AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
243 
Titos. Hogg, Jr. Whjlc Mr. Boll and I may 
agree on some points, we may differ in others, 
and new experiments are being tried from day 
to day. I believe it is the interest of all com¬ 
mercial growers that the public should know 
how' to cultivate the plants they may pur¬ 
chase, so as to encourage their taste, which is 
checked by failure, and there should be no de¬ 
sire to keep their practice private. It is not an 
easy matter, however, to lay down directions 
which can be successfully followed out by ama¬ 
teurs, nor can they gain this information with¬ 
out practice, or by reading. It is well known 
that there is great uncertainty in the propagation 
of roses by cuttings ; one lot of cuttings taken 
off the same plant and set out on the same day 
may succeed, while the other may fail, and no 
cause can be assigned for the failure. The best 
propagators often miss striking a lot of cuttings, 
no matter how carefully prepared and treated. 
Roses intended for house culture, should be kept 
in pots during the whole season, as the roots 
are injured by removal from the open ground. 
They seldom flourish so well as when kept in 
the pots, and if necessary shifted in xYugust and 
proper soil supplied. There is some difference 
of opinion as to soils and manures. I believe 
the best is good turfy loam, kept six months to a 
year in the heap, the grassy sides being laid 
face to face in a square pile, and for use cut per¬ 
pendicularly with the spade, mixed with a pro¬ 
per amount of sand, and alittle well-rotted stable 
manure added. Rich loam has been proved suf¬ 
ficient wdthout manure. The plants must be 
well established in the pots before they are taken 
into the house. Excess of fire heat is very in¬ 
jurious, and this is the cause of the difficulty ex¬ 
perienced in dwelling houses. Plants which re¬ 
quire a season of rest cannot flourish under this 
continued excitement to growth. Moisture is 
a very essential point to be attended to. 
The less fire heat they are exposed to the bet¬ 
ter, and the more air and sun light they can re¬ 
ceive during the winter season, without danger, 
the better. Roses intended for forcing should 
be established in pots, and not taken up from 
the open ground when about to be removed to 
the house. They should be carefully and closely 
pruned, with the exception of certain classes, 
such as the Banksian roses, which produce their 
buds on the lateral shoots of the old wood. The 
Bourbons require close pruning to produce good 
strong flowers in abundance. Winter blooming 
varieties are limited in number, and confined to 
Hermosa, Agrippina, Madame Bosanque and a 
few others. Insects are very troublesome and 
require to be closely watched. Spots or blotches 
appear on the leaves, and are caused by changes 
of temperature, and from water lodging oil the 
leaves exposed to the action of the sun’s rays. 
A proper amount of moisture in the atmosphere 
of the house is necessai - y. Roses drop their 
leaves from too much dry heat, and this is ‘ the 
cause of the difficulty experienced in keeping 
roses in rooms where the heat and moisture 
cannot be properly regulated. 
M. Victor Motsclmlsky , Commissioner from 
St. Petersburgh, mentioned as a means for de¬ 
stroying insects, an infusion of the nuts of 
Stryclmos Nux Vomica, aad a powder made from 
the leaves of a plant indigenous to the Caucau- 
sus, called Pyrethrum Caucasicum; the pow¬ 
der is called Poudre do Persee or Persian pow¬ 
der, and destroys the insects effectually. A 
friend of his who had 300 varieties of roses had 
used it with success. The plant is not gen¬ 
erally known. The powder is dusted over the 
plant affected, and destroys the insects. The 
Nux-Vomica is slightly boiled and the infusion 
used. 
Thos. Hogg, Jr., objected to these powders, 
since they injure the plants, and are not adapted 
for extensive use in green-houses. Tobacco af¬ 
ter all, is the best remedy when properly used, 
but the best course is to lay the pot on its side 
and apply clear water against the foilage with, a 
syringe. 
P. B. Mead. I wish to offer a few remarks 
on the cultivation of roses in rooms. I agree 
with Mr. Hogg that plants for house culture 
should not be turned out of the pots, and but 
for the extra labor in watering them, I should 
never do so, even with plants for the green-house. 
They do not recover from the check before Feb¬ 
ruary or March. The best plan is to renew the 
compost in the fall, and the roots will soon start 
afresh. I need not detail, the treatment neces¬ 
sary for plants in rooms, as most of the members 
present belong to the profession. I have culti¬ 
vated one Rose for 8 years in the house, wdthout 
its ever being turned out, except in re-potting, 
and it has bloomed profusely throughout the 
each year. This is the Fragoletta, which I 
consider the rose best adapted for looms. I 
have had several of the Teas and Bourbons do 
w r ell, but I prefer Fragoletta to any other. In 
potting, all that is necessary, is, to remove the 
outside layer of soil, without breaking the spon- 
gioles or small roots, letting the ball become 
dry before shifting, when it will break away 
freely. Prune the plant well, by taking out all 
the dead wood. Place it in a cold room, which 
is better than a warm one if cold currents arc 
avoided, as these cause the buds to drop vdien 
formed. This does not often occur with me. It 
is very important that a good list of roses should 
be selected for cultivation in rooms, and indeed 
we should have lists carefully prepared for all 
situations. I move that a committee be chosen 
to prepare a list of all the best roses against 
■which no objections can be raised, both for rooms, 
green-house, and out-door culture. 
Mr. A. Reed. If the list is to be confined to 
roses for cultivation in pots in rooms, it can be 
very easily made up, and any of those present 
engaged in the cultivation of roses could name 
them. Half a dozen, or a dozen at most, would 
include all. Hermosa is the best for the num¬ 
ber of buds produced, and is a very good flower. 
Belmont is also a good variety. The Common 
Daily is another, Lamarque, Saffrano, and Mad. 
Bosanque, are also well suited for pots. Frago¬ 
letta has heen named which is a good variety. 
Thos. Hogg, Jr. The subject of roses in pots 
demands a few more observations. I have my¬ 
self tried many varieties, which failed with all 
the care I could bestov r . This may be attri¬ 
buted to various causes, such as the choice of soils 
or manures. The best kind of manure is a ques¬ 
tion of some importance. I have known cotton 
waste from factories to be recommended,and have 
tried it, but it did not prove very good. Per¬ 
haps it did not suit my soil. When heated it 
has a disagreeable odor. Old rotted stable ma¬ 
nure is the best, with perhaps a little guano 
water applied. 
I). Boll. Good strong wood is essential.— 
Without it there cannot be good flowers. To 
produce this, the plants require air, and this 
was provided for by planting them out. If kept 
too much confined, the wood would be weak.— 
Some kinds require close pruning, such as the 
Cloth of Gold and Lamarque as well as the Bel¬ 
mont and others of the weaker growing ones.— 
Strong growers do not require so much pruning. 
Insects are very destructive. The Red spider is 
one of the worst, it soon spreads over the entire 
house if not checked. The Red spider is en¬ 
couraged by a dry atmosphere and may be des¬ 
troyed by syringing regularly. Mildew is an¬ 
other pest which results from damp. Sulphur 
has been found a useful remedy for both these 
annoyances, though it has a bad appearance on 
the plants. 
P. B. Mead. I v"!’ Aate how I keep plants 
in rooms in the in^L wealthy state throughout 
the year. I make a table, the width of the win¬ 
dow, with a ledge around it a few inches high, and 
fill it up with sand which must be kept moist. 
The moisture rises and is condensed at night, 
and preserves the plants in a green and healthy 
condition. I have grown Camellias in this way, 
in a room where there was a fire, and they flour¬ 
ished and produced as good flowers as if grown 
in the green-house. Manure from an old hot¬ 
bed is the best for roses, as it contains more am¬ 
monia than any other kind. The table does not 
cause any dirt in the room, the floor may be kept 
clean and dry, and fire may be used without in¬ 
jury. I have kept plants in such a room when 
the thermometer stood 14 ° below the freezing 
point for four successive days and only lost a 
few leaves from the fuchsias. I darkened the 
room, excluding the sun’s rays, and watered the 
plants with frosted water each morning, till the 
frost was all drawn out. 
D. Boll. The subject has not been fully dis¬ 
cussed yet, and I think it should be continued. 
There are 70,000 or 80,000 roses purchased in 
this city during a season, and it is important that 
the purchasers should learn how to treat them. 
Mr. Wilson G. Hunt. I have been much 
pleased with the discussion, and believe such 
meetings will be productive of benefit to the 
public. 
After the appointment of a committee to pre¬ 
pare a list of Roses, the meeting adjourned. 
- - « <> ♦ - 
AGRICULTURAL TOUR IN GERMANY.—NO. 15. 
BY COUNT DE GOUECY. 
Translated for the American Agriculturist from the Journal 
d’Agriculture Pratique. 
Foe many years the town of Ketchemet, situ¬ 
ated about fifteen miles distant, rented this pro¬ 
perty of the duke for about 51,000 francs. It 
was sub-let to the inhabitants in large lots. 
Thirty years ago the duke resumed possession, 
and since that time the most fertile portions 
have been divided into lots of one hundred and 
ten acres, and enclosed with thick locust hedges, 
so as to protect them against the high winds 
which often sweep over these immense plains of 
light soil. When it becomes necessary to clip 
these hedges, they take care only to cut a half 
at one time, so as to preserve a portion to break 
the force of the wind ; the other half is not re¬ 
moved until the first has attained a sufficient 
growth to insure a good protection against the 
violence of the gales which so frequently lift the 
sand from the dry surface. The locust hedges 
grow with great vigor, except in the parts where 
the ground is more or less elevated, for so inju- 
