FORCING OF ROSES. 189 



flowers may always be depended upon, even from 

 them : instead of forcing them for a second crop, 

 it will be better to place them in the greenhouse, 

 they will then bloom again finely in May. I 

 find, from experience, that all the Autumnal Roses 

 may be forced every year without any disad- 

 vantage : to ensure their well-doing, they must 

 be removed from the forcing-house early in June, 

 the surface of the pots dressed with rotten manure, 

 and plunged in the same, or leaves, or any light 

 substance. Towards the end of August they 

 should be carefully shifted — removing a portion 

 of the earth from their roots and loosening the 

 ball of earth and roots by pressing it with the 

 fingers — into a compost of light loam and rotten 

 dung, two-thirds of the former to one-third of the 

 latter (this is, on the whole, the very best compost 

 for potted roses), watered, and again plunged, till 

 required for forcing : this shifting would be better 

 performed in June ; but, as the weather is then 

 often hot and dry, roses worked on the Dog 

 Rose are apt to suffer. Pots of the sizes called 

 near London 24's and 1 6's * are the best sizes for 

 strong plants of roses for forcing : when potted, 

 the large and imyielding roots should be cut off 

 close, so that the plants may stand in the centre of 

 the pots, the fibrous and small roots merely tipped. 



* The respective sizes of these pots are, — 24's, 7^ inches deep, 

 and 8 inches over, measuring across the top of the pot; 16's, 8i 

 inches deep, 9 inches in diameter. 



