THK CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



179 



omb, Annie Wood, Anne de Dieabach, 

 Francois Michel on, Paul Neyron, Vic- 

 tor Yerdier, La France, Madam Noman, 

 and Coquette des Alps. 



Some of these, I know, have faults, 

 and quite serious ones, as Louis Van 

 Houtte, Paul Neyron, Victor Verdier, 

 La France and Madam Noman are all 

 quite tender, and then again Louis Van 

 Houtte and Madam Noman are also 

 very poor growers, and Victor Verdier 

 is scentless, and General Jacqueminot 

 is not full, but all of these roses with 

 the failings I have mentioned, have also 

 other wonderful points of excellence of 

 such a nature that they could hardly 

 be dispensed with in a garden in which 

 only a dozen kinds of roses are grown. 

 These are all old well tried kinds and 

 in the order given pretty well cover the 

 range of colors from very dark to 

 white. 



Now, as to soil. In the first place 

 have it so drained, naturally or arti- 

 fically, that water will not stand for 

 any period of time, at any season, even 

 at the depth of the lowest root, as 

 standing water will invariably kill the 

 roots of roses, I think that the reason 

 so many roses put in such an apparently 

 sickly existence and produce such poor 

 flowers is that the deep roots which are 

 the life of the plant have all been killed 

 in the winter preceding, by standing 

 water. Rose beds are generally so 

 small that it is better to go to the 

 trouble to prepare them properly in 

 the first place. The best way to make 

 a rose bed is (after temporarily remov- 

 ing the surface to afterwards replace it 

 again on the top) to dig out the sub- 

 soil, removing it to the depth of eighteen 

 inches or two feet, and then fill up with 

 sods and a little manure. Sod cut on 

 good loamy soil is the best if it can be 

 had. Care should be taken that it does 

 not contain any larva of the May beetle. 

 This can be avoided by cutting the sod 

 before the frost is fully out in the 



spring. Although on heavy soils this 

 cutting while the soil is wet (as it must 

 be at that early season), tends some- 

 what to make the ground hard, I 

 have found that filling with green sod 

 and planting at once produces just as 

 good results, as if the sod is already 

 rotted, if there is sufficient friable soil 

 on top to plant the young plants in. 



As to insect enemies, I may say that 

 I have never used anything but whale 

 oil soap-suds and tobacco water applied 

 with a syringe. These are, either of 

 them, sure death to the thrip, and very 

 aggravating if not quite death to the 

 green fly. The thrip must receive its 

 quietus at once when it makes its 

 appearance, or else t\ie plant is weak- 

 ened and stunted and falls an easy prey 

 to everything else that comes along. 

 This season I have just syringed my 

 bushes twice and now everybody asks. 

 How do you keep your bushes so clear 

 of insects ? I reply that I don't do 

 much but do it at the right time. 



The rose thrip comes out of the bark 

 of the rose early in spring, and when 

 they make a move (which they do all 

 at once), the rose shoots will look, when 

 they are coming through the bark, as 

 if covered with small white thorns.* 

 At thi^ time and for a week or two 

 following is the time to thoroughly 

 syringe the bushes. Most of the other 

 rose pests deposit their eggs on the 

 leaves about this time and soon after 

 this, and my theory is that operating 

 thoroughly at this time I not only 

 destroy the thrip, but that the distaste- 

 ful odor of the remedies used, prevent 

 other insects from depositing their eggs 

 in such numbers as they otherwise 

 would. 



Another reason for beginning early 

 is that no one (even if it would destroy 

 the insects as well) wants to be firing 

 soap-suds and tobacco water into his 

 roses when in full bloom. I would just 



♦ NOTB.— This will be quite new to our Entomologists. 



