248 THE ROSE BOOK 



readers will not be able to prune their Tea roses before 

 the middle of April, and this is quite early enough. 

 Pruning should not be too severe unless the roses are 

 grown for exhibition. It is wise to err on the side of 

 leniency in pruning Teas. Some of the finest Tea roses 

 I have seen were from unpruned bushes that were fed 

 liberally with Clay's Fertilizer. I do not commend this 

 practice to all, but there may be special circumstances 

 where it could be adopted. 



Suckers are now troublesome, especially upon stand- 

 ard Briers or standard roses, and they must be sup- 

 pressed. Brier stocks from hedgerows are pushing into 

 growth, but leave them alone this month. 



Manures in the form of artificials may be given 

 now, and for detailed advice the reader may be referred 

 to the notes on manuring and manures in a previous 

 chapter. Do not be persuaded that to manure a weakly 

 plant is the correct thing to make it stronger. Healthy, 

 well-rooted plants can be manured freely with advan- 

 tage, but small, weakly plants are often killed by strong 

 manures. 



Sometimes plants produce excessively strong shoots 

 that seem as though they would never stop growing. 

 It is best to pinch out the points of these now and 

 throughout summer as they appear, because they rob 

 other growths of too much nourishment. 



Late-planted roses must be watered once or twice 

 a week, and if not already pruned should be cut back 

 hard at once. Stocks to bud this year may still be 

 planted. Buds inserted last year, and now starting into 



