CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 



PREPARATION OF THE GROUND. Always select an open, sunny place, 

 exposed to full light and air. Roses appear to best advantage when planted in 

 beds or masses. Roses will grow in any fertile soil, but are much improved in 

 bloom, fragrance and beauty by rich soil, liberal manuring and good cultivation. 

 The ground should be subsoiled and well spaded to the depth of 2 feet or more, 

 and enriched by digging in good cow manure or other good fertilizing material. 

 Roses are gross feeders and require a quantity of manure. Renew old beds by de- 

 cayed sods taken from old pasture-land. 



PLANTING. When the ground is thoroughly prepared fine and in nice 

 condition put in the plant slightly deeper than it was before, spread the roots out 

 evenly in their natural position, and cover them with fine earth, taking care to draw 

 it closely around the stem, and pack firmly with the hand. It is very important that 

 the earth be tightly pressed down on the roots. Budded Roses should be planted 

 3 inches below the bud, but in all cases avoid deep planting. A mulch of litter 

 will be found very beneficial. 



WATERING. If the ground is dry when planted, water thoroughly after plant- 

 ing, so as to soak the earth down below the roots, and, if hot or windy, it may be 

 well to shade for a few days. After this not much water is required, unless the 

 weather is unusually dry. 



PRUNING. Old and decayed branches and at least half the previous season's 

 wood should be cut away early each spring, and a little cutting back after the first 

 blooming will insure more late flowers. Climbing and Pillar Roses should not be 

 cut back ; but the tips of the shoots only should be taken off, and any weak or 

 unripe shoots cut out altogether. 



FALL AND WINTER TREATMENT 



In the fall the Rose beds should have a good dressing of stable manure or other 

 fertilizer. The winter rains will carry the strength to the roots, and the remaining 

 matter makes a nice mulch, which in many places is all the protection necessary. 

 Where the winters are not very severe tender Roses may be covered with clean rye- 

 straw, leaves or evergreen branches, not too thickly, but so as to permit consider- 

 able circulation of air and not to retain water ; nothing should be used that will 

 ferment, heat or rot. The object of covering is to break the force of sudden and 

 violent changes, particularly in March, when the plants should be protected from 

 the sun, rather than from cold, the sudden thawing of the frozen wood doing the 

 damage. 



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