ROSES. 367 



seeing them in our o^vn grounds. Besides tliis facUity of propa- 

 gation and dissemination, whicli is obtained by budding on the 

 Manetti, there are some varieties which emit roots so feebly that 

 they are grown with difficulty on their own roots, but when 

 worked on Manetti stocks they grow luxuriantly, and bloom in 

 profusion. Many varieties, also, wiU. produce much finer flowers 

 when grown on Manetti stocks than on their own roots. Yet, 

 these advantages are at the cost of some care, lest shoots and 

 suckers from the stock should be permitted to grow and choke 

 out the Eose. 



The further cultivation wUl consist chiefly in keeping the 

 ground loose and friable, free from aU grass and weeds, and pro- 

 tecting the roots from the severe frosts of wiuter and' droughts of 

 summer by a suitable mulch. If the summer mulch be tliree or 

 four inches of well-decomposed stable manure, and the coarser 

 mulch of winter be worked into the soil in spring, the Ilose 

 ground wOl be kept, as it must be to secure fine blooms, wcU 

 enriched. Yet once in three or four years it wiU be foimd to 

 be of great advantage to give the Eose grounds some fresh soil 

 formed of well-rotted sods, which have been gathered and com- 

 posted in the manner already mentioned. This may be spread 

 on the surface, to the depth of three or four inches, in the spring, 

 and forked in with the wmter's mulch. If it be likely to raise 

 the bed too liigh, a few shovelsful of the old soil may be removed 

 as occasion may require. 



Pruning the Eose should never be done in our climate in 

 the fall. Somehow the wounds of the pruning-knife seem to 

 open a door for the frost to enter; be that as it may, expe- 

 rience has taught us that Eose trees pruned in the fall are very 

 sure to suffer from the winter, even while those that are unpruued 

 escape. The best tune to prune is early in the spring, after 

 severe freezing weather is past, and before the sap is iu active 

 circulation. Pruning should be suited to the variety of Eose 

 iinder the knife. Eoses of very vigorous habit of growth should 

 be moderately pruned, for if they are severely cut back they wiU 



