316 ANNUAL REPORT 



President Elliot. Why I inquired about protection was, T 

 have been experimenting with roses some little time, and trying 

 some hardy varieties the last two years. We have always had 

 more or less trouble in our sandy soil, it being too warm some 

 years, and in others they would come out in good condition. We 

 have tried putting them down and covering with earth. The 

 last two years we have covered entirely with leaves. We take a 

 sheet and spread it out and gather the leaves in it. We pin the 

 bushes down close to the ground with forked sticks and cover 

 over with leaves, and throw some pieces of boards over, and 

 that is all the protection given. My roses have done better in 

 that way than by any other treatment. 



Mr. Gray. What varieties have you ? 



President Elliot. Gen. Jacqueminot, Maiden Blush, Madam 

 Plantier, Moses, and half a dozen other different varieties. 



Mr. Smith. Do you put the boards on so as to keep the water 

 from settling in ? 



President Elliot. Just enough old pieces to carry off the 

 water. 



Mr. Frisselle. What was the character of the subsoil of your 

 ground ? 



Mrs. Underwood. I guess Mr. Underwood can tell better 

 about that. 



Mr. Underwood. Clay subsoil; black soil on top. I will say 

 in regard to covering that we have not had as good results with 

 straw and leaves as with dirt, or boards. I have kept 

 them very well with boards alone, but think the proper 

 object to be gained is to keep them from alternately freez- 

 ing and thawing. Perhaps leaves will do it, but I think we 

 have had better results from the use of earth than from leaves 

 or boards. I am anxious to try a plan recommended by an en- 

 thusiastic grower of roses in Canada. He digs a pit, and takes 

 up his roses every fall, and places them in the pit. He grows- 

 the most delicate varieties, and takes them out in the spring and 

 resets them. 



Mrs. Campbell. I would like to suggest that if Mrs. Under- 

 wood will use white hellebore, it will destroy the bugs without 

 injury in any way to the bushes. I think the little worms she 

 describes are the common slugs. 



President Elliot. Do they roll the leaf 1 



Mrs. Underwood. No, sir, they do not. They look very much 

 like worms that are found on gooseberries; it is a green bug with 

 a big head. 



