REMARKS ON ROSES. 



409 



place of those which were lost. In the 

 spring, when the buds first begin to swell, 

 look over your Roses carefully, and remove 

 any that are likely to be in the way ; for 

 you will find the growth of some Roses al- 

 together different from others, many requir- 

 ing a great deal of space to develop them- 

 selves properly for blooming, while an equal 

 number occupy but little room, and bloom 

 freely on their short branches. If nothing 

 was said about it, one or two seasons would 

 discover these characteristics, but with this 

 explanation, you can the more satisfactorily 

 regulate the growth of your plants. Many 

 climbing Roses are wanted to run over 

 arches, or from pillar to pillar : the best 

 way of managing these, is, to thin out the 

 weak branches only, of those portions which 

 form the arch or festoon, and not to shorten 

 the strong ones at all, for they will bloom 

 abundantly without it ; and. the loose and 

 free manner of their hanging about, pro- 

 vided they are kept within due bounds, will 

 cause them to appear to great advantage. 



In training Roses on flat surfaces, such 

 as the fronts of houses, walls, and flat trel- 

 lises, the course to be pursued does not dif- 

 fer much from that above detailed. The 

 leading shoots must be encouraged to grow 

 as you want them, to fill the space allotted 

 to the plant. In some cases it will be best 

 to train two shoots horizontally, right and 

 left, along the bottom, and from these, per- 

 mitting all the upper buds to grow, the 

 shoots can be regulated with a great deal 

 of neatness and taste. Where the space to 

 be covered is all one way, train one strong 

 branch horizontally, and turn up ihe end; 

 remove all weak side shoots, and fan out 

 the others at equal distances. With quick 

 growing plants, a large space may soon be 

 entirely covered, and flower from top to 

 bottom, thus presenting a splendid object, 

 which, if the plant be Hybrid Boarhon, 

 .33 



Great Western, or Bourbon Enfant d'Ajac- 

 do, will exceed in beauty anything of the 

 kind ever seen. Two better Roses, for the 

 purposes of training in any fancy way, can 

 not be found, and the first is a beautiful 

 thing, grow it as you please. When the 

 entire space allotted is completely filled, all 

 weak shoots must be cut away, every season, 

 only permitting the strong ones to develop 

 themselves, and keeping all the branches 

 closely tied or nailed to the surface, you 

 will have your plants look neat and tidy. 

 The loose and free manner of training 

 around pillars, &c., is not suited to a flat 

 surface, and would spoil the effect entirely, 

 if permitted. 



At this point, in our remarks on Roses, a 

 great deal might be said on the subject of 

 forcing the various classes, of potting them, 

 preparing for exhibition, &c., but as we did 

 not intend to write a treatise, or say more 

 than we have already, on particular opera- 

 tions, further details will be deferred to 

 some other time. Not to break off too ab- 

 ruptly, however, we proceed to say, that of 

 all plants, the Rose yields the most readily 

 to a proper course of culture, and will cer- 

 tainly repay the grower for all the care he 

 may bestow. If the amateur desires an 

 abundance, of flowers, regardless of their 

 size, he must be cautious in the handling 

 of his knife ; take out all weak shoots, but 

 leave on plenty of wood, so that every eye 

 may give one or more blooms. As there is 

 so much of it, the new wood will be short, 

 nor is this any disadvantage, under the cir- 

 cumstances. But if large flowers are 

 wanted, all the strong wood of the previous 

 year must be cut away, leaving but two 

 eyes, and removing some of it altogether. 

 By this course, there will be but few 

 flowers, yet they will be large and fine. 

 We have insisted upon growing the Rose 

 in a very rich soil ; still, Roses will grow 



