TOWN ROSES. 199 



TOWN EOSES, 



\From " The Journal of Horticulture" July 'jth 1892, p. 6.] 



SO much has been written on Roses of late that one 

 feels it almost necessary to offer an apology for 

 taking up the pen to add to the already abundant litera- 

 ture on the subject, and yet day by day we receive letters 

 seeking information on various points in Rose culture, 

 which show that the writers have not met with the infor- 

 mation they stand in need of or have failed to understand 

 it. The most numerous queries that reach us relate to 

 the management of Roses in and around large towns, and 

 to that phase of the subject I propose at the present 

 moment to give my attention. 



Even in and around large towns the disadvantages 

 which vegetable life have to contend with vary to a 

 considerable extent. Dense smoke is not always the 

 most inimical of these. The existence of certain chemical 

 works filling the air with the noxious vapours they exhale 

 are often more pernicious. We have known Roses and 

 other plants prosper fairly well amidst dust and smoke, 

 but succumb rapidly after the working of a manufactory 

 of chemicals. If the latter exist extensively, and the 

 consequences of the mischief they produce cannot be 

 modified by scientific or other means, we fear the culti- 

 vation of Roses within their influence will give little 

 satisfaction. But mere smoke, the smoke rising from the 

 consumption of ordinary coke and coal, unless in unusual 

 quantities, may be met and negatived to more or less 

 extent by proceedings which, if costly, may yet compen- 

 sate for the trouble and expense incurred. 



In very smoky districts we would not recommend the 

 cultivation of Roses otherwise than under glass. A span- 

 roofed house, the slopes facing east and west, the top 

 lights removeable, is recommended for this purpose. It 

 should be heated with 4-inch pipes, and the plants may be 



