ROSES, PROPAGATION OF. 443 



ROSES, STANDARD. 



dry, so that the pulp and husk may be 

 entirely removed, and the seeds sifted and 

 winnowed, when they are ready for sowing. 

 Others prefer sowing the seed immediately 

 on its reaching maturity. In this case they 

 come up the following spring, with all the 

 fine growing season before them. The 

 hardier kinds may be sown in the open 

 borders, selecting for the beds a sunny, 

 sheltered spot with an eastern aspect, and 

 shaded from the afternoon sun: the more 

 tender varieties require a frame and glass. 



Preparation of Seed Beds. The soil for 

 seed beds should be light and rich ; the bed 

 should be dug 18 inches deep, and the top 

 spit broken up fine and raked level. In 

 sowing, let the seed be laid on the top 

 pretty thick, as only a third or fourth of the 

 number sown will come up. Beat the beds 

 smooth with the back of a spade, water, if 

 the weather be dry, and sift over the whole 

 about half an inch of light sandy soil. If 

 the sowing takes place in spring, keep the 

 seed in water for three or four hours before 

 sowing, taking care that the germ of the 

 seed, now developed more or less, is not 

 injured. Seeds of the more delicate roses 

 should be sown in pans thoroughly drained 

 and filled with equal parts of leaf mould 

 and yellow loam well mixed together. 

 Water, as directed above, when the seeds 

 are sown, and cover to the depth of half an 

 inch with the same soil mixed with a little 

 sand. 



Precautions against Insects, &*c. In 

 each case a sprinkling of soot or lime scat- 

 tered over the bed will be a necessary pre- 

 caution against insects and worms, for both 

 of which the tender buds of the rose have 

 great charms. About May, some of the 

 seeds sown in February or March will ger- 

 minate, and others will come up from time 

 to time till autumn. The growing seed- 

 lings will require constant care in shading, 

 weeding, and watering when the soil is 

 diy. 



Roses, Propagation of, by 

 Suckers. 



Roses (some kinds much more than 

 others) push their roots in a lateral direc- 

 tion under ground, and throw up young 

 shoots or suckers from them. These 

 suckers, separated from the parent plant 

 by the cut of a sharp spade, form flowering 

 plants the same season, if separated in the 

 spring and transplanted to suitable soil. 

 When a rose-tree is shy with its suckers, it 

 may be stimulated by heaping earth round 

 the roots. 



Roses, Soil, &c., for. 



The rose grows vigorously in most kinds 

 of soil ; nevertheless, it does best in a light 

 free soil, a little fresh, amended from time 

 to time with some well-decomposed manure. 

 A calcareous soil is especially recommended. 

 Delicate varieties do best in fertile, sandy 

 soils, and in peat earth. The dog rose 

 grows vigorously in stiff earth. For nearly 

 all roses, however, the soil can scarcely be 

 too rich. They delight in a stiff loam 

 liberally incorporated with manure, and no 

 excellencies of variety, climate, or culture 

 can compensate for the absence of this 

 indispensable desideratum. Where the 

 natural soil is light and sandy, the whole 

 bed should be removed to the depth of 2 

 feet, and replaced with the richest natural 

 fibrous loam at hand, thoroughly mixed 

 with decomposed dung. 



Roses, Standard. 



These roses are used to decorate the 

 lawn. Sometimes they are placed irregu- 

 larly ; at others they are planted at regu- 

 lated distances round the walks ; at others, 

 again, they occupy the centre of the flower- 

 beds ; and in some instances they form 

 separate beds in the rosarium, the different 

 sizes being either planted in separate beds 

 or in rows, rising towards the centre ; the 

 tallest standards forming the central row 



