should then be carefully examined, and every portion that has been bruised should be cut off; all the broken ends should also be cut away as far as they are split or injured. Any root of the character of a tap-root, or growing directly down into the earth, should be cut off; for it is best to encourage only lateral roots, which can more readily partake of the benefits of the rain and sun, and can more effectually absorb the nutriment in the soil.

In the spring the hole for each plant should be dug somewhat larger than the root, and the bottom forked, or dug up, and if necessary enriched with the surface soil, which, it is presumed, has been prepared according to preceding directions. Let one hold the plant, while another throws in the soil; or if one alone is planting, let him hold the stem just above the root with one hand, and throw in the soil with the other, moving the stem from side to side, and occasionally pulling it upward a little and shaking the root until the soil has worked well among the fibres; which much of the subsequent prosperity of the plant depends. If the weather is dry, a little water may be placed in the hole, which should then be filled up and the soil well trodden down about the stem. When planted, it should be very little, if at all, lower in the ground than before; very little of the stem should be buried; and when trodden down, the root should be made firm and solid.

on

In planting climbing or pillar roses, care should be taken to set the trellis, or pillar, or whatever may be used for their support, before the plant is put in the ground; for if such should be set after the plant has commenced growing vigorously, it will in all probability damage the roots, and give the plant a check from which it will not recover during the whole season.

The Rose, even in the best soils, should be taken up every three or four years, and have its roots shortened and pruned; a portion of the soil in which it grew should

also be removed and replaced by soil of the character before described. Where the soil is poor, they should be taken up every other year, and replanted, after renewing the soil as above, or digging it with plenty of manure.

Van Mons states that in Belgium the plants are uniformly taken up at the end of eight years and placed in fresh soil, or they are thrown away and young plants substituted in their place. This substitution of young plants is perhaps the most certain mode of ensuring a continual supply of strong, healthy wood and well-formed flowers.

The Rose may be transplanted at any season, provided the shoots are pruned closely and deprived of all their leaves, and the soil in which they are planted kept well watered. The flowering also may be retarded in this way, and those roses that bloom only once in the season, if they are transplanted just before they are coming into flower, and properly pruned, will bloom in autumn. The autumn and spring, or the dormant season, however, is proper period for all transplanting.

Whether planted in autumn or spring, if purchased of a nurseryman, they should be ordered in the autumn. In the spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, the first few warm days, operating upon their excitable nature, will start them into growth. If then the nurseryman has a large number of orders on hand, some of them will inevitably be delayed until the plants have grown too much. If ordered in the autumn, the purchaser should not expect to receive them before the 10th or 15th of November. No nurseryman who values his reputation will allow roses to leave his grounds before the vegetation is checked by several heavy frosts, and the wood and roots allowed time thereafter to thoroughly ripen. Dealers who desire roses early, in order to deliver with other plants, sometimes. rebel at this; but purchasers should understand that roses will not flourish unless the wood and roots are thoroughly ripe. This applies more particularly to the Remontant,

Moss, and June roses. The Tea, China, and Noisette, will bear taking up at any time, but their roots will rarely be in a condition to endure the cold as far north as New York without some protection. When received from the nurseryman in the autumn, they should be carefully and separately heeled-in in a dry piece of land, and covered with sand. A covering of litter should be avoided, because it affords a harbor for mice, who would soon destroy the plants.

Plants from the open ground are always to be preferred by the purchaser. Those sold in pots in the spring have frequently been forced, and will require a long period of rest before growing again, while those from the open ground, having had their rest, will grow luxuriantly at

once.

It should also be remembered by the purchaser that the delicate roots of the Rose will not bear exposure to the air. All reputable nurserymen understand this, and pack in moss. Dealers, however, who purchase of these nurserymen, and who have many lots to deliver after they are unpacked, are often not sufficiently careful to guard the roots against exposure. The plants then failing to grow well, the fault is attributed to some deficiency in the plant, rather than to its true cause. To ensure safety while being delivered, dealers should dip them, as soon as unpacked, in a puddle of mud of the consistency of thick paint. This precaution is useful in every case after unpacking and before planting, for there must always be some delay and exposure even when the purchaser obtains plants directly from the grower.

CHAPTER V.

PRUNING, TRAINING, AND BEDDING.

In pruning roses at the time of transplanting, the principal object to be attained is relief to the plant by taking away all the wood and branches which the diminished root may not be able to support. The mode of pruning depends very much upon the condition of the plant. If it is very bushy, all the weaker branches should be cut away, leaving not more than three or four of the strongest shoots, and shortening even those down to a few eyes. If it is desired that the plant should continue dwarf and bushy, the new wood should be cut down to the lower two eyes, and every half-grown or slender shoot cut out. These two eyes will each throw out a branch; then cut these branches down to the two eyes, and again cut back the shoots they produce until a symmetrical habit is formed, with close, thick foliage. There should not be sufficient wood allowed to remain to make the bush crowded; and if there should be danger of this, some of the branches, instead of being cut down to two eyes, should be removed altogether.

Climbing roses, when planted, should be cut down almost to the ground, and also carefully thinned out. Only a few of the strongest branches should be preserved, and the new wood of these cut down to two eyes each.

The preceding remarks are applicable to roses at the time of planting; they should also be pruned every year, -the hardy varieties in the autumn or winter, and the more tender in the spring. For all roses that are not liable to have part of their wood killed by the cold, the autumn is decidedly the best time for pruning; the root, having then but little top to support, is left at liberty to store up nutriment for a strong growth the following The principal objects in pruning are the removal

season.

of the old wood, because it is generally only the young wood that produces large and fine flowers; the shortening and thinning out of the young wood, that the root, having much less wood to support, may devote all its nutriment to the size and beauty of the flower; and the formation of a symmetrical shape. If an abundant bloom is desired, without regard to the size of the flower, only the weak shoots should be cut out, and the strong wood should be shortened very little; each bud will then produce a flower. By this mode, the flowers will be small, and the growth of new wood very short, but there will be an abundant and very showy bloom. If, however, the flowers are desired as large and as perfect as possible, all the weak wood should be cut out entirely, and all the strong wood formed the last season should be cut down to two eyes. The knife should always be applied directly above a bud, and sloping upward from it. The preceding observations apply principally to rose bushes, or dwarf roses; with pillar, climbing, and tree roses, the practice should be somewhat different. The former two need comparatively little pruning; they require careful thinning out, but should seldom be shortened. The very young side shoots can sometimes be shortened in, to prevent the foliage from becoming too thick and crowded.

Pillars for roses can be made of trellis work, of iron rods in different forms, or of wood, but they should enclose a space of at least a foot in diameter. The cheapest plan, and one that will last many years, is to make posts of about 1 or 2 inches square, out of locust or pitchpine plank, and connect them with common hoop-iron. They should be the length of a plank-between twelve and thirteen feet-and should be set three feet in the ground, that they may effectually resist the action of the wind. The Rose having been cut down to the ground, is planted inside of the pillar, and will make strong growths the first season. As the leading shoots appear, they