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46 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



March 30, 1911. 



in low, marshy land. These same low- 

 lands, through the wash from thife' sur- 

 face of the soil in years past, have 

 accumulated a richness and character 

 that are not -found in soil at higher 

 levels. ' 



About the same time we were trying 

 to combat club-root, which is caused by 

 eelworm, and the noticeable fact that 

 the eelworm did not exist in soil that 

 at some time in the year was under 

 water had much to do with our selec- 

 tion of lowland soil for roses. The eel- 

 worm proposition had also another in- 

 fluence which has been far-reaching in 

 its effect, and brings up the proposition 

 of young stock, which is one of the 

 most serious importance. 



Grafted or Own-root Stock? 



At this time we were growing La 

 France, and, running short of enough 

 to fill a house of own-root plants of 

 this variety, we purchased enough im- 

 ported, grafted plants to fill the house. 

 The eelworm attacked part of the own- 

 root plants, but the grafted plants 

 were not affected at all, although the 

 owij-root plants adjoining them were 

 affected. The best and strongest growth 

 we had ever been able to get, and the 

 greatest producing plants, were the 



There are, however, a few exceptions, 

 and the noticeable exceptions are Perle, 

 Sunrise and American Beauty. 



Speaking of grafted plants, there are 

 several points worthy of mention be- 

 fore we pass over the subject. The old 

 method of gauging the value of a 

 plant by the size of the pot which con- 

 tains the roots has little worth, and 

 deservedly, for the reason that a well 

 nourished and properly grown plant in 

 a 214-iiich pot can be the equal, or the 

 superior, of a plant poorly nourished 

 that has been forced into a 3-inch pot 

 before the shift is necessary, and this 

 same rule applies to plants ori their 

 own roots. Make your plants strong 

 and sturdy, with plenty of root action, 

 and do not shift too soon. Get the size 

 and growth in the small pots and, if 

 you are shipping plants, save the buyer 

 from paying express charges on surplus 

 soil. 



Hints on Grafting. 



Be sure of your union of scion and 

 stock, and, with the increase in the 

 planting of varieties having hybrid 

 blood in them, with a tendency to slug- 

 gishness in midwinter, a safe way to 

 get good unions is to graft when the 

 sap flows freely. Graft such varieties 



William Kleinheioz. 

 (PreBident National ABsociatlon of Oardenerg.) 



grafted plants in that house of La 

 France. The lesson was plain. We 

 grafted our Bride and Bridesmaid, and 

 since then we have been grafting roses. 

 Own-root plants are grown only occa- 

 sionally as a check on the grafted, and 

 in every case the grafted have given 

 us increased production, with a corre- 

 sponding increase in revenue. In some 

 cases two full crops have been cut from 

 grafted plants before those on their 

 own roots have attained sufficient size 

 to throw a crop of salable flowers. 



as My Maryland and Prince de Bul- 

 garie early in the season, or wait until 

 later in the year, when, with the warm 

 weather and more sun, the sap begins 

 tp flow normally. Keep above the wood 

 with blackthorns, for that wood sel- 

 dom has the right amount of sap and 

 seldom makes a good union. If the 

 foregoing varieties were grafted when 

 the wood was right, there would be less 

 heard of this type of rose doing better 

 on their own roots than they do as 

 grafted plants. 



A plant that is properly grafted, and 

 with a perfect union, will live just as 

 long and do more business than an 

 owli-root plant, and the fact that those 

 who are the best growers in this coun- 

 try are grafting roses because it pays 

 them is proof of the assertion I make, 

 and I am willing to allow the own-root 

 advocates all the bottom breaks they 

 can get from their own-root plants, but 

 I have yet to see as many bottom 

 breaks per plant in an own-root house 

 as we had last year in a carried-over 

 house of grafted Killarney. 



Leaving, then, the discussion of 

 plants, let us return to the soil and the 

 preparation of a house for planting. 

 We try to lay composts in the winter, 

 and for many reasons, one of which is 

 that the ground is frozen and we can 

 get our soil out from the lowlands bet- 

 ter on frozen ground, the soil having 

 been plowed into ridges in the fall, and 

 another reason is that in winter we 

 can secure cow manure to compost with 

 the soil, and can at that time lay our 

 composts within easy reach of the 

 houses that are to need it later. 



Use of Bone in Soil. 



As soon as the frost is out we cut 

 this soil over, mixing the manure with 

 it, which hastens the decomposition of 

 the vegetable matter in the turf, and 

 when ready to fill the houses we use a 

 two-horse Cutaway harrow to pulverize 

 the soil, at this time adding bone meal, 

 or rather a bone tankage, in the pro- 

 portion of a pound of bone<meal to 

 each cubic foot of soil, or as near that 

 as we can. I am aware of the fact 

 that many do not use bone, and had 

 our results been confined to an expe- 

 rience with one certain grade of bone, 

 we should not be using bone; this 

 bone, \ would state, was thirty per cent 

 phosphoric acid, according to analysis, 

 with no nitrogen. This phosphoric 

 acid was not available, and the results 

 were no better than had so muc^ lime 

 been added to the soil. In time, per- 

 haps, such a bone might have returned 

 interest on the money, but it seemed to 

 prove the old farmer's statement that 

 the man who can afford to use bone 

 should do so, as he is preparing the 

 land for his grandchildren. However, 

 a bone tankage with available phos- 

 phoric acid, and some nitrogen, will 

 show results, and mulching young stock 

 in small pots will soon prove this if 

 my assertion is doubted. And I might 

 add that part of our success in pro- 

 ducing large, strong plants from 2%- 

 inch pots Uas been due to mulching 

 each individual plant with a mixture 

 of soil 'and bone. 



One thing to be sure of in planting 

 is that the union is covered, and often 

 this is a problem when shallow rose 

 benches are used, but to insure bottom 

 canes, and to protect the plant from 

 breakage, the union must be covered, 

 and for that reason we graft our stocks 

 as close to the pot as possible. 



Given, then, a good plant, well estab- 

 lished and growing, and a compost of 

 lowland soil, with one-third cow man- 

 use that has been pulverized, and after 

 adding bone tankage in the proportion 

 of one pound to the cubic foot, we have 

 two of the essentials of good' rose 

 growing. 



Benches or Solid Beds? 



I wish now to take up the considera- 

 tion of solid beds and benches as an 

 important question in rose growing, and 

 you will note that I am entirely omit- 



