8 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



March 18, 1909. 



GROWERS WHO FAIL WITH ROSES. 



[A ]r.\\)cr by Walter W. CoU'S, ot Kokomo, 

 Intl.. rt'iul t)efoi'e tlio Anu'rican Uoso Society, at 

 the lUiffalo couvoiitinn. Miiioli 17 to li», ]'J(>!». 1 



In traveling; nvcr tlio coinitry visitin<j 

 floral ostablishiiicnts, ^vc find that not 

 over twenty per ecut of the small retail 

 growers make a success of roses. In 

 fact, by f:ir tlie larger per cent do not 

 get enough out of their rose space to pay 

 for the fuel. I have reference only to 

 the florist who grows roses, carnations, 

 and a general assortment of flowers and 

 phints in a limited area. I know there 

 are quite a number of florists, witli but 

 10,000 to li 5.000 feet of glass, who make 

 a specialty of roses and whose stock is 

 a credit to many of the larger growers. 

 But tins ptiper" is for the small, all- 

 around grower, and if it benefits even a 

 very small per cent I shall feel well re- 

 paid for tlie short time it has taken me 

 to jien tliese remarks. 



Lack of Suitable Conditions. 



The first great handicap is a lack of 

 suitable in)nditiiins. Carnations, bedding 

 plants and a general line of stock are 

 grown in tlie same house, in the same 

 temperalure. with success varying from 

 fair to v(My gnod. TIumi roses ar" ai- 

 tenijited. I'nder such conditions they 

 cannot be kei>t at tlie juoper tempera- 

 ture without hurting tlie otiier stock. 

 Often tiiey canmit be )>ropcrly syringed 

 on account of soaking other stock close 

 by, and red spider gets a foothold. Some- 

 times doors left open carelessly, or 

 necessarily for otlier jiurjioses, cause a 

 draught and start miklcw. On account 

 of spoiling tender stuff in the house, 

 fumigating is put olf and aphis gets a 

 hold. Shading is put on for other stock 

 and roses suffer under their i>art of it. 

 Under such conditicms it is practically 

 useless to try tt) grow roses. 



If a S({)arate house can be devoted to 

 roses, the above conditions can be elimi- 

 nated, r.iit even tlieu there are usually 

 many difliculties. A night fireman is 

 seldom kept, and while the temperature 

 may l)e kejit right in the daytime, it is 

 alloweil to fall at night. Then tlie 

 grower usually has so many other duties 

 that the houses are sometimes neglected. 

 If the house was not built for roses, per- 

 ha]>s the heating is inadequate and things 

 cannot be kept right, even with the best 

 of attention. 



Neglect Rather Than Ignorance. 



The above are conditions as they ex- 

 ist in hundreds of places. Added to this 

 is a lack of knowledge of rose growing, 



and grea1(^st of all, whether the knowl 

 edge be great or small, is the lack of 

 doing what is known. The grower knows 

 hat he should plant early in June, but 

 it is put off on account of the press of 

 other work, lie knows he should syringe 

 :iud fumigate regularly, but for one rea- 

 son or ant)tlier it is not done. We Avill 

 gi\e a few general cultural remarks, but 

 insist that the grower's succi'ss depends 

 on coinbiiu'd knowledge and doing. 



On such places the grower usually puts 

 in a batch of cuttings, roses, carnations, 

 geraniums, etc., in .January or Febru- 

 ary. When rooted they are usually potted 

 off and grown in the same house with a 

 miscellaneous lot of plants. The result 

 is usually a weak lot of plants, covered 

 with red spider and mildew. They are 

 shifted from L'-inch jiots to .1-inch au'l 

 soinetimes grown under shaded glass. 

 Some time in June or July they are 

 jdanted on a bench, the glass still 

 shaded, and a few panes of glass out 

 here and there; which, however, he will 

 ))ut in good shape next \\e<»k. But next 

 week he is busy with the funeral work 

 and the following week the carnations 

 in the field must be lioed ov weeded, 

 and 1h' thinks the i-oses will grow it' they 

 itceive water (uice ;i dav. 



The Sad Result. 



The result is, that in September or 

 October, when his [)lants should be strong 

 and healthy for the winter, they are 

 weak and puny, but the red spider and 

 mildew tire still with them. To make 

 unitters worse, a few roses are needed 

 during the sunuuer for funeral work and 

 the life is cut out of the plants, to save 

 expenses, as the grower thinks. A few 

 roses are usually cut in October and 

 November, at a time when they can be 

 bought at from $'2 to $4 per hundred, but 

 from December 1 to April 1, when roses 

 are wanted and usually are scarce, his 

 plants arc standing still and do not re- 

 liirn enough to i)ay for the fuel it takes 

 1o keep them alive. 



The Remedy. 



In the first place, the small grower or 

 retail florist who uses but an average of 

 seventy-five to 100 roses per week should 

 not try to grow his own cut roses. He 

 \vould make more money by buying 

 them from some good grower, but those 

 who feel that they must or will grow 

 their stock should plant nothing but 

 strong, healthy, clean plants. If they 

 cannot grow them they should buy them 

 and jdant them in good, rich, new, mel- 

 low soil, sometime during the month of 

 .lune. If the house is shaded, even if 

 only slightly, see that the shading is all 

 i-emoved. 



The next important thing is to repair 

 all broken glass and, as soon as one is 

 broken or blown out, replace it at once, 

 as you would have to do in winter. From 

 .luly 1 to September 1 give them lots of 

 air and lots of water at .all times. I 

 firmly believe there are more roses ruined 

 during the summer for Avant of water 

 and air than from any other cause. It 

 is money well spent to hire sufficient help 

 ill .Tune to plant roses, as one month in 

 .lune ;ind July for roses planted on a 

 bench is wortli three times as much as 



Walter W. Coles. 



