THE GARDEN ALBUM AND REVIEW. 
45 
These directions, if carried out in proper 
sequence, will enable almost anyone to prune a 
bush or standard rose properly. 
The sketches—which have been kindly lent 
by the publishers of “ Beautiful Roses ”— 
show how a bush rose in one case, and a 
standard in the other, are to be pruned. 
In regard to Climbing Roses all that is 
usually necessary is to cut about a foot off the 
main shoots after any dead, or very old, wood, 
or weak twigs, have been suppressed. 
The safest time to prune Roses in the open 
air is when danger from severe frosts is over. 
This brings the pruning period almost to the 
end of March, or perhaps into April. The 
Tea Roses, in any case, should be pruned two 
or three weeks later than the other varieties. 
HINTS ON GROWING VEGETABLES. 
The land devoted to the cultivation of vege¬ 
tables should, as a rule, be free from trees or 
bushes, so as to be fully exposed to the bene¬ 
ficial influence of sunlight. 
On the northern and eastern sides shelters of 
walls, fences, or hedges are a great protection 
against the cold and biting winds from those 
quarters. 
The soil should always be well and deeply 
cultivated to secure the best crops, and should 
be a fairly well-balanced mixture of organic 
and inorganic materials. 
A “heavy” soil generally holds too much 
water and too little air, and has, besides, a 
temperature too low to be agreeable for the 
roots of vegetables to work in satisfactorily. 
Heavy soils are improved by trenching to a 
depth of about 3 feet, or even more, and by 
thoroughly breaking up the lower layers of 
soil. This should be done as early in the 
autumn as possible, except in the case of light 
or well-drained soils, which are best left over 
till the spring. 
When trenching poor or heavy soil, it is 
sometimes unwise to bring the lower layers to 
the surface until after a few years of cultivation. 
If time can be spared, it is always better to 
trench than dig ground, as by this means a 
good depth of fertile soil can be eventually 
obtained. 
Deep cultivation improves the drainage, 
increases the temperature of the soil, keeps 
down weeds, and hastens the dissolution of 
inorganic materials by exposure to the weather, 
that is to the action of heat, cold, frost, snow, 
rain, &c. 
The rows of vegetables should run north and 
south if possible to secure as much sunlight as 
possible during the day. 
The hoe should be kept constantly going 
between the various crops—especially in dry 
seasons—not only to keep the weeds down, but 
to keep the moisture around the roots as long 
as possible. 
Generally speaking, the best manure for 
growing vegetables is well decomposed stable 
manure. At every fresh digging or trenching 
a good layer should always be placed in the 
bottom of the trenches, the greenest and rankest 
manure always the lowest down. 
About 12 to 15 tons of stable manure to the 
acre—or, say, 2 to 4 cart loads to every 10 
poles—is a fair dressing for soils in an ordinary 
good state of cultivation. 
The best manure is always obtained from 
the best bred horses and cattle. Peat moss litter , 
well saturated with liquor, is a good manure, 
but does not seem to retain its heating proper¬ 
ties so long as stable manure. Leaves of oaks, 
beeches, horse and sweet chestnuts, in fact, 
leaves of all kinds when well rotted, and free 
from fungoid diseases, make an excellent 
manure. 
Manure should be stored in a hollow place, 
so that the ammoniacal liquor shall not pass 
away from it and be lost. 
The best way to store manure is to mix it 
with soil, by placing alternate layers of one 
with the other. The topmost layer should 
always be soil, so as to conserve the am¬ 
moniacal fumes from the manure. 
For wet, heavy, sour soils, lime is not only 
an excellent manure, but also renders the soil 
drier and sweeter and easier to work. It is 
also a great check to slugs, snails, caterpillars, 
and all kinds of vermin. About 1 or 2 bushels 
to a pole of ground is a reasonable dressing. 
Quick lime may be scattered over the soil at 
regular intervals, and allowed to slake naturally 
before being worked in. Winter is a good time 
for liming the soil. Soot is also an excellent 
manure, and insect preventive. 
Gas Lime in a fresh state is very injurious to 
vegetable life, and also to insect pests. It is, 
however, a good manure, and may be used at 
the rate of 2 to 4 ounces per square yard. If 
fresh, it should be left exposed to the air for 6 
or 8 weeks, so as to allow the sulphurous gases 
to pass away. 
Other manures. The following highly con¬ 
centrated manures may be used occasionally to 
stimulate the growth of a crop, but they should 
not be relied upon altogether, or by themselves, 
to give good results year after year. The 
quantities are for a square pole or rod of ground 
(3°i sq. yds.) 
(a) Nitrate of Soda .—1 lb. 
(/;) Sulphate of Ammonia .—| lb. (should not 
be used in conjunction with lime, 
chalk, or basic slag). 
(c) 5 uperphosphate of Lime .—6 lbs. Should 
be applied in spring. 
C d ) Basic Slag —8-16 lbs. Best applied in 
winter. Good for fruit trees and most 
garden crops. 
(e) Kainit .—16 lbs. Apply in winter. 
(/) Guano —2-4 lbs. Useful for most crops 
when well rooted and established. 
(g) Bones (dissolved or meal).—3-6 lbs. 
(h) Pigeon, poultry, and other animal 
manures are all valuable, but should 
be well mixed with soil, and not 
applied fresh to the roots of plants. 
