r Snpplement to the ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. r J^n„a-y 20,1888. j 63 
PREPARING MARECHAL NIEL FOR FORCING. 
Whatever may be the defects in the constitution of this popular 
variety it is one of the most valuable that can be grown for supplying 
flowers early in the season. For this purpose the plants must be well 
and strongly grown, and thoroughly ripened early in autumn. Immature 
wood will not produce good blooms early in the year, the eyes from 
which they should issue very frequently result in nothing but growth. 
This is often due to raising the plants too late in the season, and then 
subjecting them to close treatment, which fosters luxuriant growth at 
the expense of solidity. 
Plants of this variety that have been grown under greenhouse treat¬ 
ment during the past season have plenty of wood upon them that will 
be suitable for cuttings. Twiggy side shoot's strike with greater freedom 
than shoots of stronger growth, but the latter are preferable, for they 
grow strongly when rooted, while the others cannot probably be induced 
to make a strong shoot before the season is over. Shoots that are half 
ripened are the best, and these may be had in quantity near the 
extremity of shoots that have scarcely yet ceased to grow. The cuttings 
only need two joints, one to be placed in the soil and the other to be left 
just above it. They may be inserted at once in 7'or 8-inch pots, well 
drained, moderately thick together, in sand, which is better than a 
mixture of soil and sand, because the roots can be disentangled without 
breaking them, which is not the case when soil is used, even if it has 
been sifted. After insertion they should be well watered and covered 
with a bellglass, then placed in a temperature of 65°. If the pots can 
be plunged in a warm bed so much the better. In three weeks or a 
month the young plants will be ready for potting singly into 3J-inch or 
I-inch pots. This must be done carefully and every root preserved, or 
growth will be seriously checked. At this potting equal parts of loam 
and leaf mould with a little sand added should be employed for them. 
The pots should be replunged, in fact plunging must be carried out 
the whole of the season if practicable, or until they are started in their 
flowering size. The slight warmth they will receive from below will be 
advantageous to them, ^yhen once started in their flowering pots such 
assistance is not needed. Where accommodation of this nature does not 
exist they can be grown very well without, but their progress in the 
early stages will be slower. 
When the young Roses are about 1 foot high it will be necessary to 
shift them into 6-inch pots and supply each plant with an upright stake. 
One-third instead of one-half leaf mould only should be used this time, 
and one-seventh of manure may be added. By the time they have 
filled these pots with roots they will be about 3 feet in length. From 
these they should be transferred into 10-inch, using the same soil as 
before, only add one 6-inch potful of soot and the same quantity of bone 
meal to each barrowful of the soil needed. 
When established in these pots they must be carefully and gradually 
hardened to cool treatment, for any check will be injurious. Frequently 
at this stage strong shoots will issue from the base, which should be 
encouraged, for shoots of this nature will soon outrival the others, and 
often travel a length of 20 to 25 feet before the end of the season. 
These are the shoots that result in excellent plants for forcing, and will 
mature suificiently to flower satisfactorily if trained close under the roof 
of a light and airy house. During the time these shoots are in rapid 
growth weak stimulants may be given, or better, and safer still, a little 
artificial manure applied to the surface at intervals of about three 
weeks. 
To insure their starting well and freely when introduced into the 
forcing house they should be taken outside about the end of October or 
early the following month, and tied to a wall or fence to prevent their 
being broken. If practicable plunge the pots, for while it is beneficial 
to subject the shoots to a few good early frosts there is no advantage 
gained in allowing the soil in the pots to become frozen. This is the 
easiest and most certain method of inducing the plants to rest com¬ 
pletely for a time. 
Those who have not practised this method of forcing rest upon the 
plants will be surprised how much easier forcing operations are rendered 
afterwards. We will leave the plants outside, and the details necessary 
for their preparation and forcing until another issue.—N. 
R03ES IN WINTER. 
A “ Suburban Amateur ” will find no difficulty in obtaining Tea 
Roses in winter provided he has space to grow them. We have a great 
demand for them all the year round, more so in winter than other 
seasons, and never fail to produce them by following this rule. The 
last week in July or the beginning of August we repot in a compost of 
light loam, wood ashes, and a liberal sprinkling of sand. The roots of 
established plants are reduced and returned into the same sized (clean) 
pots. Young plants are given a slight shift without disturbing the 
roots. They are placed in a partially shaded position, and kept sprinkled, 
the hotter the weather the oftener syringed, till root action commence, 
then exposed to full sun to secure well-ripened wood. All flower buds 
are kept pinched off, and in September we prune them. A few are stood 
on one side, and a slight rest is given by withholding water for a week 
or two. The first week in October they are taken into a gentle heat, 
and soon commence expanding their buds ; in a month’s time other 
plants are taken in. These have supplied us with flowers since the 
beginning of November, and at the present time are full of buds, which 
promise to give a few daily for the next six weeks. Others are served 
the same for a continual supply. 
Judicious watering is absolutely necessary. If allowed to get dry or 
too wet, the foliage assumes a sickly colour, and disappointment follows. 
Occasional sprinklings with Clay’s fertiliser assist the plants greatly. 
Ventilate on all favourable occasions, but avoid cold draughts, or that 
terrible pest mildew is sure to make its appearance, which must be im¬ 
mediately checked. Prevention being better than cure, we boil 2 lbs. 
of softsoap in 4 gallons of soft water fifteen minutes, and mix 1 pint of 
the solution with 4 more gallons, and syringe on twice a week, or oftener 
if necessary, sulphur making an unsightly appearance ; gentle smoking 
will destroy all aphides.—G. K. 
ROSE-GROWING FOR BEGINNERS. 
In compliance with the request of several correspondents Mr. D. 
Gilmour has published the series of articles that appeared under the 
above heading in this Journal last year in the form of a manual. It 
consists of eighty-four pages in a stout gay cover, and will meet the 
wants of many who desire plain information on the cultivation of 
Roses. The work has been issued for some weeks, but a copy has only 
recently come to our hand. It is published by Mr. William Cate, 
Bouverie Street, London. 
THE SEEDLING BRIAR. 
I AM glad to see the subject of the seedling Briar as a stock for 
Roses is being well discussed in your columns. I certainly cannot 
think that it is good for the seedlings to have their tap roots cut, as 
they appear to me to be one of the great points in favour of this stock. 
During last summer I had an opportunity of observing two large 
quarters of Roses, one worked on Briar cuttings, the other on seedling 
Briars, and although not far from each other, those on the latter were the 
most continuous bloomers, and appeared to suffer less from the intense 
drought than those on the others. I think this is a fair argument for the 
retention of the tap roots of the seedlings, as in a season like the last 
they are better able to procure moisture by striking down deeply than 
roots running near the surface. I think there is no method of growing 
Roses by which such a continuance of flowers can be obtained as the 
one in which Roses are budded on the seedling Briar, and for that 
reason I strongly recommend them. I do not see any advantage in 
growing Briar cuttings. They are certainly not cheaper to procure, and 
if one is ever so careful the suckers will come, and much more frequently 
than on the seedling Briar. What splendid Tea Roses can be obtained 
on this stock. The colours and quality of flower altogether are much 
finer than when grown in any other method, with perhaps the excep¬ 
tion of standards. 
Another great point in favour of the seedling Briar is that Roses 
grown on them are better and more plentiful in autumn than those on 
Briar cuttinss, Manetti, or standards. This I have proved for some years. 
I have cut Roses from seedling Briars in October, when there was scarcely 
one to be found on any other stock. 
There is another matter which I think might be discussed advan¬ 
tageously in “ our Journal,” and that is. What is the best height to have 
our standard Roses ? Are not 2 to 3 feet stems tall enough I For my 
part I prefer to see Roses on 2-feet stems than the most ungainly objects 
on 4-feet stems one so often meets with. And, again, one is more likely 
to get the varieties he prefers from the nurseryman on a short stem than 
he would if ordered on 3^ to 4-feet stems.— Rosieriste. 
[We have several other articles on Roses, for which space cannot be 
found in the present issue.] 
USEFUL POTATOES. 
At one time last season the prospect of a Potato famine was a 
contingency seriously contemplated, and very few of us were pre¬ 
pared for the agreeable surprise in store for us. Instead of few or 
no Potatoes being obtained quite a good average weight was lifted 
hereabouts, but whether the quality generally is equally satisfac¬ 
tory is very doubtful. With us it is not, neither in the case of 
those lifted before supertubering was far advanced, or those dug 
much later on. Ours on the whole stood the drought remarkably 
well, and had I been a little sharper in lifting or drawing the haulm 
a fairly heavy crop of good tubers would have been secured. Un¬ 
fortunately it did not need a soaking rain to start the second 
growth, and the character of the whole crop in many instances was 
changed as if by magic. Before the change to showery weather 
not a few cultivators were complaining that many of their 
Potatoes had formed much more haulm and roots than usual and 
scarcely any tubers. If these had lifted when we did in order 
to avoid having a mixed crop of tubei’s they would not have 
secured a tenth part of the crops that eventually resulted. Large 
breadths were growing strongly both above and below ground, 
when the early frosts cut them down, and then a lot of tubers that 
I saw lifted resembled the much rubbed early crops annually sent 
to the markets. 
