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varieties are without question the plants which are most permanent 

 and give the best return of blossoms. Mareschal Niel stands pre- 

 eminent as a tropical rose, but unless the soil is an exceptionally good 

 one, it requires frequent renewal, i.e., the plants gradually fail after 

 about three or four years' growth, and will die out in that time 

 unless the soil is carefully renewed. 



In our collection of plants at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Trinidad^ 

 there is nothing that requires greater care than those sections devoted 

 to roses. We have a poor and unfertile soil, and although a large 

 quantity of manure is regularly used, we cannot possibly produce the 

 same result as where a fertile soil naturally exists. From our diaries, 

 however, it may be seen that our results are not insignificant, for, aa 

 many as 400 blossoms of Mareschal Niel have been cut in a single 

 month, and other kinds in like proportion. We cannot, however^ 

 attempt to compete with the little Botanic Garden of Grenada in 

 Rose culture, for there they have an almost inexhaustible soil well 

 suited for rose growth, and plants become large bushes in as few- 

 months as it would take years to grow them here, and yet, as Mr. 

 Broadway, the Curator, who was formerly Assistant Superintendent 

 in Trinidad, says — " They don't get half as much attention as they do 

 in Trinidad." 



Koses planted in newly made ground yield a rich return in 

 blossoms for the first few years in Trinidad Gardens, but in the 

 long run the soil becomes exhausted, and the beds have either to be 

 renewed entirely or a new plantation has to be formed elsewhere. 

 Our experience is not singular, but on the contrary, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Port-of-Spain it is a common condition of aflfairs, especially 

 where the same class of soil exists as at the Gardens. It is no 

 uncommon thing for residents in the vicinity of Port-of-Spain to 

 produce a fine bloom of roses — of which they are not a little proud — 

 provided they have a newly planted garden with fresh soil ; but the 

 time surely arrives when the reverse is the case and they seek for 

 advice as to what is to be done, and the only remedy we can supply is 

 — manure heavily, procure new plants, and provide fresh soil. In 

 rose culture generally the rose tree should be allowed to grow quite 

 strong before blossoms are allowed to be culled from it, as nothing 

 so surely weaJcens the plants as continuous cutting, and plants can 

 never become good fiower-producers if they are allowed to be cut 

 daily. Roses, like all other plants, should be allowed a period of rest, 

 and this can best be given in the dry season, and during this period 

 all blooms, as they appear, phould be removed in the bud with the 



