254 THE FLORIST AND 



but we find very few of them entirely so in practice. In fact, only a part 

 of the " Hybrid Perpetuals" of the Remontant division. All the Noi- 

 settes, Teas, Musks, &c, of the China family which we have tried, are quite 

 too tender in .our soil; and even the glorious Boukbons are little, if any 

 better than "half hardy," at the best — though in Chicago and other cities 

 north, we have seen them doing reasonably well in a few instances — owing 

 to the protection by buildings and enclosures. 



Still, we contrived to winter a few sorts, by cutting down too near the 

 ground late in the autumn, and covering the stumps with dry earth and hay 

 or straw. The new shoots of the Gloire de Rosamen have commenced bloom- 

 ing early in June, and continued until cut down, in November. 



But such Remontants as Due D'Aumale, Dr. Marx, Earl Talbot, Madame 

 Laffay, &c, have withstood our winters, without any artificial protection, 

 whatever. And yet, according to our experience, some of these are quite 

 as hardy as the Hybrid Chinas, and other June Roses. 



To increase the autumnal bloom of the Remontants, we practice disbudd- 

 ing in June, having then a great abundance of other, equally fine flowers, 

 of the border sorts. 



But a word on culture and propagation, and we close. The cultivation 

 of the Rose is very simple. The whole secret may be summed up, in 

 depth and richness, of pulverized and well drained soil. A clay loam suit- 

 ing best ; except for propagation, where a sandy loam is desirable. Dig 

 the soil two feet deep, drain it still deeper, and enrich it with thoroughly 

 decomposed manure. Plant recent suckers, with small, new roots ; or good 

 layers — never more than ten years old — keep out grass and weeds, and 

 fork up the soil, every spring, and with good sorts you will never fail of 

 realizing all you can reasonably hope for, in the way of Roses. 



Except climbers (and a very few other individuals) a Rose plantation 

 should be set, once in from four to six years, and the crabbed old stems, 

 and gnarly roots thrown away, unless needed for growing layers. 



The climbing roses, the yellow moss, &c, need very little pruning, and 

 the old wood should be cut out, rather than shortened, while most of the 

 others require shortening, and a severe cutting out of old wood, besides. 

 The Rose nippers or shears, is the implement for this work — and imme- 

 diately after blooming, is a good time to cut out a part of the old wood, 

 (where the new is abundant) and very early in spring, at the time of fork- 

 ing, the new wood may be shortened, and all the old that can be spared, 

 finally cut out, to give more strength to that which is to afford flowers, on 

 the current growth of the coming season. 



