NAT. ORDER. ROSACEA. 105 



moisture at the roots of the roses, the gardeners generally mu.ch 

 tliem witli half rotten stable dung, or partially rotten leaves. 



Porwarding and /fctarding /^uscs. The earliest flowering Rose is 

 the Monthly, which, in mild seasons, and planted against a wall, will 

 sometimes flower in the begiimin^ of April. Tlie Roses next in 

 succession are the Cinnanum, which flowers in May ; the Damask, 

 in the end of May or beginning of June ; the Blush, Yoi-k and Lan- 

 caster, Province and Dutch I/undred-lcavcd, in June, July and Aug- 

 ust. The Virginia and Musk Ifoscs are the latest sorts : they flower 

 in September, and, in shady situations, will sometimes continue in 

 bloom (ill (lie middle of October ; but the earliest Rose (the Monthly) 

 is also the latest, and generally continues flowering till interrupted 

 by frost. The. earliest sorts may be materially forwarded by being 

 I)lanted against a south wall, and, if portable sashes be placed before 

 them, and (he wall is cither flued or heated by fires, tiie plants may 

 be brouglit to flower in February or March. The Monthly Pose, 

 being protected by glass in autumn, or aided by artificial heat, may 

 be continued in bloom till Christmas. A very common mode of ob- 

 taining late Roses, and one of the greatest antiquity, is by cutting 

 all (he flower shoots ofl" when the buds begin to appear, or by rub- 

 bing ofi" all the rudiments of shoots of every kind, early in the .spring-: 

 a second crop is in consequence produced, which will not be in a 

 state to bloom before the autumn. 



Forcing the Rose. The best sorts for this purpose are the Common 

 and Moss Province. The Indian sorts force well, or rather in stoves 

 condnue in bloom all the year; but the more common varieties, not 

 being fragrant, they are in less repute than the European Roses. 

 Rose plants should be a year in pots, previous to the autumn when 

 it is intended to force them : they should be planted in pots six or 

 eight inches in diameter, in rich loam, and placed in an open, airy 

 situation, (heir flower-buds pinched ofi" as they appear, and the 

 plants put into a state of rest, by excluding sun and rain, but not a 

 free circulation of air. Abercrombie says, " There is no certainty of 



