1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
545 
weaker buds may be left to take their chances together 
with the missed stocks, which are to be re-budded 
next season. 
But the greater part of the rose plants produced in 
this country are rooted from cuttings made of green, 
or growing wood. This method has been brought to 
great perfection in our favorable climate, and there 
are several establishments already claiming an out¬ 
put of a million roses each, evei-y year, while all 
florists may be said to practice it to a considerable 
extent. For this purpose, the parent plants, which 
may be either budded or on the roots, are grown 
under glass, sometimes in pots or, more commonly, in 
“ borders” of six inches of rich soil, composed mainly 
of rotted sods, on the greenhouse benches. This may 
be done at any season, but for strictly propagating 
purposes, the borders are generally planted in June, 
and the roses stimulated during the warm months to 
luxuriant growth. By late September or October, 
the new wood should be in the best possible condition 
for rapid and healthy rooting. The cuttings are 
quickly made by experts, only one “ eye,” or bud to a 
cutting, the accompanying leaflets are shortened in 
about one-half, and the cuttings at once planted in 
clean, firm sand in the cutting bench. They are in¬ 
serted less than an inch apart, in rows not over three 
inches apart. An ordinary propagating house, 10x100 
feet, will contain nearly 80,000 of these tiny cuttings. 
The houses are kept quite close and moist, and are 
watered or sprayed every day as indications warrant. 
An effort is made to keep the temperature at about 65 
degrees, but in the early part of the season, the day 
temperature often runs much higher, as ventilation 
is sparingly given. Light firing is needed as the 
nights grow cool, so that the thermometer does not 
fall below the temperature named, for any length of 
time. 
If all go well, the cuttings should be securely 
rooted in six weeks, and are now rose plants, ready 
for potting off in 2 or 2%-inch pots, when the cutting 
benches are made ready for another batch. All 
classes of roses do not root alike under this treat¬ 
ment ; the teas and Bourbons, are almost uniformly 
successful under good care, while the Chinas and 
hybrid remontants follow closely. Then come the 
moss roses and the hybrid teas ; the latter are the 
most uncertain of all, the practical failure of whole 
batches, being very common. After the little roses 
are established in pots, they are grown on with as 
little shifting as possible, until early June, when 
those unsold are either bordered for further propaga¬ 
tion, or planted out in rows, in any good, well- 
manured loamy soil to become “ outdoor roses.” As 
with Manetti stocks, the usual distance apart is either 
6x18 or 6x36 inches, according to the mode of cultiva¬ 
tion, which is limited to frequent, shallow stirrings 
of the soil, and perfectly clean weeding. 
Any soil that will grow good corn or potatoes, will 
grow fair roses; but a rich, clay loam is most con¬ 
genial. To get fine plants, it is necessary to have 
plenty of available nitrogen at hand during the grow¬ 
ing season, and this can be most agreeably presented 
to rose plants in the form of a heavy dressing of 
rotted stable manure, mixed with the soil before the 
roses are planted out. 
In November or early December, according to local¬ 
ity, the tender varieties are taken up and stored in 
frost-proof cellars with the roots well covered with 
moist, sandy soil. The hardier sorts axe left in the 
ground, unless wanted for sale, or other special pur¬ 
poses. At present low prices, most nurserymen 
make no attempt to px-otect their unsold outdoor 
roses; but if deemed desirable, a light coating of salt 
hay, coarse grass or evergreen branches, put on after 
the ground is frozen, should be sufficient. I am 
sorry to say that roses grown outside one summer, 
which are. consequently, only 14 to 16 months from 
the cutting bench, are frequently sold as two-year- 
olds; but it is a question whether these vigorous 
young plants are not really better for all pi-actical 
purposes than those which have actually been grown 
outside for two seasons. 
Alfalfa for Hog Pasture; Grasses for Thin Land. 
E. F., Eaton Rapids, Mich .—I would like to sow Alfalfa for hog 
pasture and hay, my idea being to alternate between two fields 
and get one mowing from each field for hay each season. Will 
Alfalfa not stand that much tramping ? I dug up a plant that I 
called Alfalfa, but could find no nitrogen tubercles. Does it not 
get its nitrogen from the air ? My orchard is a light, sandy loam. 
I would like to seed it, but do not intend to pasture it. Which 
would be best, White clover or June grass ? 
ANSWERED BY J. E. WING. 
Alfalfa will stand a great deal of ti’amping in the 
summer time ; it is nearly impossible to kill it in that 
way. I have seen it, in Utah, get started and grow 
for years in the middle of a pretty well travelled road. 
In winter, it is bad for it to be gnawed off or tramped. 
No hog pastux-e is equal to Alfalfa. Ilather than two 
fields, 1 would advise three. Turn the hogs on about 
April 15, and allow them to graze for 10 days on the 
first section ; then turn to the second field. After 10 
days on that, let them take the third field. Then in 
10 days, you are back to the first section. Let them 
run on it for 10 days, which will bring the time to 
May 25. If not too many hogs have run on it, it will 
bear cutting after they are taken out, and should be 
cut in order to remove all the rank places and tall 
growths that they have not eaten. After this date, 
leave the hogs for 10 days in each pasture, and always 
on taking them out, run the mower over the field and 
cut and make hay of all that they have not eaten. 
Thus when they get back, there is a nice, fresh growth 
of even height and tenderness. 
Alfalfa gets its nitrogen as other clovers, in part 
from the soil, and in part through the soil from the 
air. It is rather difficult to remove Alfalfa roots from 
the soil without stripping them of the root-tubercles. 
Alfalfa requires a soil of rather greater fertility than 
Red clover. 
In seeding down that orchard, why not try grasses 
especially adapted to light, sandy soils? I have had 
extremely good results with Orchard grass on very 
light soils. White clover is not a mowing grass, being 
too short and of a creeping tendency. I would, how¬ 
ever, sow some with the grass seed or, preferably, in 
the spring. June grass (Poa pratensis), is not well 
adapted to light, thin soils. Rather, let me recom¬ 
mend the Canadian wire grass, or Flat stemmed Blue 
grass (Poa compressa). While this neglected and 
somewhat despised grass will not produce as much 
pastui’age or hay as the June grass or Blue grass on 
good soils, yet on thin, dry soils, it will produce very 
much more, and the pasturage and hay are of a very 
superior quality. Millions of acres of iand are being 
farmed to-day in the United States, that will soon be 
laid down to this grass and pastured with cows and 
sheep. In our country, it comes into thin fields of its 
own accord, and is often a serious hindrance to culti¬ 
vation. It does not pay to fight it except with 
manure, for where it is in force, it is a better paying 
crop than any that can be put in its place, unless the 
manure be applied. 
A Number of Insects and D/seases. 
D. E., Normal , III .—I inclose some potato tops, beans, grape and 
plum leaves, and would like to know whether the insects on them 
are all of the same species. They all work on the under side of the 
leaf. Some are darker colored than others, but I think that the 
lighter ones are males and the darker females, or, perhaps, the 
reverse. Some of my plum trees have lost nearly all their leaves. 
I have sprayed them three times with London-purple, one table- 
spoonful to three gallons of water, but it has not been any help. 
Last year, I was troubled with the same insects,.but they are more 
numerous now than one year ago. The bean and potato leaves, on 
the edges, look as though they had been burned. Last year, my R. 
N.-Y. No. 2. potatoes were killed in a very short time, the latter part 
of August; but I think that, from present appearances, unless 
something is done, they will die before that time. Last year, I had 
4,000 celery plants that looked well until the latter part of August, 
when they were attacked by the same insect and I did not save a 
plant. They kept sending out new growth, but blighted about the 
same as the potatoes and beans are doing now. I have been 
spraying the grape vine that is attacked the worst with Hellebore, 
and it has made considerable growth this year, while last year it 
did not grow any. My little boy has some peanuts growing, and 
they are being served like the rest of the things. Can you give me 
any information that will be of help to me ? Is there anything 
with which I can spray the strawberry vines to kill the Leaf- 
roller ? 
ANSWERED BY M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
Instead, of the leaves of the potatoes, beans, grapes 
and plums all being attacked by the same insect, each 
one was affected by a different organism. The plum 
leaves were badly affected with the fungous disease 
known as leaf-blight or shot-hole fungus. Early 
in summer, purple spots appear on the leaves ; later, as 
the tissue dries, the color changes to brown, and the 
affected areas become loosened and drop out. This 
leaves small, round holes in the leaves, causing them 
to appear as though pierced by shot. In such cases, 
the foliage turns yellow, drops during the summer, 
and the trees are then unable to mature the fruit. 
The fungus is believed to live over the winter on and 
in the fallen leaves. It is often very destructive in 
nursery stock. Fortunately, this serious disease is 
easily controlled. Spray the trees with Bordeaux 
Mixture as soon as the leaves appear in spring, and 
repeat the application at intervals of about two weeks 
until the fruit is about two-thii'ds grown ; two or 
three applications will, generally, be found sufficient. 
As the affection is of fungous and not insect origin, 
D. E.’s application of London-purple would have no 
effect upon it. 
The potato leaves sent contained many minute, 
round holes which had, undoubtedly, been eaten out 
by very small, dark blue, hard-shelled insects known 
as fiea beetles. I suspect, however, that the sudden 
death of the vines mentioned by D. E. was due prin¬ 
cipally to the fungous diseases known as potato- 
blight. Every one whose potato tops die down before 
they normally should ought to get and read thoroughly 
Bulletin 113 recently issued by Cornell Experiment 
Station (Ithaca, N. Y.) The injury to the foliage by 
the flea beetle seems to be yearly attracting more 
attention ; in many localities the little lively chaps 
are said to do more harm than even the Colorado 
beetle. They are not so easily controlled as this latter 
well-known pest. Pains-green, London-purple, tobacco 
as a powder or a decoction, air-slaked lime, wood 
ashes, land plaster and kerosene emulsion are said to 
be without practical value for potatoes. On a small 
scale, however, I have had good success with kero¬ 
sene emulsion. The most promising application 
seems to be Bordeaux Mixture, which is primarily a 
fungicide ; but it has been shown at the Vermont 
Station, that, when used thoroughly to control the 
fungous disease of potato blight, the flea beetles are 
also checked. 
I cannot determine, from the specimens sent, just 
what has attacked the bean leaves. It does not look 
like the work of insects, but appears more like a 
fungous disease. Probably, Bordeaux Mixture will 
control the affection. 
I suspect that D. E’s celery plants were attacked 
by a fungus or bacterial disease rather than by insects. 
Without specimens, I cannot determine definitely. 
Afflicted celery growers should write to the Michigan 
Experiment Station (Agricultural College, Michigan) 
for Bulletin 102 on celery insects and diseases. 
The grape leaves sent showed the peculiar small 
yellow spots (on the upper surface), caused by the 
little lively insect known as the Grape-vine Leaf- 
hopper, a few specimens of which were still clinging to 
the leaves. The adult insect is only about one-eighth 
inch long, of a light yellowish color, and crossed by 
three red bands. The young insects, with undeveloped 
wings, lack the red bands, and can only jump about. 
The adults winter over in rubbish ; the eggs are laid 
in the leaves, the voung appearing in June. As they 
grow, they cast off their skins, which often remain 
sticking to the leaves for some time. They are suck¬ 
ing insects, feeding only in the juices of the interior 
of the plant, by means of a sharp beak which they 
thrust through the outer skin. This method of feed¬ 
ing renders the use of arsenical sprays against them 
entirely useless ; they could not get any of the arsenic 
from the surface of the leaf if they wished. Kerosene 
emulsion, a solution of whale-oil soap, or a tobacco 
decoction, will kill the young insects if sprayed on to 
their bodies. 
Begin as soon as the little jumpers are seen in June, 
and drench the under sides of the leaves, repeating 
the application if necessary. The insects are said to 
be less active early in the morning, and experiments 
in Colorado showed that both young and adults could 
then be killed by a strong spray of Kerosene emulsion ; 
dilute the standard emulsion with about 9 or 10 
parts of water. Some have caught millions of the 
hoppers on large sheets of pasteboard tacked to poles 
and smeared with some very sticky substance. These 
sheets were carried along close to the vines and 
another person jarred the vines from the opposite 
side, causing the hoppei's to jump toward and on to 
the sticky trap. 
It is doubtful whether the Strawberry leaf-roller 
can be reached with any spray ; it is too well pro¬ 
tected in its folded leaf. Nothing better than the 
burning over of the field immediately after the fruit¬ 
ing season, has yet been suggested ; it is practiced 
with excellent results in many parts of Illinois. In 
1883, Prof. Forbes wrote that Mr H. K. Vickroy had 
burned his fields over five or six times, never damag¬ 
ing his plants in the least lie first mows the field 
over as close to the ground as he can cut with a 
mower, and leaves the cut weeds and foliage to dry a 
few days, so that they may burn readily. He then 
loosens and stirs up the straw mulch, or sprinkles on 
some straw, and fires the field in a gentle breeze. 
How to Grow Ampelopsis. 
C. S., Accord, N. Y. —How can I cultivate Ampelopsis in a clay 
soil ? I have been trying for four years to train a vine to cover 
one side of a stone house with a western exposure. Last sum¬ 
mer, the vine seemed healthy and grew some six feet. This 
spring, it had died down, and started afresh. What are' the 
necessary conditions for its successful culture ? 
Ans — C. S. has neglected to state which species of 
Ampelopsis he has—whether our native Vn-ginia 
creeper or Five-fiDgered ivy. Ampelopsisquinquefolia— 
or the Japanese form (A. Veitchii), which is a much 
weaker and more slender grower, especially when 
young. All species of Ampelopsis, like their near 
relatives, the grape vines, naturally prefer a loose 
stony or gravelly soil; but they are accommodating 
plants, and can usually be induced to thrive vigor¬ 
ously in almost any situation, if sufficient fertility be 
given to the soil, and free drainage about the roots 
provided. If C. S.’s plant stands in a place where the 
clay soil is saturated with water for a considerable 
time after rainfalls, it will never be likely to grow well 
until the defective drainage is remedied. This can 
easily be done by digging a hole three or four feet 
square and about 2>£ feet deep, and filling it with 18 
inches of broken stones, tile or crockery, over which 
it is well to lay a few sods. The hole should then be 
filled with as loose, rich earth as possible, and the 
Ampelopsis replanted, at any time dui-ing the dor¬ 
mant season. If the drainage about the plant is 
faii’ly good and it is langxiisbing for nourishment in 
the uncongenial soil, nothing will start it into thrifty 
growth better than a liberal dressing of fine ground 
bone and wood ashes, well chopped into the soil for a 
l’adius of three feet or more about the plant. This 
may be followed by a mulch of stable manure to sup¬ 
ply the nitrogen which is usually very deficient near 
buildings, in the situations where these vines are 
most planted. It is well to keep a mulch about the 
plant at all times, as it keeps the top soil moist and 
cool, and encourages the growth of rootlets near the 
surface, which is much to be desired. 
It is possible that the plant may be affected by 
aphides or some parasitic disease at the x*oots, which 
may be seen on examination. In that case, it is best 
to throw it away and drench the soil thoroughly with 
a strong decoction of tobacco stems or leaves before 
replanting another Ampelopsis Veitchii is sometimes 
winterkilled about the new growth when young, but 
this tenderness disappears as soon as the vine is 
strong enough to make firm, woody canes. A slight 
protection of coarse litter is beneficial for the first 
two or three years. \v. v. F. 
