PRUNING. 57 



according to wall space to be covered. If the eyes 

 break well along- the rod, alternate eyes can be rubbed 

 out to secure fewer and stronger shoots equally dis- 

 tanced along- the main rod. Many wall climbers, like 

 Devoniensis, climbing K. A. Victoria, and Gloire de 

 Dijon, race away, and fail to break at the lower eyes. 

 If, therefore, the wall space is limited, and the grower 

 does not wish to shorten the rods, a good plan is to 

 unnail them, and at their period of growth lay them 

 lengthways almost upon the ground. I find it best for 

 safety to tie the rods to two or three short stakes 

 driven into the ground. This horizontal position will 

 cause the lower eyes to break, and when the shoots are 

 two or three inches long the tree can be tied back into 

 position. To promote quick growth the trees should 

 be copiously watered and sprayed. 



The cutting away of all dead wood and the re- 

 moval of weakly shoots is the most important pruning 

 operation with climbers. Even the Wichurainas and 

 their hybrids need less pruning than is usually meted 

 out to them. I have seen rods as thick as one's finger 

 put out half-way up old wood of many years' growth. 

 The young wood is what we want, and if the tree is 

 crowded with old wood it must be cut out ; in any case 

 remove all weakly shoots and dead wood, and see that 

 sturdy rods are tied in and given plenty of air and 

 space. Large trusses of bloom are only secured from 

 strong new growth, and for this reason exhibitors often 

 sacrifice too much old wood. I should cut many 

 times before I removed a possible attraction to an arch. 

 Remember, too, young rods often catch a late frost 

 and get frost-bitten ; the black patch on the tender 

 shoot soon becomes a death wound, and the tree of 

 promise has to be shorn of hopeful rods before even 

 others are in bloom. Try always to keep a certain pro- 

 portion of old wood, even if the space is a little crowded. 

 When cutting back, cut to a quarter of an inch above 

 an eye or a joint in the wood. 

 PILL.ARS. 



A pillar Rose is, after all, a semi-climbing rose, 

 and although climbers are used for tall pillars in the 



