FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
162 
apart for Rose-culture, it is a good plan, unless the soil is naturally very 
suitable for their growth, to take out the mould to a depth of about 18 
inches, and fill up with a specially-prepared compost. Nothing is better 
for the purpose than good turfy loam from a newly-broken-up pasture; 
or failing this, a rich loam to which well-rotted stable manure has been 
freely added and well worked in. If an annual top-dressing of stable 
manure be given, the trees will have well-nigh all they require. 
Pruning should be done in spring. The weak shoots should be cut 
well back, and the strong, vigorous ones allowed air and elbow-room. 
Those shoots which were produced late in the previous season, and were 
consequently imperfectly ripened, should be cut away first of all, as they 
will not bear flowers. There is much difference in the amount of pruning 
required by the different sections of Roses; standards of the Hybrid 
Perpetual class, for instance, needing rigorous treatment to prevent the 
heads getting too bushy and heavy, whilst dwarf plants of the same 
sorts need to be allowed more liberty of growth. In their case, a thinning 
out of the shoots is more necessary. Climbing Roses require little spring 
pruning, but after the flowering is over, the old stems and wood should 
be well thinned or even cut out altogether to allow the new shoots room 
to develop. Tea Roses require very little pruning. If grown in pots 
they require practically none, except to keep them within bounds. 
Greenhouse culture of Roses is extensively pursued. The plants 
may be grown in pots or in a border. A climbing Rose is often grown 
in the greenhouse border and trained over the wall, or up a pillar and 
along under the roof. One of the climbing varieties of Tea Roses is 
best suited for this purpose, and a well-drained bed should be pre¬ 
pared for it where it can grow free from staging or other obstacle 
to light and air. A good soil for the bed is composed of stiff turfy 
loam and decomposed cow-manure in equal portions. There will be 
much growth of long shoots that are devoid of flower-buds, and these 
must be continually thinned out as they grow, or the flowering shoots 
will be choked. Plenty of water should be given during the growing 
period, but in winter it must be almost entirely withheld in order that 
the plant may have its proper term of rest. For pot-culture the Tea 
Roses and the Hybrid Perpetuals will be found specially suitable, and if 
possible they should be upon their own roots. The compost should be 
that just recommended for the greenhouse border, with the addition of 
a little charcoal and crushed bones. When well established in this, it 
will be found that top-dressing, and liquid manure once a week during 
the flowering period, will obviate the necessity for re-potting until they 
are really pot-bound. At the end of February or the beginning of 
