KOSE GROWING IN WINTER. 161 



of pure bone dust. It is perhaps best to let the sod be 

 well rotted before it is used, although, if this be not con- 

 venient, it will do fresh, if well chopped up. Of late 

 years we have used the Acme harrow to break and mix 

 up with the manure all soil used for Roses, at a saving of 

 three-fourths of the labor. 



DISTANCE TO PLANT. 



The distance for Roses such as I describe (those that 

 have been grown in six-inch pots, and averaging one foot 

 high), should be one foot each way, so as to get the full 

 benefit of a crop by January. It is true that, if planted 

 twice that distance, they would be thick enough before 

 spring; but they will not fill up sufficiently until the 

 middle of January, if planted much wider than one foot, 

 and it is always before that date that Roses are highest in 

 price. The temperature at which Roses are grown in 

 winter is an average of fifty-five degrees at night, with 

 ten to fifteen degrees higher during the day. Conse- 

 quently, if heated by hot water, in this latitude, a house 

 twenty feet wide will require eight runs of four-inch pipe 

 to maintain that heat ; if sixteen feet wide, about six 

 runs ; and if twelve feet wide, about four runs. If heated 

 by steam, a one-and-a-half-inch pipe will be about equal 

 to a four-inch hot-water pipe. 



WATERING AND MULCHING. 



Watering is a matter of the first importance, and re- 

 quires some experience to know what is the proper con- 

 dition. It is not often that Roses require to be watered. 

 The heavy syringing necessary each forenoon in clear 

 weather to keep down Red-spider is generally sufficient to 

 keep them in the proper condition of moisture; of course, 

 good judgment must be used to syringe heavier in warm, 

 bright weather, when the plants are in vigorous growth, 

 than in dull weather, or when the plants are not so vigor- 



