172 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



plant and what the plant will be able to carry successfully.^" I 

 take out all the old wood, of course, and quite a number of the 

 young shoots; do not leave too many of the living shoots. 



Mr. Brown — I don't see why we don't have more roses. I cut 

 them right back to the ground and manure them well. I sold a 

 man a Jacquimenot last spring and it did so well that he says now 

 that he would not take $20 for the bush. I do the pruning about 

 this time of the year and then cover them with manure. I think 

 Mrs. Lamonte's idea of having them in the garden is a good one; 

 if they are where you can plow them it will be all the better. 

 The roses are the next best thing to the verbena. I cut the ver- 

 benas back also. This season I had bloom on my verbenas to 

 the middle of November by covering them of nights. 



Mr. Cook — I pride myself on my roses, and at the time of our 

 Rose and Strawberry Show at Lacon last June, I think I had an 

 exhibition as fine as could be found in the United States. I had 

 a case as wide as this room and twice the length of the 

 room. It was an extra season for roses with us. Some were 

 counting the roses on one bush to get an estimate of the number 

 and they calculated that on one hedge were over 10,000 blooms. 

 One trouble with our growing roses is that too many do not 

 know how to treat them. Now I take the Calla Lily and put it 

 right out in the ground with the cabbage, and re-pot it in the 

 fall; that will make it grow. With my roses I believe in fall 

 trimming. I shall go through them when I get home. The sap 

 had not gone down enough when I came away to put them in 

 shape for trimming. My June roses, I shall cut out about one- 

 third of this year's growth; my hybrid perpetuals, I shall cut 

 back about two-thirds. For some winters I have not protected 

 my roses at all. I lose more by drouth than from cold. I prefer 

 to go to the henery for fertilizers. I take it through the summer 

 and sift it, and when I want it it is in good shape. I put it 

 around the bushes and then cover with straw or other litter, or 

 anything that can be spaded in. I cultivate around the 

 roses the same as I would around the cabbage. If you are buy- 

 ing flower seeds, do not buy the cheap, mixed packages. Buy 

 good high priced seeds if you want anything satisfactory. 



Mr. Brown — How far apart do you put your roses in the hedge? 



