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Shannon News, 26 June 1923, Page 4

Boses are safe planting any time after this. If you wish to have the best your order shouid be placed at once. The nurserymen will be lifting the plants almost at once, and the ground should be ready so that there is no delay in getting them planted when they arrive. Dig quite 15 inches deepj 18 is better, but it largely depends upon circumstances. Drain the area. Land that holds surplus- water very quickly gets sour and unfit for roses. You must make provision for taking away the water. Use pipe or rubble drains, or if this is not possible make open drains. These latter will serve the purpose well. Cut away any damaged roots before planting, and plant so that the union of the stock and the rose is an inch or so below the surface. Spread the roots out when planting. Do not put any stable manure in close proximity to the roots. Leave the manuring till after the plants have niade roots and are commencing to grow, which will be in spring. When selecting varieties choose those that are known to have a good record and are suitable for- the purpose you require. There are varieties suitable for the decoration of the garden and for cutting purposes which are quite useless for exhibition. If you are not well versed in the peculiarities of the different varieties, tell the grower you are ordering from what you require, and leave the selection to him.

On the occasion of the annual hospital day appeal, the Sydney Morning Herald discussed ‘‘the urgent- financial needs'’ of the hospitals in New South "Wales. Remarking that at no time in their history have these institutions suffered from an embarrassment of wealth, the journal said that in recent years they have found it more and more difficult to make ends meet. The financial problem has been rendered more acute by the fact that a larger proportion of the population now avails itself of the services of public hospitals than used to be the case. Subscriptions and gifts from the public now provide only about twofifths of the annual cost of maintenance of the metropolitan hospitals. The remainder has to be made up by Government grants. It would be unfair to say that the system of voluntary contributions has failed, but it is plainly unable to satisfy the financial requirements of the hospitals. The suggestion has been made that the Govemernment or the municipalities should take over the hospitals and run them as Government or municipal concerns. This is open to objections on various grounds. Many persons advocate a straight-out hospital tax which will supply these institutions with a regular and adequate income. The argument against compulsory contributions is that it Avould tend to destroy the ennobling impulse of individual benevolence. In reply to this it is contended that the impulse of benevolence, strong though it be, does not furnish the hospitals with sufficient revenue,

and that no matter what alternative system be adopted, private Wenevolgnce will never be at a loss for an object.