2G2 
Till-: CULTIVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF ROSES. 
and be shifted from one sized pot to another, 
requiring only that the buds should be plucked 
oil' directly they show, so long as the plant is 
wanted to grow fast. 
FORCING EARLY ROSES. 
This art consists in bringing the Hose, by 
degrees, out of its season,- as we have half-ex- 
plained under the head of Potting to Force. We 
know that a Rose can be potted in January, 
and made to produce flowers in May; but those 
who wish to force should know the best way. 
A Rose, then, for early forcing requires three 
seasons to be perfect. The first season it should 
be put into a greenhouse, and from thence into 
the stove, as early as November. It is sure to 
grow, no matter what sort it is ; and let it grow 
its best, but pluck off the buds if it have any, 
yet it should not be drawn ; this can be man- 
aged two or three ways, but all it requires to 
prevent drawing is light and air. These will 
have grown pretty well as large as they can 
grow, by the time they may be turned out 
and plunged in the open air. The wood will 
ripen well in the summer time; and in October, 
re-pot them into a size larger pots : prune 
them by taking off all the weak shoots, and all 
the least valuable of those in each other's way : 
shorten the best wood to two or three eyes, thin- 
ning the inner branches all that may be neces- 
sary to give air. light, and freedom to the new 
wood. Take them into the greenhouse, thence, 
soon, into the stove. Let the bloom buds, as 
they appeal - , be plucked off", and the growth to 
be perfected again, which will be earlier than 
the previous season, as they were set growing 
earlier. Be early in your attendance on them, 
when they commence growing, so as to remove 
useless buds, instead of allowing them to form 
useless branches. When the growth is com- 
pleted, remove them into a cold frame, to be 
kept from the spring frosts, but where they 
can have all the fine weather. In this state 
they may remain till they can be safely put out 
in the open air, plunged into the ground, and 
properly fastened to protect them from wind. 
In September you may examine the balls of 
earth, to see if the roots have room ; if matted at 
all, give them another change. Prune the plants 
well as before ; removing altogether such of 
the present year shoots as are at all weakly, 
and shortening all the best to two or three 
eyes. Let them now be taken to the green- 
house, or conservatory, or a grapery, or all 
in turn, but gradually increase the tempera- 
ture, till, by the end of October, they may go 
into the forcing-house, beginning at the tem- 
perature the house was that they came from, 
say fifty to fifty-five, and continuing it till they 
are fairly growing ; then increasing it to sixty, 
and eventually to sixty-five : rubbing off as 
before all useless shoots, and giving plenty of 
air, when it can be done without lowering the 
temperature. At the least appearance of green 
fly, syringe with plain water; fumigate at night, 
gently syringe again in the morning ; fumigate 
gently at night, for too strong a smoke would 
all but destroy the plants and incipient blooms. 
In this way you will be clear of the pest with- 
out danger of damage, and your reward will 
be a fine show of bloOms on every Rose-tree : 
strong growth, healthy foliage, handsome 
plants, and all that can be desired. 
FORCING LATER ROSES. 
The principle on which the early forcing is 
conducted must be carried out in full, not 
only in potting the plant and pruning, but 
also in the period of removing them. If you 
wish those a month later to succeed the first, 
put them into the house a month later, each 
of the years. If you want others to succeed 
these second, put them into the house a month 
later still each year. For nothing has been 
shown yet in the way of pot Roses, better than 
were shown seven or more years ago, and all 
of them have had a weakly drawn appearance, 
and been anything but creditable to the taste 
of the gardeners ; for they have been staked all 
over, and thin flimsy Roses on limp lankey stems, 
bound up to a thicket of unnatural wood. To 
us nothing is more ungardener-like than this 
artificial and unnatural mode of supporting 
every blown stem, with bits of lath or green- 
painted sticks, a measure perfectly unneces- 
sary with well-grown and well-chosen varieties. 
It will be a long time before we forget the 
square rimless boxes of slate, with from fifteen 
to twenty straight sticks to support a plant 
which would not support itself. The mecha- 
nism and management of the whole was 
so unprofessional and forbidding, that in- 
stead of the Rose being an object of atten- 
tion, it became a loathsome, disagreeable, and 
sickly affair altogether, Now, by the plan we 
have been recommending, the plant is longer 
growing, stronger in its wood, shorter in the 
joints, and more abundant in branches, foliage, 
and flowers. The ordinary mode of forcing 
contemplates no more than removing a plant 
from out of doors to indoors in one year: so that, 
without having the advantage of premature 
ripeness for two seasons, or even one, it has to 
perfect its flowers before their time, by great 
excitement, with a root hardly established. 
We hold that a Rose, like a grape, cannot, after 
bearing in the usual season, be changed all at 
once to early forcing, without great sacrifice 
of crop, and strength, and beauty. The fact of 
sudden excitement being fatal to a Rose is de- 
monstrated easily enough by the result : take 
a strong plant, well-established, from the cold 
atmosphere and temperature of the ground, into 
a full-heated house, and every bloom will be 
