142 ROSES FOR ENGLISH GARDENS 



roots should be shortened, but on the other hand 

 all the fibrous ones retained and without any cur- 

 tailment. For compost it would be well to use that 

 advised under the head of " Repotting " (p. 140). Do 

 not plant too deeply, as the tendency of the new 

 roots will be to strike downwards, and yet sufficient 

 space must be allowed above for watering. Very firm 

 potting is advisable ; in fact the soil cannot well be 

 made too firm for Roses. When potted the plants 

 should be well watered and then placed under a north 

 wall. After this, until they are taken into the house 

 in December, but little water will be needed. Early 

 in January the plants should be pruned rather hard — 

 that is to say, all the sappy, weak, and crowded shoots 

 should be cut clean out, and the well-ripened ones 

 that remain shortened back to two or three eyes. 

 After this time the plants should be treated through- 

 out the winter, spring, and summer in all respects 

 as has been recommended for young plants purchased 

 in pots from the nurseries (see pp. 135 to 138). The 

 fire heat given should be very moderate^ as these 

 Roses have been so recently potted, and therefore 

 but a small proportion of their roots will be as yet 

 in active growth. 



Whether the plants are purchased plants, raised 

 from cuttings or potted up from the open ground, 

 they must in the second and following years be 

 submitted to the same routine of treatment as in 

 the first year, except that the pruning should be 

 less severe. A little experience with pot Roses will 

 show that with their roots thus confined the annual 



