Do not apply any covering early in the season, as so many do for the sake of "getting the work out of the way." Wait until you are reasonably sure that cold weather is setting in.

Teas, and the Bourbon and Bengal sections of the so-called ever-bloomers, are most satisfactorily wintered in the open ground by making a pen of boards about them, at least ten inches deep, and filling it with leaves, packing them firmly over the laid-down plants. Then cover with something to shed rain. These very tender sorts cannot always be depended on to come through the winter safely at the north, even when given the best of protection, but where one has a bed of them that has afforded pleasure throughout the entire summer, quite naturally he dislikes to lose them if there is a possibility of saving them, and he will be willing to make an effort to carry them through the winter. If only part of them are saved, he will feel amply repaid for all his trouble. Generally all the old top will have to be cut away, but that does not matter with Roses of this class, as vigorous shoots will be sent up, early in the season, if the roots are alive, therefore little or no harm is done by the entire removal of the old growth.

The best Roses to plant are those grown by reliable dealers who understand how to grow vigorous stock, and who are too honest to give a plant a wrong name. Some unscrupulous dealers, whose supply of plants is limited to a few of the kinds easiest to grow, will fill any order you send them, and your plants will come to you labelled to correspond with your order. But when they come into bloom, you may find that you have got kinds that you did not order, and did not care for. The honest dealer never plays this trick on his customers. If he hasn't the kinds you order, he will tell you so. Therefore, before ordering, try to find out who the honest dealers are, and give no order to any firm not well recommended by persons in whose opinion you have entire confidence. There are scores of such firms, but they do not advertise as extensively as the newer ones, because they have many old customers who do their advertising for them by "speaking good words" in their favor to friends who need anything in their line.

I would advise purchasing two-year-old plants, always. They have much stronger roots than those of the one-year-old class, and will give a fairly good crop of flowers the first season, as a general thing. And when one sets out a new Rose, he is always in a hurry to see "what it looks like."

Be sure to buy plants on their own roots. It is claimed by many growers that many varieties of the Rose do better when grafted on vigorous stock than they do on their own roots, and this is doubtless true. But it is also true that the stock of these kinds can be increased more rapidly by grafting than from cuttings, and, because of this, many dealers resort to this method of securing a supply of salable plants. It is money in their pockets to do so. But it is an objectionable plan, because the scion of a choice variety grafted to a root of an inferior kind is quite likely to die off, and when this happens you have a worthless plant. Strong and vigorous branches may be sent up from the root, but from them you will get no flowers, because the root from which they spring is that of a non-flowering sort. Many persons cannot understand why it is that plants so luxuriant in growth fail to bloom, but when they discover that this growth comes from the root below where the graft was inserted, the mystery is explained to them. When grafted plants are used, care must be taken to remove every shoot that appears about the plant unless it is sent out above the graft. If the shoots that are sent up from below the graft are allowed to remain, the grafted portion will soon die off, because these shoots from the root of the variety upon which it was "worked" will speedily rob it of vitality and render it worthless. All this risk is avoided by planting only kinds which are grown upon their own roots.

In planting Roses, make the hole in which they are to be set large enough to admit of spreading out their roots evenly and naturally. Let it be deep enough to bring the roots about the same distance below the surface as the plant shows them to have been before it was taken from the nursery row. When the roots are properly straightened out, fill in about them with fine soil, and firm it down well, and then add two or three inches more of soil, after which at least a pailful of water should be applied to each plant, to thoroughly settle the soil between and about the roots. Avoid loose planting if you want your plants to get a good start, and do well. When all the soil has been returned to the hole, add a mulch of coarse manure to prevent too rapid evaporation of moisture while the plants are putting forth new feeding roots.

If large-rooted plants are procured from the nursery, quite likely some of the larger roots will be injured by the spade in lifting them from the row. Look over these roots carefully, and cut off the ends of all that have been bruised, before planting. A smooth cut will heal readily, but a ragged one will not.

We have several classes or divisions of Roses adapted to culture at the north. The June Roses are those which give a bountiful crop of flowers at the beginning of summer, but none thereafter. This class includes the Provence, the Mosses, the Scotch and Austrian kinds, Harrison's Yellow, Madame Plantier, and the climbers.

RAMBLER ROSES RAMBLER ROSES

The Hybrid Perpetuals bloom profusely in early summer, and sparingly thereafter, at intervals, until the coming of cold weather. These are, in many respects, the most beautiful of all Roses.

The ever-bloomers are made up of Bengal, Bourbon, Tea and Noisette varieties. These are small in habit of growth, but exquisitely beautiful in form and color, and most kinds are so delightfully fragrant, and flower so freely from June to the coming of cold weather, that no garden should be without a bed of them.