water is required unless the weather is unusually dry. Plants will 
not thrive if kept too wet and without drainage. 
PRUNING. 
In most seasons it is best to prune established plants of hardy 
kinds in February. Tender varieties, such as the Tea Roses and 
newly planted Roses, may be left till a month later. As a general 
rule close pruning produces quality, and long pruning quantity of 
bloom. Climbing, Weeping and Pillar Roses should not be cut 
back; but the tips of the shoots only should be taken off, and any 
weak of unripe shoots cut out altogether. 
PROPAGATION IN THE SOUTH. 
For this purpose ripened or hard wood may be selected and the 
operation performed at any time from October to .January. The 
cuttings in this case are usually made larger, generally with three 
or four eyes, after the wood is ripened enough to show the develop- 
ment of the buds in the axils of the leaf. The method most suc- 
cessfully practiced is to place the cuttings in a cold frame, or in the 
open air as far South as Savannah, Ga., Louisiana, Florida, the 
lower points in Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and Southern 
Texas. The long heated Summers raise the temperature in the 
sandy soils in these sections as high as the atmosphere in the Win- 
ter month's, if not higher in fact, forming a sort of a natural hot 
bed. All then that is necessary is to make the cuttings as above 
described and make a trench deep enough to plant them, leaving 
only one or two eyes or buds above the ground. Care must be 
taken to force the cuttings well in with the feet, so as to exclude 
the air. The cuttings may be set in trenches about four inches 
apart, and about two feet between the lines. Cuttings of Roses 
planted in this way in these States in November or December, will 
form roots by February, and if left to grow where placed without 
being disturbed, will by the following September make growths 
from one to three feet in height, according to the variety used. In 
parts North of these sections previously named, the cold frame had 
better be used for the cuttings. They ought to be inserted from 
two to three inches apart each way in November and keep above 
freezing through the Winter. Those not having the convenience 
of a cold frame, can do equally as well with the protection of ordi- 
nary garden or hand glass, or even some old discarded window sash 
