OUTDOOR ROSE GROWING 



tion which, with the permission of the editor, Mr. 

 McFarland, is quoted verbatim : 



''As most people know, roses even in California 

 demand a period of rest if the best results are to be 

 obtained. California winter temperatures are not 

 low enough to produce the necessary degree of dor- 

 mancy, and the rose bush, if irrigated during the 

 summer, will produce an ordinary grade of bloom 

 more or less throughout the year, depending on the 

 type of rose. On the other hand it will, in most cases, 

 not only fail to furnish the finest blooms, but will 

 soon deteriorate and die prematurely, due to the con- 

 tinual forcing of growth. It has become customary, 

 therefore, to force dormancy upon the plants by 

 withholding water in midsummer, a time when, be- 

 cause of dry weather, few good blooms are produced. 

 Toward the close of the spring crop, or about the 

 first of July, depending on the condition of the soil, 

 water is withheld from the plants until the first of 

 September. They are not allowed to suffer, but made 

 to ripen their wood and recuperate from the strain 

 of the season's bloom. 



"During August the plants are gone over and all 

 stubs and weak growth removed, after which a heavy 

 mulch of cow-manure and a liberal amount of water 

 are applied. Irrigation is kept up until the first new 

 bud is blown, when it may be discontinued to allow 



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