ON FORCING ROSES. 27 



ARTICLE II.— ON FORCING ROSES, &.c. 

 By J. It. Willis, Gardener to the Rev. W. P. Thomas, Drakes Place, Wellington 



As I see no answer to the desire of your correspondent, " A Devo- 

 nian," in Vol. iv, page 75, on Forcing- Roses, I once more intrude 

 on the pages of your valuable work, the Floricultural Cabinet. 



In giving an account of the plan I adopted with the Roses I had 

 under my care last season, I must observe that it answered my most 

 sanguine expectations ; I am, therefore, following the same mode of 

 treatment this present one. I hope at the same time it will meet the 

 wishes of " A Devonian." 



I pot the plants the latter part of August in the compost and 

 same sized pots I recommended in Vol. ii, page 3 of this work. Hav- 

 ing but one plant stove, which is about 40 feet long by 15 feet wide, 

 I take a common cucumber frame, putting some rotten tan into it, in 

 which I plunge the pots, (but I should have named, that before I put 

 them into the frame, they are pruned back to two or three eyes,) I 

 then put a strong lining of hot dung, as recommended by Mr. Wood, 

 in Vol. ii ; and put on the lights directly, having some very thick 

 reed mats- made for the purpose, I cover the lights with them ; 

 they remain covered in this manner about a fortnight when the 

 buds will all have broken. I take the mats off and let them have all 

 the light I can so as to bring them to their colour, which they will attain 

 in a few days. I then remove them to the coldest end of the plant 

 stove, which I keep now at 75 or 80 degrees ; T keep them to this situ- 

 ation about a week, when I remove them on a trellis to the front of 

 the house, towards the end where the heat first enters, where I keep them 

 moderately moist at the roots, and occasionally syringe the tops. It 

 is almost needless to add, that the time for putting them into the frame 

 can only be governed by the time they are required to be in bloom, 

 which I find to be about six or seven weeks from the time of putting them 

 in the frame. In answer to the cpiestion, " Whether it is possible to have 

 fine forced Roses late in December and January?" I reply, that I have 

 forced them so as to have them in bloom at Christmas, but the flowers 

 were never so fine, neither do I find them to bloom so freely as those 

 which come in flower in February and March ; in fact I have had 

 them in February and Marcli little inferior to those in the open air. 

 Willi respect to whether "They will bear removing to a conservatory 

 after the blossoms are produced, &c?" I answer, they will remain in 

 flower much longer than if kept in the stove, but I find that the buds that 

 wire just formed when they were taken from the stove will turn yel- 

 low and drop off; they are not so liable to fall when kept in a warm 

 room in the house; I have had them in the house for more than a 

 week, and then removed them back to the plant stove, and opened 

 the buds already formed, but the) certainlj feel a check, .-is they were 

 not -d fine as the first. In answer to the question concerning " Muss 



i) 3 



