THE FLORAL WORLD AXD GARDEX GUIDE. 341 



and it is best to begin with the tallest. If these average six feet 

 high, they must be five feet apart in the row, or not more than five- 

 and-twenty in a run of one hundred feet. The next row should be 

 five feet removed from the first, and the trees in it should average 

 four and a-half feet high, and be put four feet asunder. The next 

 row should be four feet from the second, and the trees in it should 

 average three feet high, and be three feet apart in the row. If they 

 are strong-growing sorts, and the soil is good, and the trees have 

 already fine heads, give them a distance of four feet apart, and they 

 will soon touch each other, and make a solid line of leaf and bloom. 

 The front row should be three feet from the last, and the bushes in 

 it two feet apart, aud set back two feet from the edge of the walk. 

 The quickest way to plant is to lay down the line, throw out a trench, 

 place the trees, carefully laying out the roots near the surface, throw 

 a little earth over, and tread very lightly, just enough to keep them 

 upright, and so on till the whole are in their places. Then go over 

 them again, tread them firm, and stake them securely, and they may 

 remain for months, if need be, without any further attention. The 

 reason I always plant them loose in the first instance is this, that 

 when the whole piece is planted, I am sure to want to move a few, 

 and make a few exchanges. I can, therefore, take out any of them 

 by a mere touch, rearrange as needful, and there is no waste of labour. 

 Besides, this sort of work should be done quickly, for we do not get 

 much fine weather at the time for planting roses, and it does them 

 much mischief to lay about : the sooner their roots are covered the 

 better. By the system of merely placing them with a shovelful of 

 stuff over the roots, the whole lot can be got into their places quickly, 

 and come rain, frost, snow, or what else, they cannot sufler : they 

 are safe, and if not finished for a week or two no harm can arise. 

 But I do not counsel delay ; the true rosarian will never shilly- 

 shally when planting is the order of the day. The sooner the whole 

 job is finished the better, but if every individual tree is finished right 

 out at once some may snfier through laying about with perhaps their 

 roots not half covered, and at the best it is certain that a few will 

 have to be lifted to get them all into perfect order. 



In the " Eose Book " I have advocated the use of iron stakes for 

 rose-trees. !Some growers contend that iron stakes do harm, and 

 they go on using oak stakes instead. Observation and experience 

 have convinced me that iron stakes do no harm, and that oak stakes, 

 and in fact any kind of timber supports, are really injurious, and 

 many a rose tree is killed by the spread of fungus over its roots 

 through contact with decaying wood. Ten years ago I bought a lot 

 of iron stakes for our standard roses, and they have been constantly 

 in use ever since, and are now as good ns new. Once in three years 

 we boil up a cauldron of tar and pitch, thrust the ends of the 

 stakes into the fire that boils the pot, and when the ends are rather 

 hot dip them into the mixture. Two coats of paint on the length 

 of the rod finishes them ; they can be placed close to the stems of 

 the trees, care being taken in thrusting them down not to drive 

 them through the thick roots near the collar, and when the trees are 

 tied up the stakes are almost invisible. 



