28 



IRISH GARDENING 



Notes on Roses. 



B\- O'DdNKi. Browne, M.D. 



T' 



HK heav}' rains from Novem- 

 ber up to the present have 

 left the ground most unfit for 

 planting operations, and it was a wise 

 proceeding for nny puri-haser of roses 

 lo have heeled in his plants rather 

 than plant newly-arrived trees from 

 the nurserv in sodden ground. Those 

 of us who shifted our maidens early 

 in September were lucky to have done 

 so. I always try and make a point 

 of shifting my maidens early in the 

 fall of the year. It is true .and an 

 luuloubted fact that some people do 

 not believe in this early shifting, but 

 1 liave always found it pay. I'he 

 plants are inclined to shrivel up a 

 little, but removal of most of the 

 foliage and frequent watering after 

 planting ensures a flow of sap- 

 and should the weather keep mild, 

 it means that new rootlets are formed 

 -a great addition to the welfare of 

 your plants. 



.\s I have said before, those readers 

 who did not shift their maidens early, 

 or who did not gel their plants in 

 before the heavy rains commenced, 

 should now seize the first available time and do 

 so. Going round your roses you will notice most 

 extraordinary growth taking place. Personally, I do 

 not like to see this — it is precocious, and out of place 

 and season. Our roses should be still asleep. At 

 pruning time one is tempted to leave these pushing 

 eyes, in the vain hope that they are alright, but in nine 

 cases out of ten they are doomed to fail. I''ar sooner 

 would I come and find big fat plump eyes when I wanted 

 to prune. These eyes .arc read)' to get away, whereas 

 in the pushed growths there is the havoc of frost hidden. 

 Some good authorities advise you to prune the plants, \ou 

 purchase and plant now, at the time of planting. I never 

 could see the force of this argument. I prefer to plant 

 as the plants arrived from the nursery, and prune in the 

 proper season. (Jreat care should be taken in lifting 

 hceled-in plants ; your holes in the rose beds where you 

 are to plant should be all ready. Lift your plants 

 very carefully, a few at a time, and try not to damage 

 the young white rootlets which some may have made. 

 Wrap them up in a sack, or put them into a box or 

 barrow, and throw a cloth over them to prevent cold 

 winds from drying the roots. In planting spread the roots 

 out as much ;is possible, having removed anvtlamaged 

 ones with a sharp knife, cutting from below. .Vdd some 

 of the dryest soil and leaf-mould round the roots and 

 in between them, and tread lightly. .Vdd more soil, and 

 tread firmly. Do liot put roots in contact with manure. 

 See that the junction of roots and bud is about two 

 inches underground, and do not plant too deeply, four 

 inches is enough. When you have finished this plant, 

 take another out from under the sack ; above ,ill things 



guard your roots, and keep tlicni uioist. A damp, 

 muggy day is the best day, a cold, blowing wind with 

 a touch of east or north is the worst. These plants 

 may require a watering later on in the growing season, 

 but at present they will do alright. The climate of 

 Ireland is suited to newly-planted trees in autumn and 

 spring, the air being more huinid and damp than in 

 England. 



By the erul of the month \ on m.'i\- prune ami jittend 

 to climbers on sunny walls. Cut away any shoots which 

 are mildewy or which have flowered, and leave only 

 last year's growths. Now, of your young growths select 

 the ripest, and remove any which are unripe and pithy. 

 Remove any frozen or dead ends of these rods, and lay 

 the rest of the rods in against the walls. Do not simply 

 put them straight up or along, but give some a bend 

 to try and encourage the back e\'es to break into growth 

 by checking the rush of sap. The eyes at the ends of 

 the rods will be the first to push into growth ; try and 

 get an even pushing of all the eyes. Leave all the 

 other plants to be pruned until later on. 



Roses. 



By the Rev. Joseph H. PENtBERTON, Romford. 



A FRIEND has called my attention to an article on 

 roses by Dr. O'Donel Browne in your issue of 

 January, wherein the writer quotes me as say- 

 ing — '' As for Teas, they will be a dead race in five 

 years." I am not quite fissured of the accuracy of the 

 quotation, but certainly the old-fashioned. Tea-scented 

 roses, such as Madame Bravy, Catherine Mermet, 

 Devoniensis, and Souvenir de Paul Neyron, are on the 

 decline. This is due, in the first place, to deterioration. 

 All highly-bred varieties deteriorate sooner or later — 

 witness La France. Marechal Niel, and nearly all the 

 Hybrid Perpetuals of the sixties and early seventies- 

 But there is another reason for this decline — the inter- 

 breeding of so-called Hybrid Perpetuals, Hybrid Teas, 

 and Teas has caused the classification of roses under 

 these three heads to be one that is purely arbitrary. 

 Why is Mrs. Edward Mawley called a Tea and Hugh 

 Dickson a Hybrid Perpetual.-' Why are they not both 

 Hybrid Teas? I cannot tell — can anyone? It may be 

 that raisers are led to classify a seedling with an eye to 

 commerce. If a raiser thinks it will sell better he calls 

 it a Tea, or Hybrid Tea, as the case may be ; and now 

 that the demand for h;irdy free-flowering roses for the 

 garden i.s greater than for solel}- exhibition purposes, 

 the lists of new introtluctions show clearly that the Tea. 

 like the Hybrid Perpetual, is a class that is diminishing. 

 To attempt in these days to classify roses under the 

 heads of Hybrid Perpetual.s, Hybrid Teas and Teas, will 

 certainly end in confusion. Even for a raiser to state 

 positively that a given seedling obtained by cross- 

 fertilisation belongs to one of these three classes is 

 almost an impossibility. We are loo far removed from 

 the original cross. He may take the greatest possible 

 care in the selection of parents ; he may test iheni by 

 selfing through the second generation, and, notwith- 

 standing all his pains, his hopes may be shattered by 

 reversion. He m:iy think that he is breeding from pure 

 Teas when all the time one may be impure; that is to say. 



