Planting

"On removing trees," says the author of the Tree Rose, " the fresh shoots they have made, and the appearance of those which were left, will require attention in the application of the knife. In pruning a large root it should be cut to a lateral; in shortening a small one, to a fibre. Where a plant has been examined and trimmed recently, however, the knife should be sparingly used.

"And it may here be well to observe, that all cuts to remove branches, knots, or roots, should be quite clean, slanting (and deep enough to the stem, viz. even with it), and nothing left projecting Jest dead wood be the consequence, and the plant be eventually injured. All wounds should be carefully healed, and dead wood should, in all cases, be removed, and living bark encircle that which remains".

The best time for planting is November.

Forcing

For the following very successful mode of forcing roses, we are indebted to R. A. Salisbury, Esq:

"Takeoff strong suckers about the end of October or beginning of November, with all the fibres they may have formed, which can only be well done by digging up the parent stock. Plant these suckers in pots only about four inches diameter at the top, winding the sucker three, four, or five times round the inside of the pot; and prune it, so as to leave no more than two buds, or three at most, above ground. Fill the pots with hazel loam, mixed with one-third equal parts charred turf and vegetable mould, pressing it firmly down to keep the sucker from starting, and plunge them to the brim close to one another quincunx fashion, in an open bed fully exposed to the sun and air.

"The small size of these pots makes stronger blossoms, even the first if the suckers are large; and as they are to be shifted annually, it is absolutely necessary to begin with small pots. To have a plentiful supply of blossoms during the months of December, January, February, March, April and May, from one hundred to three hundred suckers must be thus prepared.

"For the plants to be forced, from December to March, a small frame should be devoted, about twelve feet long, five feet wide, seven feet wide behind, and only six or eight inches in front. This pitch admits the rays of light, at that period, to strike upon the plants to the greatest advantage, a flue, or tank, or pipes, if hot water be used, running from one end to the other. If the floor be built thick, and the fireplace, as well as the chimney-top, be well closed up after the heat has penetrated the flue, the air within will be sufficiently heated with very little fuel, and require no attendance at night, except in very severe frost. The back of this frame may consist of wood, or a narrow brick, at pleasure, and should have a door in the middle, just sufficiently large to admit the gardener to creep in and water the plants, by reaching over them from one side to the other without any walk inside.

Fig. 149.

"A strong latticed floor must be fixed six inches above the flue, on which the pots must be placed when introduced; and these must have a pan or receiver under each, to prevent the heat of the flue, which will now and then be smart notwithstanding every precaution, from striking directly on the pots themselves. After the month of March, roses may be advantageously forced in other houses and situations, but hardly sooner, except on the front flue of a pine-stove: and a small frame like this is not only built and maintained at a small cost; but the lights may be used for other crops, especially melons, after June.

"The plants to be forced into blossom by Christmas-day should be placed in this frame on the first day of October, lighting fires gradually, so as to keep the temperature, in the daytime, rather increasing than decreasing - from 60° of Fahrenheit to 80°; but at night 35°is not too low. If the plants meet with one frosty night or two in the beginning of October, so much the better; for they will push more vigorously after the heat is applied. The first year none of the crops will come in so early as afterwards; and I advise all the young suckers to be forced in succession the first year, not waiting till they have had one year's growth in the open air. Moreover, if the suckers are strong, they will produce more blossoms than might be expected. The second crop of plants introduced on the first of November will blossom from the middle of January to mid-February; the third crop, introduced December 1st, from mid-February to the middle of March; those of the fourth crop, introduced on the first of January, from the middle of March to the middle of April; those of the fifth crop, introduced on the first of February, from the middle of April to the middle of May; those of the sixth and last crop, introduced on the first of March, from the middle of May till the middle of June, when several varieties in the open ground begin to blossom.

As soon as the plants beuin to push their buds, whether any aphides appear upon the young shoots or not, fill the frame with tobacco-smoke; and do not fail to repeat this every third week till the flowers appear; smoking, for the last time, just before any red tints appear on the earliest buds. No unpleasant smell of the tobacco will remain upon the plants after a day or two. The young shoots must also be carefully examined when half an inch long, and any grubs feeding upon them destroyed.

"After the blossoms are gathered the plants must not be removed to a back shed, but kept in the frame, or brought back into it, if they have been taken into the apartments of the owner, permitting them to grow as they do in summer, in the open air, for at least two or three months. They must then be placed in a shady situation, and kept rather dry than moist, to throw them into a state of rest.

"After the: month of May, Mr. Salisbury prefers inverting them, especially the earlier crops, between two planks raised upon tressels, high enough to prevent the branches from touching the earth, as in the annexed sketch, having tor twenty-five years experienced the utility of this treatment, and suspecting that it strengthens the future blossoms by retaining sap in the branches, which would otherwise descend to the root or form suckers.

Fig. 150.

"While the plants are growing they must be constantly supplied with moisture - water and guano, or pigeons' dung infused in it a few days before, in the proportion of one ounce of the former, and of the latter one ounce to a gallon of water. Where pigeons' dung cannot be had, two ounces of sheep or deer's dung may be substituted to each gallon of water.

"It now only remains to add, that it is most important in forcing roses to mark all the plants, so that those introduced into the frame in October, the first year, may be introduced on the same day, the second and every succeeding year. To secure this, paint No. 1, 2, 3, etc, upon the pots themselves, No. 1 to go in first, and so on.

"Every year, about a fortnight before the plants are forced, they must be shifted into larger pots, exactly one inch wider in diameter, and not more, turning them out without breaking the ball or disturbing any of the fibres, and tilling the pots with the same compost of hazel loam, charred turf, and vegetable earth. By this method the same plants may be forced for ten years, without the inconvenience of using a very large pot, as the last season they will not want to be removed, or may be shifted into the same pot again.

"With respect to pruning, I have never been in the habit of leaving more than two buds on each branch, and, as the plants increase in size and number of branches, often only one bud upon the weaker branches. It is much better to have from ten to twenty strong blossoms than a larger number of weak ones, and the foliage is likewise more healthy." - Gard. Mag.

Pot-Culture has been more fully discussed by Messrs. Paul and Son, the florists of Cheshunt, than by any other authority; and from their observations I have made these extracts: -