64 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



What can I offer besides the hand of friendship 

 and the praise of an old Rosarian to these brave 

 brethren of the Rose? The most robust varieties 

 must be planted in the best place, and in the best 

 soil available, avoiding drip and roots. They must 

 be manured in the winter and mulched in the spring. 

 In the summer months let them be well watered 

 below and well syringed above tzvo or three times a 

 zveek. Let grubs and aphides be removed, and 

 sulphur, or soot, or soap-and-water, applied as soon 

 as mildew shows itself. I am now resident close 

 by the main street of the city of Rochester, in 

 proximity to countless chimneys, long and short, 

 polluting the atmosphere, discolouring the flowers, 

 and accompanied from time to time by an offensive 

 odour of cement. The soil of my garden is a light 

 loam, distant from one to three feet from a stratum 

 of chalk. Nevertheless, by a selection of the fittest, 

 such as Mrs John Laing, Ulrich, Brunner, and Gloire 

 de Dijon, by watchful observation, careful pruning, 

 protection from frost, and a generous supply of 

 manure, I succeed in producing an abundance of 

 beautiful Roses though, I need hardly say, * not for 

 exhibition/ 



