tl8 50^^ DiNGEE Guide To Rose Culture 



Kerosene Emulsion. To two parts of kerosene 

 add one of slightly sour milk; agitate until the 

 compound unites in the form of a white jelly; dilute 

 with twenty parts of soft water. 



Tobacco Solution. Made by boiling the leaves 

 or stems of tobacco. The liquid should be made 

 about the strength of weak tea. 



Tobacco Insecticide Soap. This preparation is put 

 up in cakes, with directions for use printed on labels. 

 It is a standard remedy, and one of the best. Two 

 sizes. Price 13 cts. and 28 cts. each, postpaid. 



Bug Killer. A new preparation for killing all 

 kinds of bugs and pests that attack Roses. It is 

 in paste form, to be dissolved in water and sprayed 

 on the foliage. We find it very effective and most 

 satisfactory of anything we have ever used. Box 

 sufficient for two gallons of spray, 50 cts., 3 for SI .25, 

 postpaid. 



WINTER PROTECTION 



AS to the classes of Roses that are hardy and 

 those that are not hardy, this information 

 is given in the introduction of the indi\'idual 

 classes. Where it is possible, we would advise that 

 the benefit of the doubt be given by protecting all 

 varieties, irrespective of the class, for it will not 

 be harmful to protect even the Moss or Hybrid Per- 

 petual Rose. Do not cover j^our plants too soon; 

 a nip of frost will not hurt them, but will help to 

 ripen and mature them. Such material as leaves, 

 hay, straw, light manure, street sweepings, pine or 

 cedar boughs, com fodder, etc., will afford excellent 

 protection. Sufficient should be given to prevent 

 the roots from freezing, but considerable light 

 and circulation of air should not be excluded. In 

 the spring, wait until the weather is settled before 

 uncovering; then prune the plants, taking care to 

 cut off all dead or discolored wood. Protection 

 should be given the plants without making them 

 unsightly, as is the case when the bushes are tied 

 up in newspaper or other covering. 



WHAT THE TERM " HARDY " MEANS 



RIGHT here let us make it plain that the hardi- 

 ness of any Rose is a matter which no one can 

 speak of with positive certainty, because the 

 conditions of the winter, as a rule, prescribe the 

 hardiness of the plant. Where the winters come on 

 gradually, the plant goes into a semi-dormant state 

 naturally, and if the winter be continuously cold, 

 then the most tender Roses very often survive; 

 but when, as is frequently the case, an luiseasonable 

 cold snap comes in the early fall, followed again by 

 warm weather, the plant is not sufficiently hardened 

 to withstand the sudden change, and if this is fol- 

 lowed by what we know as an open winter, where 

 the weather is alternating periods of severe weather, 

 followed by thawing, it is then that the damage is 

 done, because it keeps the plant in a vacillating 

 condition, between the two extremes, and not only 

 the young eyes near the roots, but the roots them- 

 selves are seriously injured. This condition can be, 

 in a measure, controlled, by careful protection, 

 but we make this explanation in response to a great 

 many letters which come to us stating that we rec- 

 ommend a Rose as hardy, which has been winter- 

 killed. Our point of view as regards the hardiness, 

 therefore, of a Rose is under ordinarily favorable 

 conditions; but we or no one else can be responsible 

 for the vagaries of old Dame Nature when she 

 appears in some of her curious moods, as she is wont 

 to do. 



ROSES IN POTS OR BOXES 



THE conditions most favorable for growing Roses 

 in pots or boxes are good rich soil, plenty of 

 sunshine and heat ranging from 50 degrees at 

 night to 75 degrees during the day. If Roses are 

 purchased in the spring and summer for winter 

 bloom, they can be planted in large-sized pots — one- 

 year plants in pots whose inside diameter at the 

 top is 4 inches, two-year-old plants in 6-inch pots. 

 Plunge the pot into open ground, in some partly 



View on the Dingee & Conard Co.'s grounds. 



Hedge of Blue Spireas (see page 101) in the foreground 

 10 



