OUTDOOR ROSE GROWING 



or a couple of inches of fine cinders will be found all 

 that is required. Fine stone is really the best. Of 

 course, for a location which is gravelly or sandy, this 

 stone will not be needed and a depth of two feet will 

 be sufficient. 



We will now consider that we have dug a trench, 

 the bottom either covered or not covered with stone 

 to the depth of six inches, as the case may be, but 

 which is now two feet deep from the ground level. 

 It should be noted that in digging this trench for 

 the bed the top soil should be placed in one pile 

 and the subsoil in another. The top soil is the soil 

 on the surface, which runs to different depths, usually 

 about six inches, and which is composed for the 

 most part of decayed vegetation from the roots of 

 many generations of grasses, etc. It contains a per- 

 centage of humus and is, therefore, very valuable as 

 food to the rose roots. Usually it is darker in color 

 than the subsoil and can easily be noted. In soils 

 where there is a large percentage of clay or loam it 

 will not be necessary to use subsoil other than that 

 taken from the trench, as far as one-third of the 

 mixture to be put back into the bed is concerned; 

 but where soil is very gravelly or sandy it would be 

 best to secure some heavy loam or clay to make the 

 proper kind of bed. The finished bed should be 

 one-third top soil, one-third heavy clay subsoil, and 



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