A SELECT LIST OF ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 105 



do it thoroughly too when it is done, repudiate the dribbling system ; 

 very few waterings will be necessary during the dark months of 

 autumn and winter, they should be kept in that satisfactory medium 

 state neither too wet or too dry. 



During fine warm genial showers the lights may be taken off for a 

 few hours, and if attention be paid to this it will be found much better 

 than artificial watering. By pursuing the above mode of cultivating 

 this, " the Queen of Violets," I have gathered them three inches in 

 circumference, and of the richest possible azure-blue. Nothing, in my 

 opinion, can afford so grateful a perfume in the depth of hoary winter 

 as a nice bouquet of these charming flowers. 



HINTS ON THE CULTURE, AND A SELECT LIST OF 

 EOSES FOR EXHIBITION. 



BY MR. GEORGE COMPTON, GARDENER TO WILLIAM SIMPSON, ESQ., STAMFORD-HILL, 



NEAR LONDON. 



To those inexperienced in the cultivation of Standard Roses, the fol- 

 lowing treatment, as pursued by me, may be acceptable. During the 

 flowering season, if convenient, I make choice of my plants, as it 

 enables me better to judge of their respective habits and distinctness 

 of colour. By the latter part of October I prepare for planting, by 

 procuring some good adhesive loam, adding to it about one third leaf 

 mould, the whole is well mixed ; in this compost, with me, they have 

 thrived remarkably well. 



I plant early in November, that the plants may be somewhat esta- 

 blished in the soil before severe weather commences. Immediately on 

 planting a strong stake is fixed to each plant, to which they are tied ; 

 if not done the wind may afterwards injure the plant, by deranging the 

 action of the newly-formed roots. During spring I occasionalfy water 

 them with liquid manure, applying it in proportion to the strength of 

 the plant ; in fact they require to be liberally supplied during the first 

 season of their growth. I do not prune them till the month of April, 

 but the second and succeeding years I prune them severally in the 

 months of January, February, and March ; for instance, the Hybrid, 

 China, Bourbon, and Noisettes, in the month of January, those of" 

 moderate growth to two or three eyes. In February the Hybrid 

 Bourbons and Damask Perpetuals ; and the more tender varieties, as 

 the Tea-scented and China, in the month of March. The vigorous 

 growing kinds, when treated as Pillar or Climbing Roses, require but 

 little pruning, as Brennus and others of similar habit. At the period 

 of the flower-bud beginning to swell it is liable to be deformed or 

 destroyed by the »reen fly. As soon as any appear I adopt the follow- 

 ing method of destruction. To one gallon of boiling rain-water I 

 steep (jne pound of tobacco, and in two gallons of soft warm water four 

 pounds of soft soap is dissolved, beating it into lather; I then mix 

 the whole in seven gallons of cold rain water; I then with a hand- 

 syringe freely sprinkle each tree with the solution, making choice of a 

 dry day for the operation, as it enables me to destroy 5 them more 



