Dodge City Times

Roses.

To raise roses in perfection, it is needful to feed them well and place them in the full sunlight, and not where they will be shaded by trees or shrubs. After they have bloomed prune them closely, and also when they commence to leaf in the early spring. The beds in which they are planted must be made very rich with well-decomposed compost, dug to the depth of at least two feet. In making a rose bed, it is a good plan to take off the soil for two or three feet in depth and fill the cavity with good ordure well rotted. Then add six inches or a foot of very rich soil with a mixture of sand. After the plants are set, mulch them with long litter from the stable. This will keep the roots moist and cool during the heated term, and make a healthy growth of branches and flowers. After the June flowering has passed, all monthly roses should be severely pruned and the new growth cut back two or more inches; also the old branches should be cut away. The handsomest flowers always spring from fresh growth from the roots; and to make these start vigorously the knife must be freely used. For a few weeks, your pets may seem shorn of their glory, but soon they will renew their beauty and give you plenty of flowers, while, if you permit the seed-buds to form, it will stop the blossoming in a great degree. Therefore, as each rose fades, cut it off, or, better yet, cut it while in its bloom. - From the branches which are pruned new plants can be raised. As a rule, all cuttings should be taken off just below a bud or joint: and they should be selected from young growth rather than from the old where the bark has become hardened. Try to snap the branch. If it bends without breaking it is too old to grow easily: but if it snaps off at once it is in the right condition to strike root quickly. Leave one or two buds above the bottom one, and trim off two or more of the lower leaves, as they will wilt easily and thus injure the cutting. Clear sand kept very moist is the best soil in which to strike cuttings, and they can be placed in a pot only an inch apart, and put up in the shade for a few days. Warmth, an even temperature, and moisture, are essential for root growth. It will take from three to four weeks to develop the roots, and then the plants can be placed in rich soil with a little sand to lighten it, and soon they will be good, stocky plants. - Floral Cabinet.