1070 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the position of the bed or beds. One finds Roses planted anywhere ; if 

 there is a vacant spot in an already crowded, worn-out shrubbery, a Rose 

 is put in, a standard for preference — under trees, on shady borders, with 

 no possibility of the sun ever reaching the plant, anywhere and every- 

 where. This will not do. At the same time there are few aspects that 

 some Rose will not grow in, if other essentials have been attended to. 

 But the queen of flowers deserves kinder treatment than this. Let her 

 have the best, and in proportion as you give it her so will be your reward. 

 A site should be chosen which the morning sun can reach, protected from 

 the north and east ; but there must be no coddling ; let there be as free a 

 circulation of air as possible. The centre of the suburban garden is often 

 occupied by a poor attempt at a lawn ; here, in all probability, will be 

 found the best site for your bed or beds ; and if, instead of two paths, one 

 on each side of the garden, with narrow borders against the fences, a path, 

 winding if possible, were taken down the centre of the garden and the 

 old paths thrown into the herbaceous borders, making them of decent 

 width, Roses or Rose beds could be made each side of the centre path, 

 and under these circumstances success would be more frequent, I am sure, 

 than it now is. 



Having chosen the site, the next matter that claims attention is the 

 proper preparation of the same, and here not a little depends on your 

 subsoil. If you are favoured with a loamy soil, little preparation is neces- 

 sary, and as you get away from this soil to clay, gravel, or chalk, so will 

 the necessity for more preparation increase. With gravel and chalk and 

 kindred subsoils there need be no difficulty about drainage ; in all proba- 

 bility you will have too much of it— but with heavy clay, drainage is 

 essential. The soil such as you are likely to find in an ordinary garden 

 in the suburbs of London is very poor stuff, and where you cannot go to 

 the expense of entirely removing it to the depth of 18 inches to 2 feet 

 and putting in the best loam or top spit that you can get, you must im- 

 prove it as far as possible. Light soils can be improved by the addition 

 of heavier, even with clay and plenty of rotten cow manure. Heavy soils 

 are much benefited by the addition of sifted road sweepings, a grand 

 material that is too often wasted. 



Let your beds be thoroughly prepared two months, if possible, before 

 your Roses are planted, and take care that they are well rammed so that 

 the plant can be planted firmly in the soil. 



Next, as to the selection of trees. This is far more important now 

 than formerly, for this reason, that within the last decade has been intro- 

 duced a type of Rose that has entirely altered the character of the Rose- 

 tree as considered from the point of view of an effective garden plant, and 

 1 feel sure that it is to the non appreciation of this new fact that Roses 

 are not grown in the numbers that they should be. 



Far be it from me to cry down the old Roses and the grand flowers 

 that can be gathered from the hybrid porpetuals ; but even their keenest 

 admirers— and I would desire to be counted among such- -must admit that 

 they are not the most suitable Roses to grow from the point of view of a 

 man who wants a Rose from June to October to wear in his buttonhole 

 or put upon his table. 



Such a Rose can now be had for the asking, and it is to be found 



