for sale, they should be immediately potted into pots called 32's (these are generally 7 inches deep, by 6 over at the surface), in a compost of turfy sandy loam and well-rotted manure, of the proportions given in p. 184; the loam must not be sifted, but merely chopped into pieces as large as a walnut: the fine mould, which will, as a matter of course, result from this chopping, must not be separated from the pieces of turf, but all must be well mixed with the manure or leafmould. The pots should then be filled about onefourth with broken pieces of crockery or potsherds, the plants taken from the small pots, and the balls of earth gently pressed so as to loosen them; place each plant in the centre of the large pot; press the earth well round them; give a soaking of water and plunge them in sawdust or tan, in some sunny exposed place, where they may have all the sun our fickle climate will give them. They may remain plunged till early in October, when they should be removed into the greenhouse; but a fortnight before taking them into their winter-quarters, lift every pot, and place it on the surface of the bed in which they have been plunged their roots then become hardened, and bear the dry warm air of the greenhouse without injury: they should at this time also be pruned into any handsome desirable shape (a compact bush is perhaps the prettiest), or, if tall plants are required, the long shoots may be fastened to a

neat painted stick. Roses thus treated will come into bloom in the greenhouse in April, and continue one of its brightest ornaments till the beginning of June; they should then be repotted into larger pots, if large plants are wished for, and again plunged in the open air till the autumn: care must be taken to place the pots on slates, to prevent their roots getting through the bottoms of the pots. If compact and pretty little plants are required, the same pots may be used, merely reducing the roots, so that the pot will hold a small quantity of compost for the plant to feed upon. A most excellent compost for potted roses may be made as follows:-Pare some turf from a loamy pasture: the parings should be from one to two inches thick; bake them in an oven about twelve hours, when the temperature is equal to that just after it has been used for baking bread; they must not be burned; this, chopped as before directed with one-third of rotten manure, or leaf-mould, forms one of the very finest of composts. The plants must be looked to carefully in spring, and whenever infested by the aphis or green fly, tobacco-smoke must be applied. Mildew is easily destroyed by sprinkling sulphur on the foliage, and suffering it to remain undisturbed for

*

* I have used, with much success, turf roasted on a sheet of iron (placed on temporary brickwork), under which a moderate fire has been kept: about one hour's roasting is sufficient. This chars the turfy side, and acts most beneficially.

one

or two days; the plants should then be plentifully syringed; extraordinary luxuriance of growth may be given by watering them once a week with guano-water.

A season may be saved in the growth of these roses, if plants in larger pots than those they are usually sold in are purchased; if these are procured in the autumn or winter, they may be placed in the greenhouse at once with a certainty of succeeding.

CULTIVATION OF SUMMER ROSES
IN POTS.

For this purpose, a selection of the finest double varieties are alone eligible. Plants worked on neat stems not more than four inches high, and with fibrous compact roots, so that they will admit of being placed in the centre of the pots, should be potted late in October or early in November, in 24-sized or 8-inch pots, in a compost of loam and rotten manure, or loam and leaf-mould and manure, in equal quantities; if to a bushel of this compost half a peck of powdered charcoal is added, it will be improved. After potting they should be placed on slates, and then plunged in sawdust or old tan, so that the surface of the mould in the pots is covered about two inches in depth with the material used for plunging. A sunny exposed

situation is better than under a wall, for when placed near a wall the branches always incline from it, so that the plant, in lieu of being round and compact, as it ought to be, becomes onesided; in February following they may be pruned in closely, i. e. to within two or three buds of the base of each shoot, and remain plunged during the summer; additional vigour may be given by removing the sawdust or tan from the surface of the pots in March, and substituting rotten manure; during the summer all suckers must be carefully removed, and in June, July, and August, all luxuriant shoots shortened, by pinching off their ends, and superfluous shoots nipped in the bud; so that each plant is made to form a neat compact bush, not too much crowded with shoots. If this is properly attended to, they will scarcely require pruning the following spring; a few of the shoots may be thinned out, i. e. entirely removed. These plants will require abundance of water in dry hot weather in summer, and once a week in June and July they should be watered with guano water: 1 lb. to twenty gallons of water will be of sufficient strength; if not placed on slates, the pots must be removed once a fortnight, to prevent the roots entering the soil underneath the pots, which will give them much additional vigour: but the check they receive when removed is very injurious; this must, therefore, be carefully guarded against. The above treatment is also applicable

to Moss and Provence Roses on their own roots, which, when required for forcing, may at once be removed from the plunging-bed, after having remained there one summer, to the forcing-house; those required for exhibition only, may also remain there till near the blooming season; when, if it is wished to retard them, they may be placed under a north wall; if to accelerate, they may be removed to the greenhouse or to any pit or frame under glass.

With the exception of the Moss and Provence Roses, which are, and always will be, favourites for forcing, Summer Roses are not so eligible for pot-culture as the Autumnal Roses; they bloom but once, and, if intended for exhibition, it is so extremely difficult to have them in perfection on any given day; if the season be cold and cloudy it is most difficult to bring them forward, as fireheat in summer is injurious to roses brought from the open air; and if dry and hot, it is equally difficult to retard them; at least, this can be done only for a very short period.

Moss and Provence Roses that have been forced have generally been thought to require a season's rest; but with the following treatment this will not be required. Presuming that they have bloomed in February or March, they should have their shoots shortened to within two or three buds, repotted and placed in a cold frame, plunged in the before-mentioned materials, and, towards the