410 



REMARKS ON ROSES. 



in a poor one, but the wood will be weak 

 and short, and the flowers small. Be- 

 sides, when a Rose is starved, it is very 

 apt to come semi-douUe, thus undoubtedly 

 causing many to be thrown away that 

 should not have been, and others to be re- 

 garded as wrong varieties, when they want- 

 ed nothing but good growth to make them 

 right ones. A rich soil will cause the Rose 

 to grow very strongly, and if such be the 

 pleasure of the cultivator, he may have his 

 plants of any intermediate growth between 

 strong and weak, according to the quality 

 of his soil. It is very generally thought 

 that to make a rich soil, dung only is re- 

 quired. This may be the case in number- 

 less instances, where other plants are culti- 

 vated ; but, to grow the Rose as it ought to 

 be, in appearance and size, loam is abso- 

 lutely required, and if your soil does not 

 contain it, it must be added, say half loam 

 and half dung, to be well mixed in before 

 planting. When Roses are properly plant- 

 ed, they should always be neatly tied to 

 stakes, as a protection from the injury of 

 the wind, either to the plants or flowers, or 

 both. The material for fastening, is usually 

 bass matting or woollen yarn, sometimes a 

 piece of thread or string, but none of these 

 is half as good as lead wire, of the proper 

 size ; all the others are perishable, fre- 

 quently giving way, and subjecting the 

 plants to damage before it is noticed. It is 

 a fact deserving of notice, that but a few of 

 the really double Roses, among all those at 

 present cultivated, open out as well as the 

 semi-double ones. In consequence of this 

 defect in the larger proportion of the finer 

 sorts, they can not be exhibited as single 

 blooms, or stand the test of a critical exami- 

 nation. If it be the desire of the amateur 

 to grow none but perfect flowers, the selec- 

 tion should alone embrace those which ex- 

 perience has shown to expand well, and to 



present a perfect face when full blown. 

 When exhibited singly as Dahlias are, it 

 takes a good Rose to pass the ordeal of a 

 capable and discriminating judge, and un- 

 der such a trial, many new Roses will be 

 discarded, while well known old and fine 

 Roses will be justly appreciated. True, 

 this mode of exhibiting a flower is not the 

 most attractive, but it is altogether the best 

 method of testing its qualities, and too fre- 

 quently discloses numberless varieties with 

 very glaring faults. At all the exhibitions 

 we have ever attended, quite a number of 

 flowers have been seen upon the stands 

 with conspicuous defects. Some are close 

 balls of petals, with the outer ones rolling 

 back a little, as if shrivelling, but never 

 opening fairly. Others freely display their 

 yellow stamens, having too few petals to 

 conceal them ; some are on stems too weak 

 to hold them up if lifted ; and others, again, 

 are only a confused mass of ill-formed pe- 

 tals, compensating nothing for their sweet- 

 ness. Some can not be touched without 

 dropping to pieces, and others are shapeless 

 masses of a miserable flimsy texture, with- 

 out fragrance, or one single quality to re- 

 commend them. Such are the things too fre- 

 quently seen at our horticultural exhibitions, 

 brought out with all the claims of Tiuvelty, 

 yet not half so good as the Tuscan, the old 

 Cabbage, the Provence, and some others of 

 the long known varieties. 



The exhibition of Roses in pots, has be- 

 come quite a feature in the regulations of 

 most horticulture societies, and it is a very 

 pretty way of showing them, if properly cul- 

 tivated. We generally, however, find them 

 too much drawn, and very unnaturally sup- 

 ported. If the plants have been forced, 

 some allowance must be made for it ; but 

 he alone deserves a prize for his skill, who 

 can produce his plants without support; not 

 the man who draws his plants until they 



