HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 133 



NOTES ON ROSE CULTURE. 



BY A LOVER OF ROSES. 



"Good work never springs from bad materials" is as orthodox on 

 the present subject as any other. So the first object of attention is 

 good soil, on a dry bottom ; or in other words good, rich, sandy 

 soil, free from stagnant moisture in all seasons. Such being the 

 case, we are indifferent about the exact component parts of the soil, 

 but it must be rich to produce anything approaching a luxuriant 

 growth, and full sized flowers. To obtain such I will briefly touch 

 upon the following subjects — soil, disposition, sorts and pruning. 



Soil. I prefer a sandy loam, dug at least 1 8 inches'deep, and in- 

 corporated with at least one eighth of manure that is at least 4 to 

 6 months old. I prefer it from the cow stable, but when I can get 

 a profusion of decomposed leaves from the woods and mix it in 

 equal portions with the garden soil I never fail to have flowers of 

 full size and fine color, and am convinced of finer odor. Another 

 point of vast importance to the success of the grower is never to 

 plant a rose in soil where a rose has grown before ; invariably re- 

 place your soil, or grow on it grass or vegetables for 2 years before 

 renewing your rose plantation. The many failures and disappoint- 

 ments that often occur arise solely from this neglect. How fre- 

 quently have I seen some of my neighbors dig up an old worthless 

 rose bush that had exhausted all the soil in its vicinity, and replant 

 some other sort of more fashionable reputation that did not take 

 hold of the soil, and consequently never made a growth. The fail- 

 ure in nine cases out of ten, was cast upon the plant, or perhaps the 

 unfortunate vender, whereas had it grown the planter would have 

 assumed the full credit of its success. I speak now from experi- 

 ence for which I have fully paid. 



Locality, is another important step in rose culture. In city gar- 

 dens especially, how frequently you see some of the finest plants of 

 the rose purchased in the market, carefully carried home and plant- 

 ed directly opposite the back parlor window, whether the sun shines 

 or not the rose is planted to grow? No — to die or dwindle out a 

 sickly existence. Again in the country how frequently are your 

 nerves irritated by seeing a fine Souvenir de la Malmaison or a 



