No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. COIi 



methods that they have been following. Each plant is a problem in 

 itself, the eye must see it and it must be studied before the shears 

 are applied, in order to obtain the best results. The one general 

 principal to follow is to satisfy yourself which is the most vigorous 

 part, and with this as a basis for the plants structure trim the 

 weaker branches and cut back the stronger ones, having regard all 

 the time for the shape of the plant. If it is your object to induce 

 larger flowers and not so many of them cut back the stems severely, 

 if you want a larger show of smaller flowers leave the stems or 

 branches longer. The ever-blooming roses such as the Teas, Hybrid 

 Teas and Noisettes require different treatment in pruning from the 

 Hybrid Perpetuals. Their habit of growth is more bushy and branch- 

 ing, and they do not as a rule produce strong young shoots to take 

 the place of the old top, so generally speaking the old top of these 

 varieties should not be trimmed too severely, but the strong stems 

 should be cut back slightly and the weak ones removed. 



Koses have enemies and some of them are very persistent. The 

 worst of these are the rose slug, the aphide or green fly, mildew 

 and the leaf spot, commonly known as black spot. To destroy the 

 rose slugs some kind of poison is used; white hellebore, Paris green 

 and a preparation called slug shot are the poisons usually selected 

 for the purpose. I decidedly prefer the white hellebore as it is 

 very effective — much more effective than slug shot — and it does not 

 burn the leaves as Paris green will do if too much is put on. A de- 

 coction made of about a tablespoonful of hellebore to two gallons 

 of boiling water, applied when cold, is the most economical way 

 to use it, but is can also be used as a powder or mixed with cold 

 water. During the early summer when the slugs are the most 

 troublesome and when they also do the most harm, it is a good plan 

 to always have this poison ready for immediate application. Pow- 

 dered tobacco or a strong solution of tobacco should be used to 

 destroy the green fly; it must be remembered that the aphide or 

 green fly increases with marvelous rapidity, and that prompt meas- 

 ures should be taken to destroy it, if tobacco cannot be had it is 

 possible to kill a great many of them by rubbing them off with the 

 fingers. 



For the fungus troubles, we use powdered sulphur for mildew, 

 but for the black-spot there does not seem to be any very effective 

 remedy, fortunately the spot attacks the older leaves and if the 

 plants are in vigorous growing condition they will not be seriously 

 hurt by this disease. 



I stated that the before mentioned pests are the worst enemies 

 that the roses have, possibly I am wrong in saying so, it may be 

 that the worst enemy they have is neglect, not intentional neglect, 

 but the rose suffers just as much from its effects as if it were inten- 

 tional. We are very busy people and it is often hard to find time 

 to attend such things as looking after the roses in our gardens. 

 Some of us scold ourselves for not having taken the time, for it 

 requires but a few minutes, however there is always something 

 else to do and the roses do not absolutely have to be attended to. 

 If we could only persuade ourselves somehow to make it a point to 

 attend to the roses with more care in the early summer and keep 

 them healthy and thrifty at that time, we would have much better 

 plants, for it is then that they need to make a strong healthy growth 



