The Flo war Gaedbn. 11;j 



treasures come we will be led to exclaim in the exuberance of 

 our joy, '' ITow wonderful are Thy works, Oh ! Lord ; in wisdom 

 hast Thou made them all." 



Mr. Plumb was of the opinion that the reason why our roses 

 were injured to such an extent the past winter was not the want 

 of proper protection, but was back of that, in natural causes, and 

 that no amount of protection would have been effectual. "Wood 

 growth was prolonged late into the fall, severe cold weather came 

 on early in November, as early, if not earlier than was ever known 

 before. On the 17th of November the mercury stood at — 20" in 

 Southern Missouri, and all over the west and northwest the cold 

 was very severe, and coming on so early and sudden, the late im- 

 mature wood growth was injured. No amount of covering would 

 protect under such conditions. Our soil, our culture and our cli- 

 mate all more or less tend to produce growth late in the season, 

 and often there is little opportunity for the thorough ripening, the 

 perfect maturity of the wood structure, so necessary to the endur- 

 ance of the sudden changes, and the extreme cold of our winters. 

 The last winter's experience was not the result of accident or 

 chance, but was the legitimate consequence of the violation of 

 nature's laws. With the same conditions, this identical result 

 must follow. The remedy for late growth is root pruning. Some 

 say clipping the tops will answer the same end, but it will not be 

 sufficient. The roots will still be full of sap and this will tend to 

 force further growth. The same principle is followed by our 

 florists in what is termed "turning cut plants to rest," to secure 

 winter blooming ; they first check the growth by shutting off the 

 water from the roots, and when growth is thus checked, they turn 

 them down and give the needed rest. The injury to rose bushes 

 and vines was more severe last winter than has been experienced 

 for a number of years, affecting even the plants and varieties re- 

 garded as hardy. A rose bush, from ten to twelve feet high, that 

 had stood unprotected for six years on the north side.of his house, 

 was killed to the ground. 



Mr. Barter stated that he had been very successful in keeping 

 his bushes uninjured the past winter. Out of over one hundred 



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