90 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1918 



Teas. (Perhaps it may 

 be well to state here 

 that the American Rose 

 Society's Test Garden 

 at Cornell University is 

 planted at the highest 

 point above sea level 

 of any of their test 

 gardens. Its elevation 

 is twelve hundred and 

 fifty feet. This alti- 

 tude, combined with a 

 rather short growing 

 season, offers several 

 difficulties). The sev- 

 eral canes are tied to- 

 gether about the first of 

 November. Then after 

 the ground has frozen 

 several times, softened 

 up, and is dry on the 

 surface, the plants are 

 mounded to a height of 

 eight or ten inches. 



See that the centre of 

 the plant is filled with 

 soil so that no pockets 

 to hold water will be 

 formed. Care being 

 taken, however, not to 

 dig too deeply, for by 

 so doing, the roots will 

 be left exposed and 

 then the plants will 

 surely die. For this 

 method, the plants 

 should be set at least 

 eighteen inches apart — 

 and twenty-four inches 

 is really better if space _ 



is available. After the mounds have become 

 thoroughly frozen the entire bed is covered with 

 old stable manure to a depth of five or six inches. 

 This acts as a covering for the roots in place of 

 the soil which was partially removed in mound- 

 ing. The manure also absorbs much of the water 

 which might collect in the depressions between 

 the mounds. 



Defeating the Field Mice 



A FTER the manure is put on, it is a good 

 -^*- plan, if troubled with field mice, to place 

 several small handfuls of poisoned grain on each 

 bed. Wheat, soaked twelve hours in a solution 

 made by dissolving one ounce of strychnine or 

 cyanide of sodium in one gallon of water, has 

 proved very effective. In fact, when the beds 

 were uncovered last spring, the mice were found 

 in twos and threes at almost every handful of 

 grain through the entire garden. Only three 

 canes were found to be damaged out of thirty- 

 two hundred plants. 



Problem of the Ramblers 



PHE protection of Ramblers is 



*■ largely a matter of location in 

 the vicinity of New York City, but 

 farther north, they should be pro- 

 tected in order to make a good 

 showing. Ramblers ought to be 

 pruned immediately after blooming. 

 1 he best method is to remove all the 

 old flowering wood, leaving only 

 nine or ten strong new canes to a 

 plant. See that other shoots, which 

 spring from the base, are kept re- 

 moved. The canes that are left 

 will make rapid growth, often at- 

 taining a length of twenty to 

 twenty-five feet. They are also 

 very pliable, which in our method 

 of protection is desired. 



In November, when the canes 

 are thoroughly ripened, they should 

 be cut loose from their supports, 



The current season's wood of Ramblers must be kept for next year's flowers. Therefore, lay down the cane and cover it as below 



After the ground is frozen cover the mounded earth with litter, straw, or manure so as to keep in the cold 



and tied together forming long bundles. These 

 bundles are buried just before winter sets in. 

 Usually cover the Ramblers after the bush 

 Roses are protected. The same rule applies 

 here as to other types of Roses, viz. : Wait until the 

 ground has been frozen several times and then bury 

 with dry soil next to the canes. The term "bury" 

 as used here, does not mean that a trench should 

 be dug. On the contrary, avoid any depression 

 in which water may stand. Water around the 

 canes means dead wood next spring. 



Lay the Ramblers straight out upon the ground 

 and pin them down with wires shaped like giant 

 hairpins. Now remove the soil from both sides 

 of the bundles and use it for covering. This 

 leaves the canes on a ridge of ground so that the 

 water may drain off on either side. After the 

 soil has frozen, an additional covering of two or 

 three inches of manure is put on, especially around 

 the base. The manure keeps the soil in a frozen 

 condition. This method has proved one hundred 

 per cent, efficient. 



This is how the more tender plants should look after the final covering of manure is given 



Spring Re-awakening 



TN THE spring the 

 *■ removal of the pro- 

 tection is to be accom- 

 plished in three different 

 movements. 



i. About the middle 

 or latter part of 

 March, shake out 

 and remove all 

 straw from the 

 manure. 



2. In a week or ten 

 days, reduce the 

 mounds to one- 

 half their height. 



3 . After another 

 week, remove the 

 rest of the soil 



"from around the 

 plants and mix 

 with the manure. 

 This gives a good 

 rich top-soil of four 

 inches or so, and 

 eliminates the ne- 

 • cessity of an early 

 mulch. 



Do not be in too 



great a hurry to un- 

 cover, especially if the 

 weather should happen 

 to be a little warm. 

 The plants start 

 quickly once the pro- 

 tection is removed and 

 a sudden cold spell has 

 disastrous results. Bet- 

 ter be a little late in uncovering, for then the plants 

 will continue to make a rapid growth throughout 

 the entire season. 



Following is a partial list of Hybrid-Tea Roses, 

 which had six inches or more of good healthy 

 wood when uncovered in the spring. It is 

 offered as proof of the effectiveness of this sort 

 of protection: 



Pink. Lady Ursula, La Tosca, Mrs. Ashtown, Konigen Carola, 

 Frau Karl Smid, Willowmere, Gainsboro, Mrs. George Gordon. 

 Dora Hansen, Farbenkonigen, Mrs. Theo. Roosevelt, Betty, Duchess 

 of Normandy, Duchess of Sutherland, Mary Countess of Ilchester. 



Red. Lieut. Chaure, Robin Hood, Red Letter Day, Red Cross, 

 Cardinal, M. P. Azevedo, Col. LeClerc, Brilliant, Wm. Cooper. 



Yellow. Mrs. A. R. Waddell, Claire Goodacre, Margaret Dickson 

 Hamill, Ulster Gem, G. Amedie Hammond, Marquise de Sinety, 

 Imogene. 



Orange and Apricot. Mme. Hector Leulliot, Old Gold, Prince 

 Charming, Primrose, Queen Mary. 



American Pillar Rose 



A I V HIS splendid single climber is winning in- 

 •*■ tern'ational favor. It is spoken of in the 

 foreign press as one of the best of all climbing 

 Roses and leads the correspondent in a recent 

 number of the (English) Gardeners' 

 Chronicle to speak of it as an in- 

 teresting straight hybrid between 

 two species. It may be well to 

 note what Dr. W. VanFleet, now 

 with the United States Department 

 of Agriculture and who originated 

 this Rose, in his experimental gar- „ 

 dens at Little Silver, N. J., says in 

 a recent letter to me, as to its origin: 

 "The American Pillar Rose was 

 raised by me in 1898 from seed of 

 a Wichuraiana-setigera cross polli- 

 nated with a bright red Remontant 

 Rose seedling, that had a touch of 

 Polyantha or rather Rosa mul- 

 tiflora in its make-up. It thus 

 contains the blood of four Rose 

 species, but I regard it as essen- 

 tially a Wichuraiana-setigera hy- 

 brid. This variety appears to 

 succeed under very diverse con- 

 ditions." — L. B. 



