604 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



so that they may have time to mature and harden before cold 

 weather; and then if we get the bushes nicely started aud have 

 something pleasing- to look at and to show, we are certain to make 

 more effort to keep them in a vigorous, healthy condition. 



In what I have said about the trouble that the rose grower may 

 expect, and the remedies that he must apply to correct them, I 

 hope I have not drawn a discouraging picture. The sum of these 

 troubles no doubt gives us a most potent answer to the title of 

 this paper, that is, the enemies of the rose destroy so many plants 

 that we cannot expect to see more roses in our yards and gardens 

 until the lovers of the rose learn to institute a more vigorous cam- 

 paign against its enemies. 



There is a bright side to this rose question in the form of many 

 beautiful rose gardens, I have seen some of them and no doubt 

 all of you have seen others just as beautiful; they are not always 

 visible from the street, but are often located in some chosen spot 

 just out of public sight. I do not mean commercial gardens, but 

 refer to those that have been planted and cared for by the amateur. 

 Some of the prettiest gardens I know of have been and are now 

 cared for by very busy people, who will tell you that it does not 

 take very much of their time to do the work necessary to keep 

 the plants in fine condition, and that they as well as their friends 

 get a great deal of pleasure from them all summer long. 



In selecting rose bushes do not always insist on having hardy 

 plants for there are many of the tender and semi-hardy ever-bloom- 

 ing varieties that will grow so well and bloom so continuously 

 during the first season that I am sure anyone should feel well repaid 

 for planting them even if they did not live through the winter. To 

 get the best results the bed must be enriched with well rotted stable 

 manure, cow r manure being preferred. I am satisfied that this 

 method of growing roses — choosing the ever-blooming varieties and 

 replacing each spring any that may winter-kill — will become much 

 more popular in the near future. Small own-root roses can be 

 bought very cheap in quantities, in fact they cost very little more 

 than other kinds of tender bedding plants such as geraniums and 

 coleus. Do not suppose that these small roses will not grow into 

 good sized plants and give you lots of bloom the first season, I can 

 assure you that they will if you do your part in caring for them. 

 In thus recommending the small rose plants it is not my intention 

 to discourage people wdio prefer them, from getting the two yeai 

 old plants. The two-year old bushes are better for immediate ef- 

 fect, but they cost much more than the one-year size — probably more 

 than many people in our latitude would care to invest in semi-hardy 

 rose plants. 



A very good way to protect tender roses during the winter is to 

 cover the ground around the bushes to a depth of five or six inches 

 with leaves, tie the branches of each bush closely together, and 

 put over each bush a keg, barrel or box with both ends knocked 

 out; set the box or whatever is used so that the rose bush will be 

 near the middle of it, then fill up the box with dry leaves, being 

 careful to settle then down around the rose bush, then put a lid 

 on the box to keep the rain and snow from wetting the leaves. If 

 the bnshes are very tender be careful to have at least six inches of 



