THE EOSE AND ITS CULTURE. 



109 



Probably antecedent and erroneous practice, as re- 

 gards the ctdture of any imported plant, has never 

 obtained so firm a footing as in regard to this one. 

 Within the area of gardens, it was, when first intro- 

 duced, treated as a tender or semi-tropical plant, and 

 received cultural aid and consideration in all ways 

 similar to the Cucumber. This practice still finds 

 hosts of followers; mounds of manm^e and fer- 

 menting materials being far too generally employed 

 in connection with its culture. TTiat this is an erro- 

 neous practice we need not go farther than the open 

 fields to affirm, where the immense qua^itities sent 

 into the metropolis and all large towns are fi-eely 

 produced by ordinary field culture pur et simple, good 

 dressings of manure being, as a matter of course, 

 applied. The custom in connection with field cul- 

 ture is, besides, to sow the seeds in the open ground 

 in the exact positions where they are intended to 

 grow and produce the crop. This system — namely, 

 avoiding excessively rich beds, and sowing the seeds 

 and growing the plants under full exposure — gives 

 far heavier results than such a "coddling" system 

 as gains precedence within garden walls. 



An open and exposed site within the garden should 

 b)e chosen for them, and where they can be grown as 

 a single row with extending -vdnes. The soil must be 

 deeply dug and manured, and an additional layer 

 may certainly, with advantage, be placed centrally, 

 and covered with soil. Along the ridge thus formed 

 the seeds may be sown in part, a portion being sown 

 in a pot a week or two pre'v'iously to insure a batch of 

 somewhat forwarder plants, which, when potted off 

 and hardened, may also be planted on the same ridge. 

 These seeds may be sown, the latter in a pot under 

 shelter about Apiil 15th, and those in the lidge about 

 May 12th, When the young plants begin to grow 

 freely, induce the shoots to grow right and left fi'om 

 the centre of the ridge; and should a dry period 

 ensue about the end of the month of June, give a 

 copious root-watering. By these simple means good 

 and constant supplies ^dll be assxired. The fruit are 

 never better for culinary purposes than when cooked 

 whole ; for which purpose they should be taken from 

 the plants when three or four inches long only. The 

 needful hoeings and weedings need not be more than 

 referred to. As regards the sorts. Long-ribbed, 

 Vegetable Cream, the Custard, and the Bush varieties 

 are desirable. The latter produce fruit freely, and 

 have not the same habit as all others of rambling over 

 the sui-face of the ground, which is an advantage, 

 especially in small gardens of limited extent. 



The Potato is reserved for separate treatment ; 

 and some notes on simultaneous cropping, and a 

 popular calendar of operations for the kitchen 

 garden, will therefore sufficiently complete and con- 

 clude this series of articles. 



THE EOSE AND ITS CULTUEE. 



By D. T. Fish. 



TEAINING. 



"P OSES naturally assume many forms ; their differ- 

 JLl; ences of stature and of character have already 

 been briefly adverted to. As to varieties in form, what 

 could be greater than the small-leaved, compact- 

 growing Scotch Roses, bristling with short, sharp 

 prickles, and not exceeding an average of two feet 

 in height, and another Scotch variety of the arvensis 

 species of Rose, the Ayrshire, rambling and scramb- 

 ling to a height or length of twenty or more feet ? 

 In the cultivation of a family varying so widely, it 

 is only natural that the normal diversities should be 

 preserved, and at times intensified and exaggerated. 

 For Roses not only differ widely in a state of nature, 

 but are among the most plastic material in the hands 

 of art. And thus it has come to pass that we have 

 all sizes and all forms of Roses, much to the bewilder- 

 ment of amateurs, and greatly to the enrichment of 

 our gardens. The almost infinite varieties of form 

 and stature of the plants, the wonderful diversity of 

 colour, scent, shape, and size of the blooms, have 

 ever been among the most interesting and greatest 

 attractions of our Roses. 



It must be confessed that of late years there have 

 been vigorous and sustained efforts made to level up 

 all Roses to one uniform standard, that of the best 

 show-blooms. In pursuit of this not a few Roses of 

 special interest have disappeared from many gardens. 

 At the present moment the Rose-fever runs high in 

 the direction of Hybrid Perpetuals, Teas, and a few 

 favourite Noisettes, and it is impossible to over- 

 praise or grow too many of such magnificent Roses. 

 Still, a place might be found for other strains, 

 species, and varieties, which will be named and 

 described in subsequent chapters. And even the 

 popular sorts may be moulded by pruning and 

 training into other forms than those of the common 

 standard or squat dwarf bush. To show how to 

 educe variety of form out of these and other Roses 

 is the purport of this chapter. And as pruning may 

 in some important senses be said to be the basis of 

 training, it will be logical as well as sensible to 

 begin our section on the training of Roses with a 

 continuation of pruning as a means of moulding Roses 

 into form. The highest examples of Rose-training 

 contain those two apparently opposite qualities, &ym- 

 metry and diversity. Each Rose may be a symmetri- 

 cal type of a particular-formed Rose, and yet the mere 

 juxtaposition of two forms will yield a richer variety 

 than if neither had been more or less perfect of its 

 kind. For example, a perfect dwarf and a perfect 

 standard afford more contrast or diversity than if 

 the dwarf were climbing up into standard stature, 



