. The century book of gardening; a comprehensive work for every lover of the garden. Gardening. 210 THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. PREPARATION OF THE BEDS.—Too much care cannot be devoted to the preparation of these beds, whether they be in the garden or elsewhere, for the future success of the plants very greatly depends upon this being properly done. If the soil be a good deep loam, it should be well trenched, and a liberal dressing of farmyard manure and half-inch bones incorporated with it. Poor and light soils will be much improved by the addition of some turfy loam, as well as the manure
. The century book of gardening; a comprehensive work for every lover of the garden. Gardening. 210 THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. PREPARATION OF THE BEDS.—Too much care cannot be devoted to the preparation of these beds, whether they be in the garden or elsewhere, for the future success of the plants very greatly depends upon this being properly done. If the soil be a good deep loam, it should be well trenched, and a liberal dressing of farmyard manure and half-inch bones incorporated with it. Poor and light soils will be much improved by the addition of some turfy loam, as well as the manure and bones. Heavy ground, if the subsoil be also very retentive, will require draining in the first instance, for although Roses are very partial to a cool and moist b o t t o m , they, like most other plants, will not thrive in that wh i c h is water- logged. But should the soil be stiff, a n d yet not so clayey as to require d r a i n i n g, the beds will be greatly im- proved if some burnt earth be mixed with it, as this will serve to keep the ground porous and aerated. For this class of soil horse manure is preferable to either farmyard or cow manure. Let the beds, which should be 5ft. wide, so as to hold three rows of plants, be ready, if possible, by the end of the summer, so that the autumn rains may have a chance of settling the soil in them before the planting time arrives in November. The length of these beds can be easily calculated, knowing they are required to accommodate three rows of plants, and that the distance between the Poses is to be i8in. THE SELECTION OF VARIETIES.—The beds having been carefully prepared as previously described, it will be next advisable to decide on the sorts to be grown in them, and the number of plants of each variety that will be required. The selection becomes a little more simple when we learn that exhibition Roses belong entirely to one or other of the two following classes: (i) The Hybrid Perpetuals, with which may be grouped
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgardening, bookyear19
