For the past four or five years I have been much interested in the culture of roses. My comparative success in their cultivation, together with the great pleasure derived by myself and others in Watching the growth of this the most beautiful of flowers, has led me to write a few lines, hoping that some of my readers may be induced to take up, practically, the study of this most interesting department of floriculture.

My experience has taught me that too much importance cannot be given to the proper location of the rose bed. If possible, place the bushes so that the afternoon sun may not reach them, for the rose - although dependent, as all flowers are, upon the sun - does not require so much as some other flowers, and, in fact, the hot afternoon sun during July and August brings forward the roses too rapidly and is apt to fade and spoil them. If the bushes can be somewhat sheltered from the cold, northwest winds of winter, so much the better. The most suitable soil is a strong, rich loam, made richer if necessary by frequent applications of manure in liquid form. I would recommend, in starting, decomposed turf, and this should be renewed from time to time, for even the earth under certain conditions grows old and worthless for rose growing. It may be safely laid down as a rule that it is impossible to make the soil too rich for the rose, and to this end I have used ground bones, soot, wood ashes and sheep manure, and find that my roses have thrived under this treatment. Indeed, I think it is because of the variety of fertilizers used that such good results have been attained.

While it is necessary, at all times, to give to the rose, at the root and on the foliage, water in plenty, nothing, on the other hand, is more injurious than a wet, retentive subsoil. Should it be necessary to drain the bed somewhat, it can be very easily done by digging out the soil to the depth of say two and a half feet; fill the bottom to the depth of six inches with small stones, and then replace the earth. I would impress upon my readers the importance of cultivation. The soil should be dug and hoed, not merely to keep down the weeds, but to insure the health of the plant. A good time to stir the surface of the soil is shortly after having thoroughly drenched the bed, as by so doing one prevents the top of the ground from becoming hard. Watering and fertilizing are very beneficial just before and during the period of bloom. After blooming, water should be used unsparingly, as at this period new wood is forming, from which another year we must expect to gather our largest and finest flowers. In order that the rose and its foliage may come to maturity in a perfect form, it will be necessary that a constant watch be kept for the appearance of the vermin, which ever infest the rosebush. Preparations of hellebore and whale oil soap are most excellent helpers to rid one of these pests.

When mildew appears, powdered sulphur may be applied with beneficial results. While most rose growers have thought best to prune or cut back the growth of the bush each year, leaving it at a height of say from two to three feet, I have thought that to let them grow as nature intended is the better way. As a result of so doing I have quite a number of Gen. Jacqueminot and Paul Neron rose-bushes from eight to ten feet in height and blooming to the top. The following is a list of hybrid perpetual roses which I have been most successful in raising: Gen. Jacqueminot, crimson; Paul Neron, pink; La France, pink; Baroness Rothschild, pink; Anna Alexieff, pink;

Anna de Diesbach, pink; Mabel Morrison, white; Empress of India, black; Countess of Oxford, pink; Mount Carmel, pink.

In conclusion, let me say that while I have only touched upon the edge of the subject introduced, my object will have been accomplished if it shall have stimulated in the minds of only a few a desire to engage in the cultivation of the queen of flowers. It may not be improper for me to remark that I have received from Mr. James Nisbet, of our city, many valuable suggestions as to the best way in which to treat the rose-bushes at the different stages of their growth.

Paw tucket, R. I, July 23d, 1887.