ROSARY. 



7G7 



seven in the morning, and allowed to become 

 extinguished about the same hour in the even- 

 ing, unless during intense frosts, when it may- 

 be kept slowly going till towards twelve at 

 night, the heat in the pipes being sufficient, 

 even in such a case, with very slight covering 

 over the glass, to repel frost, and give three 

 degrees of heat above the freezing point, at 

 which the plants will sustain less injury than 

 were they subjected to a much higher night- 

 temperature. The roots of the plants should 

 be examined before placing them in the forcing- 

 pit, and if any are found defective, they should 

 be turned out of the pots, their roots pruned, be 

 re-potted, and returned to their place in the 

 reserve garden, and kept till another season. 

 Those that are found in a good state, which will 

 readily be ascertained by turning them carefully 

 out without breaking the ball, will be improved 

 if, instead of at once placing them in the forcing- 

 pit, they are plunged in a slight bottom-heat for 

 ten days ; but, unless during frosty weather, no 

 glass covering should be placed over them — the 

 intention being to give the roots somewhat the 

 start of the buds — after which they are in a 

 condition to be set in the pit along with those 

 already in it. The first section set in do not 

 so much require this attention, as it is presumed 

 the atmospheric heat is kept little in advance of 

 the open air for the first fortnight by means of 

 ample ventilation ; the root action will therefore 

 be excited slowly, and in a natural proportion 

 to the ascent of the sap in the buds. Those 

 taken in during the intensity of winter should, 

 when pruned, be placed in a mild bottom-heat 

 in a frame or pit, and covered with glass sashes 

 giving air freely, to induce a slow and gradual 

 action in both roots and buds ; and when this is 

 effected they are in a fit state for placing in the 

 coolest part of the forcing-pit. During the 

 whole process of forcing, air should be freely 

 admitted according to the state of the weather, 

 and moderate night- ventilation should not be 

 disregarded. Little water will be required be- 

 yond a moderate supply at the roots until the 

 middle of February, when the sun begins to 

 exert its cheering influence, at which time 

 moderate syringings should be applied, but 

 always with water in a tepid state — taking care, 

 however, that as little as possible falls on the 

 flower-buds ; and this syringing should be ad- 

 ministered about ten o'clock in the inorning. 

 Should there be even the slightest appearance 

 of aphides, recourse must be had to tobacco 

 fumigation ; but if this be attended to even 

 before any appearance takes place, it will often 

 be found that no aphides will appear at ajl. 



The principal object in forcing roses, unless 

 it be by those who supply the markets with 

 them in a cut state, is to remove them from che 

 forcing-pit, either to the greenhouse or drawing- 

 room, just as the buds begin to expand. To 

 render their removal without injury a matter of 

 certainty, they should be placed in a box of 

 sufficient depth, and instead of having the top 

 movable, one of the ends should be so, that the 

 plants may be the more easily placed in it and 

 taken out again. If kept in the forcing-pit, their 

 flowers will continue only for a few days, while 



in either of the ether cases they may be kept 

 much longer in perfection, the excitement being 

 so much less. When the flowers have faded, the 

 plants may be kept in a cool greenhouse for a 

 week or ten days, pruned back, as already 

 adverted to, and returned to the forcing-pit to 

 produce another crop of bloom. As to the sort 

 of plants, Mr Rivers observes : " Those that are 

 forced with the greatest facility ai*e worked roses; 

 these seldom or never fail to give an abundant 

 crop of flowers : stems from 6 inches to 1^ or 2 

 feet are equally eligible ; the latter form elegant 

 plants, and I think generally grow with greater 

 luxuriance than dwarfs. China and Tea-scented 

 roses on their own roots are more delicate, and 

 require more care : still one crop of flowers may 

 always be depended upon even from th em. Instead 

 of forcing them for a second crop, it will be 

 better to place them in the greenhouse ; they 

 will again bloom finely in May. I find," he con- 

 tinues, " from experience, that all the autumnal 

 roses may be forced every year without any 

 disadvantage. To insure their well-doing, they 

 must be removed from the forcing-house early 

 in June, the surface of the pots dressed with 

 rotten manure, and plunged in the same, or 

 leaves or any light substance. Towards the end 

 of September they should be carefully shifted, 

 removing nearly all the earth from their roots, 

 into a compost of light loam and rotten dung, 

 equal quantities, watered, and again plunged 

 till required for forcing : this shifting would be 

 better performed in June ; but as the weather 

 is then often hot and dry, roses wrought on the 

 Dog rose are apt to suffer." This objection as 

 to time has much less reference to Scotland than 

 to the south of England, and even there we 

 would rather incur the additional labour of 

 placing them behind a north wall till the end of 

 August than forego the advantage of a June 

 shifting. The rose, while in bud and in full 

 bloom, is a great acquisition in the decoration of 

 the conservatory or show greenhouse; but before 

 it has arrived at that state, and after it has 

 passed from it, it is almost of all plants the 

 worst calculated for admission into these struc- 

 tures, not only on account of its liability to being 

 attacked by aphides, which would soon spread 

 over other and more valuable plants, but also from 

 its want of association in character with the plants 

 contained in them. It is therefore far better to 

 confine rose culture to pits or small forcing- 

 houses, until the time shall arrive when we have 

 our rose-houses as well as our orchard-houses, 

 heath-houses, &c. When such is the case, roses 

 will be had in perfection the whole year through, 

 and at much less trouble and expense than by 

 any means at present employed. The sizes of 

 pots for forced roses must ever depend greatly 

 on the sorts and sizes of the plants ; 24's and 

 16's are the sizes in ordinary use. (For dimen- 

 sions of pots, vide p. 738). The soil most eligible 

 is light loam and very rotten manure, of each 

 equal quantities. 



Roses in bloom at Christmas are a desideratum 

 with most people, and one which may readily 

 be attained by employing the hybrid Perpetual, 

 Comte d'Eu, and the Bourbon rose, Gloire de 

 Rosamene, the only two of which we are aware 



