1879.J THINNING AND MULCHING ROSES. 467 



will be necessary to keep them gently on the move throughout the 

 winter, where heat has to be resorted to in order to get them estab- 

 lished. All kinds of bedding plants not previously put in to strike, 

 should be got in without delay, in order to get somewhat established 

 before the winter is on us. Calceolarias can be left till the end of the 

 month ; but Violas should be left no later. Gladioli should be lifted 

 and ripened in vineries, as there is not the slightest likelihood of their 

 doing so out of doors this season. The soil clinging to the roots should 

 be left, as it keeps the bulbs from getting shrivelled. Dahlias should 

 be watched and lifted before being hurt by frost : these have been 

 absolutely without effect this season. 



Where spring-flowering plants and bulbs occupy the places of the 

 autumn-flowering plants, it is advisable to get these planted as soon as 

 beds begin to look shabby. The middle of October, generally, is quite 

 as late as this should be deferred. Tulips, Hyacinths, Crocuses, 

 Narcissus, &c, can all be planted at same time, leaving them of 

 course till all the plants are into their places. As a rule, these 

 bulbous flowering-plants should be dotted amongst dwarf-flowering or 

 foliage plants, more especially where the beds are open to inspection 

 throughout the winter. In any case it is best to carpet the ground 

 with green Sedums or mossy Saxifrages. It is, however, a matter to 

 be considered whether it pays to keep a display of spring-flowering 

 and autumn-flowering plants in the same beds : very commonly both 

 are failures, and, at the best, one of the seasons' display is apt to be 

 neglected. There is far too much required in these go-ahead times ; 

 and as long as two and two make four it will continue to be an im- 

 possibility to obtain more from Nature than she will give. 



Phloxes should now be broken up and planted in deeply-trenched 

 rich ground, Carnations finished potting up, Rose cuttings put in to 

 strike on a warm border, and everything prepared for the coming 

 winter. R. P. Beotheeston. 



THINNING AND MULCHING ROSES IN AUTUMN. 



Peehaps there is no other branch of nursery business in Great Britain 

 in which there is such a general interest taken as in propagating and 

 cultivating the Rose. Thousands are grown annually, and thousands 

 are killed by those fell destroyers, soil and climate, both of which are 

 seldom found suitable in the same garden. Reference need hardly be 

 made to the soil best adapted to the cultivation of the Rose, but there 

 is one important operation which should receive attention in the early 

 autumn — viz., thinning the shoots something after the way we thin 

 out Raspberry plantations, and expose a limited number of shoots both 

 to sun and light, — and mulching the surface of the beds can hardly be 

 said to be of secondary consideration. In light soils, especially, which 



