THE I'ERPHrr.lL ROHli. 6:! 



of some sort, but for vin'orous g'rowiii<^' varieties that 

 sliould produce large and \ery double Howers, the soil 

 must be loamy and liberally manured. The standard 

 roses, being on the English brier, need a rather stiff soil, 

 which should be deejily dug for them and very liberally 

 manured. Therefore those who live in clay countries may 

 indulge in standards, and they ma}' be advised always to 

 give the preference to vigorous growing sorts, and to 

 plant trees with good heads in the first instance. It is 

 a pity to disfigure a garden by planting long sticks with 

 a few little ugl}' twigs at the top, for those starvelings 

 rarely become fine plants, and if they are ugly in the 

 first instance they are likely to become more ugly with 

 lapse of time. Where the soil is thin and stony and 

 dry, the best form of rose is the " mimetti " — that is 

 to say, those that are grafted on the Italian brier bear- 

 ing that name, for this brier can endure the trials of a 

 pioor, light soil, better than the English brier. But a 

 good garden soil that has been well prepared will pro- 

 duce good roses in plenty, whether they be on English 

 briers or Italian briers or own-roots. 



The rose is a thirsty plant, but it will not thrive on 

 a soil that is sour with stagnant moisture j therefore 

 good drainage is an aid to success. But a moist soil is 

 to be preferred to a dry one, and during long-continued 

 drought roses of all kinds should be abundantly supplied 

 Avith water. 



The principal enemy of garden roses is the aplu^, or 

 "■green fly." If this is allowed to riot on the tender 

 young leafage, the vigour of the plants is destroyed, 

 and we may not only expect the flowers to be few and 

 small, but we may really lose the plants entirely, for 



