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Winter Protection for Roses. 
I treat my Roses according to the habit of 
the plant. Such varieties as Madame Plan- 
tier, which produce blossoms on short stalks 
thrown out all along the large branches, I 
lay flat on the ground and cover with four 
or five inches of dry soil. Care must be 
taken to prevent the accumulation and re- 
tention of water in the covering. As a 
means to this end I cover the soil over the 
bushes with tarred paper or something which 
will shed rain. 
Hybrid perpetuals, when grown on their 
own roots, send up so many shoots from the 
bases of the plants each season that I do 
not attempt to save all the tops. Instead I 
cut away most of them, and bank up the 
portion left with litter. For this class of 
Roses I find this a more satisfactory method 
than laying the bush down, as it greatly 
lessens the work, and, if plenty of manure is 
used to produce vigorous development, one 
gets finer flowers from the new growth than 
from the old stalks. 
In laying down Roses one should provide 
oneself with thick canvas or leather gloves. 
The work of bending the bushes to the 
ground should be done with much care, as 
there is great danger of injuring them if 
they are not carefully handled. Take hold 
of each bush at its base with the left hand, 
and hold it in a firm grasp while, with the 
right hand, you bend it down. Unless this 
part of the work is done with extreme care 
there is danger of breaking each bush close 
to the ground ; but if its base is held firmly, 
and no abrupt or sudden pressure is made 
upon it, it will yield gradually and safely to 
the strain. After the plants have been 
placed flat upon the ground strips of wood 
or something with sufficient weight should 
be laid across each bush to hold it in place 
until it can be covered. 
It is a difficult matter to lay down Roses 
of the Crimson Rambler class, with their 
thick, stiff canes. I do not attempt it. I 
gather the branches into as compact a mass 
as possible, tie them to keep them in place, 
and then cover them with evergreen branches 
tied on to the plants, which are left in up- 
right position. Be liberal in the use of this 
covering. It will not keep out the cold, 
but it will shade the stalks, and thus the 
protection from the sun will be secured. 
Then bank deeply about the roots. — Eben E. 
Rexford in Country Gentleman. 
Pansy Plants. 
A pleasant way to earn a little pin money 
is by raising Pansy plants for sale. Plant the 
seeds in mid-summer, selecting as variegated 
an assortment as possible. If you have a 
vegetable garden, it will be a good idea to 
plant the Pansies in a garden bed which an 
early crop has left empty — for instance, where 
peas or radishes have been grown. 
The plants will get a good start before 
cold weather. Protect them by a covering of 
straw or dead leaves from the winter’s cold, 
and they will be ready to start up at the first 
hint of spring, and be in a thrifty condition, 
blossoming profusely, by the time they are in 
demand for setting out. 
Take up with a trowel, leaving plenty of 
dirt adhering to the roots, place in boxes 
which will hold a dozen plants, and they will 
find ready sale in the grocery stores and 
other places, at from 25 to 50 cents per box. — 
Lena B. Ellingwood, New Hampshire, in 
Farm and Home. 
This is an unusually late fall and we do 
not remember of having cut Gladiolus 
blooms as late as October 22nd before. 
Loveliness and Summer Beauty, planted 
July 3rd, are the ones to bloom so late ; 
also a few spikes of late Primulinus 
Hybrids planted late. 
(Brewer November, 1920 
Effect of Pollenation on the Life of Flowers. 
By William H. Phipps. 
[ IV ritten expressly ftr The Flower Grower. ] 
W HILE ENGAGED in pollena- 
tion in the early summer of 
1919, I was struck with the 
fact that when flowers have 
been pollenized they wither and decay 
much sooner than the flowers that I 
had not pollenized. Thinking at first 
that it was because of the bloom being 
older, I then pollenized flowers as soon 
as they would accept pollenation and 
found the same result and that the 
flowers thus pollenized withered much 
sooner than the older flower on the 
same spike. 
I cut flowers and placed them where 
they could not be pollenized in the 
usual method by bees and other honey 
seeking insects and found that they 
lasted much longer than when left 
where they would be pollenized by in- 
sects and humming birds. Then I pro- 
ceeded by taking flowers of the same 
variety and cutting as soon as the first 
bud showed color, taking them into the 
house where they would be absolutely 
free from outside pollenation. I pol- 
lenized one of the spikes and left the 
other free as the flowers came out and 
found that invariably the flower pol- 
lenized withered hours before the one 
not thus pollenized. 
Knowing that it is claimed that 
Gladioli self-pollenize I endeavored to 
avoid this by taking a pair of long, 
slim manicure scissors and cutting the 
pistil in each open bloom and in the 
others as soon as open. My observa- 
tion was to the effect that I prolonged 
the life of the flower nearly two days 
and as nearly as I could reckon by com- 
parison, never less than thirty hours, 
often more than two days longer than 
spikes of the same variety cut at the 
same time not so treated. Most of 
my experiments were conducted with 
Gladioli but some of them were con- 
ducted with other flowers with the 
same result. 
I therefore state it as a law of nature 
that flowers once pollenized have served 
their purpose and therefore the useful- 
ness of the bloom in reproduction is 
ended, hence it at once begins to wither 
as soon as the fecundation takes place. 
That until the flower is fertilized, it 
stands forth in all its glory and beauty, 
seeking to attract the instruments of 
nature in the process of fecundation 
and that to remove the instruments of 
fecundation is to sterilize the flower 
and thus increase the length of its 
life. 
Along the same line I have discov- 
ered a number of varieties that seldom 
bear seed and that such varieties last 
longer as cut flowers, because they do 
not fertilize and are not subject to fec- 
undation. Many varieties of Peonies 
do not bear seed because of the full- 
ness of the bloom and cannot be fertil- 
ized by the usual methods. Often 
plants have to be starved and weak- 
ened and in their dying efforts they 
become fertile and may thus be made 
to bear seed. This is a well established 
principle of plant life and is made use 
of even by savage tribes in the wilder- 
ness. I have seen the mango tree in 
the Philippines, which had not borne 
fruit, hacked by the natives until the 
trunk was chopped in a thousand 
places, then the tree in its dying effort 
to reproduce itself would bear an 
abundant crop. In our orchards may 
be seen apple trees almost in the last 
stages of decay, bearing abundant 
fruit in their final effort to reproduce 
themselves. 
In selecting varieties for cut flowers, 
it is well, therefore, to select those that 
do not fertilize as they will last longer 
as cut flowers. If the varieties that 
will fertilize readily are made sterile 
as suggested, they will be longer lived 
as cut flowers, or for that matter in the 
field. If fertilization is desired cut the 
flower until it is in a weakened condi- 
tion or by planting the bulb or root 
in such soil as will starve it and in its 
effort to reproduce itself, it will fertilize 
or will accept pollenation and thus 
seek to reproduce itself. 
A Few Hollyhock Suggestions. 
Among the highly-prized, old-fashioned per- 
ennials, there is no flower that will take the 
place of the Hollyhocks. There is a richness 
of color, ranging from the brightest yellow 
and red to pure white, and a sturdiness about 
these old-style flowers that have made a last- 
ing impression on everyone who has had 
them, and especially those who recall the 
early days, with all the charms of the old 
country home. 
None of these old-fashioned flowers will 
yield more readily to a few modern touches 
to improve the rich display more quickly 
than the Hollyhock. 
In the olden days they were too often neg- 
lected, and simply allowed to grow and scat- 
ter their seeds for future plants. Now, with 
rich sandy soil, and an occasional application 
of well rotted, stable manure, these peren- 
nials will produce much larger and finer 
flowers than when neglected. 
To secure the best results the seeds should 
be sown in June or July, and the small plants 
cared for in such a manner as to prevent be- 
ing choked out by weeds and grasses, and 
then in autumn, when the plants have five 
or six leaves, they should be carefully lifted 
and transplanted to their permanent loca- 
tions. 
They should be used as a background for 
lower plants, or for a screen to obscure some 
unsightly object, and should be planted from 
two to three feet apart. 
The soil ought to be rich and somewhat 
sandy, and stable manure should be spaded 
into the lower portion of the soil which 
should be at least a foot in depth. The sub- 
soil should be such as to permit of good 
drainage, not allowing the upper earth to 
remain wet or soggy during early spring. 
Stakes can be used in the rear of the heav- 
ier stalks to help sustain the masses of fine 
large flowers. — J. T. T. in Successful Farm- 
ing- 
Weather conditions during 1920 seem 
to have been ideal for Hollyhocks. 
Hollyhock blight, which seems to stop 
the blooming early in the season, most 
years, was not generally prevalent. 
