WINDOW GARDENING. 293 



The phrase " sub-rosa," implying secresy, is said to have originated during 

 the wars of York and Lancaster, when the red and white Roses played 

 so prominent a part ; but in ancient days it was the custom to suspend a Rose 

 over the heads of the guests at banquets and feasts, to signify that the conserva- 

 tive was not to be repeated. 



In mythology the Rose was dedicated to Harpocrates, the God of Silence. 



When the Roman pontiff desired to confer a particular distinction upon a 

 crowned head, he presented a consecrated Golden Rose. Both Henry VI and 

 Henry VIII, of England, were honored in this manner. 



Culture. 



The list of varieties of Roses is very extended, reaching over 600 or 1,000. 

 As many as 600 have been known to bloom in a single garden in this country, 

 and in some nurseries 100,000 have been under propagation at one time. 



The various sub-families of the Rose are numerous, yet for window gardening 

 ■we need only to use the ever-blooming or monthly species. Tea, China, and 

 Bourbon. Of these the Tea and China are the best adapted to winter flowering. 

 They delight in a very rich soil, composed of decomposed sods and manure ; 

 cow manure is the best of all others for Roses, but it must be so decayed that it 

 will crumble easily in the hand. They will grow in almost any soil, yet no 

 plant requires a richer compost or better repays the cultivator for preparing it. 



If the compost is heavy add enough sand to make it a little friable, but it pre- 

 fers a rather stiff soil. When it is in rapid growth it requires a good supply of 

 water, but not enough to make the soil too damp. When in a dormant state it 

 needs but very little. 



Roses that are transplanted from the garden require a time of rest, and it is 

 much better after potting them to put them in a dark cellar where they can 

 remain until February ; then bring them up, prune away the old wood, and give 

 them all the sunshine you can, for they require plenty of it to bloom in perfec- 

 tion. Amateurs fail in not pruning sufficiently; all the finest flowers are pro- 

 duced upon new shoots ; so be sure to cut back the long, scraggy branches 

 within three or four eyes of the main stem. There is no plant which requires 

 such close pruning. Very few flowers are found upon the old wood, but are 

 produced on the new, fresh .shoots, and the branches sent up from the roots. 



Roses are propagated by seeds, cuttings, layers, budding, and grafting. The 

 process of growing them from seed is too slow for amateurs to care to attempt 

 it, as the plants will not bloom for six or seven years. 



Cuttings are the easiest means of cultivation, and fine bushes can be raised 

 from them. The manner of growing them is described in Part I, the chapter 

 on Propagation, and little can be added to it. They will strike much more cer- 

 tainly under glass and with bottom heat, but in May and June they can be grown 

 in sand with but little attention. 



Layers are made by " tongueing " a branch, and bending it carefully down to 

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