196 
Garden Work 
The planting may be done any time after the leaves 
drop in autumn, until March, choosing suitable weather. 
If the roots should be very dry when the plants are 
received from the nursery they may be placed in water 
for a short time. 
When planting, the roots should be first looked over, 
cutting all the damaged parts off with a sharp, clean 
knife. In all cases the holes should be made larger than 
the roots, to prevent the latter from being doubled up. 
They should then be spread out carefully in the hole, 
after which some very fine soil should be put in and 
allowed to fall gently among the roots. When these 
are covered with 2 or 3 in. of soil they should be made 
firm by treading, after which the hole may be filled up. 
Bush plants should be planted slightly below the place 
where the rose has been budded or grafted to the stock. 
Standards may be planted slightly deeper, as they will 
have more strain. The latter should always be staked 
as soon as planted, to prevent the wind from blowing 
them about. Roses will greatly benefit by a good mulch- 
ing of cow manure in the spring or early summer, when 
the plant food will be washed down to the roots and the 
moisture conserved by preventing evaporation from the 
soil, thus keeping the roots cool. The mulch may be 
covered with a thin layer of soil if its appearance is un- 
sightly. 
Pruning should be done in spring after the frosts have 
gone and there is no danger of damage being done to 
the soft young shoots. It is better to allow the young 
shoots at the apex of the branches to be cut down than 
to prune too early and so force the lower buds into growth 
