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SS A ee LL A RR Sm A al A TS a I — 
NoveMBER i, 1902 
manure is particularly suitable in incorpora- 
tion with heavy or clay soils, and for mulch- 
ing. It may be used fresh in both cases. 
Cow manure is more suitable for light loamy 
and Sandy soils, but it should be allowed to 
rot ina heap for a month or two before used. 
Liquid Manures—This manure is the most 
valuable of all manures for the exhibitor, as 
it can be applied in ‘the early spring and 
autumn, when it is most wanted to force on 
the young flower buds, and being in liquid 
form, thé roots are able to assimilate it at 
once.” 
I have not given any list of what I con- 
sider the best of Roses to plant, because our 
nurserymen’s catalogues are fullof information 
on this subject, anda glance at the tables of 
4 
“Lady Mary 
HE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
ti 
to me a source of unalloyed pleasure. The 
hints which I have given have been acted 
upon in my own experience, and I have found 
little elsenecessary. The Rose is thoroughly 
cosmopolitan ; she bestows her favours im- 
partially alike upon prince and the peasant. 
She blooms with equal excellence in the 
garden of the humble cottager “as in 
the ornate domain of the millionaire; she 
gives an added charm when worn by feminine 
beauty, and brightens with colour and re- 
freshes with fragrance many a sick chamber. 
To any who may _ possess gardens, 
and can be isduced to pay a little attention 
to the cultivation of this exquisite flower, I 
can promise that it will prove a very satis- 
factory recreation. It will entail a certain 
Ritzwilliam. 
Hybrid Tea, raised by Bennett, 1882. A seedling from Devoniensis 
and Victor Verdier. Of dwarf growth, but under good cultivation pro- 
ducing‘exceptionally fine globular! 
blooms of rosy flesh or pale pink. 
Most’ effective wlien grown as a half-standard, and a good autumnal 
bloomer. A fine exhibition flower. 
our Rose shows will enable you to make 
your selection without ‘difficulty. 
 ‘ Neither have I said anything as to the pro- 
pagation of the Rose, which is either by rais- 
“ing from the seed—a practice with which 
we are not likely to concern ourselves—by 
layering, by cutting, and by budding, an art 
which can best be easily and quickly learned 
by taking a practical lesson from anyone 
who understandsit. . Literature bearing upon 
Rose culture is now so widely disseminated 
that ignorance of these points is inexcus- 
able. 
In concluding this fragmentary chat upon 
a Subject which is so interesting to many of 
us, I can only add that the cultivation of | 
such a queenly flower as the Rose has been 
amount of work, but it is work of a character 
which will prove a pleasure. It will induce 
the excellent habit of early rising, for:is not 
the early morning, with its dewy freshness, a 
period of keen enjoyment among one’s 
Roses. It will enforce promptitude of action 
for when the caterpillar and the aphis are 
rampant there must be no procrastination in 
dealing with the enemy. In short, it is a 
pleasure which will in many ways act as an 
antidote to the worrying anxieties which 
seem to be inseparable from everyday life. - 
The love of a garden and the cultivation of 
flowers exercise a refining influence upon 
human nature ; it tends to make men better 
husbands and better fathers ; it relieves the 
monotony of daily lives for many wives, and 
it gives our children an interest in home life 
which is of a beneficial and lasting influence. 
As a mental discipline, therefore, as a physi- 
cal exercise, as a botanical study, as affording 
an out-of-door recreation, which gives un- 
mixed enjoyment to oneself and friends I 
can confidently recommend the culture of 
the ‘Queen of Flowers.” 
=e6CC= 
Exhibiting Roses. 
SOME HINTS TO BEGINNERS. 
[From the “ Gardeners’ Magazine.” | 
§pET me say at once that these notes are 
intended only for the novice and the 
“small man.” The man of big battalions, 
surfeited almost with the prodigality of good . 
young blooms ready for him each morning, 
knows nothing, and cares less about the 
thrifty wiles of the small growers in their 
efforts to» place» before the judges a good 
dozen:.on.a_ certain date; and if heperuses 
these lines. at all it will beat best..with an in- 
dulgent smile. acl yiaetete ei 
Good culture, good plants, and good 
blooms are conditions precedent to success- 
ful exhibiting. All these must be assumed 
to exist. ; : 
Each bloom which promises to be of ser- 
vice must be carefully watched and tended, 
and as soon as the petals begin to show 
signs of expanding a:shade: must be fixed 
over it, to protect from the rays of the sun 
on the one hand, and from rain and dew on 
the other. With the majority of Roses a tie 
or twist. of soft thick Berlin -wool should be 
loosely tied round the expanding bloom, 
gently holding back the outside ring of petals 
and tying only the point or central petals. 
This is beneficial in two ways, it prevents the 
thin-petalled Roses opening too quickly, and 
also causes the pointor céntre of the flower 
to grow and lengthen, and thus the. bloom 
when cut, and subsequently untied, presents 
a much more shapely and better built ap- 
pearance than one left to open naturally, 
and usually on hot days, much too quickly 
for the due maturity and consequent perfec- 
tion of the specimen.: It is useless to put 
on the tie more than a day ora day anda 
half before the show. The best time for 
putting on the ties is in the evening or in 
the early morning, but never while the bloom 
is wet. 
‘On the morning of the show be up and 
out by daylight with your boxes, with tubes 
filled with water, in some: shady convenient 
place, and commence cutting at once, and 
immediately place the blooms in water. On 
no account leave them lying about after 
being cut, and when all are gathered take the 
boxes into some cool shed or room where 
there is plenty of light, but no sunshine, and 
begin to get your beauties ready for their 
court display. This can be done to much 
greater advantage at home at leisure than in 
the crowded hall where the excitement 
which is all abroad is sure to infect the 
calmest and most phlegmatic amongst us, 
and frequently impairs our judgment in mak 
ing our selection from amongst the numbers 
