CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 183 



possessing broad, thick, and well-formed petals ; their stamens 

 should also be visible: and their pistil perfect ; for perfectly double 

 flowers, in Avhich all the organs of propagation — the stamens and 

 pistils — are changed into petals, never yield seed. These should 

 be planted together in a rich soil, and as far as possible from any 

 other roses. If there are among them any two varieties whose 

 peculiarities it is desired to unite in a single plant, place these 

 next to each other, and there may possibly be such an admixture 

 of the pollen as will produce the desired result. 



Care should be taken not to affect the proper maturity of the 

 seed by taking off the petals, but allow them to fall by their own 

 decay. The seed should be perfectly mature before it is gath- 

 ered, which will be immediately after the first hard frost. After 

 the heps have been gathered, the seeds can be taken out with the 

 point of a knife, or, if there is a large quantity, they can be put 

 on a table and bruised with a wooden roller ; the covering of the 

 seeds is so tough that they cannot easily be injured. When the 

 hep is sufficiently bruised, it can be plunged into a vessel of 

 water ; and by continued friction, the seeds can be easily sepa- 

 rated from the pulp which surrounds them, and will generally 

 fall to the bottom. After being dried a few days in the shade, 

 they should be placed just beneath the surface, in pots filled with 

 fine sand, or peat earth, where they can be kept until wanted for 

 planting in the spring. The seeds which are not thus placed in 

 sand soon after they are gathered, will not grow until the second, 

 and if delayed very long, imtil the third year. In this case, how- 

 ever, their gennination can be hastened by sowing them in 

 earthen pans, which are placed upon a hot-bed or under a glass 

 frame. The seeds being thus planted immediately after being 

 gathered, the sand should be kept moistened through the winter, 

 and the pots kept out of the reach of frost. Mice are very fond of 

 these seeds, and will destroy them unless they are covered with 

 burrs, or protected by coarse wire netting. The pots should be 

 kept out of all heat, excepting what may be required to keep the 

 frost from them, until the first of the fourth month (April), in this 

 latitude, and at the South, earlier; this is requisite, in order to 



