ROSES 



special rose-planting numbers, one is compelled, willy- 

 nilly, to invest in another dozen or so. And if that grim 

 spectre, lack of space, should stare you in the face, how 

 appalling, how disastrous ! For some years now I have 

 been confronted by this unenviable apparition, and 

 yearly, as my rose beds expand, the lawn grows less and 

 the paths diminish. When I come to the end of my 

 tether, as soon I must, what is there to do but discard 

 some of those that have proved less worthy than others, 

 and to replace with newer sorts ? Yes ; but discarding 

 the good to make way for the better is heart-breaking 

 work. One ought to find room for both. Let me then 

 counsel the home gardener at the outset to allow for the 

 expansion of his garden of roses ; it is inevitable. 



If there is any greater delight than reading the glorious 

 accounts of the roses one chooses for purchase and in 

 planting them, it lies in anticipating the time when they 

 shall blossom and fulfil, or fall short of, the raiser's 

 description. The scarlet rose may prove to be but a 

 red one, the red rose pink, and the yellow rose cream ; 

 even then it is not wise always to blame the vendor. Try 

 a thick sprinkling of basic slag on the soil in November 

 and a " good dusting " of bone-meal in March when 

 pruning is done, forking both materials among the soil, 

 prune hard, and, with fair play on the part of the clerk 

 of the weather, you may yet modify the unpleasant 

 things that came to mind about the rose grower and 

 the new roses he sent you. 



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