THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. m 



Banksian Eoses should be carefully pruned immediately after 

 flowering, and at no other time ; then the grosser shoots should be 

 cut clean out, and the twiggy branches should be shortened and 

 moderately thinned. If never pruned at all, the worst that will 

 happen to them will be crowding of the growth. 



Hybrid Perpetual Hoses vary so much in habit that the 

 pruner must operate in accordance with their style of growth. 

 They may, however, be all left unpruned, and will grow and flower 

 superbly. But to insure flowers of fine quality, and keep the trees 

 in formal trim, pruning must be systematically performed, and there 

 can be no better rule for it than that given at page 44 of the " Bose 

 Book." It is given in these words : — " As for the pruning of these 

 roses, cut back to a plump bud, so as to remove the light spray which 

 has produced flowers, and cut the moderate growers closer aud more 

 severely than those that grow vigorously. When shoots as thick as 

 a carpenter's pencd are produced, six to ten buds may be allowed, 

 upon an average, to each shoot ; if these are cut back to buds placed 

 outwards, the growth will always be of a nature to keep the head 

 open, and for this purpose all shoots that crowd the centre should 

 be removed by a clean cut to the base. To make the most of these 

 roses they should be freely but carefully pruned during summer." 

 As the Hybrid Perpetuals are most commouly grown, so they are the 

 most commonly abused and ill-treated, and their too-general fate is 

 to be pruned destructively by jobbing gardeners, who think the more 

 they cut the better is the work done, and hack and slash accordingly. 

 Happy the amateur who can prune his own roses, or, at least, stand 

 by and direct ; for when Nature has kindly produced a fine spreading 

 bush of ripe hard wood for the production of noble flowers, it is 

 murder to cut this useful wood away, except by real artistic rule, 

 the first requirement of which is that enough of it shall be left to 

 prove that the rose is the Queen of the Garden. 



Bourbon Eoses should never be severely pruned, but the twi^s 

 on which last year's flowers were borne should be removed, and the 

 young growth shortened and thinned, with a view to produce com- 

 pact symmetrical heads. The more robust the habit the less must 

 they know of the knife. 



China Boses of small growth require to be pruned with a view 

 to keep them neat and compact, and hence the shortening of the 

 longest shoots is usually sufficient. Where planted to make belts 

 and masses, they may be left almost unpruned with advantage - but 

 where neatness is required, they must be just kept in shape and 

 nothing more. 



Tea-scented Boses vary much in habit, and require to be pruned 

 in accordance with their degrees of robustness. A few strong- 

 growing kinds make rods of great length and thickness, while at the 

 other end of the scale we have little wiry mites that may always be 

 covered with a peck measure. The long rods should be left nearly 

 their full length, but they may be shortened to half their length, 

 without pruning the bloom out of them. Periodical renewal from 

 the base must be encouraged, and if the trees are well fed they will 

 be always throwing out new aud vigorous shoots. The small kinds 



