112 THE HYBRID PERPETUAL ROSE. 



ner all the clusters of blooms as soon as tliey fade. 

 Baronne Prevost and a few others are very apt to 

 make barren shoots without terminal flowers. As 

 soon as this can be ascertained, cut all such shoots 

 to within six or eight inches of their base ; they 

 will then, in most cases, give fertile branches : in 

 short, these roses require much summer pruning 

 and attention to make them flower in great per- 

 fection in autumn. 



The winter pruning of these roses is best per- 

 formed at two or even at three periods : in 

 November for those required to bloom early, and 

 towards the end of March, or even later, if it is 

 wished to retard them : these may be called pecu- 

 liar seasons for a special purpose ; but the general 

 season should be towards the end of February, if 

 the weather be mild. This winter pruning may 

 be described in very few words, for nothing is 

 more irksome than lengthy pedantic descriptions 

 of simple operations : to prune these roses, then, 

 in winter, is merely to cut off from each vigorous 

 shoot of the preceding summer two-thirds of its 

 length, and from those of less vigour three-fourths 

 of their length, taking care not to leave too many 

 of these shortened shoots, for the tree will then 

 become crowded in the summer ; but after shorten- 

 ing them, cut some of them out cleanly, so as to 

 leave a nice well-disposed frame to be filled up 

 the succeeding summer by beautiful leaves and 

 still more beautiful flowers. 



