252 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



one, finish covering, packing the soil quite solid with the hands around 

 the roots, and covering a little higher than it was before, as you can tell 

 by the dark lines on the bark of the plant. If you have the large-growing 

 kinds, plant about four feet one way and three feet the other, although 

 I would not set them in such regular order myself. Cover each plant 

 with something, as a plant-crock, paint-pail, basin, or box for ten days 

 or more, or until you see some new growth, when the covering may be 

 dispensed with. 



If it is cold at night, with danger of the ground freezing, they must be 

 covered. Usually the middle of May is the best time for putting them 

 out. 



Now, this bed, with such small plants in it, will look rather bare this 

 summer, so I would sow some annuals, or bed out my geraniums or other 

 plants. It will help to keep the weeds out, and add much to the looks. 



You may sprinkle the plants at night a little, and when they commence 

 to grow, keep the ground well cultivated. 



You will probably lose some plants, but don't be discouraged. Yon 

 won't have many roses this year; I don't care what the catalogues say, 

 I know. Along toward fall some one will say, " There is a bud on one of 

 the little roses." Don't let more than one bud develop on a bush the first 

 season, and pick that oif before it is fairly open, put it in a small 

 vase of water, and, my word for it, you will enjoy it fully as much as if 

 it were on the bush, and the bush be much better off. The most that is 

 necessary now is to keep the weeds out, and the soil loose till cold 

 weather. 



Hardy roses, dealers tell us, need no protection, but it is well to see 

 that the roots are well covered, the earth being drawn up a little around 

 the base of the plant, and when the ground has frozen it would be well 

 to cover the bed with leaves, straw, evergreen boughs, or whatever is 

 most convenient, and leave till spring. 



As the weather grows warmer and the frost is out, gradually remove 

 the covering, give the bed a good coat of manure, spade it in well, and trim 

 off all the wood that is winter killed, and when your roses begin to grow, 

 you may be on the watch for — not roses, but slugs and bugs, and all the 

 other enemies of the rose. 



For slugs, aphis, and worms we have found nothing better than helle- 

 bore, taking a tablespoonful to a large pail of water. Place the hellebore 

 in hot water, add three or four spoonsful of molasses, and fill up with cold 

 water, keeping it well stirred, and apply to the bushes, taking care to get 

 it on the under side of the leaves. We use a rubber sprinkler holding 

 half a pint. It is quite a job, but it pays. By the first of June you can 

 cut roses for vourself and friends. Notice, I sav cut. Cut with a knife, 

 slanting. They will keep fresh much longer. Pick at night, if possible, 

 or before the sun shines on them in the morning. They will keep fresh 

 much longer. 



I presume you will have rose bugs to contend with. The best remedy 

 we have found for them is to take a dishpan filled with water, and pick 

 them off and throw them into the pan. We generally go over the bushes 

 a couple of times in a season. This year we did not have any to speak of. 



If you have chosen well and wisely, you can have a rosebud to wear oc- 

 casionally frdm June till cold weather comes again. 



