April 12, 188?. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
30 > 
I will su))pose, then, that we decide to make our own collection. For 
this purpose I recommend that fine open ground plants be procured 
from the nursery early in autumn. I say early, but we may defer getting 
them until after Christmas, even up to now (8th Match) if we think 
proper. The plants should be potted without loss of time, llemember 
to ram them very hard, and this constitutes our first step. Our next 
step is to place the plants in a cold house. Plants newly potted should 
not have any heat at all during the firet year, but should simply be 
allowed to commence gi'owth at their own sweet will. 1 may say here 
that a number of plants which were so potted up about last Christmas, 
or a little later, and placed in a cold house, are now covered with good 
red shoots, and in some cases with foliage. It will save much trouble if 
these plants are plunged in leaf soil ; so placed, they require very little 
attention in watering. As soon as the buds begin to swell the plants 
should be j)runed back to good strong ey"s, and they should be syringed 
in dry weather. They will bloom in course of time and grow strong, 
but some time about the end of June they shoul i be put out of doors 
in a sunny situation. If they have made sufficient growth and have 
some good shoots on them I am in favour of stopping any further growth 
by letting the shoots become dry gradually at this period, but never 
allowing the roots to become dust dry. If this ripening is proposed the 
pots should not be plunged ; but if we wish for larger plants, or that 
the growth should continue, we.should plunge the pots and keep the 
roots moist. But if we intend our plants for early blooming the 
following spring we must ripen them in good time. The pots must be 
raised out of the ground and placed on a hard surface, while water is 
withheld as before advised. August is the latest date I should fix for 
this. The longer our plants remain outside the better. The cold nights, 
the dews, the breezes, and the sunshine will all help to ripen the 
wood and produce buds that will give us fine blooms. If hard weather 
sets in before Christmas the plants should have the shelter of a frame, or 
be placed under a wall or in some cosy place. They may come into 
heat almost anv time after being thoroughly ripened, and be grown 
successfully. When I say heat I mean the ordinary temperature of an 
amateur’s greenhouse. They may be pruned when brought in, and 
should not then have more water than is really required until the buds 
break and leaves begin to form. At this time the top soil should be 
taken off, using a pointed stick, and fresh soil added in its place. When 
the plants have bloomed all of them that require it should be earefully 
repotted, after which they may either be returned to the greenhouse for 
a fortnight, keeping the leaves as moist as possible, which enables the 
roots to get hold of the new soil, or they may be at once plunged outside 
as before. 
In potting the plants at first let them be jilaced into pots as small as 
the roots will allow. If you err on the question 'of drainage, err on the 
side of too much rather than too little, the compost should be made up 
like this :—One part old sods or good turfy loam, half part of old 
manure, one-eighth part of leaf mould,!one-eighth charcoal or sand. The 
compost should not be riddled but well mi.xed together. The pots must 
be well rammed. Any old thick roots should be removed or cut back, 
but all fibrous roots should be preserved. Some of the plants may make 
so much growth and so many roots that it may be necessary to repot 
them during the first season. In that case place them into pots the next 
size larger, taking care not to break the jmung roots. As a rule one 
repotting a year should be sufficient. 
Pruning Roses in pots is rather a tough subject—I mean that it is a 
tough job to reconcile the teachin s of the various masters of the art. 
My plan is a very simple one, and I adhere to this rule, “ The more you 
remove from a Rose tree the finer the blooms will be.” In the case of 
H.P.’s, I advise that all the branches be cut back to, at most, three eyes 
or buds, and the result will be generally one or two strong shoots from 
eaeh branch. This system will save an immense amount of tying work, 
bending shoots down, &c., and in my opinion give a better result. With 
the long and coarse-growing Teas, the Dijon section, and Marechal Niel, 
this short-pruning system will not answer ; these, blooming on laterals 
thrown out from last season’s woo<l, must have some of the branches left 
long, simply removing the unripe and weak tops. But the dwarf¬ 
growing Teas flourish on the hard-pruning system, and give magnificent 
flowers, so I shorten my dwarf Teas back to about two eyes on each 
shoot. I have probably 200 standard Teas in pots ; some of them this 
year were cut back hard, while others only had the weak and old wood 
taken out. In the one case I have strong vigorous shoots, grand foliage, 
and magnificent blooms!; in the other I have weak foliage and small 
blooms. The moral is obvious. 
For greenhouses the standard has many advantages, particularly for 
amateurs whose space is limited. The plants are lifted up so as not to 
interfere with smaller growing things; they get more light, and are 
neither so crowded themselves nor do they crowd other things as they 
do when grown as dwarfs and on the same level as everything else on 
the stages. Another advantage is, that after the first blooming the 
branches may be tied down like the ribs of an umbrella, and the result 
will be the bursting out of strong new breaks which generally carry 
the best blooms of the season. 
1 must go back again to the subject of watering, for although growing 
Roses in pots is made up of a number of small matters I really think 
that of watering is the most important ; and I think it is the matter in 
which discretion is most called into play. If a plant is newly potted, 
or is without leaves, or if there is no growth going on, it stands to reason 
that a less quantity of water is wanted. Where a plant is in full growth, 
or where the pot is full of roots and the plant growing, we may give 
water freely. But I would far rather see a plant have too little water 
than too much. The plant in the former case will give us notice of its 
wants by drooping its leaves, though it is not wise to allow matters to- 
go so far. In the latter case we shall find the leaves turning yellow, but 
at this stage I should say the soil in the pot has become quite sour, and 
the mere withholding of water will n )t restore sweetness to it nor 
healthy growth to the plant. The infallible rule for all is the knuckle 
applied smartly to the side of the pot ; if it ring out bell-like water is 
wanted, if it sounds dull and solid none is necessary. It is astonishing 
how much drying a jx)t Rose will stand. The roots may be dried until 
the shoots shrivel and the plant appears to the ejm quite dead, but 
plunge it into a tub of water for twenty-four hours, and behold! the- 
shoots plump and green and the buds again swelling. 
I am afraid that, so far, most of my remarks will apply more to the 
Tea Roses than the H.P.’s. I certaiidy consider it a waste of time to 
grow these latter in pots, for various reasons. One is, because we can 
grow them better and with less attention in the open ground ; another 
is, that when we take one crop of blooms from the H.P.’s we are not 
likely to get another for some time. Another reason is, that the Teas 
stand more knocking about—don’t smile, let me finish—I mean that 
they do not want so much rest, and they may be made to bloom much 
more certainly at such times as Christmas for instance. Take the grand 
old Tea Rose Niphetos, or the almost equally useful and beautiful 
Caroline Kuster ; one can get from four to six (may be more) crops of 
blooms from these Roses in one season. Where is the H.P. that will 
stand this sort of w'ork ? I know of none, and I do not think you do 
either. However, if we must have H.P.’s in the house, after they have 
bloomed once they are best outside, as they take up too much room and 
attention inside. If they make a good growth, equivalent to the spring 
growth of plants in thj open, that is all that is necessary ; this is the- 
■wood we want for blooms next season. If we dry them off small blooms 
will probably form during summer ; these should be pinched off. 
A few words on manures. These are only of advantage when the 
plant is capable, or in a fit state to absorb them. To give manure or 
stimulants to a weak or sickly plant is simply poison to it. Where a 
plant is growing in such a compost as I have described it needs very 
little until the roots have filled the pot. Then, if the flower buds are 
formed weak liquid manure may be administered, but give too little in 
preference to giving too much. Weak and often is better than strong 
and seldom. Feasts and famines are neither of them good for the 
human digestion, no more are they beneficial to plants. This liquid, 
whether it be made of horse or cow dung or sewage, and these are the 
usual materials employed, should not be stronger in colour than ale, if 
there are any abstainers here I don’t mind saying ginger ale. 
Where we do not, or cannot, repot our Roses, we may keep them 
strong and healthy for a long time by the use of stimulants and patent 
manures. These are bones, bone dust, dissolved bones, and other con¬ 
centrated preparations. These should be put on the surface, or mixed 
with the soil we top-dress with, when the plant is in growth, not when 
it is at rest. I must say something about that curse of Ro.ses—mildew. 
This is often the ruin of crops under glass. An attack may be brought 
on very quickly with forced Roses by simply opening a ventilator and 
letting the cold wind in for a few minutes. It cannot be so easily 
cured. When we can command hot pipes the remedy is simple. This 
is to paint said pipes with sulphur made into a paste, but do not have 
too much fire at the time you apply it. In cold houses we must prevent 
mildew. Keep it away, once it gets a footing in a house it is good-bye to 
blooms and leaves for some time. We must keep it away by using when 
we syringe a little softsoap at the rate of half an ounce to the gallon. 
The best way to prepare this is to mix 2 lbs. of softsoap with boiling 
water, adding at the same a wineglassful of petroleum, and making up- 
the quantity with hot water to five gallons. If a little tobacco juice be- 
added all the better, or rather all the worse, for the green fly. When we 
do syringe we must put half a pint of this delicious mi.xture into a large 
can of water. This recipe is pretty sure to be correct, because I had it 
from the “ Gardeners’ Year Book.” 
In conclusion I will give a list of the very best varieties I know of 
for pot work:—Alfred (Jolomb, * Baroness Rothschild, Beauty of Wal¬ 
tham, Boule de Neige, Captain Christy, Charles Lefebvre, Dr. Andry, 
Dupuy Jamain, Edward Morren, Henri Schultheis, John Hopper, *La 
France, Madame Lacharme, Madame G. Luizet, Madame V. Verdier, 
•Marie Baumann,*Marquise deCastellane,*Merveille de Lyon, *Senateur 
Vaisse, and Souvenir de Malmaison. These areallH.P.’sexcept-Malmaison. 
The best six are perhaps those marked *. Almost all the leading varie¬ 
ties of Teas give good results in pots. 1 will just name the very best— 
Anna Ollivier, The Bride, Catherine Mermet, Madame Charles, Madame- 
Falcot, Madame Lambard, Madame Willermoz, Marie Van Houtte, 
Niphetos, Rubens, Souvenir d’Elise, Souvenir d’un Ami, and Sunset. 
No'isettes—Mard-chal Niel, and Madame Caroline Kuster. 
THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 
[A Icctnre delivered at BirmlngUam on the I3th ult., by T. Francis Rivers, Efij.] 
( Continued from paqe 276.') 
Pear trees under glass amply repay for cultivation, the jirotectioni 
from spring frosts rendering the crop a certainty. Grafted on the Quince 
stock the trees become very fruitful and dwarf, and are exceedingly, 
easy to cultivate. After commencing to tear they grow very httlc and give 
all their energy to the-fruit. I often think that their cultivation would 
be a considerable source of profit, but for this purpose none but large and 
late sorts should be used, such as the Doyenm- du Comice, Marie Louise, 
Duchesse d’Angoulcme,Winter Nelis, Marie Benoist, and the Easter Beurr<'. 
