62 
WINDOW GARDENING. THE ROSE GARDEN. 
the plants, by this means, acquire an undue 
degree of vigour. 
WINDOW GARDENING. 
Bot little progress can be made yet, if there 
5s no other convenience than the window. Old 
favourite plants of Geranium, Calceolaria, 
Myrtle, and such plants, which are kept in 
the window, will require to be set outside, 
whenever the weather is mild, and must be 
kept within at night, and in frosty or very 
boisterous weather : give them only very 
moderate supplies of water — as much as will 
keep them from shrivelling. Camellias may 
stand inside in a light place, and must have 
rather more water. Fuchsias, which will be 
leafless yet, may, towards the end of the 
month, get more water, and will soon begin to 
bud out. Put them outside whenever the 
weather is at all favourable, so that they do 
not grow too fast. A few pots of annuals 
sown in autumn, including Mignonette, may, 
perhaps, be had in bloom; but this will de- 
pend a good deal on the conveniences : if 
there is a frame or pit to serve as a reserve 
and store place, they may be had in tolerable 
condition, if frost is kept out; but a living 
room is not a good place for plants to make 
much growth in ; it is always too dry and 
close. All the plants kept in window require 
as much light as can be admitted to them. 
Plants in Wardian cases require to be set in a 
light place, and if the weather is frosty, the 
frost must be prevented from getting to them. 
Bulbs in glasses should have the water 
changed ; and those growing in pots should 
be kept moderately watered : they want as 
much light as they can get. A few annuals 
of the best, or any favourite kinds, may be 
sown ; they will be certainly useful when they 
come to flower. If a constant display of 
flowers is an object, it can only be kept up by 
means of a small forcing-house ; and, in that 
case, a selection must be made of the smaller 
kinds of plants referred to from time to time, 
under the head Forcing-house for Flowers. 
On a smaller scale, and when the convenience 
of a forcing-house cannot be afforded, the 
best course is to make an occasional selection 
from the plants offered for sale in the flower- 
market. When plants of this kind are pur- 
chased, the way to keep them in perfection, 
as long as their blooms naturally last, (which, 
for want of due attention, is frequently not 
realized,) is to keep them in a light place, to 
supply them with water just enough to keep 
the soil moist, and to avoid confining them too 
closely, or for too long a period. 
THE ROSE GARDEN. 
Grafting. — Preparations may now be made 
for grafting ; for this purpose seek your 
intended grafts, which should be well-ripened 
wood, of last year's growth, and the thicker 
the better, though, if you are going to do any 
great number, you will be glad to use up all 
you can get, and the thin ends as well as the 
thick. It is necessary to leave the wood on 
the tree as long as you can ; and if you are 
obliged to cut it off you must put them into 
the ground, the ^larger ends downwards, to 
prevent them from shrivelling. Select and 
mark the best stocks for your purpose, that 
is, among the out-of-door stocks, and, having 
deposited your cuttings in a shady place, 
await the next month for the operations. 
Protection. — Standard or dwarf Roses 
which require protection, ought usually to be 
sheltered in the autumn, but the mild weather 
of the present winter has not yet rendered it 
necessary; where there is any risk it had 
better be attended to now, for we may get 
severe weather yet. One method is to dig 
up the plants, and put them in by the heads, 
in a sheltered place, when, if necessary 
you could cover them with a load- of straw. 
The advantage of this lifting up is, that you 
can have them all in one spot ; and that, per- 
haps, in an outhouse or under a roof, or, at 
any rate, where the wind will not disturb 
them. They will take no harm till the spring, 
when they may be planted out again ; another 
mode is to get a quantity of moss, or, for 
waut of it, short hay, to put among the 
branches, and lie all as close together as you 
can, when mats can be put over or round the 
heads, and be tied on. Many people put hay- 
bands round the stems, when these stems are 
briers, although scarcely any frost will ever 
damage a brier : this, therefore, may be 
spared as useless ; but if the stock be the 
Boursault, or any other vigorously growing 
Rose, it will be necessary, for they will not 
bear so severe a frost as the brier. A third 
mode of protecting against any ordinary frost, 
is to merely throw a mat over the top, and lay 
it in under the head, which is thus merely put 
in a bag or cap ; but this will not stand so 
much frost as if under either of the other 
modes of protection. It must not, however, 
be presumed that Roses, in general, require any 
covering or protection ; nine out of ten do not, 
and this includes all the summer Roses, as 
they are called, but we may say all the rough- 
wood ones : it is only some of the smooth- 
wooded kinds that are, in general, found tender ; 
and this comprises some of the Noisettes, 
Thes, China, and Hybrid varieties. If there 
are beds of dwarf Roses laying well together, 
nothing is necessary but to pack moss between 
them ; or, unless the frost be beyond all calcul- 
ation severe, a good covering of peas- 
haulm, (which is, unquestionably, the best 
litter), or broken straws, will carry them well 
through a pretty hard frost. 
