LOCATION AND PREPARATION 



beds have been made up in most complicated and 

 expensive ways, and while good results have been 

 secured, nevertheless, from careful comparison be- 

 tween his roses and those in our ordinary beds, we 

 cannot see enough advantage gained to warrant our 

 recommending his beds for general use, primarily 

 on account of the expense and trouble involved in 

 their construction. He explained in ' 'Country Life in 

 America" his system of preparation for the growing 

 of grass and golf greens. His experiments with roses 

 were on the same lines, except that the germinating 

 and food layers used for the seed in the growing of 

 grass were not necessary in the case of the roses. 

 The bed designed for grass was used for the roses 

 except the top eight inches, which were composed of 

 a blanket layer usually of clay and loam, sometimes 

 of Jersey peat. 



This special bed has given the best results with 

 roses such as Lyon, which loses its leaves early, and 

 also with very weak growing roses like Hugo Roller. 

 Collectors who wish to grow such roses to their great- 

 est beauty should make beds of this description. It 

 is not well, however, for growers to use these beds 

 without great care, because there are a number of 

 varieties which do not thrive in them as well as in 

 the ordinary beds. Just as La France needs the poor- 

 est kind of soil in which to be grown to perfection, 

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