86 MISSOURL BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
considerable extent the movements of the larvae, but re- 
moval is best accomplished by actually picking them from 
the plants. 
Fungous Diseases.—The mildew is perhaps the commonest 
disease of the rose in this locality. Some varieties are 
seldom attacked and certain locations are much more sub- 
ject to it than others. The disease generally makes its ap- 
pearance in the autumn, when the nights begin to grow 
cool. At this season, however, it works but little harm, as 
the plants have made their growth and the wood is nearly 
or quite ripened. A mixture of equal parts of quick lime 
and sulphur, applied when the dew is on the plants, will 
usually prevent mildew. At the Garden the following solu- 
tion has been used successfully: one ounce of copper car- 
bonate, one pint of ammonia, and ten gallons of water. 
Plants should: be sprayed with this mixture once a week, 
using a nozzle giving a fine spray. . 
Winter Protection—The work of protecting roses against 
the severe cold of the winter should. be done by November 20. 
The earth should be heaped up around each plant to a depth 
of from two to three inches in order to provide drainage 
away from the center of the plant, and from four to six 
inches of straw manure should be placed over the entire 
surface of the bed. This treatment will protect any of the 
varieties previously mentioned, except the tree, or standard 
roses. ‘These are budded at the crown and unless wrapped 
with hay or straw, freeze very easily. 
Pruning.—One of the most important considerations in 
rose culture is that of pruning. No directions can be given 
which will be sufficiently explicit to enable one to know just 
what to do in each individual case; practical experience alone 
can furnish this information. But the general principles 
that should be observed in pruning can be readily stated. As 
regards tools, a pair of good shears and a pruning knife with 
hooked blade are desirable. The work can be more quickly 
and easily done with the former, but where a very smooth 
cut is to be made, the pruning knife is preferable—also be- 
cause it is less likely to bruise the bark. 
-All pruning should be done while the plants are dormant. 
The chief objects to be held in view in pruning roses are: 
the production of a symmetrical plant, and the promotion 
of flower bud formation. To secure these results plants of 
delicate habit and weak growth should be severely pruned. 
Vigorous growers, on the other hand, should have the shoots 
only moderately shortened, but the branches well thinned 
out. In all cases the cut should be straight across the stem 
