116 THE ROSE. 
plants from becoming dry, is all that is 
necessary. 
In about three weeks, the plants, if prop- 
erly treated, will be ready to shift into four 
or five-inch pots. Thesame care used in the 
first potting must be observed in this. By 
watering the plants an hour or so before 
shifting, they will leave the pot with a ball 
of earth, and thus but slight check or disturb- 
ance is given to the growth of the plants. 
The pots should always be filled to the 
amount of one-fourth or one-fifth their depth 
with broken pieces of pots, or similar sub- 
stances, in order to secure perfect drainage. 
After four or five weeks’ growth the plants 
should be ready for the second shift, when 
six or seven-inch pots will be needed. The 
same soil should be used, but with the addi- 
tion of one shovelful of pure ground bone to 
every forty shovels of soil; this must be well 
mixed. In shifting plants always use clean 
pots. 
The best time to make cuttings is during 
the month of January; if you cannot obtain 
good cuttings of your own, order young 
plants from some good grower, to be delivered 
to you some time in February or March. 
These plants will probably be from two-and- 
a-half-inch pots and will be ready for their 
