CHAP. XII VILLA GARDENING 205 



class blossoms in is a spau-roof, uot too large, or too curtailed in 

 scope, but high enough to allow a covering of Teas and Noisettes 

 to be spread under the roof ; yet at the same time the roof should 

 be near enough to the plants in the centre bed to produce 

 vigorous growth. A good size for a rosery imder glass for a 

 moderately-sized garden would be 30 feet to 36 feet long, IG feet 

 wide, and 9 feet high to the ridge. A well-made border, 3 feet 

 wide, should rim all roimd the sides next the wall, and a raised 

 bed or pit should occupy the centre. The faster growing Teas and 

 Noisettes should be planted close to the wall, and be allowed and 

 encom-aged to ramble over wires placed 6 inches or 8 inches 

 beneath the roof, si)auning the path at intervals of 6 feet or so. 

 I would have iron arches formed of a single stout rod, on which 

 should be trained the slower-growing Teas and hybrid Teas, whilst 

 the bed or pit, which should be from 2 feet to 3 feet deep and 

 filled with leaves, should contain a collection of Eoses in pots. 

 Such, then, should be 



The Arrangement of the House. — The pots should be 

 plunged in the bed of leaves, which should be damp enough 

 to ferment mildly. Any one who has grown Roses in pots plunged 

 in a bed of leaves in a house or pit otherwise imheated, must 

 have been struck by the vigorous growth and robust blossoms 

 which this treatment never fails to produce, as well as the absence 

 of insects, which are often such a nuisance on Roses in spring, 

 especially if their wants are not promptly met. The soft genial 

 atmosphere which is produced by a mildly fermenting bed of leaves 

 has a marvellous effect upon the growth of the Rose, as in 

 fact it has upon all vegetation. 



The Soil for Roses must not be too light. A mellow turfy 

 loam, enriched with about a third of its bulk of decayed manure, 

 is best. The best way to prepare it will be to cut the loam (the 

 top 3 inches or 4 inches, including the turf, from an old meadow) 

 early in September, if possible, and lay it in a ridge-shaped heap, 

 with the manure placed with it in alternate layers. When pre- 

 pared in this way the manure may be fresh, though it should be 

 free from litter. The heap will ferment a little, and become 

 lilended and in fine condition for use in the course of three or foiu- 

 months. It will only then require chopping down with the spade 

 to fit it for use. The border should have a layer of drainage in 

 the bottom, and then be filled in 2 feet in thickness with the pre- 

 pared compost ; and when sufficiently settled the Roses may be 

 planted, which, if turned out of pots, may be done at any season 

 of the year. As regards the central bed in places where leaves 

 cannot be obtained, it may perhaps be advisable to give up the 



