PRUNING 



and the smaller the cane, the less sap would be con- 

 tained therein and the fewer buds would break and 

 grow shoots in any given length of cane. This is 

 the main theory of pruning Hybrid Tea roses, pro- 

 vided that it is reasonable quality, and not quantity 

 without much quality, that one wants. 



The average rose plant in its second year should 

 give from fifteen to fifty blooms, according to the 

 variety, if it is cut back on this principle. Shy 

 bloomers will not give fifteen flowers and the greater 

 nimiber of these will be borne in the spring. 



Usually a good bloomer will have three or four 

 flowering periods, the most profuse being in the 

 spring and early fall. 



In counting blooms only those with fair stems are 

 considered and the usual amount of disbudding done, 

 the rule being to count every bloom with a stem of 

 six inches or over. 



If more blooms of poorer quality are desired, do 

 not prune the roses as far back as suggested below, 

 but they will require a certain amount of thinning 

 after the growing season starts, so that the various 

 shoots do not crowd each other too much; all but 

 the strongest varieties of roses which are so pruned 

 should be staked, i.e., fastened to a stake driven 

 firmly into the ground. In so pruning and staking 



do not use wire but tie the bushes to the stakes 



163 



