‘72 ANNUAL REPORT. | | 
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must be the wish of every real lover of flowers to see the rose 
cultivated in Minnesota to some advantage. 
In this respect the florist in the Northwest has the same 
difficulties to overcome as his colleague, the fruit-grower. 
Both have to contend against severe cold, biting storms, &c. 
_ The fruit-grower is compelled to protect his pets by mulch- 
ing, enwrapping, and other well known means. The florist 
must adopt similar measures, if he would be considered a 
faithful guardian of the tender “ children of Flora” that may. 
be entrusted to his care. If we can recommend and practice 
the cultivation of grapes, blackberries, raspberries and straw- 
berries, neither of which can be successfully raised without 
protection against the severity of our climate, then there can 
be no good reason why the rose, that “ queen of flowers,” 
immortalized by Anacreon in the following stanza— 
‘* Rose! thou art the sweetest flower 
That ever drank the amber shower; 
Rose! thou art the fondest child 
Of dimpled spring, the wood nymph wild,” 
should not receive equal attention, and it should be a matter 
of pride to domicile this beautiful plant in every garden of 
this great State, even if a little additional care and labor is 
required, although, in my opinion, no more than is bestowed - 
upon the grape, &c. 
Inasmuch as we are treating this subject with a view to the 
cultivation of roses in the open ground only, it is appropriate 
that we should know the quality of 
THE SOIL. 
This should be highly cultivated, for although the rose will 
grow in almost any kind of soil, the lack of richness will tend 
to decrease it in size and in the beauty of its form. The 
proper soil for the rose is strong, rich loam and well decom- 
posed vegetable mould, cow or horse dung. If the soil be 
light, holes must be dug and loam and dung forked in at the 
bottom. Troublesome as this may be, it is the only way to 
secure a good growth and bloom. The evil of poor soil for 
the rose is, that it makes the flower that would otherwise be 
double come single or semi-double. As it is difficult to give 
the rose too rich a soil, it may be as well to work in a spadeful 
of dung with it, for it will do no harm, even if the state of 
the ground be ever so good. Of all soils one of a sandy or 
gravelly nature is the worst, while, on the other hand, a wet 
and dense clay is scarcely better. Asa general principle, the 
rose requires rich soil, and if you have it not, you must 
