mil- 

 lions of years? For such is the truth, 

 well defined remains having been found 

 in the tertiary age, which, though geo- 

 logically speaking very recent, from the 

 point of view of every-day life must be 

 considered antiquated indeed. The rocks 

 tell their tales, and the story of the rose 

 and its history begin there. 



The Species and Their Distribution. 



It is a long step from those fossil 

 remains to which we have just been al- 

 luding, but we must cross the chasm ami 

 take up its distribution as it is known 

 at the present time in the living world. 

 We of the north temperate zone can 

 claim this delightful flower for our own, 

 for it is not known outside of that area. 

 Confined between the twentieth and sev 

 entieth degrees of north latitude, it is 

 our flower. But in this belt it is widely 

 distributed the world around. Starting 

 with Asia, where one-half of the known 

 species are native, it extends through En 

 rope and northern Africa, to the centrMi 

 and northern parts of North Americ;. 

 From Asia we have such well known spt 

 cies as Rosa moschata, the musk ros 

 which is also found in northern Afri< 

 and Persia; Rosa bracteata, the Macan 

 ney rose, native of China, Formosa an i 

 northern India; Rosa multiflora, foun . 

 wild from China and Japan to Formos ' 

 and the Philippines; Rosa rugosa, tl' 

 Ramanas rose; Rosa microphylla; Ros 

 lutea, the parent of the Austrian brier- 

 extending from western Asia to Italy an' 

 Austria; Rosa Wichuraiana, from Chin.' 

 and .Tapan; Rosa Banksia;, a native oi 

 China. In Europe there are such f<i 

 vorite forms as Rosa spinosissima, tin' 

 Burnet or single Scotch rose; Rosa rubier 

 inosa, the sweet brier; Rosa canina, tin 

 dog rose, and Rosa arvensis. In Nortli 

 America there are, among others, Rosn 

 Carolina, oijr charming swamp rose; Rosn 



