234 COMMON SENSE GARDENS 



during the hottest days of our dry and trying 

 Summers. 



They are not hardy and should be covered in 

 Winter. The best way to do this is to fence the 

 beds in with wire netting two and a half or three 

 feet high, and fill the enclosure with leaves, laying 

 down the long shoots so that they will be well cov- 

 ered up. A few cornstalks or scraggs should be 

 laid on top of the leaves to keep them from blowing 

 away. This will provide a good protection, and the 

 roses will emerge all right in the Spring if the mice 

 have not eaten them up. To guard against such 

 an appalling contingency "rat biskit" should be 

 plentifully crumbled up on the bed before covering 

 it, and some of the pieces of the poisoned cracker 

 scattered through the leaves. In April when the 

 covering is removed the bed should be spaded up 

 to the depth of three or four inches, and some well- 

 rotted manure, which should be two years old to 

 insure the best results, worked in. As soon as the 

 leaves appear begin to spray them with a mixture 

 of tobacco and whale oil that comes in cakes like 

 soap, and may be dissolved in a pail or watering 

 pot as you wish to use it. 



