CULTIVATION OF FIELD-GROWN EOSES. 127 



weeds carefully removed before the buds begin to start, or there will be 

 great danger of breaking the young buds off, and the ground should be 

 thoroughly worked as soon as it becomes dry enough to permit. 



As soon as the warm weather begins, the buds will start readily and 

 make a very strong, vigorous growth, and during the month of May will 

 be a sight worth looking at and long to be remembered. 



The roses so grown should have no irrigation whatever, allowing them 

 to dry off naturally after having made their summer's growth. They will 

 be ready for transplanting any time after the first of September, in fact, 

 often before that. ' The forcing varieties so grown can not be excelled for 

 greenhouse culture. Flowers may be cut from them in about six weeks 

 after planting, and will continue to bloom through the season, giving the 

 very finest quality of flowers; in fact, they may be carried over for 

 several years with excellent results. For general sales, the handling of 

 roses begins about the first of November or as soon as the wet weather 

 begins, and lasts till about the first of March. 



In handling roses care must be taken to give them all the roots pos- 

 sible, and precaution must be taken against getting the varieties mixed, 

 for it is difficult for one who is not thoroughly familiar with the looks 

 of the wood to separate them ; in fact, in some cases it is utterly impos- 

 sible. Care must be taken not to expose the roots to the sun or drying 

 wind any more than possible, for if they once get dried out it will take 

 a long time to recover from the effects of the same. After being dug, 

 all the leaves should be removed, as they will only wither on the plants, 

 and give them a bad appearance; then they should be tied in bundles, 

 carefully labeled, and after puddling the roots they will be ready for 

 packing and shipping. In handling the roses a great difference may be 

 seen between budded plants and those on their own roots. The former 

 will have a great quantity of active roots, while the latter will have, 

 in most cases, only two or three straggly ones, and will not start grow- 

 ing for the purchaser nearly as soon or as vigorously as the budded 

 stock, and will not give satisfaction for a long time to come, if at all. 



At this point I wish to speak of the two principal objections to 

 budded stock. The first is suckers, but if the same have been worked 

 on carefully-prepared stocks and properly planted, there will be little 

 cause to complain from that source. The other objection is to their 

 not doing well, but of this we hear little. The principal cause of this 

 is either being worked on inferior stocks or not on the right variety, but 

 to this I have previously referred. 



The varieties of roses grown are almost endless in number, some of 

 the nurseries carrying between three and four hundred varieties in 

 stock ; but for many of these there is but little call. By far the heaviest 

 demand is for the varieties now so extensively forced under glass, which 



