THE FLORAL WOULD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



23 



at the base. Any of these roses left 

 to grow as they please will soon be- 

 come mere bunches of leaves at the 

 ends of long naked shoots. It is 

 the business of the cultivator to 

 prevent this. If the plants are 

 strong when planted in autumn, tie 

 them in sufficient to keep them safe 

 against wind, and so leave them till 

 spring. At the end of February cut 

 them down to within two eyes of the 

 base of each shoot, and on no account 

 begin with more than three shoots to 

 each rose. The object of deferring 

 cutting down till the spring is to pre- 

 vent the premature starting of the 

 buds at the base, as if there comes a 

 sharp frost after mild weather those 

 buds may be killed back after having 

 grown a few inches, which would be 

 a misfortune. From the three shoots 

 supposed to be cut down there will 

 probably start eight or nine shoots. 

 .Retain five of these, and cut or nip 

 out the remainder as soon as you can 

 determine which push the strongest ; 

 the weakest are to be removed. Sup- 

 posing you have but one main shoot 

 to begin with, cut it down to three, 

 four, or five eyes, and from these form 

 the plant. Train in all shoots re- 

 gularly, never let them hang about, 

 or the growth will be checked and 

 they will flower prematurely. When 

 they are established they may be 

 allowed to fall over if the position 

 allows of negligent growth, and they 

 will bloom tue more freely for it. At 

 the next season's pruning cut back all 

 the shoots, at least half their length, 

 no matter what the length may be, 

 and at the same time remove any 

 weak, or ill-placed, or imperfectly 

 ripened shoots, leaving a bud at the 

 base if another shoot is wanted in the 

 place from which a poor shoot was 

 removed. The next season cut back 

 to a uniform length, but not severely, 

 all the leading shoots, and shorten 

 in very moderately ail the laterals, 

 and thenceforward prune very little, 

 no more in fact than is sufficient to 

 prevent crowding at any one place or 

 the usurpation of the principal vigour 

 of the tree by any one leading shoot. 

 To keep a wall or trellis well clothed, it 

 is needful to have an eye to the strong 

 shoots that occasionally rise from the 



base. It will be well to allow one of 

 these to rise every year, train it over 

 the shoots that are already nailed in, 

 and at the next pruning remove one 

 of the old main shoots by a clean cut at 

 the base, and let the young shoot re- 

 place it. 



Arches and Trellises. — If the 

 summits and connecting chains and 

 rods only require to be covered, plant 

 climbing roses worked on tall stems 

 and train their heads over, and only 

 prune sufficient to regulate the growth. 

 For this purpose those of the Semper- 

 virens section are invaluable; and as 

 they retain their leaves till spring, 

 you have the advantage of verdure in 

 winter with roses in summer. When 

 in bloom they are magnificent, the 

 clusters showing from a dozen to forty 

 or fifty roses each. The deepest 

 coloured rose of this section is Princess 

 Marie, reddish pink, the flowers nicely 

 cupped, and produced in large clusters. 

 The next brightest coloured is Bru- 

 nonii, flowers of a lively rose, a brilliant 

 object when full out, the plant less 

 decidedly evergreen than tae rest of 

 the family. 



The purest white of the race is 

 Melaine de Montjoie, which has rich 

 deep green, glossy foliage. Another 

 good white ia Rampante, atremendous 

 bloomer. The most fragrant is Bank- 

 sicsflora, with straw centre, very 

 double. But the favourite of the 

 race is Filicite Perpetus, a remark- 

 ably rapid grower, with lovely foliage, 

 and myriads of little globular creamy 

 blossoms. There are many others, 

 the best of which are Spectabile, rosy 

 lilac, and Myrianthes, with beautifully 

 formed rosy-blush flowers, most deli- 

 cate and graceful in all its aspects. 



Chains and low Trellises and 

 dividing Screens. — When worked 

 roses are planted to ruu over the 

 summits of arches and temples, the 

 low trellises and chains connecting the 

 principal supports of the arches may 

 be covered with Hybrid perpetual and 

 Bourbon varieties, or with Rosa de 

 Rosomeue, which is very vividly co- 

 loured, and most profuse in bloom, 

 though a poor rose when compared 

 with any of the florists' varieties. 

 Among the H. P. and B. sections, any 

 of the vigorous growing kinds may be 



