CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 127 



think that they can be lifted from the ground in fall and 

 potted so that they will bloom during winter ; perhaps by 

 such treatment as can be given in a cool green-house or 

 frame, they may be got to bloom by February or March, 

 but they should never be forced into bloom earlier, unless 

 they have been grown in pots during the summer pre- 

 vious. 



The above is described as applied to a single plant, but 

 a whole bed may be covered in the same manner. 



ROSES IN POTS. 



As millions of Roses are now sold in pots in spring, we 

 will briefly state the method we have most successfully 

 adopted in growing large numbers annually for the past 

 dozen years. The plants used are those struck from cut- 

 tings in March and April, and planted out in the open 

 ground in May ; these make plants averaging 18 inches 

 in height, with proportionate breadth, by the first of No- 

 vember. Although, as before stated, we make no special 

 preparation of soil for any particular class of plants, we 

 are always more careful that the soil used for Roses be 

 fresh. While our regular mixture of decomposed sods 

 and manure suits very well for plants generally when it is 

 two or three years old, we prefer that for Roses to be but 

 a few months cut from the field before it is used. In 

 lifting up the plants from the ground, all possible care is 

 taken to save the fibres from injury, and they are, on no 

 consideration, ever allowed to be exposed to drying winds 

 or to wilt in any way, being sprinkled at intervals while 

 laying in the heaps in the potting shed. We prefer to 

 prune (which we do with scissors) before potting ; it is not 

 only done twice as quickly, but it also relieves the plant at 

 once from surplus shoots, and being, Avhen pruned, more 

 compact to handle, it can be potted in half the time. The 

 pots used are from 4 to 8 inches in diameter, in proper- 



