Removal Of Tender Varieties

By the end of March, if room cannot he granted them in pits or a green-house, the tender varieties may be brought from their winter residence and plunged in an airy situation, and such as were left unpruned for late flowering, should now be pruned. But if allowed to remain in the pits through spring, they will bloom much earlier, in greater perfection, and with finer foliage.

Plunging

Place the pots so that the bottoms rest on an inverted seed-pan or flower-pot. This secures drainage, prevents the roots growing through the bottom of the pot into the soil, and is an effectual barrier to the ingress of, worms. The pots may be plunged level with the ground, and so far apart that the plants may not touch each other when full grown. After plunging, it is beneficial to cover the surface lightly with stable manure.

Watering

Water should be given abundantly through the growing and blooming season. Guano-water is an excellent manure for roses in pots; it should, however, be used cautiously. If the plants require watering oftener than once a week, pure water should be given at the intervening periods.

Disbudding, &-C

When the buds first push, if two or three break close together, the weakest, or those taking the least favourable direction, should be rubbed out. Such shoots as are in-; clined to grow rank without blooming, should be stopped or taken out, if not wanted to form the head, for they appropriate to themselves the sap, which should be directed into the flower branches, and further render the plants of uneven growth. When the flower-buds are forming imperfectly, they should be nipped out; and the size of the early flowers may be increased by removing, at an early stage, the small backward flower-buds.

Suckers from the stock should be invariably cut out. It will also be found beneficial to keep the surface of the soil constantly in a loose state.

Tying-Up And Training

As the plants advance in growth, some will require sticks to support the flowers, and keep the shoots apart. But those which hold their flowers gracefully and show themselves well are not, perhaps, improved by being drawn from their natural position of growth. Where the flowers do not show themselves to advantage, or the shoots become much crowded, the dwarf standards may be improved in appearance, and really benefited, by drawing the lower shoots downwards towards the edge of the pot, where they may be fastened to a piece of bast or wire made to pass beneath the rim; the upper shoots may then be drawn out to sticks; or a neat hoop, fixed horizontally about the centre of the head of the plant, admits of a very pretty method of arrangement. If the plant be large, two or even three hoops may be requisite, to which the shoots should be drawn inclined downwards; as they are, when growing, sure to rise sufficiently upwards.

Shading

When the plants commence flowering, it will be necessary to shade them during the middle of the day; and the covering should be movable, that they may have the advantage of slight rains and dews. - Gard. and Prac. Flor.

Diseases. See Extravasated Sap, Cy-nips, Mildew, Aphis, and Ornix.