Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-01-23

were the wonder of fasteners who went
with the idea that a somewhat anna
teur exhibition would be made. The
high perfection of the blossoms. no
less than the unlimited varieties shown,
indicated that within ten years, rose
culture in the west has achieved I'M
paralleled success. The hybrid tea rose
as well as the perpetual hybrids have
reached q vigor in this region never
looked for by those who know them
only in the short season eastern gar
dens or under the glass roof Of the
green house. The whole city of Port
land seems to be enthusiastic over
roses. One of the public squares in
the center of the city is entirely given
over to them and in private grounds
along every street there are flowers
that are the admiration of every Wis
itor.
The equable climate OF the northwest
is especially conducive to rose health.
In winter the temperature rarely falls
below freezing and it seldom rises
above 20 degrees in summer. The zero
weather of the north prevents much
progress in out-Of-door rose culture
while in the south, even in California,
the hot summers are too dry for some
varieties. Consequently, rose culture is
becoming one of the growing indus
tries Of the northwest coast states. Hun
dreds of acres of roses may be seen
there now and experiments are being
made which, it is thought, will deveI-
op many varieties hardy enough to be
grown in other localities.
While a certain amount of rose Gull
ture always has been carried on in
this country and in every state, there
are found one or two roses which grow
with more or less profusion. The in
dustry has been revolutionized in the
United States since 1873 when several
new plants were put upon the market
which seemed especially adapted to this
varying climate. Three American roses
were introduced based upon Japanese
species. These were known as the rose
multiflora or rambler rose; the rose
wichuraiana or memorial rose; and the
rosa rugosa.
There is no more fascinating work than
rose breeding or securing new varieties
of roses by the union of two or more
species. Rose propagation may be done
in several ways, the most important of
which are budding or grating and the
transfer of pollen. Budding or grating
is done by placing a bud or graft from
The transfer of pollen is accomplished by
placing the two plants, from which a
new breed is desired, in a compart-
ment by themselves and transferring the
pollen from a rose on one plant to the
pistis of flower on the other. The
stamens of the receptive plant are re-
moved before the propagating pollen is
applied Then the seeds from the fer
tilted plant are carefully gathered and
planted. The resulting plants indicate the
success of the experiment Sometimes in
several hundred new plants, raised from
seeds thus procured, there will not be
one having any distinctive features or
the result will not be the one desired.
When a new plant is secured, it is given
special cultivation and the plants pro-
duced from it may be placed upon the
market Rose growers are continually
searching for new varieties but the pro-
cess of propa gtion is a tedious one.
While the United States department of
agriculture has not devoted as much at
tention to rose culture as might be de-
sired, experiments are constantly going
on in the green houses at Washington,
as well as in a number of the state ex-
pertinent stations and new plants are
frequently originated. This spring a new
pink rose to be known as the Helen Taft
is likely to be placed upon the market.
1t had its inception last year as the re-