THE CULTIVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF ROSES. 
257 
were recommended in a treatise of 1843, and 
purchased by us from such recommendation. 
By stating to the Rose-dealer the purposes 
for which you want the Roses, and giving him 
a list of the foregoing, with the number you 
require out of them, he will be able to serve 
you with satisfaction to both parties. For 
instance, if your object be to show single 
blooms, as Dahlias are shown, it is no use his 
giving you semi-double kinds; though in the 
present dearth of finer flowers, we have put 
some which are not what they ought to be in 
that respect. However we are to presume 
that the first step towards Rose-growing is to 
procure the Roses, and we will suppose the 
cultivator has to plant them, that being the 
most important part of the business; for if 
they are planted badly, or in bad soil, they 
will not do well. The first consideration is, 
then, the 
PROPER SOIL FOR THE ROSE. 
The proper soil for the Rose is strong rich 
loam, and well decomposed vegetable mould, 
or cow-dung or horse-dung ; but as we are 
too often already provided with the kind of 
soil we are obliged to use, and the gardens 
and situations for our Roses are generally 
ready made, all we must do is to modify and 
supply the deficiency, if any, as well as we 
can. If the soil be light, holes must be dug, 
and loam and dung forked in at the bottom of 
the hole, as well as the hole be filled up with 
the same mixture; for troublesome as this may 
be, it is the only way to secure a good growth 
and bloom, and it is next to useless to plant 
roses in poor light soil without this precaution. 
Kitchen gardens well kept up, will always 
grow the Rose well, and unless the soil be very 
poor and very light, a good spadeful of rotten 
dung mixed with the soil where the Rose is 
planted, will answer all the pm-pose. Among 
the evils of poor soil for the Rose, it is not the 
least, that it frequently makes the flower that 
would otherwise be double come single or 
semi-double, so as to destroy all identity of 
the variety by its bloom ; and although many 
thousands of Roses not worth a penny have 
been sent out, many others which did not 
deserve it have been condemned, because the 
party who was growing them knew nothing 
about their cultivation, and starved them into 
a false character. As, however, it is difficult 
to give the rose too rich a soil, it may be as 
well, even if you think it good enough, to 
work in a spadeful of dung with it; for it will 
do no harm, even if the state of the ground 
be ever so good. We have no doubt that the 
Rose would flourish in rotten turfs, and when 
they are to be grown in pots it is practicable 
to give them this invaluable stuff to grow in; 
but unless it be a recently turned-up pasture, 
there is nothing approximating to it out of 
doors, and even this is far less supplied with the 
rotted grass, than when turfs are cut thin to rot 
for use. As a general principle, then, it may 
be laid down that the Rose requires rich soil; 
and that if you have it not, you must change 
the nature of what you have, by means of 
dung, or loam, or both. 
PLANTING THE ROSE. 
To plant the Rose properly, the root must 
first [be examined, and every particle of it 
that has been bruised should be cut off with a 
sharp knife just above the bruise; all the torn 
and ragged ends should be made smooth, and 
cut away as far as they are split or damaged. 
If any root has been growing downwards, it 
should be shortened up ; for it is better to 
discourage any from growing downright. This 
preparation being made, and the holes dug 
large enough to take the root in without 
cramping it, fork or dig up the bottom of the 
hole to loosen it, and, if necessary, to make any 
addition to the present soil, to mix it properly 
with the soil taken out, and work it some way 
into the soil at bottom. Let one hold the tree or 
plant, if it be too large to manage properly 
alone, and the other throw in the soil between 
the roots. By moving the stem backwards and 
forwards, 'and pulling upwards a little, it is 
easy to work the soil well between the roots, 
and on this much depends. When it is ad- 
justed, the top of the root must be pretty close 
to the top of the ground; there must be none 
of the stump or stem buried ; and when trod- 
den down, the root must be fixed steady and 
solid. We have seen a group of standards 
planted by a French Rose-grower, and because 
the stems w r ere not sufficiently uniform to do 
by ordinary planting, he sunk some of them 
nearly a foot into the ground, while others 
were kept at the full height. They all lived 
after a fashion through the summer, but 
bloomed weakly or not 'at all; and before the 
next spring, many of the sunk ones had died, 
the stems being soddened and wet from the 
crown of the root to the place which was above 
ground. If you have to manage the planting 
by yourself, you must, as soon as the hole is 
prepared, lay hold of the stem just above the 
root, and return the soil with your other hand, 
continuing to move the head first one way and 
then the other, until the soil has worked well 
between the roots, when it may be trodden in 
as mentioned before. Dwarf plants there is 
no difficulty in planting, but you must be 
careful to keep the crown of the root near the 
surface of the ground; the treading of all in 
fair and solid being a necessary operation with 
all the kinds of plants. With the standard 
sorts you should drive stakes into the ground 
pretty firmly, and fasten the stems of the Roses 
