274 
THE CULTIVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF ROSES. 
approached. This practice differs, in some re- 
spects, from that of some other nurserymen : 
wc have seen healthy seedlings, since all these 
pains were taken, where the seeds were sown 
out of doors in a common hed, raked in like so 
many onions ; came up like so many weeds ; 
grew well and stood the weather without even 
a shelter from hard frosts. Some may have 
been killed and not missed, but they did as well, 
to all appearance, as those more tenderly 
nursed. Mr. Rivers's plan is as follows : — 
" The heps of all the varieties of Roses will, 
in general, be fully ripe by the beginning of 
November ; they should then be gathered and 
kept entire, in a ffower-pot filled with dry 
sand, carefully guarded from mice ; in Feb- 
ruary, or by the first week in March, they 
must be broken to pieces with the fingers, and 
sown in flower-pots, such as are generally 
used for sowing seeds in, called ' seed-pans,' 
but for Rose-seeds they should not be too 
shallow ; nine inches in depth will be enough ; 
these should be nearly but not quite filled with 
a rich compost of rotten manure and sandy 
loam or peat ; the seeds may be covered, to 
the depth of about half an inch, with the same 
compost ; a piece of kiln wire must then be 
placed over the pot, fitting closely at the rim, 
so as to prevent the ingress of mice, which 
are passionately fond of Rose^-seeds ; there 
must be space enough between the wire and 
the mould for the young plants to come up, 
half an inch will probably be found enough ; 
the pots of seed must never be placed under 
glass, but kept constantly in the open air, in a 
full sunny exposure, as the wire will shade 
the mould and prevent its drying. Water 
should be given occasionally in dry weather ; 
the young plants will, perhaps, make their 
nppearance in April or May, but very often 
the seed does not vegetate till the second 
spring. "When they have made their " rough 
leaves," that is, when they have three or four 
leaves, exclusive of their seed leaves, they 
must be carefully raised with the point of a 
narrow pruning knife, potted into small pots, and 
placed in the shade ; if the weather is very hot 
and dry, they may be covered with a hand- 
glass for a few days. They may remain in 
those pots a month, and then be planted out 
into a rich border ; by the end of August, 
those that are robust growers will have made 
shoots long enough for budding. Those that 
have done so may be cut down, and one or two 
strong stocks budded with each j these will, 
the following summer, make vigorous shoots, 
and the summer following, if left unpimned, to 
a certainty they will produce flowers. This 
is the only method to ensure seedling Roses 
flowering the third year ; many will do so 
that are not worked, but very often the supe- 
rior varieties are shy bloomers on their own 
roots, till age and careful culture give them 
strength. 
HASTENING THE BLOOMING OF SEEDLINGS. 
When the seedlings come up in May, keep 
them well moistened, but not too wet, until 
you can get hold of them well to pot off'. Put 
one each into sixty-sized pots, and let them, 
as soon as they are established, be placed in 
the shade out of doors; but the greatest care 
must be taken to prevent the attack of the fly, 
or vermin of any kind. They must be looked 
at almost daily, and upon the least appearance 
of fly you must remove the plants under 
cover, where you can fumigate and syringe 
them regularly. It is still better, if you have 
frame room, to put them in when potted, be- 
cause it gives an opportunity of shading, of 
keeping off" too much wet, protecting them 
against wind, and of fumigating without the 
least difficulty, when necessary. They should, 
however, seldom have the glasses on. After 
they have been five or six weeks in these pots, 
they may be bedded out, in rich beds of loam 
and dung, without disturbing the balls ; they 
should be about a foot apart, in beds of four 
feet wide; by planting within six inches of the 
side of the bed, four rows will go in, and they 
will here grow rapidly. Before the close of 
the budding season, many will have grown quite 
large enough to bud from; and the most pro- 
mising may be cut back, and three or four 
buds put on remarkably strong stocks, Select 
a strong "branch for budding on, and at first 
you must let some portion of the branch 
beyond the bud be left on to grow; a very 
small shoot beyond the bud will do to draw 
the sap past the bud. These buds will strike off 
vigorously the next season, and make consider- 
able growth; but before the bud has shot far, 
cut the stock away everywhere but the por- 
tions budded on. The growth they will make 
this summer on strong stocks will insure their 
bloom the next season; and, as the real object 
is to see if the Rose be good for anything, they 
should not be pruned, except so far as to cut 
away weak branches altogether; by leaving the 
full length of the strong shoots, the blooms will 
be hastened. In the meantime, those in the 
bed may be treated as directed; and though not 
generally the case under present management, 
we have bloomed them these threeyears on their 
own bottoms, though there were a great num- 
ber much later than the third year, and some 
even went to the fifth. This mode of budding 
the promising seedlings, hastens the certainty 
of bloom very much, as it is very rare indeed 
that they miss coming the third year, If they 
are worth propagating, the budding greatly 
increases the quantity of wood to work 
from. If, on the contrary, they turn out good 
for nothing, the instant you discover it, cut 
