58 CULTURE OP THE ROSE. 



and the pot that contains it, are, or ought to be, so large 

 by this time, that handling them, especially in the act of 

 shifting, becomes somewhat difficult. In the third, or at 

 farthest in the fourth autumn, you may expect, as the 

 result of your pains, a plant that in its blooming season 

 will make a brilliant contrast with the half-grown and 

 indifferent specimens sometimes exhibited at our horticul- 

 tural shows. 



If you forget every other point of the above directions, 

 keep in mind the following : Drain your pots thoroughly ; 

 and, when you water them, be sure that you give water 

 enough to penetrate the whole- mass of the earth contained 

 in them. Watering only the surface, and leaving the roots 

 dry, is ruinous. 



