CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 185 



the plan of Rivers is materially diflerent, we will give his direc- 

 tions in detail, admitting-, at the same time, that, under some cir- 

 cumstances, it may be preferable to that we have detailed above. 

 " The heps of all the varieties of roses, will, in general, be fully 

 ripe by the beginning of November ; they should then be gathered 

 and kept entire, in a flower-pot filled with dry sand, carefully guard- 

 ed from mice. In February, or by the first week in March, they 

 must be broken to pieces with the fingers, and sown in flower-pots, 

 such as are generally used for sowing seeds in, called ' seed pans ;' 

 but for rose seeds they should not be too shallow ; nine inches in 

 depth-will be-enough. These should be nearly, but not quite, filled 

 with a rich compost of rotten manure and sandy loam, or peat ; 

 the seeds may be covered, to the depth of about half an inch, 

 with the same compost ; a piece of kiln wire must then be placed 

 over the pot, fitting closely at the rim, so as to prevent the in- 

 gress of mice, which are passionately fond of rose-seeds ; there 

 must be space enough between the wire and the mould for the 

 young plants to come up — half an inch will probably be found 

 enough ; the pots of seed must never be placed under glass, but 

 kept constantly in the open air, in a full sunny exposure, as the 

 wire will shade the mould and prevent its drying. Water should 

 be given occasionally, in dry weather. The young plants will 

 perhaps make their appearance in April or May, but very often 

 the seed does not vegetate till the second spring. When they 

 have made their ' rough leaves,' that is, when they have three 

 or four leaves, exclusive of their seed-leaves, they must be care- 

 fully raised with the point of a narrow pruning-knife, potted into 

 small pots, and placed in the shade ; if the weather is very hot 

 and dry, they may be covered with a hand-glass for a few days. 

 They may remain in those pots a month, and then be planted 

 out into a rich border ; by the end of August those that are 

 robust growers will have made shoots long enough for budding." 

 Until the plants have become firmly rooted, and, in fact through 

 the most of the first summer, they should be protected from the 

 heat of the sun ; a cheap mode of doing this is to put up rough 

 posts, connect them by pieces of wood, lay rough slats across these, 



16* 



