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40 MISSOURL BOTANICAL GARDEN RULLETIN 
hand, to let the roses start and then eut off the canes full of 
sap is detrimental, as much of the sap and energy that has 
gone into these cut-off buds could have been saved and di- 
verted into those buds that are to remain. Rugosas, native 
roses, hybrid perpetuals, polyanthas, and climbers can be 
pruned earlier, as these withstand the occasional freezes bet- 
ter if growth has not progressed too far. The teas and hybrid 
teas should be pruned last. The climbers should ordinarily 
not be pruned at this time, but this year some of them have 
numerous canes that were entirely frozen and these of course 
should be removed at the base. Other shoots that have been 
killed back should be cut to the live wood. It hardly seems 
necessary to call attention to the fact that in pruning roses 
the cut should be made above a live bud which, when it grows, 
will produce a shoot that goes out from the plant and not 
across the center of it. The pruning of rose bushes should 
be so regulated that the center of the plant is open to light 
and air. 
A widespread impression is that a plant that does not 
have the dead wood removed, or a hedge that is not eut down 
will die at the roots. This is not true. The only reason for 
pruning and removing dead wood is to improve the appear- 
ance of the plant and to prevent such dead wood from inter- 
fering with the new growth that might spring from the base. 
RABBITS THAT BARK 
This odd title attracts attention, and yet it is no more 
striking than the damage rabbits can do to small trees and 
shrubs during the winter months when other food is frozen 
or covered with snow (pl. 5). 
Rabbits are known to damage young trees and shrubs every 
year, the amount of damage varying from season to season 
with the weather and the number of rabbits. Due to the 
grading of the tract of land at the Garden which formerly 
was covered with farm crops and low brush, the wild life has 
been foreed into the main garden. While the actual number 
of rabbits is not very great, they have been doing considerable 
damage. Experimental plots of winter wheat have been cut 
to the ground, and during the recent cold spell many orna- 
mental plants were damaged. On account of the negligible 
