THE BOOK OF ROSES. 33 



When it is desirable to retard the flowering 

 of a rose-tree by two or three weeks, it should 

 not be pruned till the vegetation has commenced, 

 and the shoots have attained an inch in length. 



WINTER FLOWERING. With care and con- 

 sideration, almost every variety of rose may be 

 made to flower in winter; but it is the custom 

 to select for this purpose the ever-blowing, or 

 twice-blowing kinds. The simplest process 

 consists in placing the trees in pots a year 

 before it is intended to force them; trimming 

 them in the autumn, and exposing them to a 

 moderate heat towards December, increasing 

 from 50 to 70. But as every one has not the 

 disposal of a hot-house, it is the custom in 

 nursery-grounds to plunge them in pots into 

 the ground as near as possible together, and 

 cover them with a deep frame, the edges of 

 which should be carefully secured. Round the 

 frame, a trench must be dug and filled with good 

 manure, to be stirred and refreshed once a fort- 

 night. The slides may be occasionally raised 

 in fine weather; and care taken to remove dead 

 leaves or buds. The period of flowering can be 

 determined by the quantity of heat applied, 

 and air admitted. 



OF ESPALIER ROSES. There are some spe- 

 cies of roses, whose long and flexible branches 

 may be easily trained on trellises and against 

 walls in the form of garlands ; producing a 



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