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MANY OF the ever-blooming roses cannot, in our climate, be cultivated in the open air without extreme precaution to protect them from the cold. To grow them most successfully, the aid of glass is necessary. Many of the Hardy Perpetual roses may also be grown with advantage in pots, by which means their bloom may be prolonged into the early winter months, or they may be forced into premature flowering long before their natural season of bloom. The first essential in the pot culture of roses is the preparation of the soil. Those of delicate growth, like most of the China and Tea roses, require a lighter soil than the more robust varieties, like most of the Hardy Perpetuals. A mixture of loam, manure, leaf-mould, and sand, in the proportion of two bushels of loam to one bushel of manure, one bushel of leaf-mould, and half a bushel of sand, makes a good soil for the more delicate roses. For the more robust kinds, the proportion of loam and of manure should be greater. In all cases, the materials should be mixed two or three months before they are wanted for use, and turned over several times to incorporate them thoroughly. They are frequently, however, mixed, and used at once. The best loam is that composed of thoroughly rotted turf. A very skilful English rose-grower, Mr. Rivers, recommends the compact turf shaved from the surface of an old pasture, and roasted and partially charred on a sheet of iron over a moderate fire. I have found no enriching material so good as the sweepings from the floor of a horse-shoer, in which manure is mixed with the shavings of hoofs. It is light and porous, and furnishes, in decomposing, a great quantity of ammonia. For the more delicate roses it is particularly suited, while the stronger kinds will bear manures of a stronger and denser nature. The light black soil from the woods is an excellent substitute for leaf-mould; or, to speak more correctly, it is a natural leaf-mould in the most thorough state of decomposition.

Young and thrifty roses which have been grown during summer may be potted for the house in September. They should be taken up with care, the large straggling roots cut back, and all bruised ends removed with a sharp knife. The ends of the branches should also be cut back. They may then be potted in the compost just described, which should first be sifted through a very coarse sieve. The pots must be well drained with broken crocks placed over the hole at the bottom. Care must be taken that the pot be not too large, as this is very injurious. A sharp stick may be used to compact the soil about the roots; and from half an inch to an inch in depth should be left empty at the top, to assist in thorough watering, which is a point of the first importance.

When the roses are potted, they should be placed in a light cellar or shed, or under a shady wall. They must be well watered, and it is well to syringe them occasionally. In a week or two they will have become established, and may then be removed to a greenhouse without fire, and with plenty of air; care, however, being taken to protect them from frost at night.

The roses so treated are intended for blooming from mid-winter to the end of spring; and we shall soon speak further of them under the head of Forcing.

A great desideratum is the obtaining of roses in the early part of winter. This may be done by growing everblooming roses in pots in the open air during summer, plunging the pot in the earth, and placing a tile or brick beneath it to prevent the egress of roots and the ingress of worms. Towards the end of August, cut off all the flowers and buds, at the same time shortening the flower-stalks to two or three eyes. Then give the roses a supply of manure-water to stimulate their growth. If they are in a thrifty condition, they will form new shoots and flower-buds before the frost sets in; and may then be removed to a cold greenhouse, where they will continue, to flower for several months.

The following is the description given by Mr. Rivers of a practice recently introduced in England, and which seems well worth a trial here, with such modifications as the heat of our sun may require:—

"To have a fine bloom of these roses, or, indeed, of any of the Hybrid Perpetuals, Bourbons, or China roses, in pots towards the end of summer or autumn, take plants from small pots (those struck from cuttings in March or April will do), and put them into six-inch, or even eight-inch pots, using a compost of light turfy loam and rotten manure, equal parts: to a bushel of the compost add half a peck of pounded charcoal, and the same quantity of silver sand; make a hot-bed of sufficient strength, say three to four feet in height, of seasoned dung, so that it is not of a burning heat, in a sunny, exposed situation,' and on this place the pots; then fill up all interstices with sawdust, placing it so as to cover the rims, and to lie on the surface of the mould in the pots about two inches deep. The pots should have a good sound watering before they are thus plunged, and have water daily in dry weather. The bottom heat and full exposure to the sun and air will give the plants a vigor almost beyond belief. This very simple mode of culture is as yet almost unknown. I have circulated among a few friends the above directions; and have no doubt, that, in the hands of skilful gardeners, some extraordinary results may be looked for in the production of specimens of soft-wooded plants. I may add, that, when the heat of the bed declines towards the middle of July, the pots must be removed, some fresh dung added, and the bed remade, again plunging the plants immediately. Towards the end of August, the roots of the plants must be ripened: the pots must, therefore, be gradually lifted out of the saw-dust; i.e., for five or six days, expose them about two inches below their rims; then, after the same lapse of time, a little lower, till the whole of the pot is exposed to the sun and air: they may be then removed to the greenhouse, so as to be sheltered from heavy rain. They will bloom well in the autumn, and be in fine order for early forcing. If plants are required during the summer for exhibition, or any other purpose, care must always be taken to harden or ripen their roots, as above, before they are removed from the hot-bed."

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"Forcing" is the very inappropriate name of the process by which roses and other plants are induced to bloom under glass in advance of their natural season. We say that the name is inappropriate, because one of the chief essentials to the success of the process consists in an abstinence from all that is violent or sudden, and in the gentle and graduated application of the stimulus of artificial heat.

Roses may be forced in the greenhouse, but not to advantage, because the conditions of success will be inconsistent with the requirements of many of the other plants. The process is best carried on in a small glass structure made for such purposes, and called a "forcing-pit."

A pit ten or twelve feet long and eight or ten wide will commonly be large enough. It may be of the simplest and cheapest construction. In a dry situation, there is advantage in sinking the lower part of it two or three feet below the surface of the ground. The roses may be placed on beds of earth, or on wooden platforms, so arranged as to bring the top of the plants near the glass; and a sunken path may pass down the middle. The pit may be heated by a stove enclosed with brick-work, and furnished with a flue of brick or tile passing along the front of the pit, and entering the chimney at the farther end. The lights must be movable, or other means provided' for ample ventilation; and if these are such that the air on entering will pass over the heated flues, and thus become warmed in the passage, great advantage will result. A pit may be appended to a greenhouse; in which case it may be heated by hot-water pipes furnished with means of cutting off or letting on the water.

The roses potted for forcing, as directed in the last section, should be kept in a dormant state till the middle of December. A portion of them may then be brought into the pit, and the young shoots pruned back to two or three eyes. The heat at first must be very moderate, not much exceeding forty-five degrees in the daytime: and, throughout the process, the pit should be kept as cool as possible at night; great care, however, being taken that no frost is admitted. With this view, the glass should be covered at sunset with thick mats. Syringe the plants as the buds begin to swell, and lose no opportunity to give air on mild and bright days. Raise the heat gradually till it reaches sixty degrees; which is enough during the winter months, so far as fire-heat is concerned. The heat of the sun will sometimes raise it to seventy or eighty degrees. Syringe every morning; and, if the aphis appears, fumigate with tobacco; then syringe forcibly to wash off the dead insects. As the plants advance in growth, they require plenty of water; and, as the buds begin to swell, manure-water may be applied once or twice. When the buds are ready to open, the pots may be removed to the greenhouse or drawing-room, and another supply put in their place for a second crop of flowers. When the blooms are faded, the flower-stalks may be cut back to two or three eyes, and the plants placed again in the forcing-pit for another crop. This, of course, is applicable to ever-blooming roses only.

The most common and simple way, however, of obtaining roses in winter, is to grow them on rafters in the greenhouse. Some of the Noisette, China, and Tea roses, thus treated, will furnish an abundant supply of excellent flowers. By pruning them at different periods during the summer and autumn, they will be induced to flower in succession; since, with all roses, the time of blooming is, to a great degree, dependent on the time of pruning.

Roses potted in the manner described for forcing may also be brought into bloom in the sunny window of a chamber or drawing-room. They will bloom much better if allowed to remain at rest in a cool cellar for a month or two after potting.

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The following is a cheap mode of forcing, described by an English cultivator. The amateur may, perhaps, be disposed to make the experiment.

"Those who wish for the luxury of forced roses at a trifling cost may have them by pursuing the following simple method: Take a common garden frame, large or small, according to the number of roses wanted; raise it on some posts, so that the bottom edge will be about three feet from the ground at the back of the frame, and two feet in front, sloping to the south. If it is two feet deep, this will give a depth of five feet under the lights at the back of the frame, which will admit roses on little stems as well as dwarfs. Grafted or budded plants of any of the Perpetual roses should be potted in October, in a rich compost of equal portions of rotten dung and loam, in pots about eight inches deep and seven inches over, and plunged in the soil at the bottom. The air in the frame may be heated by linings of hot dung; but care must be taken that the dung be turned over two or three times before it is used, otherwise the rank and noxious steam will kill the young and tender shoots: but the hazard of this may be avoided by building a wall of turf, three inches thick, from the ground to the bottom edge of the frame. This will admit the heat through it, and exclude the steam. The Perpetual roses, thus made to bloom early, are really beautiful."

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Now, in the way of exciting the reader's emulation, I will mention a few items of the opening flower-show of the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, on the 26th of May, a few years ago. The following specimens of roses, in pots, are chronicled among innumerable others:—

Madame Willeemoz (Tea-scented Rose), seven feet high, with more than a hundred expanded flowers.

Souvenir de la Malmaison (Bourbon Rose), with thirty expanded flowers, the largest more than five inches in diameter.

Paul Pereas (Hybrid Bourbon Rose), six feet high, with nearly a hundred expanded flowers.

Coupe d'HÉbÉ (Hybrid Bourbon Rose), six feet high, covered with a mass of bloom.

These were all raised by Mr. Paul, one of the most skilful of English rose-growers; and were the results of patience, care, and experience. We hold the production of specimens like these a work of art worthy of zealous emulation. Our climate is quite as favorable to their production as that of England; and, when the floricultural art has reached among us the same development, our horticultural shows will, no doubt, boast decorations equally splendid. The plants just mentioned were the productions of a nurseryman; but specimens of roses grown to the highest perfection are every year exhibited in England by amateur cultivators. The competition for prizes, far from being a mere strife for a small sum of money, is an honorable emulation, in which the credit of success is the winner's best reward.

One point cannot be too often urged in respect to horticultural pursuits. Never attempt to do any thing which you are not prepared to do thoroughly. A little done well is far more satisfactory than a great deal done carelessly and superficially. He who raises one perfect and fully developed specimen of a plant is a better horticulturist than he who raises an acre of indifferent specimens. The amateur who has made himself a thorough master of the cultivation of a single species or variety, has, of necessity, acquired a knowledge and skill, which, with very little pains, he may apply to numberless other forms of culture. Learn to produce a first-class specimen of the rose grown in a pot, and you will have no difficulty in successfully applying your observation and experience to a vast variety of plants. We will, therefore, enter into some detail as to the methods of procedure. For many of the specific directions I am indebted to Mr. Paul, the exhibiter of the fine specimens named above, and the author, among other books, of a useful little treatise on the cultivation of roses in pots.

Soil is the point that first demands attention, and directions concerning it have already been given. You have bought a number of young roses, in small pots, in the spring. Be sure that these roses have been in a dormant state during the winter; for, if they have been kept in growth, their vital power is partially exhausted. They may be budded on short stems of the Manetti or other good stock (see the chapter on Budding), or they may be on their own roots. The Tea and China roses are certainly better in the latter condition. Shift them from the small pots into pots a very little larger, without breaking the ball of earth around their roots. Water them well, and plunge them to the edge of the pot in earth, in an open, airy, sunny place. Or they may be set on the surface, provided the spaces between them are well packed with tan, coal-ashes, or swamp-moss. The last is excellent: it holds moisture like a sponge. In every case, the pots should rest on flat bricks, slates, tiles, or inverted pans, in order that worms may be excluded, and that the roots may not be tempted to thrust themselves through the hole. In potting, thorough drainage should be secured by placing broken crocks at the bottom of the pot.

Encourage the growth of the plants by pinching off the flower-buds. The object throughout the summer is to get a few stout well-ripened shoots by autumn. Therefore the pots should not be very close together, since this would deprive the plants of free air and sunlight. Watering must be carefully attended to. Cut out, or pinch off, weak or ill-placed shoots; or, what is better, prevent their growth by rubbing off the buds that threaten to form such. Thus, if several buds are crowded together in one place, rub off all but one or two of them, choosing the strongest for preservation. This is called dis-budding. Those of the plants that grow most vigorously will require to be shifted into still larger pots in July; but this should be done only in cases where it is necessary. As a guide on this point, turn them carefully out of the pots to examine the roots; and, if these are found protruding in great abundance from the ball of earth, larger pots will be required; but, if otherwise, the same one will suffice. Some roses suffer greatly if placed in pots too large for them; and the same is more or less true of all plants.

Late in autumn, when growth has ceased, shift the roses again, if they need it, and place them for wintering in a cellar or cold frame. In the spring, prune them, as directed in the chapter on Pruning. After the rose is pruned, stake out the shoots to as great distances as possible. Indeed, the larger ones should be made to lie almost horizontal: this will cause the buds to "break," or open, regularly along their whole length; whereas, if left upright, a few at the top would break, and the rest remain dormant. As soon as the buds have opened, the shoots may be tied up again. Syringe the opening buds, and water moderately, increasing the amount of moisture as the leaves expand, and watering abundantly during all the period of full activity of growth; that is, during summer and early autumn. An occasional application of manure-water is useful. Watch for insects and mildew, and apply the remedies elsewhere directed. About midsummer, shift those that need it into larger pots; an operation which, if performed with skill, will not check their growth in the least. Continue to disbud and to remove weak and ill-placed shoots, tying out the rest, as they grow, to stakes, in order to bring the plant into a symmetrical form. This form is a matter of taste with the cultivator: it may be a half-globe, a fan, or a pyramid or cone. The last is usually the best; one strong stem being allowed to grow in the centre, and smaller stems trained in gradation around it. None must interfere with their neighbors, and air should have free play through the plant.

You have reached the second autumn, and your plants are now excellent for forcing; but, if you aim at first-class specimens, you must give them, at the least, one season more of growth and training. To this end, keep them dormant through the winter in a cellar or cold frame as before, and prune them early in spring. We will suppose that a pyramidal plant is desired. As soon as they are pruned, draw the lower shoots downwards over the rim of the pot, just beneath which a wire should pass around, to which the shoots are to be tied with strings of bass-matting. The shoots higher up are to be arranged, with the aid of sticks and strings, so as to decrease in circumference till they terminate in a point. Constant care and some judgment are needed throughout the growing season to preserve symmetry of form. Strong shoots must be pinched back, and weak ones encouraged. Both the plant, and the pot that contains it, are, or ought to be, so large by this time, that handling them, especially in the act of shifting, becomes somewhat difficult. In the third, or at farthest in the fourth autumn, you may expect, as the result of your pains, a plant that in its blooming season will make a brilliant contrast with the half-grown and indifferent specimens sometimes exhibited at our horticultural shows.

If you forget every other point of the above directions, keep in mind the following: Drain your pots thoroughly; and, when you water them, be sure that you give water enough to penetrate the whole mass of the earth contained in them. Watering only the surface, and leaving the roots dry, is ruinous.

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