Arizona republican., 1917-02-15
STATE CLIMATE
 FAvORAbLEFOR
 ROSE CULTURE
tCantinued from page seven)

are too light and do not contain enough plant food. They are heavy feeders and require rich soils, regular irrigation and fertilization. In plant ing, dig holes to a depth of two or three feet and as wide and fill with a mixture of finely divided and we'll routed COW or sheep manure and soil. in the proportion of one part of ma nure to about six parts of soil. This should be done. if possible, some time before planting, and the manure must not come in contact with the roots of newly set plants. Where the soil is shallow and underlaid with hardpan of calicbe. dig or blast with dinamite full sized holes deep enough to insure drainage. Trenches should be dug four or four and one-half feet wide. Where there is danger of poor drainage through caliche or hardpan, fill the bottom of the hole or trench to a depth of six inches or so with tin cans, cobble stones or old bricks On top of this put a good layer of prunnings from trees and shrubs, lawn clippings, wood chips, or similar rubbish from the yard. If the soil is inclined to be heavy or clayey in character, mix loose organic matter of this sort throughout in addition to the manure. This insureS drainage and prevents the soil from becoming too compact. After the trenches have been filled and the soil settled with a heavy irrigation set the roses in double row, alternating with one an other. on both sides of a small irri- gation ditch, F or 15 inches from the outer edges of the trench and two and one-half to three feet distant be- tween plants. The soil in 'the holes or trenches when settled should be about three inches below the level of the ground to assist in irrigation and the collect storm water. The deep. rich soils of our agricultural valleys need not be prepared as described above, as these are usually well sup piled with plant food. With the above suggestions proper soil can be sup piled for roses even where the native soil is sandy. gravelly. heavy adobe, underlaid with hardpan or caliche or otherwise unsuited for growing roses. Cow manure is cheaper and better for roses than perhaps any other fertilizer we can purchase
 When to plant roses: For southern AriZonan conditions. plant roses early i. e., from December 15 to February and not later than the first week in March. Late planted roses rarely dc well. For attitudes of 5000 or 5000 feet, plant roses in March, which is at least a month before they begin growth. Some years ago the writer planted f roses on the first of each month from December to April, in elusive. The plants set in December and January blossomed- late the fol lowing spring. and made about as good growth during the season as those which had been set out ont <ear. Those plants that were set ou in April made poor growth and mos of them died during the summer. II connection with this experiment, i was noted that the young roots O roses were making considerable growth in December and Jaunar, when the plants are supposed to b. dormant. The young plants shoul' be set at this season so as to becom established before the hot weather be gins.
 How to plant roses: Purchas strong, one-year-old field plants. pre- ferably from home or nearby nurser ies. If shipped, have them come b. express and we'll packed so that tn roots will not dry out in transit Upol receipt of the plants set them in vessel of cold water with the root well covered for one or two hours or two hours. or longer if the top show signs of shriveling. Cut bacl the tops to ten inches if this has no been done already, and remove wit clean cuts any injured or brokel roots. If the stems are badly shriv eled, the plants may be buried i wet soil in a shady place for two o three days and then planted out. Sc the plants about three feet apart the bed. and slightly deeper than the grow in the nursery row. Sprea the roots out well in the hole, pac finely pulveriZed soil firmly abou them. and irrigate immediately to set tie the soil and prevent the root from drying out. Examine the so the following day to see that it ha not cracked or settled away from tn plants as a result of irrigation. D not expose the roots to the air an