AMMONIA SUPPLIED TO PLANTS. 167 
placed, without either degenerating into absolute formality, or, what is 
still worse, descending to unmeaning confusion. In my last letter, a 
fortnight ago, I endeavoured to describe my method of hiding the 
stems in my rosarium, whether successfully or not I leave to the 
reader; and this is my great objection, among others, to the practice 
now so universal. I do not mean by this to exclude Roses from the 
parterre—far from it; few things look more handsome than a well- 
cultivated pillar rose on turf (but formality in this must be avoided as 
much as possible), and especially if a vigorous-growing Rose of a dis- 
tinct colour, either very dark or very light, when backed by dark 
foliage of trees; and a very handsome thing is a well-planted bed of 
very dwarf-worked Roses in full flower, of rich scarlet colour. But 
even this had better be in the rosarium, for the Roses themselves are 
shown much more to advantage, and they never seem to accord with 
other things. Another point in which I think I differ from most Rose- 
growers is in the time of pruning, my practice being to prune most 
Roses late in the autumn, and but very few in the spring. I cannot, 
for want of space, particularize those which are best pruned in the 
spring; but the person who wishes to commence growing the queen of 
flowers as she ought to be grown may take for a sure guide this, that 
all forward, early, and vigorous growers should be pruned as soon as 
convenient after the leaf has fallen; and the least vigorous and 
dwarfest should be left until the early spring: this, however, should 
not be delayed too long. Another objection to the planting of standards 
on lawns is this—that they seldom admit of the compost being put 
round their roots in the winter time, when it is so much required. 
Gentlemen who love a neat garden do not like to see their grass cut 
about and besmeared with dirt, which it is impossible to prevent in 
attending to the roots of the roses through the winter. One instance 
does occur to me, in which I saw short standards introduced to great 
advantage. A semicircular gravel-walk was backed by a fine bank of 
evergreens. On the inner side of the walk was a broad border of 
various kinds of flowers; the inner edge was cut into angles of grass, 
and at the centre of the grass angle a Rose was planted.— Gardeners’ 
Journal. 
AMMONIA SUPPLIED TO PLANTS. 
Mr. Gorpon, who superintends the management of the collection of 
orchideous plants in the garden of the Horticultural Society at 
Chiswick, having supplied ammonia to them very advantageously, the 
following remarks are inserted in the Gardeners’ Chronicle upon the 
subject :-— 
“ The whole collection exhibited the best possible health, the foliage 
being of the deepest green. The latter, indeed, was remarkable, a 
circumstance which Mr. Gordon ascribes to his supplying ammonia 
occasionally to the atmosphere of the house. Having first wetted a bit 
of pure carbonate of ammonia, about the size of a bean, he rubs it on 
the hot-water pipes, waves his hand backwards and forwards once or 
twice, to disperse the fumes, and the work is done, Besides adding to 
