ON ROSES. 



I09 



particular stock on which they succeed best, experience having 

 taught them which varieties require a particular stock. 



To have flowers up to exhibition form young plants are 

 essential. These should be free in growth, clean, and judiciously 

 fed when the buds are formed, to give size of flower and petal, 

 with good substance and perfect colour. Diluted liquid manure 

 from the farm-yard, or ioz. of good guano dissolved in igalL 

 of water, has an immediate beneficial influence. Should the 

 weather be showery, ioz. of guano and ioz. of superphosphate,, 

 applied to each square yard, will quickly give assistance to- 

 the plants, ioz. of sulphate of ammonia dissolved in 2galls. of 

 water aids materially in giving a good colour to the foliage and 

 flower; but over-feeding must be avoided. Once a week- 

 will be often enough to apply any one of the above manures, 

 which should be varied weekly. The early thinning of the 

 buds is also of much importance. All buds, except one on 

 each shoot, should be removed, retaining only the finest. It is 

 a waste of energy and power to allow the flower-buds to swell 

 to say half their normal size, and then cut away the surplus 

 ones. To some extent it must reduce in quality the bud left ; 

 it may be only a little, but when competition is close a very 

 slight superiority in size and colour will give the winning points. 



All the most successful exhibitors pay the strictest attention 

 to detail in culture and management, and also exercise good taste 

 in the arrangement of colour, &c, when staging the blossoms. 

 A flower to be fit for exhibition should possess size, perfect form, 

 rich colour, and be quite fresh. A flower that is somewhat stale 

 in colour, has damaged petals, or an open eye, is a great source 

 of weakness in any stand. A few such in a really good collec- 

 tion mar its appearance, and greatly minimise the exhibitor's 

 chance of winning a prize. Much again depends upon the time 

 of cutting the flowers for exhibition. The early morning is by 

 far the best time, as the flowers are then fresh, moist, and 

 keep their shape and beauty considerably longer than if cut 

 in the middle or afternoon of the day, as the petals are then 

 liable to expand, and the flower often becomes loose after 

 cutting. An excellent plan, adopted by many growers and 

 exhibitors to keep the flowers fresh and good in form, is, 

 immediately they are cut, to tie a soft piece of worsted 

 or wool carefully round the flower-bud. This band or tie 

 should not be tight, but simply passed once, or perhaps twice, 

 round to keep the petals together and prevent further expansion 



