The Rugosa Roses are more valuable as shrubs than as flowering plants, though their large, bright, single flowers are extremely attractive. Their chief attraction is their beautifully crinkled foliage, of a rich green, and their bright crimson fruit which is retained throughout the season. This class gives flowers, at intervals, from June to October.

Hybrid Perpetuals must be given special treatment in order to secure flowers from them throughout the season. Their blossoms are always produced on new growth, therefore, if you would keep them producing flowers, you must keep them growing. This is done by feeding the plant liberally, and cutting back the branches upon which flowers have been produced to a strong bud from which a new branch can be developed. In this way we keep the plant constantly renewing itself, and in the process of renewal we are likely to get a good many flowers where we would get few, or none, if we were to let the plant take care of itself. The term "perpetual" is, however, a misleading one, as it suggests a constant production of flowers. Most varieties of this class, as has been said, will bloom occasionally, after the first generous crop of the season, but never very freely, and often not at all unless the treatment outlined above is carefully followed. But so beautiful are the Roses of this class that one fine flower is worth a score of ordinary blossoms, and the lover of the Rose will willingly devote a good deal of time and labor to the production of it.

DOROTHY PERKINS ROSE - THE BEST OF THE RAMBLERS

The Ramblers, now so popular, constitute a class by themselves, in many respects. They are of wonderfully vigorous habit, have a score or more of flowers where others have but one bloom early in the season, and give a wonderful show of color. The individual blossoms are too small to please the critical Rose-grower, but there are so many in each cluster, and these clusters are so numerous, that the general effect is most charming. Crimson Rambler is too well known to need description. The variety that deserves a place at the very head of the list, allowing me to be judge, is Dorothy Perkins. This variety is of slenderer growth than Crimson Rambler, therefore of more vine-like habit, and, on this account, better adapted to use about porches and verandas, where it can be trained along the cornice in a graceful fashion that the stiff-branched Crimson Rambler will not admit of. Its foliage is not so large as that of the other variety named, but it is much more attractive, being finely cut, and having a glossy surface that adds much to the beauty of the plant. But the chief charm of the plant is its soft pink flowers, dainty and delicate in the extreme. These are produced in long, loose sprays instead of crowded clusters, thus making the effect of a plant in full bloom vastly more graceful than that of any of the others of the class.

Roses have their enemies, and it would seem as if there must be some sort of understanding among them as to the date of attack, because nearly all of them put in an appearance at about the same time. The aphis I find no difficulty in keeping down by the use of Nicoticide - a very strongly concentrated extract of the nicotine principle of tobacco. This should be diluted with water, as directed on the cans or bottles in which it is put up, and applied to all parts of the bush with a sprayer. Do not wait for the aphis to appear before beginning warfare against him. You can count on his coming, therefore it is well to act on the offensive, instead of the defensive, for it is an easier matter to keep him away altogether than it is to get rid of him after he has taken possession of your bushes. If he finds the tang of Nicoticide clinging to the foliage on his arrival, he will speedily conclude that it will be made extremely uncomfortable for him, if he decides to locate, and he will look for more congenial quarters elsewhere.

For the worm that does so much injury to our plants at the time when they are just getting ready to bloom, I use an emulsion made by adding two quarts kerosene to one part of laundry soap. The soap should be reduced to a liquid, and allowed to become very hot, before the oil is added. Then agitate the two rapidly and forcibly until they unite in a jelly-like substance. The easiest and quickest way to secure an emulsion is by using a brass syringe such as florists sprinkle their plants with. Insert it in the vessel containing the oil and soap, and draw into it as much of the liquids as it will contain, and then expel them with as much force as possible, and continue to do this until the desired union has taken place. Use one part of the emulsion to eight or ten parts water, and make sure it reaches every portion of the bush.

In Rose-culture, as in every branch of floriculture, the price of success is constant vigilance. If you do not get the start of insect enemies, and keep them under control, they will almost invariably ruin your crop of flowers, and often the bushes themselves. Therefore be thorough and persistent in the warfare waged against the common enemy, and do not relax your efforts until he is routed.

In making a selection of Hybrid Perpetuals for home planting, the amateur finds it difficult to choose from the long lists sent out by many dealers. He wants the best and most representative of the class, but he doesn't know which these are. If I were asked to select a dozen kinds, my choice would be the following:

Alfred Colomb. Bright crimson. Fragrant.

Anna de Diesbach. Carmine. Fragrant.

Baroness Rothschild. Soft pink.

Captain Hayward. Deep rose. Perfect in form.

Frau Carl Druschki. Pure white.

General Jacqueminot. Brilliant crimson. Very sweet.

Jules Margottin. Rosy crimson.

Mabel Morrison. White, delicately shaded with blush.

Magna Charta. Glowing carmine. A lovely flower.

Madame Gabriel de Luizet. Delicate pink. Exquisite.

Mrs. John Laing. Soft pink. Very fragrant.

Ulrich Brunner. Bright cherry red.

To increase the above list would be to duplicate colors, for nearly all the other kinds included in the dealers' lists are variations of the distinctive qualities of the above. The twelve named will give you more pleasure than a larger number of less distinctive kinds would, for in each merit stands out pre-eminent, and all the best qualities of the best Roses are represented in the list.