48 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



neglected, they soon acquire their 

 full height, but have naked stems ; 

 whereas, if properly pruned, these 

 stems will be clothed from head to 

 foot with flowering branches. The 

 pruning in the second year will con- 

 sist in removing by a clean cut, to 

 within one or two buds of their base, 

 all long, weak shoots, reserving two 

 or three of the strongest shoots, and 

 shortening these about one-third or 

 one-half of their whole length. If in 

 any doubt as to the application of 

 these instructions, let the rose itself 

 furnish a hint. If it has attained to 

 a great height, and is so regularly 

 furnished with side-shoots as to be 

 already very nearly sufficient to cover 

 a pillar, prune all the side-shoots 

 back to about four buds, and the 

 leaders only a fourth or fifth of their 

 whole length. If it has not grown 

 much, cut it back very hard, remov- 

 ing quite half of the entire growth, so 

 as to conform pretty nearly to this 

 rule — the more growth, the less prun- 

 ing ; the less growth, the more pruning. 

 Having accomplished the pruning, lay 

 the shoots down full length on the 

 ground, and fix them with a few 

 strong pegs, so that the wind may not 

 blow them about. This will cause the 

 buds to break — that is to say, will 

 cause the formation of side-shoots 

 the whole length of the l-ods ; and by 

 the end of April, or the 1st of May 

 at latest, they must be tied up to 

 their poles or pillars. 



The third season's pruning must 

 be on the same principle as in the 

 preceding year; the cultivator must 

 be more anxious about obtaining 

 plenty of furniture — that is, of hid- 

 ing the pillar with a plentiful side- 

 growth from the ground upwards. 

 He need not think much about get- 

 ting the rose to the top of the pillar; 

 it will go there in time, and perhaps 

 sooner than will be good for its ulti- 

 mate beauty ; and if it does not, it is 

 only needful to leave one or two long 

 rods unshortened, and they will soon 

 mount to the summit of their ambi- 

 tion. To begin, then, with the prun- 

 ing, let us first determine about the 

 furniture of the base of the pillar. 

 Here we find already plenty of weak 

 spray, seme well-placed strcng shoots, 



and perhaps a certain proportion of 

 wiry twigs that produced blossoms 

 the previous season. All the weak 

 spray should be cut clean out, leaving 

 only the buds at the base to break 

 again ; the same with the wood that 

 flowered the previous year. But the 

 strong side-shoots may be cut to six 

 or eight buds from the base. Where 

 the pillar is bare, cut a few shoots 

 very close, so as to get some vigorous 

 growth to fill up the gaps ; where 

 crowded, thin away the weakest of 

 the shoots, and leave those that are 

 best placed for flowering. Proceed 

 thus till you arrive at the top, then 

 shorten back the leading shoots ac- 

 cording to their length and strength, 

 but not severely, to a plump bud, to 

 carry the growth upward the next 

 season. 



After this pruning there ought to 

 be an abundant bloom ; and from 

 this time forth there must be very 

 little pruning ; the cultivator's prin- 

 cipal care will be to keep the tree 

 liberally nourished, and provide for 

 the occasional renewal of the main 

 shoots, for those originally formed 

 will in time get debilitated with ex- 

 cessive production of flowers. It is a 

 good rule with Provence, Perpetuals, 

 and Bourbons, to prune in the short 

 ripe side-shoots to from four to six 

 eyes throughout. These shortened 

 shoots will produce flowers plenti- 

 fully ; and as effect is more desirable 

 than the quality of individual flowers, 

 it is best, after fairly pruning, to 

 allow all the flowers that are pro- 

 duced to come to perfection, helping 

 the tree through the flowering season 

 with copious supplies of water, and 

 with strong top-dressings. 



The renewing or repairing of the 

 pillar is accomplished by means of 

 the strong shoots that rise from the 

 base. As these appear, tie them in 

 loosely, so as to induce a free growth, 

 prune them as recommended for the 

 first formation of the pillar, and as 

 soon as they reach half way up the 

 pillar, and are tolerably well fur- 

 nished with side-shoots, remove one 

 of the old leaders, and let the young 

 one take its place. When an abun- 

 dance of young shoots is produced, 

 some must be cut away entirely to 



