182 FORCING OP ROSES. 



and removed to the forcing-house : in January 

 they will give abundance of flowers, and amply 

 reward the cultivator. 



DIRECTIONS FOR FORCING ROSES. 



VERY few years ago forced roses were one of 

 the luxuries of gardening, and the matter was 

 looked upon as a difficult operation, in which 

 accomplished gardeners only were successful ; 

 but with modern varieties the difficulty has 

 vanished, and every one may have roses at least 

 in February, with the most simple means. 



A pit 10 or 12 feet long and 8 feet wide, just 

 high enough to stand upright in, with a door at 

 one end, and a sunken path in the centre, a raised 

 bed on each side ot the path, and an 18-inch brick 

 Arnott's stove at the further end, opposite to the 

 door, with a pipe leading into a small brick chim- 

 ney outside (a chimney is indispensable), will give 

 great abundance of forced roses from February to 

 the end of May. To ensure this, a supply must 

 be kept ready ; so that, say twenty, may be 

 placed in the forcing pit about the middle of De- 

 cember, a like number in the middle of January, 

 and the same about the middle of February : they 

 must not be pruned till taken into the house, 

 when each shoot should be cut back to two or 

 three buds or eyes, the latter for the strong shoots. 



