oken crocks, clinkers, wood ashes, and such-like materials, must be
placed at the bottom of the beds to keep the subsoil free in times of
heavy rain and floods; and a good drain of ordinary field pipes must be
run from the beds into the nearest ditch. For let it be remembered that
if we intend to grow good roses, we must be prepared to do our very best
for them, and to spend a little time, a little money, and a good deal of
thought, on preparing the ground they are to grow in, before we dream of
planting them. Far better to begin our garden with a dozen roses well
planted in properly prepared ground, than with a hundred put in anywhere
and anyhow.

This brings us to the next point--

=The Soil=,--which is far more important than even the position of our
garden. If we are so lucky as to be able to choose the soil as well as
the position, then let us choose a rich brown loam; for that is the soil
roses revel in and need but little else to nourish them. Such a soil as
this we find in the famous rose-gardens of Essex, Hertfordshire,
Oxfordshire, and Kent. I have even seen roses growing superbly, without
manure of any kind, in an open field of this rich loam on one of the
most exposed ridges of Warwickshire. But if such natural soil cannot be
had, we must make it, as I know to my cost; for in my own garden the
ground is so poor that every rose-bed has to be made three feet deep.
And nothing in this case produces such excellent results as the top spit
of an old pasture. To get this, the turf should be pared off carefully,
and then the first nine inches of brown fibrous loam beneath taken out.
If the space thus left is filled up with other common soil, the turf can
be relaid, and no harm is done to the meadow. If, on the other hand, the
turf is not needed in the same spot, it may be stacked in a heap--grass
downward--and kept for a couple of years till it has rotted down
completely; when, mixed with manure, it makes perfect potting soil, or
the finest possible dressing for our rose beds. In the neighbourhood of
towns and villages, where building is going on, this turfy loam is often
to be had when new roads are cut out and houses run up. And it is well
worth the rosarian's while to be on the watch for such opportunities,
and secure a few loads of the top spit from the builder, to stack in the
garden against the time it is needed.

Having provided the requisite soil, we are now ready to begin work by
making the beds. The gene