12: 
A leaf rubbed on my arm left a gummy sec- 
retion with a powerful smell, and was fol- 
lowed by a bright red punctiform rash, 
which lasted all day, but caused little irri- 
tation. A gardener has told me that he 
hag noticed his arms itching after moving 
the plants, and that the gardener who gave 
them to him suffered from a severely in- 
flamed face, which was ascribed to am’ irri- 
tating soap, but no doubt was due to the 
Humea. It is well known that many 
plants like Primula obconica are irritants, 
but that Humea elegans is one of-thenr 
was new to me, and may be a warning to 
others.—‘‘Lancet.” 
ROSE CULTURE UNDER GLASS IN 
AMERICA. 
FORCING TEA AND HYBRID TEA 
ROSES. 
‘The’ forcing of roses under glass is con- 
ducted on a large scale and with much suc- 
cess in the United States, and the follow- 
ing notes on the practice that is adopted 
by the most successful growers which Mr. 
Ernest Asmus has contributed to the “Bul- 
letin” of the American, Rose Society can 
hardly’ fail tobe useful and interesting to 
growers on; this side of the Atlantic. : 
~ Houses for forcing roses shauld be built 
as light and airy as possible and have a 
southern aspect, the houses running east 
and west. Some years ago it was thought 
by most all practical growers that good 
roses could only be grown in three-quarter 
span houses, but experience has taught me 
that equally as good roses can be grown in 
even span houses—-which model of house 
T have adopted for the future, on account 
of its simplicity in handling and construc- 
tion. * Bae “tie 
- Soil. the principal thing in rose growing, 
should be ‘procured, if possible, in the fall. 
and that from an old pasture that has never 
been cultivated I find best suited. Set up 
your compost heap just before winter sets 
‘in, of three parts of good sod soil and one 
part cow manure, not too high, so that the 
frost’ has a good chance to penetrate. I 
generally make mine 3 to 4 ft. high. Let 
it remain without any covering, and as 
soon as the weather is fit in spring, and the 
soil not too wet, turn, the heap over and let 
it remain, say, a month or six weeks, when 
it should have another turning;. and it 
will then be ready for use in the forcing 
house.. When wooden benches are used 
for forcing 5 in. in depth will be sufficient. 
Fill up your benches and give a sprinkling 
of fine ground bone or wood ashes, but be 
careful not to use too much—one bushel to: 
a 100-ft. house is plenty. Then turn the 
whole soil, mixing the bone and the soil 
‘thoroughly with‘ your hand, picking out all 
stones and rough material. — Your bench. 
‘is now ready for planting, which should be 
done, if possible, in the months of May to 
Select good healthy plants and set them in 
“your benches about 15 in. apart either way, 
‘care being taken that the soil in which. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
you plant is neither too wet nor too dry, 
and that the young plants have a thorough 
watering before being removed from their 
pots. On no account allow your ioung 
plants to flag on a hot summer's day. When’ 
the whole house is planted give a good 
watering, and clean the whole house, 
under the benches as well as the walks, 
giving the walks and under the benches a 
good sprinkling as well, as it tends to keep 
down the heat, giving a better temperature 
for rose growing. 
If solid beds are used. instead of benches, 
they should be carefully prepared with lots 
of drainage (I generally use about 15 in. 
ot broken stone in the bottom), and the 
same process gone through with the. soil, 
as described above, with the exception that 
the depth should be increased to 6 or 7 in. 
Now, the house being planted, our care 
begins. The young plants must be carefully 
watched. Do not allow the weeds, which 
will appear a couple of weeks after plant- 
ing, to get too large. The plants should 
have a careful syringing about twice a day, 
and the soil kept in a good, moist way (but 
not water soaked), aphis and other insects 
carefully looked after, and as much air as 
possible given, from early morning until 
after sunset, when the ventilators should 
be about half closed down.. Try to keep 
your rose-house temperature in summer 
one or two degrees lower than the outside 
temperature, which can be done by using 
the hose judiciously under the benches and 
walks. As the roses begin to grow they 
need staking. TI find No. 8 galvanised wire 
makes a neat and durable stake. All new 
growths should be carefully tied, and the 
buds picked off. 
Do not allow your plants to bloom be- 
fore they have obtained a proper size, 
which with good treatment will be about 
two months after planting. Mildew, one 
of the worst enemies of the rose in summer 
and fall, should be carefully watched, and 
at the least appearance the plants should 
be dusted with flowers of sulphur, which 
should be kept on the plants two or three 
days. and the temperature on sunny days 
be run up to 85 and 90 degrees. Syringing 
stops until the sulphur is to be removed 
from the plants. I cannot lay too great 
a stress upon the importance of ventilat- 
ing. Keep as even a temperature as pos 
sible. Do not allow your houses to run 
away up in the 80's before you give air, 
but start early in the morning, and, as 
your thermometer rises, let’ your ventila- 
tors rise as well. for nothing is more hurt- 
ful to a rose than sudden changes, which 
you are sure to get: when you let your ven- 
tilators remain closed too long and then 
open at once to their fullest capacity.” 
As we come toward fall, say, September 
to November, the most critical time of 
rose growing has arrived. The changes in 
the atmosphere between night and day are 
oftentimes so great that at this time our 
checks most occur. The night tempera- 
ture in a rose house should never be allow- 
ed to drop below 60 degrees, and even 65 
degrees will do no damage at this time of 
_ the year. Although it seems absurd, T in- 
December 1, 1904. 
variably start fring on a very moderate= 
scale in September. Ag the weather grows 
colder, of course, your fire heat has to be 
increased, to keep your houses up to the 
required temperature, which should be 
from 56 to 58 degrees at night for all tea 
roses, and from 58 to 62 degrees for hybrid 
teas, with the exception of Meteor, whiclu 
requires a night temperature of 65 to 7@ 
degrees, with the corresponding increase of 
10 degrees in the day time. During bright 
summer weather in late fall and winter 
begin ventilating when your. thermometer 
reaches 66 degrees and increase inch by 
inch as your thermometer rises. | 
About the first week in January feeding 
of the roses can begin. I use liquid 
manure made partly out of horse, cow, and 
sheep manure, made about the strength of 
strong tea, of which I give my roses a libe- 
ral drink about every fortnight, using no 
mulch until the sun gets strong, about: 
April, when I give them in addition a light 
mulch of spent horse manure from old 
mushroom beds. : co They 
For aphis or green fly the best preventive 
IT have found is tobacco in its various ways. 
Fumigation is not safe when the plants are, 
in bloom, excepting for a few.varieties, and 
it should only be used before the plants: 
begin to bloom. Tobacco stems spread 
under the benches, or hung up along the 
walks, will keep fly down, but the old 
should be removed and new stems substi- 
tuted every two or three weeks, for this 
mode is only a preventive, and the fly onee 
there is hard to remove, unless radical mea 
sures are adopted, which generally meam 
the loss of a crop. 
If you expect success in forcing roseg 
do not forget that the rose wants to be 
watched from its infancy just as much’ as a. 
child in its infancy. Careful training and 
watching will make a child grow up as a 
useful member, and careful watching of the 
smallest details will make a rose bush under 
glass tend to give profit and enjoyment to 
thousands. tae 
‘For the assistance of all those who are 
not familiar with forcing roses I give below 
a list of tea and hybrid tea roses, which 
can. be successfully forced in this latitude. 
Teas: Bride, Bridesmaid, Mrs. Pierpont 
Morgan, Madame Cusin, Madame Hoste, 
Madame de Watteville, Maid of Honour, 
Ma Capucine, Perle des Jardins, Sunset, 
Golden Gate, Bon Silene, Safrano, Niphe- 
tos, Madame Chatenay, and Papa Gontier. 
Hybrid teas: American Beauty, American 
Belle, Madame Caroline Testout, Kaiserin 
Augusta Victoria, Meteor, Souv. de Woot- 
ton, President Carnot, La France. Duchess 
of Albany. Madame Augusta Guinnoisseau, 
Admiral Dewey, Mrs. Robert Garrett, and 
Liberty. " 
The best fertiliser for carnations is good 
rotted barnyard manure. Applied as a 
mulch, mixed’ with the soil, and given in 
liquid form—used in any or all of these 
ways, there is no fertiliser that can beat it. 
It is generally understood that the throw- 
ing of blind wood from roses is the result 
of an impoverished soil. 
