304 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r April 12, 188‘; 
of joining i orticuUure to the proposed new Department of Agriculture, 
and also stated that he had received a letter from Lord Salisbury (which 
he read) to the effect that the powers of the new Department would 
cover the interests of horticulture. Dr. Hogg was requested to represent 
the Society at the proposed International Horticultural Exhibition at 
Cologne in August next, under the jiatronage of the Empress Augusta 
of Germany. 
K03E SHOWS IN 18S8. 
June 28th.—Brockham and Hyde. 
June 30th.—Eltham and Reigate. 
July 3rd.—Bagshot, Canterbury, Diss, and Hereford. 
„ 4th.—Croydon, Hitchin and Richmond. 
„ 5th.—Bath, Farningham, and Norwich. 
„ 6th.—Sutton. 
„ 7th.—Crystal Palace (National Rose Society). 
„ 10th.—Ipswich and Tunbridge Wells. 
„ 11th.—Ealing. 
„ 12th.—Birmingham, Carl ton-in-Worksop, O.xford, and Win¬ 
chester. 
„ 14th.—Gloucester* and New Brighton. 
„ 16th.—Newcastle-under-Lyne. 
„ 17th.—Leek and Ulverstone. 
„ 18th.—Birkenhead. 
„ 19 th.—Helensburgh. 
„ 20th.—Darlington (National Rose Society). 
„ 21st.—Manchester. 
„ 24th.—Tibshelf. 
* The date of this Show is not yet definitely fixed. 
In the above list the only exhibitions not held bj' the National Rose 
Society, or by Societies in affiliation with it, are those at Birmingham, 
Carlton-in-Worksop, Manchester, Newcastle-under-Lyne, Richmond, and 
Tunbridge Wells. In the case of Birmingham and Tunbridge Wells, 
where the shows extend over two days, the date of the first day’s 
exhibition only is given. I propose issuing my next list of Rose 
fixtures early next month.— Edward Mawley, Rosvhayih, Berk- 
liamsted, IlerU. 
PRUNING ROSES. 
Axy Roses pruned in February with the idea of securing early 
blooms have had a bad time, and in addition to being much crippled will 
be later than those pruned late in March or early in April. We ought 
now to be through the worst of an unusually long winter, and the Rose 
pruning should be completed at once. There are a few simple rules to 
be observed in all cases. It-is of importance that the heads of standards 
be freely thinned out, those with crowded centres rarely producing a 
good succession of fine flowers. They ought also to be kept within 
bounds, as if any strong shoots are allowed to extend unrestricted the 
head soon becomes lopsided. Irregular growths, then, should with old 
wood be cut back to a well-placed growth nearer the centre. This fore¬ 
shortening, as it is termed, tends to keep up a supply of growth from 
n ar the centres, and preserves a neat floriferous head. Very gross 
shoots may well be cut cleanly out, and all useless spray ought also to 
be removed. Shoots near the size of a lead pencil are usually the best 
ripened, and these if shortened to a length of about 5 inches will produce 
plenty of blooms. Coarser than this to be left from 6 inches to 
8 inches, and smaller from 2 inches to 4 inches in length. In every case 
cut close to an outside bud. It would be a great mistake to severely 
prune strong shoots, those resulting from this being still more gross and 
jierhaps flowerless, while to lightly prune weak growth only leads to the 
formation of useless spray. These remarks are equally applicable to 
both Hybrid Perpetuals, and Teas, and Noisettes, Marechal Niel 
excepted. Standards of the latter ought to be freely thinned out in 
order to cause the early formation of a few long shoots. Weakly 
growth also to be shortened, but long well-ripened shoots should be 
reserved to near their full length and loosely tied, this arching insuring 
the production of fine blooms at nearly every joint. H.ard pruning will 
cause the Gloire de Dijon to form extra vigorous growths, and these 
will flower freely at every joint late in the summer. 
DWARF ROSES. 
These as usual have withstood the effects of the severe frost and cold 
winds much better than the standards, many of the latter having been 
killed outright. There are two methods of pruning these. Many, how¬ 
ever, neglect them or imagine they require no pruning at all, but unless 
thickets of weakly growth and small flowers are preferred they must 
receive an annual pruning. Where they push up strong growths every 
season these may be shortened to about two-thirds of their length and 
pegged down all round the plant. All useless spray to be cut out and 
stiff upright medium-sized growths shortened back freely. Thus treated 
they will produce fine flowers all over the plant, a quantity of young 
shoots also being pushed up from the centre of the plant. These pegged- 
down growths to be cut clean away after they have done duty once, and 
their place occupied by the young growths as before. The alternative 
system of pruning is much the same as advised in the case of standards, 
and bushes thus treated are frequently very serviceable and produce a 
long succession of bloom every season. Those on the Manetti stock 
ought always to have their stems buried, the Roses eventually becoming 
well rooted and independent of the stock. Manetti growths mi st not 
be mistaken for Rose shoots, and all that are detected ought to be 
cleanly cut out.—W. 1. M. 
ROSES IN POTS. 
t A pa))er read by Mr. D. Qilmoiir, janr., at Walkley, Sheffield, on March 9th, 1888. 
If we are to be anyway successful in ^he culture of Roses in pots, 
we must do as we have to do in other horticultural pursuits—that is to 
say, we must bring our reasoning powers into play. Depend upon it 
the man who thinks the most, who reasons the most, who, when he fails 
in anything, sets to work deliberately to find out the why and wherefore 
of his failure—I am coming to the most important part now—and who, 
when he does discover the cause of his failure, makes a mental never-to- 
be-forgotten note of it, and so avoids it in future, is the man who will 
be successful. It might be possible for one of the unthinking ones to 
go on all right in a beaten track for a time, but set him in a new place, 
give him a mental nut to crack, and behold what a dismal mess he 
makes of it. Do not suppose for a moment that I am an advocate for 
an amateur, or professional i ither, sitting over the fire or in his house, 
thinking, while there is work to be done in the greenhouse. There is no> 
reason why a man should not think and work at the same time. 
In growing a plant in a pot, we should remember that it occupies a 
very different position compared with one that is planted out and grow¬ 
ing in a border. Where the roots of a plant can wander about in the 
soil the plant can pick and choose, as it were, what it will take up and 
what it will reject. In a pot this is different. Here the plant can only 
have what is contained in the pot, or what we administer to it; and re¬ 
member it has to accept the whole of what we put there—it has to take 
up everything, and this is the reason why we may often, with impunity, 
poui over the roots of plants in the border strong liquid manures, which 
similarly applied would quickly destroy and kill the same plants if they 
were growing in pots. 
I think the two greatest enemies to plants in pots are want of 
drainage and sour soil. Perhaps the one is the cause of the other. 
Many people do not see any necessity for drainage ; they do not under¬ 
stand why careful gardeners put all those crocks in the bottom of a pot. 
In the same way the same people cannot see why farmers and gardeners 
go to the expense of putting in drains. Why do they do it \ Because 
the question has been thought out by some of these people who think, 
and who, thinking and building experiments on one result after another, 
long ago discovered that plants will do no good if the soil in which they 
grow is kept too moist. I could go into this question scientifically anif 
give you the results of some of these experiments relating to the why 
and the wherefore of draining, but shall ask you to take my word for 
this much, that drainage in pot plants is absolutely necessary. Even in 
cases where we use every effort to keep the drainage right the soil may 
become sour, and I have heard it said that the roots of plants will never 
have anything to do with any portion of the soil which has once become 
sour. There are several points, the neglect of which may lead to sour 
soil. I am leaving drainage out of the question now. One of the first 
or most likely causes is potting or repotting a plant into too large a 
pot ; another is over-watering a plant, keeping the soil in an ever¬ 
lasting state of slop ; still another is potting the plant in soil or com¬ 
post which is too close and binding, and which does not allow the water to 
percolate through. There is one more point which I may mention as a 
reason why soil becomes sour, and it is this, that many amateurs and 
gardeners when they are not certain that a plant retpiires water press 
their fingers on the surface of the soil; the result is that the soil becomes 
like a cake. Now you may think this is rather inconsistent, as I shall 
shortly advise you in potting your plants to ram them as hard as a 
brick. My advice is sound for all that, ani I can best illustrate it by 
taking as an example a newly metalled road over which a heavy roller 
has been passed. You will notice that though the stones are rolled 
down into a flat surface there are still many crevices between them ; it 
is the everyday traflic that eventually consolidates the stones into one 
close, even surface. No matter how hard you press your soil down with 
the potting stick, there will still be cracks and hollows where the water 
can filter through. It is the constant small and light pressures of the 
lingers at a time when the soil is wet, more or less, and it is these pres¬ 
sures repeated again and again, that eventually consolidate the soil and 
make it impervious to water, and then very quickly afterwards sour. I 
do not think it by any means a waste of time to remove the surface soil 
from pot plants ; indeed, I should prefer while I had the job in hand to 
go down until I saw the white roots showing. The old soil should be 
removed and fresh mixture or compost supplied. This may be done 
often. 
I had better begin as I ought to have done at the first, and take 
the different parts under their proper heads. First, then. How shall we 
best form a collection of pot Roses ? If we have the necessary cash at 
our disposal I should say, “ Buy a collection ready made but even in 
that comfortable state of affairs and pockets there is another view to 
take of it—a man looks with very different eyes and feelings on his own 
children .as compared with those of other people. The same thing 
applies to almost everything. And so a man takes a great deal more 
pleasure and pride in plants that he has formed and educated himself. 
