BETTER FRUIT 



A MONTHLY ILLUSTRATED MAGAZL\E PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST 

 OF MODERN AND PROGRESSIVE FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING 



PROPAGATING THE ROSE, WRITTEN FOR AMATEURS 



BY PROFESSOR J. A. BALMER, MOUNTAIN ROSARY, CLE ELUM, WASHINGTON 



would 



to the professional rosa- 

 rian, and the budding and 

 grafting to the nursery- 

 man. This leaves you the 

 two methods, cutting and 

 layering, which two are 

 the easiest. 



First let us take up the 

 method of propagating by 

 cuttings. In all the old works on rose 

 culture instructions something like the 

 following will be found: "In the autumn 

 take well ripened wood six or eight 

 inches long, with a heal if possible, and 

 insert in the ground five or six inches 

 deep; the best soil is a deep sandy 

 loam-; protect during the winter; the fol- 

 lowing autumn the roses will be rooted 

 and ready to transplant." This is the 

 old fashioned way, and while not a bad 

 way to increase your stock of roses, yet 

 it is not modern. There is progress 

 being made even in the matter of rose 

 propagation. 



Many times I have had ladies say to me: 

 "I have no luck propagating roses." 

 There is no luck in the matter. Success 

 is bred of an understanding of the mat- 

 ter in hand, so listen ! Cuttings of all semi- 

 hard-wooded plants, and this includes 

 the rose, root best and quickest when 

 the plant is most active, or rather I 

 ought to say, root best when the cell- 

 building material is most abundant. 

 This stage is reached in the rose at the 

 time the plants have bloomed and are 

 dropping their petals. This, then, is the 

 time to take the cuttings, right in the 

 height of summer. Especially is this 

 true of such kinds as the teas and hybrid 

 teas, which we now- have in such variety, 

 and which are so popular. Let us sup- 

 pose, then, that you have a dozen plants 

 comprising several varieties and that you 

 desire to increase the stock of each. If 

 you only wish to put in a dozen or two 

 cuttings secure a six-inch or eight-inch 

 flower pot, and after having put a wad 

 of moss to cover the hole in the bot- 

 tom — this for drainage — fill the pot to 

 the brim with perfectly clean river sand, 

 or bank sand will do if it be free from 

 soil: pack the sand tightly in the pot 

 with a potato masher or piece of scant- 

 ling, then thoroughlv water it: now the 



OSES nia3' be propa- 

 gated in a variety of 

 ways, viz., b}' seeds, 

 cuttings, layerings, budding 

 and grafting. But as these 

 notes are written for the 

 guidance of amateurs, I 

 ay, better leave the raising from seed 



Contents 



PROPAGATING THE ROSE, 19 



ROSES AND HOW TO GROW THEM, 21 



HISTORY OF PORTLAND ROSE SHOW, 27 



IMPROVING THE HOME SURROUNDINGS, 30 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING FOR 

 RURAL HOMES, 28 



SHRUBS AND WHERE TO PUT THEM, 32 



LAYING OUT THE HOME GROUNDS, 38 



HARDY NARCISSI FOR OUTDOOR 

 PLANTING, 60 



CONCERNING CO-OPERATIVE FRUIT 

 ORGANIZATION, 68 



STUDIES FOR STUDENTS IN 

 POLLENATION, 79 



PROFESSOR J. A. BALMER 

 Of Cle Elum, Washington, formerly professor at 

 Washington State Agricultural College, Pullman, 

 Washington, leading rosarian of the West. 



pot is ready for the cuttings. ^Morning is the best time to do 

 the work; foliage will be crisper in the morning and the cut- 

 tings less likely to wilt. There are several ways to make a 

 cutting, but the best way is to secure a cutting w'itli a heal 

 (Figure 1) and two or three eyes. Notice that only a part of 

 the foliage is removed. If you remove all of it you destroy the 

 lungs of the plant. On the other hand, if you leave it all on 

 transpiration will be so rapid that your cutting may suffer. 



Some strike a happy medium and cut off 

 half the foliage. Of the five lobes on a 

 rose leaf I usually cut off three, leaving 

 the two at the base (see Figure 1). Cut- 

 tings may be made with a sharp knife, 

 or, better still, with a pair of small, 

 sharp pruning shears. Scissors are not 

 good for the work, as they bruise the 

 cells too much. A safe rule is to make 

 a three-eye cutting. Eyes as here 

 referred to are leaf buds in the axles of 

 the leaves — one at the base, which goes 

 under the sand and two above. A longer 

 cutting in tea roses is a waste of wood: 

 a shorter one makes a somewhat weaker 

 plant. If the wood be from a blooming 

 shoot discard all the wood except the 

 three eyes nearest the base. Your cuttings 

 made, 3'ou are ready to insert them in 

 the sand, and for this purpose you need 

 a dibble, which is a sharp-pointed stick, 

 or a forty-penny nail will answer just as 

 well. Dibble the cuttings in the sand 

 about tv.'o inches deep and about two 

 inches apart. As you proceed press each 

 cutting firmly in the sand with finger 

 and thumb. Your pot or box filled, 

 water thoroughly, label the variety and 

 cover with a celery glass, a bell glass or 

 a large goblet, or in the case of a box 

 cover with a large pane of glass and 

 stand in a north window, kitchen win- 

 dow preferred, for there the cuttings will 

 always be under close observation. Fig- 

 ure 2 is a pot of cuttings filled with rose 

 cuttings and covered with a bell glass. 

 Every morning remove the cover from 

 the cuttings and wash the glass in clean 

 water. This gives the cuttings the nec- 

 essary fresh air. E^-ery second morning 

 the sand in which the cuttings are ought 

 to be watered with tepid water — not too 

 much — just enough so the water runs 

 out at the bottom a little, and if the cut- 

 tings are sprayed overhead it will do no 

 harm. In fifteen to twenty days the cut- 

 tings will begin to callous, i. e.. a bulbous 

 excrescense will form on the base of the 

 cutting. This stage will be made mani- 

 fest b}^ an altered appearance in the cut- 

 ting, the leaves will be more erect, crisper 

 and greener, and the plant will appear 

 to be growing. In about thirty days 

 most varieties will be rooted. However, 

 some kinds require thirty-five to forty 



