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12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Mabch 31, 1910. 



The tree which is shown in transit is a 

 Douglas spruce, weighing nine tons and 

 measuring forty feet in height. 



Mr. Langman finds that this simple 



device is more practical and convenient, 

 and produces better results with less 

 labor, than most of the other systems 

 heretofore in vogue. John Berey. 





^.i*«St^ 



MY MARYLAND. 



Last spring I bought 500 grafted My 

 Maryland rose plants. They arrived in 

 May and were potted into 3^-inch pots, 

 to allow them to get a good start before 

 planting on a raised bench July 1. When 

 it came time to bench them 1 had 450 

 out of the 500 left, as it is almost im- 

 possible to make every plant live be- 

 cause of the change of climate from the 

 north to the south. 



The readers of this article can figure 

 whether these 450 plants paid or not. 

 W. J. Vesey, in his article in the Review 

 of March 3, gives his cut from 2,300 My 

 Maryland plants as 26,540 salable blooms. 

 He says, "to date." As the article is 

 not dated, I presume he means March 1, 

 so I will give the cut for the same dates. 

 From September 1, 1909, to March 1, 

 1910, from 450 plants, 12,892 salable 

 blooms (and they were sold), an average 

 of twenty-eight and a half blooms per 

 plant. They have cut steadily all winter. 

 Of course the cut was not quite so heavy 

 during January and February, but they 

 are coming fast enough now. I give 

 them almost the same treatment as Mr. 

 Vesey, only run cooler temperature at 

 night — 62 to 63 degrees, and I suppose 

 the day temperature runs a great deal 

 higher, as it often goes over 80 degrees 

 on clear days. 



I find that My Maryland is a good 

 shipper and keeper. They are not sub- 

 ject to mildew, can be cut quite tight, 

 have good stiff necks, will stand lots of 

 feeding and considerable rough \isage. 

 The one bad point I can see, is that they 

 rot at the graft, so I am going to try 

 own root stock this year. Of course, 

 there is a tendency of own root stock 

 to rest in midwinter, but all the same I 

 am going to try it. 



I should much like to hear from some 

 of the middle south growers, stating how 

 they fared with My Maryland roses. For 

 my part I am more than satisfied. 



J. T. S. 



SPIDER AND BLACK SPOT. 



Enclosed you will find some sample 

 rose leaves. If possible please tell us 

 what the trouble is. The leaves keep 

 turning yellow and dropping off. We 

 have thought it might be red spider, but 

 spraying seems to have no effect on 

 them. The house has been run at 56 



to 58 degrees at night and 65 to 75 de- 

 grees in the daytime. H. S. W. 



The leaves show some effect of the 

 work of red spider. They al^o show the 

 presence of mildew, but that is not the 

 cause of their turning yellow and drop- 

 ping. 



The chief cause is black spot. This 

 is engendered by a cold, close atmosphere 

 and sourness in the soil, by reason of 

 overwatering, defective drainage or want 

 of proper ventilation. 



To remedy this, dry out the benches 

 and ruffle the surface, give a sprinkling 

 of air-slaked lime and give ventilation 

 night and day when weather will per- 

 mit (which is all the time unless during 

 a storm), even at the expense of a few 

 loads of fuel. Newly slaked hot lime, 

 scattered under the benches, will have 

 a beneficial effect on the atmosphere. 

 Sulphur and air-slaked Ume, in equal pro- 

 portions, dusted on the foliage once a 

 week, will prevent the trouble from 

 spreading. BiBSS. 



MANURE FROM ALFALFA. 



I should Uke to ask for information 

 in regard to growing roses in the arid 

 climate of western Montana. It seems 

 that years ago the cows were fed on 

 "blue joint grass" and the manure 

 could be used successfully for roses, but 

 now almost all cows are fed on alfalfa, 

 as it is a better milk producer and is 

 cheaper than hay or blue joint grass. 

 Alfalfa manure has been used at this 

 plant for the last few years for roses and 

 mums, but the crops seem to be more or 

 less of a failure. We are using the same 

 soil as before, but there seems to be some 

 harmful element in the alfalfa manure 

 or a lack of the necessary elements. 

 Could you tell us the difference in com- 

 position of the two sorts of manure I 

 have mentioned, and what animal or 

 chemical fertilizers we could use to re- 

 act on the harmful element or to supply 

 the missing elements f 



The rose bushes have a stunted growth 

 and all the new shoots go directly into 

 buds, often before the shoots are an inch 

 long. The flowers themselves are of lit- 

 tle account, even for designing. The 

 young growth on mums turns yellow and 

 finally the plants die. 



At present we are going through a 

 series of experiments, but have not found 

 anything to take the place of the old 

 cow manure. We have found, however, 

 that the roses and mums do far better 

 in pure soil, without the alfalfa manure. 

 If there are any florists who have had 



the same thing to contend with, we 

 should greatly appreciate an account of 

 their experience. J. F. D. 



In regard to the quality of the manure 

 from cows fed on alfalfa, I have not 

 discovered, after many inquiries among 

 farmers and others who have used it, 

 that there is any marked difference be- 

 tween it and ordinary farmyard manure, 

 and I am inclined to the belief that 

 your failure is due to some other cause. 

 By sending a sample to your state agri- 

 cultural college for analysis you will 

 learn whether the manure is fit for your 

 purpose. 



Many rose growers who find it next 

 to impossible to secure a supply of cow 

 manure are using sheep manure as a sub- 

 stitute, and a good substitute it is and 

 not particularly expensive. Bone meal 

 is also largely used as a fertilizer, with 

 excellent results. Unleached wood ashes 

 are also beneficial when used intelli- 

 gently. Rises. 



CARRYING OVER ROSES. 



Will you kindly tell us whether rose 

 plants put on benches last spring will 

 pay if carried over another year or not? 

 Can they be transferred into another 

 bench? If so, please give us directions 

 as to proper treatment to give them in 

 transferring, the date, etc. The varie- 

 ties are Maid, Bride and Killamey. 



J>. G. 



These plants, if in good health, can 

 be carried over another season profitably. 

 This can be done either by leaving them 

 where they are or by transferring them 

 to another bench. 



If they are growing on a table bench 

 they should be ripened by gradually 

 withholding water for a week or so in 

 July, but not sufficient to cause wilting 

 of the soft wood. They should then re- 

 ceive a partial pruning, removing all the 

 small, strawy wood. A portion of the 

 top soil should then be removed, just 

 as much as can be done without injuring 

 the roots. Give the bench a generous 

 sprinkling of bone meal and then fill 

 the bench with a compost of three parts 

 good fibrous loam to one part decom- 

 posed cow manure, thoroughly incorpo- 

 rated. 



Give the bench a thorough soaking and 

 keep the house cool and moist until the 

 buds swell, when ordinary treatment will 

 suffice. 



If the benches are solid, it takes a 

 longer time to complete the ripening 

 process. Rebes. 



MOVING HARDY ROSES. 



I have some rose bushes to move for a 

 customer. They have been planted five 

 or six years and the party wants to move 

 them to another part of the grounds. 

 Please tell me what time to transplant 

 them and other information that will 

 help to make a satisfactory job of it. 

 The varieties are General Jacqueminot, 

 Brunner and other hardy roses. 



F. M. 



Dig up the roses as carefully as pos 

 sible just as soon as you find the ground 

 clear of frost. Preserve the roots as in- 

 tact as you can. Cut off any broken 

 ones. The new ground should previously 

 have been well manured and spaded over. 

 In planting, spread out the roots well, 

 and if they are budded or grafted plants, 

 cover the bud two to three inches. 

 Tramp the soil about the bushes firmly. 



