March 20.J 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
381 
Commencing, then, at the lowest point, let the hand 
be passed carefully upwards in the act of disbudding; 
first removing one of twin shoots, then a slight “ singling 
out,” as root-crop growers do their drill carrots; and in 
the lapse of a few weeks scarcely a shoot will remain 
but what will he requisite for the pruning ordeal of the 
following winter. 
We must now recur to the method of stopping. Our 
practice is to stop at all times any given shoot which 
threatens soon to proceed side by side with any useful 
shoot in advance of it. Those who lay their young 
shoots in by the dozen, for fear they might be wanted, 
in due deference to the wisdom of their grandsires, 
will be doubtless very cross with me for thus promul¬ 
gating what they very possibly may be inclined to deem 
gardening heresy. So be it. We are not for mere pro- 
selytism, but for common-sense proceedings, backed by 
successful practice, and led on by the sound deductions 
ot vegetable physiology. And it' we fail in proviug this 
theory according to the most approved mode of our 
schoolmen, we happen to know that it tells well in prac¬ 
tice. Thin well, then we say, in due time, and stop well; 
do not hesitate. 
Of course, the approach of the aphides has been watched : 
these pests are sure to come. We advise our readers to 
fumigate lightly two successive evenings, as soon as the 
fly appears; remembering that delays are peculiarly 
dangerous in this case. The red spider, also, will proba¬ 
bly pay his visit about the period of full development of 
the foliage. We know of no better appliances than free 
syringiugs, and the use of sulphur on the pipes or flues. 
The latter article should be timely applied; but with the 
caution given at p. 353. 
Syringing is an important affair in Peach culture ; and 
most good cultivators actually “ batter” thin trees by a 
strong action of the syringe, worked right and left all 
over the house. As long as this is not carried far 
enough to injure the foliage, it is good practice, and 
may safely be used every evening up to the period of 
the fruit turning colour. 
One thing must be observed bearing on the syringing 
question: there must be no coddling through the me¬ 
dium of a confined atmosphere. Wherever copious 
syriugings are employed, just in proportion, in our 
opinion, should bo the amount of ventilation shortly 
afterwards. Good peach growers are very partial to a 
good dowsing with the syringe as early in the afternoon 
as the sun will permit on bright days; the house being 
immediately closed, and perhaps no air given until the 
following morning about seven. Some give the trees 
another dash with the syringe in the morning, provided 
the air of the house is moderately dry. The morning 
syringing is, however, in our opinion, a proceeding some¬ 
times more honoured in the breach than the observance, 
though it is, doubtless, good policy, any time after the be¬ 
ginning of March, if performed early in the morning, and 
followed by liberal ventilation, more especially in the 
anticipation of bright days. At other times we should 
say resort to the damping of floors, and other modes of 
raising as much humidity in the air as will counteract 
any injurious effects which an attempt at what is termed 
forcing may create. 
To conclude for the present, we may add—Ventilate ! 
Ventilate ! No tenant of the forcing-house better enjoys 
a free atmosphere to breathe in than the Peach. 
R. Erringion. 
TIIE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Roses for Flower-beds. —After the fancy geraniums, 
the next greatest improvement and novelty, in many 
cases, is the use of Roses having decided colours; each 
kind in a bed by itself; or a red or purplish kind, with 
a border all round of white, roses. Of all the white or 
light-coloured roses, either for an edging or for a whole 
bed, there is none so good as the Old White China, 
which, as far as I know, has no other name; it has not 
been mentioned in rose catalogues for many years, 
unless it be under some strange name which I do not 
recognise. It is one of the earliest to open in May, and 
the last of all of them to fall before the frost in November; 
it never rests through the season, and it is the longest 
to live of all the dwarf roses I know. There are about 
a score of plants of it in the flower-garden here, which 
have been in the same bed for the last fifteen years, 
and only taken up twice during the time, in order to 
renew the bed, and to cut in the large roots and strong 
branches. As we do not require these rose beds to be 
in bloom early in the summer, the plants are closely 
pruned towards the end of April; but they answer very 
well to be cut in March, and will be in bloom three 
weeks sooner if pruned so early. Even then a cold late 
spring does not hurt them, but only keeps them back so 
much. It is only when one is tempted by an early fine 
season, such as we experienced last February, to cut 
them before March, that late spring frosts hurt the 
tender growths; but let us say the first week in April is 
a good time to prune all the China and dwarf Bourbon 
roses in flower-beds; and that also is a very good time 
to plant a bed of them for the first time, provided you 
have strong two-year old plants for the purpose ; but, if 
the plants are younger and small, the end of April and 
the early part of May is a better time to turn them out. 
The next best white rose for air outside row is Aimee 
Vihcrt, a dwarf Noisette rose, which is always in bloom 
in thick clusters; and the best white flower among all 
the China breed of roses is Clara Sylvain, a true dwarf 
China. The flowers of this are as large as those of the 
old white China, much better shaped, and also more 
scented; but the plants are not so vigorous or so hardy. 
I had them twice cut down to the ground by the frost, 
when the old white stood unhurt. 
No one seems to like Gloire de Rosamene for a bed; 
but by a particular management it makes a splendid 
bedder, indeed the very richest of all the roses. For 
bedding, this rose should be treated as a biennial, and 
no more ; that is, to put in cuttings of it every year in 
April (they will root anywhere, if you stick them firm in 
the ground), and to plant them in the flower-bed next 
March, or whenever the bed is ready for them in the 
sirring. Then, from the first of June to the end of 
August, every shoot which looks very strong, and is 
likely to run away with the sap, as gardeners say, must 
be stopped when it is six inches long. In this way all 
the shoots over a whole bed need not differ much in 
strength, and they will not stop from flowering in July 
or August, as this rose is apt to do when older plants are 
used. After the beds have done flowering in December, 
the plants must be disposed of, for all the gardeners in 
the country could not make a regular bed of them the 
second season, if the soil was ever so poor, and I do not 
think there is a rose known that will do better in the 
very poorest soil than this; and it would grow in rotten | 
dung without any soil at all; it is no matter, therefore, 
for this rose where you plant it as a biennial. On thin 
sandy soil the plants should stand at six inches apart 
every way, or even thicker, and nine inches between 
plant and plant will not be too thick for a good bed of 
the richest soil, that is on the understanding that the 
same plants are only to flower one year on the same bed. 
A border of the old white China, planted round a bed ot 
Gloire de Rosamene, thus managed, is the very best 
combination of rose colours I know of; and in a mild 
autumn both will go on flowering down to the end 
of November, and I have had them in good bud for 
bouquets in Christmas week. 
One woidd require to be intimately acquainted with 
the habits of different roses on the same soil, before he 
