X 



ROSES UNDER GLASS 



175 



a little cooler. If a light blind be used, or the glass 

 roof be syringed on the outside with a mixture of whiting 

 and milk or some similar clouding material, the flowers 

 will be brighter, more lasting, and altogether of better 

 quality. 



Ventilation is a most important matter in all forms of 

 Rose cultivation under glass : the foliage is very tender, 

 and a cold draught is almost sure to bring on mildew. 

 It is far better to give no air at all than to open the 

 ventilators to an icy wind. Still, Roses must have air, 

 and there will be few days when it cannot be admitted on 

 the lee side for an hour or even less. Where the plants 

 are grown in beds in a cool house, air should be given 

 as often as possible, and in increased quantities as the 

 season progresses : the final removing of the roof or top 

 lights, after the plants have bloomed once, should be 

 arrived at by gradual and easy stages, so that as little 

 check as possible may be felt when all covering is taken 

 away. 



As an early second crop of flowers may be expected, 

 and a third from some of the freest sorts, especially of 

 Teas, it is necessary that the feeding and cultivation of 

 the soil should not be forgotten, or the plants neglected 

 because the outdoor Roses claim so much attention. 

 Some of the weaker shoots may be thinned out after 

 the first blooming, but there should be no pruning 

 except in the winter or early spring, for one of the most 

 prominent objects in view is to have strong dormant 

 buds on well-ripened shoots, to prune back to in the 

 winter and to rely upon for the production of good 

 vigorous growth for the next season. 



If the plants grown in the cool house be in pots, they 

 should either be planted out in the open ground about 

 the second week in June, or plunged in coal ashes and 



