to • '• 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



>UscH 18, 1909. 



terial is fairly stiff, not too wet, aud not 

 less than three feet iu depth, with a 

 good drainage, so that by heavy showers 

 the roots are not left in water. With 

 such well prepared rose beds they can 

 be enriched at will. 



Roses will thrive perfectly well for at 

 least eight to ten years. After that 

 time, if still in good condition, they 

 should be gradually transplanted in late 

 fall, the plants well pruned out, suckers 

 cleaned out, the soil det^ply trenched and 

 mixed with good rotted manure, and the 

 roses replanted, when they will thrive 

 anew and will last for many years. Bnt 

 we should never lose sight of the newer 

 varieties of roses, and should supplant 

 siicli older varieties as have lost their 

 usefulness. A wide-awake gardener or 

 lover of roses will naturally keep up 

 with the times. 



Pruning. 



Pruning in the latitude of the New 

 England states cannot be very well done 

 before April 1, as the removing of the 

 winter protection is usually begun by 

 that date. This has been my experience. 

 The pruning of every class of roses is 

 a vital operation. All useless wood should 

 be carefully cut out, only retaining tjie- 

 good, strong canes, and hybrid perpetuals 

 and hybrid teas are pruned alike, say, 

 a foot from the ground. You can easily 

 retain the same height from year to 

 year, as they should always, every year, 

 be renewed with new canes and the old 

 ones cut out. 



As to climbing roses, the pruning is 

 very different, as you keep five or six 

 long canes around each of the posts 

 you have for the arch, and keep these 

 young ones as long as they cover the in- 

 tended arch, or pergola, as it may be 

 called. The old wood is cut, but some- 

 times we have not enough canes to pro- 

 duce the desired effect, and one or two 

 of last year's growth are retained, and 

 tlie side shoots are cut back to two or 

 three eyes. The canes are then care- 

 fully tied up with fipe willows, such as 

 the European well trained gardener uses, 

 or with any other material that is com- 

 monly used, in such a clean way, where 

 the strong winds will not move them 

 from their holdings. The same operation 

 is used to decorate a wire fence. As 

 for the trailing roses, they are pinned 

 down so that the bank may be well cov- 

 ered with the low canes, and top shoots 

 are cut back to two or three eyes. The 

 pruning done, the soil is at once loosened 

 up carefully with a spade fork. 



Red Spider and Other Pests. 



One thing should not be lost sight of, 

 and that is, to have water close and con- 

 veniently at hand. As soon as the plants 

 begin to bring up the growth of leaves, 

 they need to be syringed nearly every 

 day, to keep red spider, aphis and green- 

 fly away in the dry season. This method 

 has been followed with splendid success 

 for many years. And when later the 

 rose bug or chafer appears. Slug Shot 

 is used with splendid effect, and if water 

 is at hand, can easily be cleaned off long 

 before the lady of the house, or the 

 gentleman either, wishes to visit the 

 roses. There is nothing more inviting 

 than to see a clean, well kept rose gar- 

 don, with clean leaves and perfect flow- 

 ors, but careful watchfulness has to be 

 kept constantly over it. 



At the beginning or middle of .Iumo 

 a good mulching with short stable nia 



nure, two or three inches thick, should 

 be applied, as roses like a cool footing, 

 and this is extremely helpful to the culti- 

 vation, preventing the soil from break- 

 ing or drying off, aud it is the means 

 also of retaining good foliage and a bet- 

 ter quality of roses. 



When the blooms make their appear- 

 ance, great care should be taken of the" 

 common enemy, the rose bug, which is a 

 very troublesome one in most localities, 

 and they must be picked up and great 

 watch maintained. The withered flowers 

 must also be carefully picked up, and no 

 petals left on the ground. This is a 

 strict rule among well kept rose gardens. 

 A watchful eye should be always kept 

 on budded roses, as they often throw up 

 suckers, which must be at once removed, 

 or mischief will be the result, as I have 

 once seen at Lenox, where a fine rose 

 bed was neglected for two years, and 

 on the third year there was nothing left 

 but suckers, which had outgrown all the 

 grafts. At the beginning of August the 

 plants will have thrown root canes from 

 three to five feet high. These should 

 be cut ba&k to three feet. This simple, 

 light pruning will strengthen the canes 

 for the following flower season, and at 

 vthe same time will give the pleasing 



sight of a uniform harmony in the gar- 

 den. 



Winter Protection. 



Winter protection, in this cold, heart- 

 less latitude, plays an important part. 

 One who comes from south of New York 

 would not think of protecting roses, as 

 experience has taught us to do, all over 

 the New England states, except where 

 near salt water. At the end of No- 

 vember or December — in fact, as soon 

 as we have heavy frost, or, rather, before 

 such frosts arrive, standard roses are 

 detached from their stalks and the crown 

 is bent down, a hole in the ground made 

 and the crown laid in it* and partly cov- 

 ered with soil, with two cross sticks to 

 hold them down. All ramblers are laid 

 down in the same manner. Hybrid teas 

 and hybrid perpetuals are bent half 

 down, tied over each other, and as soon 

 as heavy frost is in sight all the rose 

 garden is covered with a light layer of 

 leaves, and long straw manure or bad 

 hay is placed all over the beds of climb- 

 ing roses as well. One year we did not 

 cover our ramblers, and in the spring 

 they were all frozen to the very bottom. 

 I find a little extra work will save lots of 

 tr()til)lt' and pay well in the end. 



TROUBLE WITH GERANIUMS. 



We had considerable trouble last 

 spring with our geraniums, and the same 

 trouble, is beginning again this spring. 

 The outer edge of the foliage dies, there 

 often being a ring entirely around the 

 leaf. Upon examination we find that the 

 roots of these plants are also dead. 

 Sometimes this happens with young 

 plants in 3-inch pots before the j)ots are 

 full of roots, and again with large plants 

 in 5-inch and fi-inch pots. What is the 

 cause and cure for this trouble? 



R. F. C. 



We are inclined to think that the trou- 

 ble must lie chiefly in your soil. You 

 do not say what your potting medium 

 was. If you have used a too large pro- 

 portion of bone meal or any chemical 

 fertilizer, it would result in just such 

 conditions as you describe. It is diffi- 

 cult, without knowing more of actual 

 conditions, to do more than theorize on 

 probable causes of your trouble. 



Geraniums resent being treated as 

 semi-aquatics. Too much moisture in the 

 soil, having it in a constantly moist state, 

 causes soft, flabby foliage, which easily 

 becomes a prey to blight. Frequent over- 

 head spraying should also be guarded 

 against. We always like to allow our 

 plants to dry out well between water- 

 ings. This induces a hard, stocky growth, 

 and if your soil does not contain too 

 much nitrogenous manure, such plants 

 will flower with a freedom never attained 

 by those differently treated. Use bone 

 meal in j)reference to cow manure at the 

 final potting. Use no manure of any 

 sort at the earlier pottings. or let it be a 

 small proportion, old and well pulver- 

 ized. 



Abundant sunshine, free ventilation, a 

 night temperature of not over 50 de- 

 grees and a somewhat dry atmosphere 

 are some of the factors making for suc- 

 cessful geranium culture. C, W. 



BLIGHT ON GEBANIUMS. 



I enclose some diseased geranium 

 leaves. Can you tell what is the trouble 

 with the plantsf How shall I treat them, 

 or should I throw them out of the house? 



H. C. B. 



This trouble is quite common in 

 geraniums. The real cause of the dis- 

 ease can only be guessed at, without see- 

 ing the plants and knowing the growing 

 conditions. We would not throw away 

 the plants on which this trouble has ap- 

 peared. Pick off affected leaves. Run 

 the plants on the dry side. Keep them 

 in full sunshine. Dust a little air-slaked 

 lime over them. Let the temperature be 

 as near 50 degrees at night as possible. 

 Ventilate freely, and always avoid a 

 close, stagnant atmosphere. In potting 

 use no animal manure, unless thoroughly 

 decayed, and be sure it is dried and 

 well broken up. Bone meal is a better 

 fertilizer than barnyard manure, and will 

 give freer flowering plants, with a harder 

 growth, than the cow or sheep manure 

 you may have been using. 



Remember that geraniums should not 

 stand crowded together. This induces 

 moldiness and blight. They should not 

 be kept constantly wet at the root, but 

 ought to be allowed to dry out well be- 

 tween waterings. They should not be 

 sprayed overhead, as this tends to make 

 the foliage soft and sappy, especially 

 when they are kept too moist at the root. 

 If you keep your plants pretty dry for a 



