3003 



ROSE 



ROSE 



money. It is also quite possible that matters of tem- 

 perature, soil, moisture, and food are equally important 

 factors. 



Layering. This method is employed only when few 

 plants are required; it is cumbersome and wasteful. 

 Layer in early spring, using wood of the last year's 

 growth when possible; the 

 bark of the buried portion 

 should be abraded. 



Division is an easy means 

 of increasing Rosa virgini- 

 ana, R. nitida, R. palustris, 

 R. spinosissima, Crimson 

 Moss and many other varie- 

 ties which sucker. Plant 

 thickly in good soil, allow 

 them to grow from three to 

 four years, then lift and 

 tear apart. It will be found 

 that the increase is large 

 and that plants so obtained 

 are salable after one year's 

 growth in the nursery. The 

 year in the nursery may be 

 omitted with the quicker-growing kinds which 

 are to form new plantations on the same 

 estate. B. M. WATSON. 



Roses for the amateur. 



Roses may be successfully grown in any 

 soil that will produce fair crops of grain, vege- 

 tables, or grass. Certainly the best results 

 will be secured in the more favorable soils 

 and situations, but everyone who loves a rose 

 and possesses a few feet of ground with 

 plenty of sunshine can have his own rose- 

 garden and find pleasure and health in culti- 

 vating the plants. 



The soil and the beds. 



The ideal soil is a rich deep loam, but a 

 good rose-bed can be made in clay, sand, or 

 gravel at little expense and labor. Even the 

 city resident whose house has been erected on 

 the site of an exhausted brick-yard, at a 

 small expense can secure sufficient good soil 

 from the outskirts and manure from the 

 adjacent stables .to make a rose-garden that 

 will grow as good plants and flowers as those of his 

 more favored friends who have acres at their disposal, 

 provided always that the sunlight can reach the beds 

 for at least haft the day. 



The preparation of the ground is the first step of 

 importance. Roses are injured by wet feet, and if the 

 soil is wet it must be thoroughly drained. This can be 

 accomplished by digging out the bed to a depth of 3 

 feet and filling in 1 foot with broken stone, bricks, 



The beds may be made of any desired shape, but a 

 width of 4 feet will usually be the most satisfactory, as a 

 double row can be planted at intervals of 2J/2 feet, 

 which will be all that is necessary for the strongest- 

 growing varieties, and the blooms can be gathered from 

 each side without the necessity of trampling on the 

 soil. Space may be economized by planting as in the 

 diagram, Fig. 3469. 



The plants will then be 1 foot from the edge 

 and 30 inches apart, and each plant will be fully 

 exposed to light and air and will not interfere with its 

 neighbors. 



In preparing a bed on a lawn, the sod and earth 

 should first be entirely removed and placed apart; then 

 the best of the subsoil may be taken out and placed on 



the other side of 

 the trench, and, 

 lastly, the portion 

 to be discarded is 

 removed, making 

 in all a depth of at 

 least 2 feet. The 

 bottom or floor 

 is then loosened 

 to the full depth 

 of a pick-head, the 

 good subsoil re- 

 placed and mixed 

 with a gener- 

 ous dressing of 

 well - decomposed 

 stable manure; 

 lastly, the surface 

 soil and sod are 

 well broken up and 

 also thoroughly 

 enriched with ma- 

 nure, and the bed 

 is filled to the level 

 of the adjoin- 

 ing surface with 

 enough good soil 

 added to replace 

 the discarded 

 earth. When the 

 bed has settled, 

 the surface should 



3468. Grafting of Crimson 

 Rambler on Rosa multiflora, 

 showing plant three months 

 old. At the right is shown 

 the detail of the splice-graft. 



3469. A good rose bed. 



cinders, or anything that will allow a free passage of the 

 water through the soil. If this is not sufficient and the 

 water is not carried away,- provision must be made for 

 tile-draining; but, except in very extreme cases, the 

 drainage before mentioned will be found amply suffi- 

 cient. The composition of the soil should depend on 

 the class of roses to be grown, for the Hybrid Remon- 

 tants do best in a heavy soil containing clay, while 

 those having Tea blood prefer a lighter, warmer ground. 



be at least 1 inch 

 below that of the 

 adjoining sod, in order that all the rainfall may be 

 retained. It is a mistake to make any flower-bed 

 higher than the adjacent surface, as in hot weather the 

 soil dries out and the plants suffer. 



If the bed is intended for the hardy Hybrid Perpetual 

 or Remontant class, it should contain a fair proportion 

 of clay well mixed with the soil. A sufficient amount is 

 always present in what is known as a heavy loam. If 

 the soil does not contain this naturally, the material 

 should be added and thoroughly incorporated with the 

 other ingredients. If the bed is intended for Hybrid 

 Teas, Teas, Bourbons, or Noisettes, the soil should be 

 lighter, and, if naturally heavy, should have added to 

 it a proper quantity of sand or leaf-mold, and be thor- 

 oughly mixed as before. Roses are rank feeders; there- 

 fore be liberal with manure for every class. 



The plants and planting. 



Garden roses may be secured from the dealers grown 

 in two ways: on their own roots, and budded on the 

 Manetti or similiar stock. There is much difference of 

 opinion among growers as to the relative value of the 

 two methods of propagation, and it must be admitted 

 that some of the stronger varieties will do equally well 

 either way; but the opinion of the writer, based upon the 

 experience of more than a quarter of a century, is that 

 all of the less vigorous varieties are far better budded 



