60 COMMERCIAL ROSE CULTURE 



able to handle the work well and quickly, when all are doing 

 their best, will mean better work in a shorter time. And time 

 is money in planting Roses for, as soon as they are planted, 

 they begin their work and never cease until they are thrown 

 out or dried off the following Summer. 



The easiest way to fill houses is to have a movable sash 

 on the sides of the house, then to draw the carts alongside and 

 to throw the loam inside to the men, who pass it along and 

 spread it on the benches. This is a much quicker way than the 

 old-fashioned wheelbarrow method, although, in extra wide 

 houses, it might be wheeled inside to advantage. On up-to-date 

 places a movable track and trucks on four wheels are used. 

 These trucks will hold from four to six times as much as a 

 wheelbarrow and may be easily operated by two men. Six 

 men will do as much with these as twelve men can do without 

 them on long hauls. Level off with a rake, as you go along, so 

 as to make sure of getting the benches filled evenly. Tread 

 down after filling, unless the loam is wet or of a clayey nature. 

 It may then be raked lightly to give it the final leveling, then 

 marked off. 



We use a marker, made of light wooden strips, after the 

 style of a tooth harrow. It is just wide enough to fit inside the 

 benches so the plants can never get out of line. Commence by 

 setting it down on one end of the bed, pressing it into the soil 

 so as to leave the marks where the plants are to be set. Twenty- 

 four holes can be marked off at one time, when lifted by one 

 man (or by a man on either side, for more rapid work) ; it is 

 set down again with one row of pegs in the end holes; in this 

 way every place must be accurately marked and the time saved 

 is considerable. A line is often in the way when planting, and 

 time is lost in moving it from one place to another. With the 

 marker the full width of the bed can be planted at once if 

 necessary. 



