August 31, 1876. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



179 







WEEKLY CALENDAR 



• 















Day 



of 



Month 



Day 



of 

 Week. 



AUG. 31— SEPT. 6, 1876. 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Sun 



Rises. 



Sun 



Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Bloon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



Day 

 of 



Year. 



31 

 1 

 2 

 3 

 4 

 5 

 6 



Ta 



E 



S 



Son 



M 



Tu 



W 



Poeklington and Yarmouth Shows. 

 Montrose and Thornton Heath Shows. 



12 SONDAY. AFTEE TRINITY. 



Boyal Horticultural Society— Fruit and Floral Com- 

 [ mittees at 11 a.m. 



Day. 

 71.5 

 71.1 

 71.0 

 71.8 

 71.0 

 70.4 

 70.2 



Night. 

 47.4 

 47 5 

 47.6 

 47.7 

 46.7 

 47.1 

 46.8 



Mean. 

 59.4 

 59 3 

 59 3 

 59.2 

 58.9 

 58.8 

 58.5 



h. m. 

 5 13 

 5 15 

 5 16 

 5 18 

 5 20 

 5 21 

 5 23 



h. m. 



6 47 

 6 44 

 6 42 

 6 40 

 6 38 

 6 85 

 6 33 



h. m. 



5 59 



6 16 

 6 30 

 6 42 



6 52 



7 2 

 7 14 



h. m. 



42 



1 56 



3 12 



4 28 



5 42 



6 58 

 8 15 



Days. 

 12 

 13 

 14 

 • 

 16 

 17 

 18 



m. s. 

 11 

 17 

 87 



56 



1 16 

 1 36 

 1 56 



244 

 245 

 246 

 247 

 248 

 249 

 250 



Prom observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 71.0° ; and its night temperature 

 47.2'. 



THE CULTURE OF EOSES IN POTS. 



OSES are generally admitted to be the most 

 beautiful flowering shrubs of our gardens, 

 and for a number of years both in England 

 and on the Continent they have occupied a 

 large share of attention. Who is there that 

 will come forward and deny that they have 

 not a slight weakness, if I may term it so, 

 for Eoses ? At all times Roses are strikingly 

 beautiful, but more particularly so during 

 spring and the early summer months, and 

 they are especially valuable for the ornamentation of the 

 conservatory, and I know of no more pleasing sight than 

 that of a house furnished with well-grown specimens 

 bearing luxuriant foliage and well-formed flowers. So 

 well do they harmonise and associate with other spring 

 subjects that it is of their culture in pots for this purpose, 

 as well as for exhibition, that I describe the method that 

 I have adopted with a fair amount of success. Although, 

 as Mr. Douglas in one of his excellent papers said, " it is 

 not given to "ordinary mortals to possess such plants as 

 are annually exhibited by Mr. Charle3 Turner of Slough, 

 and Messrs. Paul & Son of the Old Nurseries, Cheshunt," 

 still creditable specimens may be grown by any enthusiast, 

 even if only the convenience of a cold pit is afforded. I 

 have grown and exhibited Eoses for two years with no 

 other convenience than a cold lean-to pit 20 feet by 8. 

 I am not advocating this as the best place to grow them 

 in, for it has many drawbacks compared with a house, 

 but only to show that if no other means exist Eoses can 

 be grown in such a pit. 



Perhaps never has there been a season when such 

 encouragement has been offered for the cultivation of 

 Eoses in pots as during the spring and summer of this 

 year, and never have plants, both large and small, been 

 produced in greater perfection. The admirable collection 

 exhibited by Messrs. Veitch & Sons at the Hyacinth Show 

 at South Kensington in March last was an instance what 

 an effect a collection of small plants will make early in 

 the season. The extraordinary qualities of the flowers 

 exhibited by Messrs. Lane of Berkhampstead at the Alex- 

 andra Palace early in May was another instance what 

 may be done by healthy young plants grown in 8-inch 

 pots ; and the huge specimens 6 to 7 feet high and as 

 many through shown by Messrs. Turner and Paul & Son 

 at the two May Shows at the Westminster Aquarium, 

 also at the Crystal Palace and the Eoyal Botanic, were 

 marvellous examples of perfection in Eose culture, such 

 quality of bloom and foliage being scarcely attainable out 

 of doors. The Eoses in 8-inch pots, also exhibited by these 

 great champions, embracing all the new sorts of the last 

 two or three years, must verify the fact that almost every 

 Eose, whether Hybrid Perpetual, H. China, or Tea, does 

 well under pot culture ; and those who wish to procure 

 a collection in the shortest space of time would do well 

 to go to some nursery where this favourite is made a 

 speciality and select as many plants from the subjoined 

 list as means or convenience will admit. Now and during 

 No. 805.— Vol. XXXI., New Sebies 



September will be a very good time to select well-esta- 

 blished plants in 6 or 8-inch pots, and such may be pur- 

 chased at reasonable prices. 



As soon as possible after receiving them from the nur- 

 sery examine their roots, for it may be found that many 

 of them will be benefited by a shift into 10-inch pots. 

 This operation will also enable you to ascertain whether 

 the drainage is in good order or not — a point that is most 

 essential, for the Eose is very impatient of stagnant water 

 at the roots. The following soil will be found suitable to 

 them : — Good strong turfy loam the top spit from an old 

 pasture three parts, the other part of well-decomposed 

 cow manure, or sheep dung if it can be procured ; a little 

 leaf mould and a sprinkling of bone dust may be added 

 with advantage. Chop and mix the compost well to- 

 gether and pot firmly, taking care that the plants are 

 moist at the roots before potting them. After potting 

 place the plants in a cold frame, admitting plenty of ah- 

 oy tilting the lights, and on all favourable occasions draw 

 them entirely off. It is not warmth that is required, but 

 a place of shelter from the heavy autumnal rains and 

 very severe frosts. In these quarters the plants may 

 remain until they are started into growth. 



It takes, as a rule, from eight to eleven or twelve weeks 

 to bring Eoses in full bloom from the time they are 

 started ; and if wanted to bloom during May, which is the 

 month in which pot Eoses are usually exhibited, the first 

 week in March will be found early enough to start them* 

 Soon after the turn of the new year, say early in January,, 

 prune away all weak or watery-growing shoots, and 

 shorten the points of all the shoots, more especially all 

 such as are not well ripened ; it is not, however, neces- 

 sary to prune as hard as you would for a plant growing 

 out of doors. Have a ball of cord or some other tying 

 material in readiness for training the plants, begin by 

 placing a string around the rim of each pot, then bring 

 gently down the point of each shoot to the string ; this to 

 be continued until all the branches or twigs are bent 

 back, so that they may be likened to an umbrella turned 

 inside out. This severe training or bringing down of the 

 branches is indispensable, as it regulates the sap and 

 causes each shoot to break right back, which otherwise 

 would not do so. By thus training a foundation is laid 

 for good plants in future years, and the foliage of the 

 plants is made to cover the rims of the pots. This opera- 

 tion must be done very gently, as too great a strain is 

 apt to break the shoots ; indeed I have known them to 

 snap occasionally after being bent. It will not be out of 

 place here to mention that some cultivators provide 

 against bleeding by using a composition which is recom- 

 mended in the " Gardeners' Year-Book ;" its principal 

 ingredients being pitch and fat. This is very desirable 

 where Eoses have to be started into growth soon after 

 pruning them, and is an useful application. 



If plants are not wanted to bloom until May they can 

 be started about the first week in March in a cold pit or 

 in a house set apart for them, and must be encouraged 

 into growth by keeping them close and syringing them 

 two or three times a-day with tepid water. If rain water 



No. 1457.— Vol. LVL, Old Sehesb. 



