14 
M. H. WALSH, WOODS HOLE, MASS. 
PRACTICAL POINTS FOR 
like to be sheltered from the north and north¬ 
west winds. A shelter may be afforded by plant¬ 
ing screens of Rambler Roses; these are effective 
and ornamental; or the Rose-bed may be made 
in the shelter of buildings, or of evergreens you 
may have. 
The Soil. Roses will grow in any ordinary 
garden soil that is well enriched with stable manure. 
Cow-manure is preferable where the soil is not too 
heavy. If of a clay composition, horse-manure should 
be used. Roses will not thrive in sand, neither will 
they grow in ground where water has not ready 
drainage. Be sure you have this. If the place 
selected is sandy, remove this soil to the depth of a 
couple of feet, and replace with good, turfy loam 
from some old pasture or the woods. Add one-fourth 
the bulk of well-decomposed manure, and thoroughly 
mix the manure with the soil. A layer of grass or 
leaves on the bottom is beneficial, as it provides 
drainage. Should your soil be clay, it is better to dig 
this out 2 feet deep and fill in with clay, loam, and 
a little manure, on top of half a foot of broken bricks 
or stones. 
Hybrid Perpetual Roses require a stronger or 
heavier soil for their successful growth than Hybrid 
Teas; by a light soil is meant soil of a sandy texture 
but well and liberally enriched with manure and 
vegetable matter, or humus. Evaporation will be 
greater in light soil than in heavier soil, hence you 
must be careful to water plants growing in it. 
Rambler Roses will grow in any ordinary soil well 
enriched with manure. If possible, dig out the bed to 
a depth of 2 feet and thoroughly incorporate the 
manure in the soil. 
Most failures of Roses can be traced to lack of 
nourishment in the soil, and to lack of tilth and 
humus. Put a Rose in a little hole and you may 
expect it to die; but plant it with care in properly 
prepared soil, and it will thrive and give satis¬ 
faction and pleasure. To sum up the needs: Have 
plenty of plant-food in the shape of manure and 
fertilizer in the bed, see that the soil is light and loose 
and full of humus and be particular to get good 
drainage. If you do this you cannot fail to succeed 
in a way that will surprise and gratify you. 
The Planting of Roses may be done in October 
and early November, before the ground freezes. 
Dig good, large, deep holes. Spread out the roots 
evenly over the bottom; shake the plant lightly as 
you fill, so the soil will set evenly about the roots. 
When the hole is nearly filled pack the soil firmly. 
This is to close up all air-spaces. Budded Roses 
should be planted 2 inches below the collar, or bud; 
that is, below where the Rose is united to the stock. 
By planting 2 or 3 inches below the surface, new roots 
are produced from the base of the Rose. The 
collar of the plant should be set not less than 2 
inches below the surface of the soil. Few varieties 
thrive at all on their own roots, so the majority 
of Rose plants are budded. Budded plants make 
more growth in one year than own-root plants in 
two or three years. 
When planting is finished, a good soaking of water 
would be beneficial, if the ground is dry. The dis¬ 
tance apart for planting Roses may be varied accord¬ 
ing to the space at command, or the size of the bed. 
It may be 18 by 24 inches, or 24 by 24. Some varie¬ 
ties require more space than others. For winter 
protection draw the earth up around the base of the 
plants to a depth of 8 inches, similar to the way you 
hill up potatoes or bank celery to blanch. This 
will shed the water and keep the base of the plant 
ROSE-GROWERS, continued 
in good condition during the winter. It is not the 
very low temperature so much as the moisture which 
causes greatest winter-killing or damage to Rose 
plants. After the earth has been drawn up as above, 
mulch the surface with 4 or 5 inches of coarse litter 
or strawy manure. This will serve as a protection 
from cold, conserve moisture, and be a fertilizer. 
Where burlap or evergreen branches can be obtained 
readily, place these over and around the Rose bushes. 
This will furnish shade from the sun in February and 
early March, which sometimes proves injurious, 
exciting the sap into premature action. These direc¬ 
tions are intended to apply to Hybrid Perpetuals 
particularly. With Hybrid Teas, cover the entire 
plant with earth, or at least protect the branches 12 
to 16 inches above the ground. 
Pruning. Pruning should be done as soon as the 
frost is out of the ground in the spring. Cut out all 
the old wood; that is, wood which flowered last year, 
and leave three to six of the strongest shoots of last 
year’s growth, but cut these back to 8 to 12 inches 
from the ground. The stronger-growing shoots 
should be cut to 12 inches and the weaker to 8. 
People usually do not prune severely enough to 
obtain the best results. This applies to Hybrid Per¬ 
petuals more particularly, but to other kinds of Roses 
as well. Hybrid Teas should be pruned lightly, cut¬ 
ting out the dead wood and weak shoots and shorten¬ 
ing the strongest shoots from 4 to 6 inches. With 
Rambler or Climbing Roses, remove the dead shoots 
and thin out the tall shoots, cut back when necessary 
to within about 3 inches of the base. This method 
will also apply to Austrian Roses. Rugosa Roses 
may be pruned to suit location, height, etc., and for 
the purpose desired. 
With all Roses, remove any shoots, commonly 
called “suckers,” which spring up from the base of 
the plant. A person soon becomes familiar with the 
suckers from root-stocks or Brier suckers. They 
are easily distinguished by the seven to nine leaflets to 
each leaf-stem whereas budded stock suckers, except 
in a few instances, have but five. There is also a 
difference in the color of the Briers, easily detected 
after a person becomes familiar with the plants. 
Disbudding and Cutting. For large flowers, dis¬ 
bud freely on all varieties that form large clusters of 
buds, and the resulting flowers will be much finer 
than any would have been if all had been allowed to 
mature. The center bud of a cluster usually is the 
strongest, and, for exhibition flowers, this alone 
is retained; or, if it is malformed, the best remaining 
bud is chosen. When the Roses are blooming, cut 
the flowers freely, as then the plants continue to 
flower longer. It is best to cut early in the morning, 
before the flowers arc fully open, and take as long a 
stem as the growth will permit, seeing, of course, that 
an eye, growing outward, is left below the cut. 
Cultivating. An important requisite is hoeing. The 
ground should be hoed or loosened up at least once 
a week after the plants begin to grow. Do not wait 
to do this until you see weeds growing. Keep a 
dust-mulch covering the surface of all ground not 
protected by a heavy mulch. 
Another important point is watering. In dry 
weather you must keep the ground moist to have 
Roses in good growing condition. This should be 
done early in the morning or late in the afternoon. 
Roses are heavy feeders and require soil to be 
liberally supplied with water so they can take up 
the plant-food in the manure you supply. Above 
all, observe carefully. Watch your plants grow. 
Learn their needs by noticing how they behave. 
