FLORICULTURE. 355 



It follows, of course, that to produce such rich and continuous 

 development the plant must receive corresponding- nourishment. 

 In fact, the soil for perpetuals can hardly be made too rich, too thor- 

 oughly and constantly cultivated, nor, in our hot dry weather, too 

 abundantly watered. A few spraj'S from the hydrant dashed over 

 the bushes night and morning are well enough as far as thej' go, 

 but water to be effective should, in abundance, penetrate to the 

 treasures of manure in the soil, thus forming the rich juices that 

 the roots can drink up, and which gives them the power to produce 

 such bounteous results. 



The soil of my garden was a sandy loam to which in the rose 

 beds was added a small amount of claj'. The only manure used 

 was well rotted horse manure, and as much of it was spaded in as 

 could possibly be done. In this matter, a word of warning is neces- 

 sary. A large amount of manure without plentj' of water will do 

 more harm than benefit. I should add that every week all the soap- 

 suds from the laundr}^ was put into the soil around the rosebushes. 

 Hoeing was done on an average twice a week, sometimes oftener. 



I give this simply as my own experience, and can onlj^ add that I 

 cannot remember a day after I began to cultivate perpetuals accord- 

 ing to this S3^stem that my bushes were without roses, from June to 

 October. 



My first Jaqueminot was an old fossil that came from the East, for 

 which I paid seven dollars. It had one long big root, so destitute 

 of rootlets that it looked as if it had grown in a plaster cast. I 

 planted it from a sense of duty with not the faintest hope of its sur- 

 vival. During the summer a tiny shoot with a few poor leaves 

 started from the stump; the next j^ear produced several worthless 

 stems, but in the spring of the third year great robust stems shot 

 up from the root three or four feet in height and bore magnificent 

 roses. I had the curiosity to dig down and examine the root and 

 found that plenty of vigorous roots had sprung- from tlie dry old 

 one, and had stretched about in all directions, a fine testimony to 

 the virtue of a rich mellow soil, and "the finest climate in the 

 world." 



Some June roses well repay careful and thorough cultivation. By 

 cutting out the old wood, and all weak superfluous growth immedi- 

 ately after they are done blooming, the new shoots will grow taller 

 and more vigorous. And if the soil is enriched and cultivated it 

 will return ten-fold the next season in larger and more double flow- 

 ers with increased depth of color. 



Let any one try this method with the lovely Yellow Harrison, and 

 after two seasons, it will hardly be recognized as the same rose. 



The old White Province-Unique is a good subject for such experi- 

 ments; the rose so dear to many of us from its associations with the 

 Eastern home of our childhood, where its gracefixl loveliness shaded 

 the homely porch, or twined over the lattice that surrounded the 

 well curb, and its perfume filled the air with a fragrance never to be 

 forgotten. A lady from the East gave me a scrubby little bush of it 

 in '.59, which was badl^^ dried up from a long journey; but it recov- 

 ered, and under good treatment grew to an amazing size, and was 



