98 PARSONS ON THE KOSE. 



had been observed before Sir Robert's time. Notwith- 

 standing his doubts, it is now a well-established fact, that 

 the blooming of roses may be retarded by cutting them 

 back to two eyes after they have fairly commenced grow- 

 ing, and the flower buds are discoverable. A constant 

 succession can be obtained where there is a number of 

 plants, by cutting each one back a shorter or longer dis- 

 tance, or at various periods of its growth. In these cases, 

 however, it very often will not bloom until autumn, be- 

 cause the second effort to produce flowers is much great- 

 er than the first, and is not attended with success until 

 late in the season. 



However desirable may be this retarding process, it 

 cannot be relied on as a general practice, because the very 

 unusual exertion made to produce the flowers a second 

 time, weakens the plant, and materially affects its pros- 

 perity the subsequent year. 



There is, indeed, but one kind of summer pruning that 

 is advantageous, which is the thinning out of the flower- 

 buds as soon as they appear, in order that the plant may 

 be burdened with no more than it can fully perfect, and 

 the cutting off all the seed vessels after the flower has 

 expanded and the petals have fallen. Until this last is 

 done, a second bloom cannot readily be obtained from the 

 Bengal Rose and its sub-classes, the Tea and Noisette, 

 which otherwise grow and bloom constantly throughout 

 the season. 



We would impress upon our readers the absolute, the 

 essential, importance of cultivation — of constantly stir- 

 ring the soil in which the Rose is planted ; and we scarce- 

 ly know of more comprehensive directions in a few words 

 than the reply of an experienced horticulturist to one who 

 asked the best mode of growing fine fruits and flowers. 

 The old gentleman replied that the mode could be de- 

 scribed in three words, " cultivate, cultivate, cultivate." 

 After the same manner, we would impress the importance 



