156 PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE. 



attention, plants which were put in as cuttings at the 

 seasons named above, by the middle of June will be from 

 one to one foot and a half in height, with roots enough 

 to fill a six-inch pot. I may state that when shifted from 

 a four-inch to a six-inch pot, two inches of drainage is 

 used, so that when the roses are planted in the shallow 

 benches, the " ball " of roots taken from the six-inch pot 

 will be but four inches deep, or about the depth of the 

 soil of the bench. They should at this date, or before, 

 be placed out-of-doors, and stood on rough gravel or cin- 

 ders, so as to make certain of free drainage. It is not 

 the universal practice to put Roses out in the open air ; 

 in some sections, particularly in the vicinity of salt water, 

 it is almost impossible to keep them clear of mildew when 

 placed out of doors in summer, so that now some of our 

 largest and most successful growers keep them all the 

 time under glass, giving as much ventilation as possible. 

 If intended to be grown in pots, the shifting into 

 larger pots should be repeated whenever the ball gets 

 filled with roots (which is usually in about four or five 

 weeks after every shift), until the 1st of October, when 

 they will have reached a size requiring a pot of eight or 

 nine inches in diameter. These pots should be amply 

 drained with broken pots or charcoal, using soil com- 

 posed of three parts decomposed sod from a good loamy 

 soil to one of well-rotted cow manure, or the soil here- 

 after advised for benches will do equally well. They are 

 then in condition for winter forcing, no further shifting 

 being required. But if they are to be planted out on 

 benches, or in solid beds of soil, the planting should be 

 made from the pots from the 1st of June to the 15th of 

 August, but the sooner the better. 



SOLID BEDS AND RAISED BENCHES. 



There is quite a difference of opinion as to whether 

 Roses can be best grown in solid beds or on raised 



