ROSES 127 



WORK MONTH BY MONTH 



The Kose is a flower so popular and beautiful that the work required 

 amongst the plants month by month will prove helpful to the beginner. 



JANUARY. On established Eose-beds strong liquid manure may be 

 poured. Standard briars may still be planted if weather is mild. In- 

 doors, the borders or large tubs of permanent Roses should receive a top 

 dressing. Remove two or three inches of the old soil, scatter on some 

 good artificial manure, then replace soil removed with fibrous loam and 

 well-rotted manure in equal parts. If borders are dry, give a good water- 

 ing first. 



FEBRUARY. If farmyard manure be applied to the beds this should 

 now be dug in. Do not dig very deeply, just enough to bury the dung. 

 The surface of the Rose-beds should also be loose. This is not a hard 

 matter to secure if the hoe be diligently used. Planting may still be 

 done if mild and dwarf stocks for budding should now be set out. The 

 stocks are better headed in, for the frost only draws them out of the 

 soil and practically kills them. So when cold weather threatens wait for 

 milder days. Give the beds of established Roses a dressing of manure ; 

 keep the surface soil loose so that rains will wash down the nutriment. 

 If the appearance of manure is objected to cover it with soil. Artificial 

 manures are essential to develop good blooms. The cheapest and one of 

 the best for this purpose is basic slag, which should be applied early 

 in winter at the rate of four to eight ounces per square yard. 



Cuttings inserted in autumn will require pushing down, as the 

 frost usually raises them, and unless their ends rest in the soil 

 failures will occur. Hoe the cutting beds when necessary. Prun- 

 ing should be done now to plants upon walls ; this will merely consist 

 in tipping the ends of shoots, for the thinning should have been done 

 in autumn. Release the growths from the wall to retard them as much 

 as possible. If they break too early much disappointment occurs through 

 injury by spring frosts. Hardy Roses, such as Mosses, Gallicas, &c., may 

 now be pruned. Budded stocks should now be cut back as far as the 

 inserted bud. After this cutting back, the soil is then dug thinly and 

 laid up as rough as possible to sweeten. Any old bush Roses one does 

 not care for, if cut down to the ground, may be rebudded in July with 

 good kinds. Where one desires to layer some Roses, hard pruning 

 should be done now. Give new stakes to standard and pillar Roses 

 before March winds arise. 



Roses under glass will require much attention. Keep the soil rather 

 dry until new growths are about one inch in length, then give plants a 

 good watering with tepid water. It is best to repeat the watering the 

 next day in order to thoroughly soak through the ball of earth. Put 

 the plants upon inverted flower-pots on two bricks. Fumigate whether 

 fly is seen or not. The Rose-house should receive a dressing of lime- 

 wash upon any brick work inside. Paint the hot-water pipes with 

 black sulphur. If some skim milk is mixed with the sulphur the latter 



