186 THE FLORIST. 



allies, when threatening to destroy the balance of the tree. Summer is 

 the time for propagating Roses, Hollyhocks, Pinks, Pansies, and many 

 bedding plants, to secure a strong and healthy stock for planting out the 

 following spring. Place ripened cuttings of your Roses, Hollyhocks, and 

 Pansies under a handglass on a north border, or in pots in a cold frame. 

 Scarlet Geraniums, Verbenas, Fuchsias, and other bedding plants, may 

 be placed six or eight round the side of a five -inch pot, in a compost of 

 loam, sand, and pulverised manure. Set them in a close frame or pit, 

 shade and keep the leaves moist, by sprinkling them for the first fort- 

 night, and you may calculate on a fair proportion becoming healthy 

 and vigorous plants. They may be wintered in a cold frame or green- 

 house, taking care to protect them from frost ; and when potted off in 

 March, give to each plant a separate pot, preparatory to 'hardening off' 

 and planting in the ground in May." 



Concerning that Queen of flowers, the Rose, we have the following 

 remarks : — 



" The most important requirements in the cultivation of the Rose, 

 are, good soil and a pure air. A deep rich loam, well drained, seems 

 to suit it best ; and if the natural soil of your garden be far distant 

 from this, the nearer you can approach it by the aid of foreign materials, 

 the better. As we cannot alter the state of the air, this requirement 

 must be met by suiting the varieties to it. In smoky locahties, or 

 where, from any cause, the air is impure, the hardiest varieties of Hybrid 

 Chinas, Hybrid Perpetuals, and Noisettes, will be found to succeed best. 

 The position of Roses in a garden will depend much on its size. If 

 there be room to form a Rosetum, a series of beds on a lawn, with 

 single specimens of American or other ornamental flowering plants 

 interspersed, is very effective. A single clump on a lawn is in good 

 taste, formed of either standards or dwarfs, or both combined. Standard 

 and pillar Roses may also be planted to advantage, singly on lax^ms, or 

 in avenues. The borders may be planted with groups here and there, 

 and the climbing sorts planted against, and trained to, bowers, trellis, 

 or rustic work. The Rose, in its various forms, is adaptable to almost 

 every kind of ornamental planting, and positions of suitability will 

 almost surely show themselves in every garden. It has already been 

 said that the choice of varieties should be regulated by the soil and 

 situation. The INIoss and Tea-scented Rose are considered by many 

 the most beautiful, and certainly they are the most dehcate. Neither 

 succeeds well in the immediate neighbourhood of large towns ; whereas . 

 both grow as well as the commonest kinds in a warm situation, pure air, 

 and light loamy soil. The hardiest groups of Roses are perhaps 

 the Damask, Gallica, Ayrshire, Sempervirens, Hybrid China, and 

 Hybrid Bourbon, among summer Roses ; and some varieties of Hybrid 

 Perpetual, Noisette, and Bourbon among the Roses of autumn. The 

 month of November is a capital time for the removal of Roses intended 

 to remain permanently in the open ground. The temperature of the 

 earth at that period induces the rapid emission of fresh rootlets, and the 

 plant becomes well established in the soil by the arrival of the growing 

 season. Nevertheless, spring-planting is not open to condemnation. 

 I have seen the most complete success wait on its adoption. The ground 



