222 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



temperature by dep;rees, if flowers are required very early. Where bottom-heat 

 can be obtained, we think it advantageous, although by no means necessary. A 

 good point to start from in forcing; is 50" to 55" by day, and 40' by night. The tem- 

 perature of the houses requires close atti^tion ; and the state of the atmosphere as 

 reo-ards its humidity, although often overlooked, is equally important. Too dry an 

 atmosphere causes a drain upon the nutritive organs, and will cause the young 

 leaves to wither and fall off ; it also encourages red spider. A too damp atmosphere 

 is favourable to the production of mildew, especially if the temperature should fall 

 suddenly, from the effect of atmospiieric clianges from without, or other causes. A 

 dry air 'may be remedied by syringing the plants copiously, and if found necessary 

 by pouring water on the floor of the house. A damp atmosphere is best remedied 

 by giving air. Unless the weather be very frosty, air should be admitted for the 

 fi.Vst fortnight, to strengthen the growing buds ; but so soon as leaves are formed it 

 will be necessary to keep the house constantly closed, except the air be very mild, 

 which it seldom is at this season of the year. By the admission of cold air, the 

 young leaves may, from their extreme tenderness, be blighted in an hour. The 

 plants being once fairly aroused, and their roots in action, the temperature may be 

 gradually raised till we reach 50' by night and 75" by dav. A higher temperature 

 than this should not, I think, be produced artificially. Towards the spring sudden 

 bursts of sunshine will occasionally raise the house 10" without producing any in- 

 jurious effects ; still, if the weather be mild, we would counteract this by giving 

 air ; if keen and windy, by shading. A temperature of 90" or even 100" caused by 

 sunshine, is, however, productive of less injury than a keen frosty air. 



"Management of Plantations. — La standard roses, suckers from the stock 

 often shoot forth, and will impoverish the tree if allowed to remain. They should 

 be watched for and invariably removed so soon as seen ; if proceeding from beneath 

 the ground, it is necessary to remove the soil, for which purpose a spade is best, 

 and they should he cut off close to the stock from whence they spring. If this is 

 strictly attended to for two or three years, roses will cease to throw suckers. On the 

 specimen plants here, which are of some age, it is rare that a sucker is seen. 



*' At the same time that we are on the look-out for suckers, it may be well to 

 have an eye on the heads of the trees, to establish a regular growth. Besides the 

 shoots produced at stated periods — in spring and in summer immediately after 

 flowering — it is not unusual, when a plant is in full vigoui-, for buds that have lain 

 dormant even for a year or two to burst into life, producing very gross shoots. If 

 such proceed from the summer kinds, they rarely flower, and, not ripening well, are 

 of little use ; if they arise from the autumnals, a large truss of flowers is often 

 produced, but their quality is quite mediocre. In both cases, by drawing to them- 

 selves the nutritive juices of the plant, these gross shoots weaken the more moderate 

 and valuable branches. But what shall be done with them ? They are fine shoots, 

 and it is a pity to destroy them. But if the plant is already furnished with shoots, 

 it is certainly best to destroy them, by cutting them off close to the base, so soon 

 as discovered. If, however, there ai-e but few shoots, or a tree is ill-shapen, they 

 may be turned to advantage. Under the latter state of things, pinch out their tops 

 when they have reached an advantageous height, which the looker-on must deter- 

 mine, and thus they may be brought to fill up a scanty tree, or balance a misshapen 

 one. But supposing, when such shoots arise, a summer rose has an abundance of 

 vigorous shoots, or an autumnal is scant of bloom, though at the same time in such 

 a state of health and vigour as to warrant us in concluding there is a sufficient com- 

 mand of food to support and develop existing branches and anticipated flowers, this 

 may render it advisable to allow such shoots their natural course of growth, when 

 the autumnals— and here we refer to the varieties of Rosea indica especially — often 

 terminate with a large cluster of flowers. But, remember, the most vigorous shoots 

 in summer roses are least likely to flower ; in autumnals, they do not produce the 

 best flowers, 



" As a general rule, so soon as the flower-buds are formed, if we are seeking 

 large flowers in preference to numbers, it will be well to nip out first those that 

 seem imperfect, and afterwards such as are smallest and most backward. It has 

 even been recommended to cut off the early flowers of the autumnals, on the ground 

 that there is an abundance of other roses in June, and the practice causes a finer 

 and more certain production in autumn. Yet we see no need for destroying the 

 first flowers of the former. Let them bloom j and when the flowers drop, remove 



