26 THE FRENCH ROSE. 



prolonged by judicious pruning, and for this pur- 

 pose two trees of each variety should be planted, 

 one to be pruned in October, the other early in 

 May, or just when the buds have burst into leaf; 

 these will give a regular succession of flowers. In 

 pruning, cut out with a sharp knife all the spray- 

 like shoots, and then shorten, to within six or 

 eiglit buds of their base, all the strong shoots : 

 by such I mean those Ihat are above fifteen 

 inches in length ; the weak shoots cut down to two 

 or three buds. This is the pruning required by 

 the Alba, Damask, and Hybrid Provence roses. 



Raising Varieties from Seed. 



To raise French roses from seed, they should 

 be planted in a warm, dry border, sloping to the 

 south, in an open, airy situation — the shade of 

 trees is very pernicious to seed-bearing roses. 

 The following kinds* may be selected, as they 

 bear seed freely : — The Tuscany Eose, a very old 

 variety, with rich, deep crimson, semi-double 

 flowers ; also Ohl and Latour d'Auvergne. The 

 two latter should have their flowers fertilised with 

 the pollen of the Tuscany Kose, and some fine 

 crimson roses will probably be raised. Pretty 

 striped seedling varieties ought to be raised from 

 Quillet Parfait and Village Maid ; if the flowers 

 are deficient in pollen, they should be fertilised 

 with that of Eosa mundi. 



* Some of the roses recommended for seed- bearing are old 

 varieties, which may be procured from any rose nursery. 



