IV PLANTING 55 



within nine or ten inches of each other. Between 

 these extremes there will be many gradations, and 

 care should be taken at the same time neither to 

 inconvenience the plants by crowding nor to waste 

 the room. Some tall sorts, like Fran9ois Michelon 

 or Her Majesty, are upright and not wide and 

 bushy, and do not therefore require much room ; 

 while others, like Comtesse de Nadaillac, though 

 dwarf are spreading in growth, and cover more 

 ground in proportion. Some guide to these 

 "manners and customs" of the varieties will be- 

 found in Chap. XII. It will be best, however, that 

 the strong growers should be set wider apart if 

 quantity rather than quality be aimed at, as in this 

 case the plants will be allowed to increase in size at 

 the annual pruning. There are also some varieties, 

 both of H.P.s and Teas, which, even for exhibition 

 purposes, should not be pruned much : and obviously 

 more space should be allowed for them. The Gloire 

 de Dijon race, the Marechal Niel and the Noisettes, 

 which are pruned on a different system and require 

 much more space, should not be planted in the same 

 beds with the H.P.s and Teas. 



But I am getting on too fast. We have to make 

 up our beds after marking them out in the grass, 

 and to do this properly everything will depend upon 

 the nature of the soil and subsoil, instructions for 

 dealing with which have been given in the last 

 chapter. Whatever the soil may be, it should be 

 moved at least two feet in depth ; and unless the 

 soil under that should prove thoroughly porous, 

 affording good natural drainage, the beds must be 

 properly pipe-drained by a competent and trust- 

 worthy man. That is the first thing ; without good 



