122 ROSES FOR ENGLISH GARDENS 



plants in order to keep himself in line with other 

 competitors. It may be well, however, to draw atten- 

 tion to those details of culture which require special 

 care on the part of the exhibitor. 



In order to obtain exceptionally fine blooms his 

 collection must be kept clean and well nourished, and 

 at the same time the strength of each plant must be 

 directed into certain restricted channels ; in other 

 words, the object should be to have strong and 

 healthy plants, bearing only a limited number of 

 shoots. 



Planting. — The Roses may be grown in separate 

 parallel beds five feet wide, containing three rows of 

 plants, with grass paths between the beds. More 

 frequently, however, a piece of ground, either in part of 

 the garden itself or in an adjoining field, is dug up 

 and prepared to receive the whole collection. In the 

 latter case the Roses should be arranged in double 

 lines ; that is to say, between each second row of plants 

 a space three feet wide should be left to enable the 

 cultivator to attend readily to the wants of the Roses 

 on each side of this space or pathway. The plants in 

 the rows should be two feet apart, and the same 

 distance should separate the rows. By this arrange- 

 ment much time is saved, a matter of great import- 

 ance, considering that each plant will require to be 

 visited if not every day at all events every other day 

 during the growing and exhibiting seasons. It is a 

 mistake to grow a larger number of plants than can 

 receive this amount of individual attention. 



Pruning. — The best month in which to prune the 



