OLD AND NEW ROSES. 87 



Roses may be grown to perfection in ordinary garden soil, but 

 they must be cultivated, and the ground thoroughly drained, dug, 

 and fertilized, and rendered as porous as possible. In clay loams 

 the use of sand, lime, soot, burnt earth, and loose, light vege- 

 table matter, like leaves decayed to mould, will alter the texture 

 and improve the qualit}-. At the time of planting strong fertil- 

 izers are not required, but when the trees have become established 

 the}' like rich soil, which should be made light for the delicate 

 rooting kinds, and more tenacious for the robust and hardy ; and 

 it would be reasonable that the classes and varieties differing in 

 their nature should have more than one soil, that each may receive 

 that which is the most suitable. A knowledge of the several ingre- 

 dients of the earth in which our bed of roses is planted would 

 afford desirable information, in order that we may appl^^ at the 

 right time the proper kind of fertilizers ; and a renewal of the 

 surface soil with old pasture loam every two or three 3'ears will 

 suppl}' important elements unattainable b}'^ any other method. 

 The upper earth should be kept light and loose, in order to readily 

 admit those constituents which cause growth, and the soil should be 

 filled witb sucli particles of food in the particular form necessary to 

 unite with the air and water, avoiding the application of more fertil- 

 izers in a soluble state than the plants can consume. A critical ob- 

 server and careful grower might say that the earth should be filled 

 with stimulants in diflferent stages of decomposition, that the tree 

 may, in all conditions of growth, have plenty of food ; to be 

 applied often, in a weak, liquid form, when the plants are growing 

 and especially flowering. An application of bone and potash acts 

 favorably when the earth is removed from the bushes in tlie spring. 

 A frequent sprinkling of water at evening adds health to the foli- 

 age, and is a preventive of insect destruction ; and it is best to 

 imitate nature, and wet the earth thoroughly only when dry, with- 

 holding water until again needed. 



Pruning is the most important and difficult operation to perform 

 with success, on account of the extent of the genus, made up of 

 varieties differing so much from each other in habit and character ; 

 and as so much is dependent on circumstance, much must be left 

 to the judgment of the operator. Autuum and spring pruning 

 both have their helps and hindrances, for with some roses the latter 

 is unfavorable to the development of branches and flowers. It is 

 a good rule to prune all but the sensitive kinds in the autumn, but 

 to leave the shorteniug of the shoots until spring. An improved 



