38 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE CHAP. 
in which it has been standing. The stake thus 
shortened may often be replaced, and last at least 
another year. 
Again, although height is as a rule more important 
than shelter as a protection against frost, the drying 
power of the east wind in what is called a wind 
frost is hurtful, especially to newly planted Roses. 
It seems to dry the sap out of them, and if long 
continued may do a good deal of harm. 
As strong wind is so injurious, shelter should be 
sought for; and that, not only on the north and 
east, but also on the south-west, from which the 
strongest winds generally come. Belts of close- 
erowing trees or thick and high hedges will be the 
sort of shelter generally available, but it is most 
important that they be not close enough, either to 
shade the Roses, or for their roots to enter the 
beds. Buildings or walls are the best shelters, as 
the protection they give is real with some refracted 
warmth : they drop no seeds or leaves, and especially 
they have no robbing roots. 
A place which has plenty of walls, even if most of 
them be low ones, offers great advantages in situa- 
tion for Rose-growing. All the Teas and Noisettes 
can be grown to greater perfection against a wall 
than they can in the open, with the two dis- 
advantages that the blooms will be too early for 
exhibition, and that the autumn crop will probably 
not be so good. The higher walls will be useful for 
the Noisettes and climbing Teas, or even for the 
climbing H.P.’s or Hybrid Chinas; and the lower 
ones for the true Teas of more moderate growth, 
which in the Eastern or Home Counties will in 
ordinary seasons have first-class blooms by the first 
