Roses Under Glass. 49 



Preparation of Beds. 



In preparing the beds, care should be taken to secure 

 perfect drainage. The soil should be taken out to about 

 the depth of 2ft., and then about 9111. of broken bricks, pot- 

 sherds, &c., thrown in. On this should be placed the com- 

 post, which should consist of three parts loam (the top spit 

 of a meadow is best) and one part well-rotted cow-dung; to 

 this should be added one part of coarse sand or road grit. 

 Some cultivators recommend a richer compost than this ; but 

 this we believe to be the best, while the additional stimulus 

 can be obtained afterwards by using liquid manure. The 

 compost must be quite rough, well chopped up, but by no 

 means sifted. In planting, it will be well to have in the 

 centre bed a row of standards or half-standards in the 

 middle, and dwarfs in the other rows. Then, in the borders, 

 it is well to plant a few of the more vigorous Noisettes, and 

 allow them to be trained up the roof for a short distance. 

 Such varieties as Afarechal Niel, William A. Richardson, 

 Celine Forestier, and Bouquet d'Or will, in this position, 

 give abundance of flowers. In the front of the border 

 dwarfs may also be planted. Roses thus treated have to be 

 especially watched with regard to mildew, and therefore 

 thorough ventilation (not draught) is necessary. Mildew is 

 chiefly induced by the variations of temperature (and these 

 are likely to be greater in a glass house than in the open air) ; 

 therefore, on its first appearance, it should be dealt with 

 according to the remedies suggested in the section on 

 " Rose Friends and Foes." 



Procuring the Plaints. 



These may be ordered from the nurseries, and whatever 

 section is selected (though, as already stated, our predilection 

 is for the Teas and Hybrid Teas), they should combine, if 

 possible, a vigorous constitution with free-flowering qualities. 

 At the end of this section we shall enumerate some of the 



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