Evening star., 1927-05-25

from the catalogues whether roses
grown on their own roots are better
than grated stock. or vice versa.
There is a. conspiracy of beating
around the bush. as ii were, and the
only way the amateur can satisfy him.
self upon this mooted point is to buy
specimens of both, and plant them in
the same situation, and give each the
same care. Then, in three or four
years. he may be able to convince
himself one way or another, and then
again he may not!
The rose is temperamental. You
can never be sure Of it. But be sure
of two things: 1t loves the sunshine,
and II likes plenty to eat. Commonly
this beauty is called gross feeder" 4"
Observe the public parks this Sum-
mer. and you will see that the Gov
ernment roses, set out by none other
than Uncle Sam himself. are literally
growing in manure, with which the
beds arc mulched.
Tho rose can get along very well
without water, being as hardy as d
camel In this respect. But it must
have all the sun there is, to do it's
beat. and 1t must have plenty of
eats" in the shape of plant food.
Yet these two requirements are
those most sighted by the average
homo grower. In the first place,
many amateurs begin wrong by i'm
properly preparing the bed. "Prepar.
ing is used only by courtesy. A
mere hole scraped in the ground does
not deserve to be dignitied by such a
good horticultural word.
If one will not take the trouble to
really dig "a hole deep enough Us
inches to 2 feet deepl and wide
enough (all the way DOWN so the roots
can spread out, he will not have good
roses, and all his future kicking will
do little good. He should have done
his kicking" with his hands, in the
form of some honest digging. Rose
roots are small, in the main. They
cannot fight their way through tough,
impacted clay without your help.
Help them. then, If you want roses.
A distinguished clergyman and fa-
nous grower of roses once published
II list of the fertilizers he fed his
bushes during one normal season. To
the average amateur the list seemed
stupendous, almost nonsensical in it's
quantity of different plant food ele-
ments. Compared with it, the aver
age grower simply does not feed his
plants at all Yet a moderate amount
of real fertilizer, in the form of we'll
rotted manure and good bone meal,
will work wonders for the home rose
bush.
Husky plants, we'll planted and
properly fed, are able to fight dis
ease and insects to a marvellous de-
gree, SO that by observing these two
rules one may literally kill two
bugs" with two stones. In addition,
there is one essential procedure that
must be observed: Give your bushes
time to do their best. Do not expect
to put 2-year- old plant In the ground
and get grand results the first season,
or even the second after planting. A
rosebush has to be at least four or
five years old, under ordinary treat
ment, to bloom properly.
X II X Il
When your bushes at last bloom to
perfection, there will be no doubt in
your mind as to the beauty and glory
Of this queen of flowers"
The rose speaks for itself.
Then all your work and time and
money will be seen to have been well
spent, indeed. Perhaps the greatest
satisfaction will come in the realiza-
ton that one has used his intelligence,
has complied with conditions of
growth, has worked in harmony with
Nature. In so doing, one grows
along with his roses.