November 23, 1882 . ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
473 
render it independent of soil supplies of carbonic acid.”—( Gilbert, 
British Association Address.') This sentence does not, I think, do 
complete justice to Liebig’s views, as I shall hereafter attempt to 
show. Neither do I think the following passage from S. W. 
Johnson, the distinguished professor of agricultural chemistry of 
Yale College, is quite a fair criticism of his opinion. “ Does 
humus contribute directly to the nourishment of plants ? Liebig 
argues against the view, but his reasons for doing so are scarcely 
satisfactory. He opposes it on the grounds that it and its com¬ 
pounds are insoluble. In the same book, however, he teaches the 
doctrine that all the food of agricultural plants exists in the soil 
in an insoluble form. This old objection, still maintained, tallies 
poorly with his new doctrine. The old objection, furthermore, 
is baseless, for the humates are as soluble as phosphates, which 
are gathered by every plant and from all soils.” 
While, however, I am of opinion that Liebig did not confine 
the useful functions of humus to its production of carbonic acid 
and to the assistance which this renders in the early stages of 
plant life (as Gilbert says), and that his writings give no true 
grounds for attributing to him the contradictory teachings which 
Johnson charges him with, I think it must be admitted that the 
subject is one which still merits investigation, and that agricul¬ 
tural chemists are scarcely justified in refusing to allow a place to 
humus (unless it contains nitrogen or ready-formed ammonia) 
amongst those fertilising elements which command a value in a 
manure.— Inquirer. 
(To be continued.) 
WINTERING STRAWBERRIES IN POTS. 
I CAN fully endorse all that Mr. Ward says on wintering 
Strawberries. Four years ago I was foreman at Bloxholm 
Hall, Sleaford. We placed our Strawberries (not plunged) on 
ashes in a cold frame without any covering whatever during 
that severe winter except snow on the glass, which was never 
removed. When a thaw set in for a few days the snow 
water went through the sides of the frame, and the Straw¬ 
berries stood in the water. This froze subsequently, and the 
Strawberries seemed like a solid block of ice for weeks. I have 
never seen a better crop of Strawberries, and of large size, than 
we had that spring. We gathered one morning 8 lbs. of President, 
each one turning the scale at 2 ozs.—A. Young. 
ever seen from Mr. Prince of Oxford, and as the wet weather effec¬ 
tually hindered my planting them I laid them in in a sheltered 
position. I have now examined them, and Ido not find one single 
proof of any root-action. There are none of those little white 
rootlets that indicate that a movement is going on, and if not 
there, what would they have done if planted in the beds ? 
I perceive that in a contemporary the same idea has been 
started with regard to trees much more hardy than the Rose, and 
the assertion boldly made that much of the planting done now in 
autumn would be better done in the spring. This rather strengthens 
my position, but as you have promised to insert some more com¬ 
munications on the subject, doubtless we shall hear th zpros and 
cons fully and fairly set forth.—D., Beal. 
PLANTING ROSES—SPRING v. AUTUMN. 
I AM much indebted to “ E. M.” for his full and prompt reply 
to my request. I perceive from his table—or rather that of Mr. 
Symons—that in 1877 the ground was warmer in November than 
in February or March ; but then his record refers, perhaps, to 
years very different from those of the five years since. And there 
is this also to be said, that from November the ground gradually be¬ 
comes colder, while in March it gradually becomes warmer, so that, 
as I suppose (although I write under correction) the sap is nearly 
quiescent then, while as spring advances all is in motion. After 
a severe winter we have to cut our Roses below where we find the 
pith affected by the frost, as shown by its brown appearance, but 
I do not think even then we can ascertain the extent of the mis¬ 
chief. I planted two beds in the autumn of 1879—well we know 
what a winter that was—I cut hard in the spring, and the Roses 
did fairly well. Then came the severe winter of 18S0-81. Again 
they had to be cut down, as I thought, below any affected part, 
but this year the plants, although we had such a mild winter, 
succumbed ; they did not die, but only gave short and weak shoots, 
and I have been obliged to root them out altogether. 
Then, we must remember it is not October planting of which I 
wrote. “ Plant early,” say some ; but, as a poor trombone player 
said to his conductor when he told him to blow harder, “ It’s all 
very well to say 4 Blow harder,’ but where’s the wind to come 
from ?” So I say, It is very easy to say “ Plant early,” but where 
can you get your plants withal to do it ? It is well known that 
many of our large Rose-growers send out fifty thousand to a 
hundred thousand and more plants each autumn. Now it is im¬ 
possible for them to exercise that personal supervision which can 
alone prevent mistakes to execute them in time for this. Happy 
are they who get their plants in November. I am now writing 
nearly in the middle of the month and have not had mine yet. 
Will anyone tell me that plants which have been taken up, per¬ 
haps laid out for some hours before being packed, been two or 
three days in transit, and then planted, no matter how carefully, 
in a cold and soddened soil, are going in a most obliging manner 
to arouse themselves and set to work in the midst, perhaps, of a 
fall of snow to establish themselves ? About a fortnight ago I 
received a small batch of some of the very finest dwarfs I have 
I have read 44 D., Beal's ,” remarks on autumn versus spring 
planting of Roses, also the articles referred to by him, and gladly 
give my experience in the matter. On high dry situations like 
my own I have found, after repeated experiments, that autumn is 
preferable to spring planting, and plants got in by the end of the 
year do much better the following summer than when the planting 
is delayed until the following February. In low wet situations 
with a strong clayey soil the results might be different; but if I 
were so situated, and the plants were simply to be removed from 
one part of the garden to another, or obtained from some nursery 
close at band, where the plants could be placed in the same day 
as lifted, then if the soil was in good condition I would plant as 
early in October as possible, and if the weather was dry at the 
time would sprinkle the plants overhead with water daily : this, 
with the night dews prevalent at this time of the year, would 
prevent the plants shrivelling. 
That Roses planted early in the autumn do make fresh roots at 
the time is beyond a doubt, as I have proved this repeatedly ; but 
possibly the small thread-like roots thrown out then perish in the 
winter, as I have not found the early-planted trees succeed better 
than those got in any time up to the end of December, and think 
this early planting should only be resorted to in cases where 
there is a risk of the ground being too wet for doing the work in 
November and December, which in my experience are the best 
months for planting. The advantages of autumn planting over 
that of spring is that the plants are placed in when at rest, and 
are fairly established in their new quarters before growth com¬ 
mences the following season. I have frequently found on lifting 
trees laid-in the previous autumn that new roots begin to start 
by the middle of February ; and, as these are very small and 
delicate, are easily broken off when the work of planting is delayed 
too long, which must have a weakening effect on the plants, the 
growth of which in the following summer is not equal to the 
earlier-planted trees. 
The above remarks apply more to the Hybrid Perpetuals and 
strong-growing Teas. With the dwarf free-blooming section of the 
latter the case is different; and I have found it best with these to 
procure in autumn good strong ground-worked plants on seedling 
Briars or cuttings (these are much better than grafted plants in 
pots), and lay these securely in, in some cool place where they are 
not exposed to the sun during the winter, and where a mat can 
be thrown over them during very severe frost; the object in view 
being to keep them as dormant as possible until spring, when 
they should be planted out about the end of February or beginning 
of March, as the weather permits. Why these Teas succeed better 
planted in spring is probably owing to the check they receive by 
late planting, and the harm done in this way is less than when 
checked by late frosts and cold winds so prevalent in early spring, 
as Roses of this class are much earlier in starting into growth 
than the Hybrid Perpetuals. I have, like 44 D.,” found the 
dwarf-growing Teas do much better with very close pruning ; and 
on established plants, as soon as growth commences in the spring, 
I prune close back to an inch or two of the ground. This causes 
the strong eyes at the base to start, which otherwise would 
remain dormant if the growth was left long as advised by some ; 
and although growing my Teas in the cold north, by adopting 
the above plan I get growth quite equal to what I have seen in 
some of the leading Rose grounds in the south. In fact this hard 
pruning seems to me to be essential for keeping in good health 
Roses of all classes of a dwarf free-blooming habit. This severe 
pruning, however, would not answer in the case of the strong¬ 
growing Teas and Noisettes of a climbing habit, as they require 
exactly opposite treatment in pruning. I think the time has 
arrived when our Rose nurserymen in their catalogues should 
make one class of the Teas and "Noisettes, and separate the dwarf¬ 
growing kinds from the climbers. The latter are now numerous 
enough to make a class of their own. This would simplify matters 
to those not well acquainted with the habits of individual varie¬ 
ties, and be a guide in pruning and selecting for beddiDg pur- 
