THE FORCING OF ROSES. 3 



The cuttings should be dropped into water to pre- 

 vent their drying out, and as soon as possible should be 

 placed in the propagating bed. This should contain 

 about four inches of clean, sharp sand of medium fine- 

 ness, and should have heating pipes beneath, to give bot- 

 tom heat. Set the cuttings in rows, about two inches 

 apart and three-fourths of an inch in the row, and press 

 the sand firmly about them. At once wet them down 

 thoroughly, and if the weather is clear and bright the 

 beds should be shaded during the middle of the day for 

 the first week. The propagating house should be kept 

 at a temperature, at night, of fifty-eight or sixty degrees, 

 with about ten degrees more of bottom heat. During the 

 day, it should be well ventilated to keep up the bottom 

 heat and thus promote root development, and to admit 

 fresh air, but a temperature ten degrees higher than at 

 night is desirable. 



In about three or four weeks, with proper care, 

 every cutting should be rooted. The requirements for 

 success, as noted above, are, good cuttings, clean, sharp 

 sand, a proper temperature, shading when necessary, 

 and an occasional wetting down of the bed, in order 

 that the cuttings may not at any time become dry. If 

 the house is inclined to dry out, or if the weather is 

 bright, the cuttings as well as the walks should be sprin- 

 kled occasionally, and the ventilation should have care- 

 ful attention. It is best to use fresh sand for each batch 

 of cuttings. 



POTTING AND CARE OF THE PLANTS. 



"When the roots are three-fourths of an inch long, 

 the cuttings should be potted off into two or two and 

 one-half inch pots, pressing the soil firmly. The best 

 soil for the potting of rose cuttings is made of equal 

 parts of leaf mold, or decayed pasture sods, and garden 

 loam, with a little cow manure and bone meal, and sand 



