HORTICULTURE. 303 



cuneate, thick, tomentose, densely so beneath, with ferruginous or cinerous tormentum, 

 the margin toothed and crisped, rarely entire, except in the upper leaves. Flowers arranged 

 in capitula, constituting spikes or racemes, and these, from the many short flowering branches, 

 forming panicles. Stamens, four ; filaments, short ; anthers, short, oblong ; pistil, quite in- 

 cluded ; ovary, ovate, downy except at the base ; style, very short ; stigma, clubbed, bifid. 

 Phil. Horticulturist, 



Propagation and Winter Forcing of Roses. 



AT a conversational meeting of the New York Horticultural Society, as reported by the 

 "American Agriculturist," Mr. A. Bridgeman read the following remarks on roses: 



"My practice does not, I presume, differ much from that pursued by other growers. For 

 compost, I prefer a proportion of two bushels of vegetable mould or rotted leaves, two bushels 

 of chopped sod passed through a coarse sieve wide enough to allow moderate-sized lumps to 

 pass through, one bushel of hotbed manure, and one of sand. The sod I use is clayey. In 

 propagating by cuttings, I find that wood of one month old will strike in many cases very 

 readily, and when put in during the latter part of February, will be rooted in March. I use 

 cutting-pans about three inches deep, and a compost of two-thirds of sand to one of loam, and 

 apply bottom heat. I have a bed heated by a flue passing through it, which I find very use- 

 ful for this purpose. When well rooted, I pot them off into small-sized pots, and plant them 

 out in May. In the fall, I repot them in the compost already mentioned, and keep them in 

 a cool house, without fire-heat, till January, unless the frost is too great, when I protect 

 them slightly, but use no fire-heat till the last of January or February. These plants flower 

 well. The tea, Bourbon, and China are treated in this way; the hybrid perpetuals or moss 

 are not included, as neither these nor the noisettes are adapted tor \vintt-r flown -in--. 

 I do not prune very closely in the fall ; but in May, prune thoroughly and sink the pots in 

 the soil, and lift them in September for winter flowering, repotting them if necessary, and 

 pruning out all dead wood. At this season care must be taken not to break the ball nuu-li. 

 The temperature should be kept moderate. A dry atmosphere is very injurious, and is the 

 chief cause of failure in keeping plants in rooms. The water should always be applied at 

 the top ; where saucers are used, it is only for cleanliness. Planting out secures strong 

 plants, but is not admissible for winter blooming. I have found hybrid perpetuals to succeed 

 best on their own roots. Teas and Bourbons will do well from layers. In England and the 

 north of France budding is generally practised, and succeeds well ; but here it is quite dif- 

 ferent. I have known many failures in budding, and in some cases not more than twenty- 

 five out of a thousand have succeeded ; two out of a dozen is often the proportion in our 

 climate.* Budded plants are liable to produce suckers, which have been sometimes mis- 

 taken for young, vigorous shoots. Tea roses require lighter soil, and flower more freely 

 than Bengal or Bourbons ; they will also bear more heat, and should be placed in the 

 warmest part of the house. Roses for forcing should have as much sun and air as possible, 

 with a moist atmosphere. I have found roses in green-houses, planted in the border, with 

 bottom heat, produce more flowers with 50 of heat than in other cases with 70, and have 

 had better flowers when the temperature did not exceed 50 than at 65 ; 55 is a good tem- 

 perature for forcing. In reply to the question, ' Is manure- water good ?' I say, Yes, if ap- 

 plied judiciously in small portions in March.' " 



Roses Propagated by Cuttings of the Roots. 



A WRITER in the "Horticultural Cabinet" says: Having been advised to try the experi- 

 ment of raising rose-trees by taking cuttings of the roots, I did so, and found it to succeed 

 admirably. The mode was as follows : The first week in March, I took some of the long, 

 thick, fleshy-looking roots of my English, French, moss, and perpetual roses, and cut them 



.This is greatly at variance with our experience. They may be seen budded in the nurseries in Philadelphia, 

 as successfully as peach or apple-trees, by the thousand ; and many varieties bloom more freely, and produce 

 larger flowers, when budded, than on ttetir own roots. El. Horticulturist. 



