A SIMPLE ROSE GARDEN 133 



and buy fifty of the bushes that he has forced dur- 

 ing the winter and being considered spent are cast 

 out about June first, in order to fill in the new stock. 



All such roses are not discarded each season, but the 

 process is carried on in alternate benches and years, so 

 that there are always some to be obtained. These 

 plants, big, tired- looking, and weak in the branches, I 

 buy for the nominal sum of ten dollars per hundred, 

 five dollars' worth filling a long border when set out in 

 alternating rows. On taking these home, I thin out 

 the woodiest shoots, or those that interfere, and plant 

 deep in the border, into which nitrate of soda has 

 been dug in the proportion of about two ounces to a 

 plant. 



After spreading out the roots as carefully as possible, 

 I plant firmly and water thoroughly, but do not as yet 

 prune off the long branches. In ten days, having given 

 meanwhile two waterings of liquid manure, I prune the 

 bushes back sharply. By this time they will have 

 probably dropped the greater part of their leaves, and 

 having had a short but sufficient nap, are ready to grow, 

 which they proceed to do freely. I do not encourage 

 bloom in July, but as soon as we have dew-heavy 

 August nights it begins and goes on, increasing in 

 quality until hard frost. Many of these bushes have 



