Morning journal and courier., 1891-06-12
Knrfehing the Soil for Roses.

From yick's Magazine for June.l
 The rose is the favorite hardy towering
 plant. It is raised everywhere. The country and city dweIler alike rear rose
 bnshes. However small the homestead, if
 there is an available spot of ground, the ross is planted. Sometimes there is only scant room for its roots and climbing vaFety spreads its arms and branches over the house wall. The sale of rose plants in
 this country reaches enormous propor- tions, and the demand is steady and in creasing. The average life of the plant is short-far shorter than it should be, and as it would be, if the plants were properly cared for, as for the most part they are not. But shortness of life is not the only result of the lack of suitable care-the result in bloom is not what ii should be, and although people will raise roses they are not satisfied with them Supposing
 the garden ground where they are raised
 is adapted to the plants so far as relates to
 the character of the soil and drainage
 and, usually this is so, the most noticeable fault is the poverty of the soil Roses are
 planted around singly, or in beds, on a piece of lawn and receive little or no care;
 perhaps little stirring of the soil about
 them in the spring and nothing more.
 The rose makes a growth which is almost
 continuous from the time it starts in the
 spring until checked by autumn frosts,
 and during this time requires a constant
 supply of food material in such form as to
 be readily appropriated by the roots. Such
 a supply of fertilizing substance should be
 provided for the plants they reason, and without it the growth will be stunted and the flowers half starved. Now the masses of the people who raise from one to & half dozen rose bushes in their little door-yards quite neglect to provide fertilizers for
 their plants. There is nothing better for this purpose than well-rotted stable ma-
 nure, but probably for most village and
 city residents this material is not svaila
 ble- Most of the commercial fertilizers
 on the market are excellent rose manures,
 and they are easily obtained, easily han
 dled and immediately available for the use
 of the plants. A good brand of 'tphos-
 phate," then, is what can be relied upon
 and what should be generally used. It is procurable in small quantities, is not e1- pensire, is easily handled and produces
 excellent results. "How much" some one
 may ask, "of this material can be safely applied to the soil about a rose bushF' It depends upon the manner in which the plants are set If they are in beds it will require less than if set singly in the grass In the latter case the grass will get the benefit of large share of the fertilizer. The practice of planting roses singly in the grass is not 6 good one. Where there is only bit of ground it may be done, because there is no other course, but wherever there is room the plants should
 be set in we'll prepared, deep dug beds which have good mixture of stable ma nure when first made, even if it Is nor used afterwards. In a bed one pound to forty square feet is a good dressing; and at forty dollars ton the cost is two cents | a pound. Buying in small quantities it will cost more, but even then the expense is little matter. Plants set singly with | only little circle of clear ground about them will need 8 greater proportionsIe l supply, as their roots will only get A small part of the application. A quarter of pound to plant could be used, giving a little of it every week for three or four
 weeks. At midsummer there is & check
 or cessation of growth with the Hybrid Perpetuals for a short period, and then new growth commences. At this time a new application of fertilizers is desirable, helping the growth for the fall blooming | period. The plants must be supplied with | good fertilizing material if plenty of good bloom is had; the operation cannot be
 neglected and good results follow