488 
SELECT ROSES, AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 
he chooses to strike the mould even. He will 
gift the mould in to fill up the heel, so that the 
tulips will not be disturbed ; but instead of 
making the top quite flat, he makes it rather 
round, so that the centre row, which is 
always the strongest, will be rather deeper 
than the outside row. Here he will let them 
remain for the present, indeed until the be- 
ginning of the spring. The next bed is for 
hyacinths, and they will be planted in the 
same way. 
The fruit garden is very desolate ; but the 
men are winter pruning, as it is called, that is, 
taking away all useless shoots, and making 
fast in the best positions all that are wanted 
to bear. If this were neglected, the trees 
Avould soon become mere thickets of wood 
growing out from the wall, and would bear 
nothing in perfection. The hotbeds are all 
done with for ordinary forcing, and are filled 
with potatoes ; of course there is but little 
heat left in the beds, but that little is enough 
for potatoes. The new heap of dung there, 
is preparing for a new hotbed, in which only 
cucumbers are to be raised. 
We will return to the house, for there are 
some things we can talk about there, which we 
only glanced at out in the garden. For in- 
stance, you saw a man planting a quantity of 
straight upright sticks. Now these were com- 
mon wild briers, torn out of the hedges and 
copses, and their roots dug up and brought 
into the garden for the purpose of grafting or 
budding roses on, as we saw them last July. 
They will make many shoots all the way from 
top to bottom ; as soon as these appear, they 
are rubbed off all but the top two or three, 
which in consequence grow very strong, and 
at the base of these strong shoots, near the top 
of the brier, they insert the buds, as 1 explained 
to you in the summer. The carts and horses 
are engaged drawing in the fallen leaves from 
the lanes, for when they are rotted they are 
excellent for mould, and before they rot they 
are used to supply heat, for they ferment like 
so much dung, and do well to mix with dung 
for hot-beds, or ferment quite enough of 
themselves to bring forward sea-kale, aspara- 
gus, rhubarb, &c. Vegetable mould is the 
most enriching soil we have, and to plants 
the most natural. Many use leaves instead of 
tan, but I do not approve of them — they are 
not half so effective. 
I have now to give you a few hyacinths 
and narcissus to grow in water in the glasses 
on the shelf. Fill up the glasses enough to 
make the water touch the bottom of the bulb, 
and always keep it that height. I recommend 
you to put them in the cupboard in the dark, 
till you see the roots spring half way down 
the glass, when you may bring them to the 
strongest light you can ; the window itself all 
day, but at night they would be better in the 
interior, — not that frost would hurt the bulbs, 
but if the water were to freeze, the glass 
would burst. These will grow nearly as well 
as those in the hothouse and greenhouse, but 
not quite. It is very curious that the hyacinth 
is the most useful of all flowers for dwelling- 
houses, and that in the darkest, the worst of 
all situations, it will bloom, and often surprise 
the owner with much better flowers than 
could be expected. I hardly know any cir- 
cumstance under which the hyacinth will not 
grow, if there be but moisture enough, and 
this is the case with very few plants. 
SELECT ROSES, AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 
It is our object, in this paper, to offer 
various details connected with the manage- 
ment of the Rose garden, including descriptive 
particulars of the most conspicuous varieties 
of this favourite flower. 
SOIL AND SITUATION. 
First, as to the most suitable soil and situ- 
ation for growing roses in the open air. If 
you have the choice of a situation, select a 
spot where trees or shrubs in the vicinity 
grow freely, and are clear of lichens on the 
stems and branches ; and one which is out of 
the influence of the late frosts of spring, and 
the early ones of autumn. If such a desirable 
spot can be chosen, there will be little diffi- 
culty in growing first-rate roses, even by the 
most careless. But, as such a natural situa- 
tion can very rarely be secured for the rose 
garden, the cultivator, must, of necessity, in 
the majority of cases, imitate such a place as 
nearly as he can. This may be done, or at 
least a very great deal may be done, by drain- 
ing, and by altering the soil. 
The best soil is a strong loam on a dry sub- 
soil. If it is not sufficiently deep, it must be 
made so by deep trenching ; three feet is a 
good depth, but not too deep. For such a 
soil, the only thing wanted is a little manure, 
and that should be of the best quality, so that 
as little as possible need be used ; for the 
purer the state in which the soil can be kept 
the better. If the subsoil is wet, or of a cold 
retentive nature, draining must be resorted 
to ; and it must be effectually done, for with- 
out a dry bottom, success is next to an im- 
possibility in soils naturally cold and adhe- 
sive. To such soils, some light sandy earth, 
