ROSES IN POTS 45 



the best time, but we have known abnormally hot, dry autumns 

 when the plants have been ripened at a still earlier date, and directly 

 that has come about the time has come to pot them. But we 

 would not be too early ; the determining factor is the ripeness of 

 the wood. If lifted too soon, that is, before growth has actually 

 ceased, the unripe wood will shrivel and need nursing back to 

 freshness again. Nothing in the nature of an artificial check is 

 desirable, for the whole point in potting is to induce an immediate 

 output of new roots into the new soil, to get the plants really 

 established before winter, and, by so much, ensure the prompt 

 and strong breaking of their eyes at the first flush of spring. 



Ought roses lifted for potting purposes to be pruned ? If 

 we use the word pruned in its literal sense, we reply, " Certainly 

 not," but in another and more general sense, " Yes," that is, they 

 benefit by being " trimmed." There should be a little shortening 

 of the longer growths, and a little cutting back of the roots to 

 remove the rough ends, damaged by lifting. But do not let us 

 call this " pruning," or we shall never make ourselves clear. The 

 little shortening here recommended could not be indulged in but 

 for the fact that the season is so far advanced that all danger of 

 excitement to growth is remote. 



THE POTTING 



Lifted roses must be potted with due care, not on the " piece- 

 work " system, but with full attention to detail. They call impera- 

 tively for clean pots, thoroughly well crocked and good soil well 

 rammed home. If not pressed quite solid, blind growths will be 

 the result. The compost must be of the best and richest, good 

 loam with no more than a fair proportion of nitrogenous manure, but 

 with the addition of phosphates, preferably in the form of crushed 

 bone, and potash supplied by just a modicum of burnt vegetable 

 ashes. While on the heavy side, it must not be a cold, unworkable 

 soil, but a warm, root-producing medium. The character of the 

 loam used matters a great deal, the ideal being rich top -spit from 

 an old pasture. We see the name " loam " applied to every kind 

 of heavy soil, nowadays, and from an agricultural point of view 

 this may or may not be correct, but it does not apply in horticulture. 



