General Notices. All 



to prevent the earth mixing with the drainage, and which I find answers 

 every purpose, except during tlie heavy winter rains, when the water can- 

 not pass off quickly enough below the drainage ; and, to rectify this, I dig, 

 early in the autumn, a deep trench at the end of the border, into which the 

 water runs, and which might otherwise lie stagnant air.ongst the soil and 

 stones, and but for this precaution, all the pains taken might be rendered 

 nugatory. 



Hiviiiir said so much about drainage, if not too tedious, I will now pro- 

 ceed to describe the soils, and their proportions, which I used to carry out 

 my experiment. I divided the space of ground, above described, into four 

 parts, and filed up the first with equal portions of earth I had taken out, 

 and manure, (remains of an old hot-bed ;) the second, with two-thirds of 

 common meadow turf, and one-third manure ; the third, with manure en- 

 tirely, as recommended by Mr. Rivers in his last year's catalogue ; and the 

 fourth, having exhausted all the manure, I used instead, scalded sphagnum 

 about one-third, turfy peat one-third, and one-third of ordinary soil ; and, 

 in each case, I have been fully remunerated for the trouble taken, by the 

 vigorous growth maintained, the abundance and constant succession of 

 bloom, and the beauty of the individual flowers ; and, although in each of 

 the soils tried the result was satisfactory, I will just mention the uifferences 

 observable between them. In the first-named soil, the growth was vigorous, 

 and blooms good and abundant, and the plants but slightly cut by frosts in 

 winter. In the second, the growth was more vigorous, and the blooms finer 

 than the first, and not more than a few twigs killed by the frost. In the 

 third, the growth was exuberant, and the foliage magnificent, but the 

 blooms were not so abundant as in the preceding cases, and sometimes sin- 

 gular abortions or sports were produced — afibrding strong evidence of the 

 validity of the theory of morphology. They, however, had so strong a 

 disposition to grow during the mild rainy seasons m autumn and winter, that 

 some were much injured by the frost, and others quite killed ; — and the 

 fourth, the result was similar to the first, with the exception of being a lit- 

 tle more injured in winter. 



It will, therefore, be seen, all points being considered, that, in the case 

 where two-thirds turf and one-third manure was used, the roses succeeded 

 best; the cause of which appears to me quite obvious, in the fact of the re- 

 quirements of the plants being better supplied in this soil than in the others, 

 viz., free access to the roots of atmospheric air, and being a soil that would 

 not bind, tlie roots meet with no check in their progress, and nourishment is 

 supplied through the most advantageous medium, and from the best source, 

 the soil never containing mure moisture than it holds by capillary at- 

 traction. 



I mast, however, just advert to protection during winter, respecting 

 which I can only give the result of two years' experience, having both sea- 

 sons tried about equal numbers, by protecting the roots of some with moss, 

 about 6 inches thick, as recommended in Mr. Rivers' catalogue, and others 

 by laying branches of evergreens or fern over them, while others have not 

 received further protection than merely placing saw-dust, or cinder-ashes, 



