400 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
Roses in winter (by C. E. Hunn). 
Although the growing of roses under glass must be left chiefly to 
florists, advice may be useful to those who have conservatories : — 
When growing forcing roses for winter flowers, florists usually pro- 
vide raised beds, in the best-lighted houses they have. The bottom 
of the bed or bench is left with cracks between the boards for drain- 
age; the cracks are covered with inverted strips of sod, and the bench 
is then covered with 4 or 5 inches of fresh, fibrous loam. This is made 
from rotted sods, with decayed manure incorporated at the rate of about 
one part in four. Sod from any drained pasture-land makes good soil. 
The plants are set on the bed in the spring or early summer, from 12 to 
18 inches apart, and are grown there all summer. 
During the winter they are kept at a temperature of 58° to 60° at 
night, and from 5° to 10° warmer during the day. The heating pipes 
are often run under the benches, not because the rose likes bottom 
heat, but to economize space and to assist in drying out the beds in 
case of their becoming too wet. The greatest care is required in water- 
ing, in guarding the temperature, and in ventilation. Draughts result 
in checks to the growth and in mildewed foliage. 
Dryness of the air, especially from fire heat, is followed by the ap- 
pearance of the minute red spider on the leaves. The aphis, or green 
plant louse, appears under all conditions, and must be kept down by 
the use of some of the tobacco preparations (several of which are on 
the market). 
For the red spider, the chief means of control is syringing with either 
clear or soapy water. If the plants are intelligently ventilated and 
given, at all times, as much fresh air as possible, the red spider is less 
likely to appear. For mildew, which is easily recognized by its white, 
powdery appearance on the foliage, accompanied with more or less 
distortion of the leaves, the remedy is sulfur in some form or other. 
The flowers of sulfur may be dusted thinly over the foliage; enough 
merely slightly to whiten the foliage is sufficient. It may be dusted 
on from the hand in a broadcast way, or applied with a powder-bellows, 
which is a-better and Jess wasteful method. Again, a paint composed 
of sulfur and linseed oil may be applied to a part of one of the steam 
or hot-water heating pipes. The fumes arising from this are not 
