THE ROSE GARDEN. 65 



for growth, and the additional shoots now seen are the product of the past Summer. 

 Pruning is now more complicated : there are more shoots to dispose of. The 

 operator should examine the tree thoroughly before he commences. He should 

 look not only at it, but through it, and this from two or three points of view. He 

 should picture to himself this and that shoot removed, and what will be the com- 

 parative advantages to the tree. He thus studies the position and relative bearing 

 of the shoots, and will soon discover which should be thinned out. 



In No. 9 it is thought best to remove those shewn by the single lines, and 

 the others are shortened in at the termination of the dark shadowing. It will be 

 observed, the shoots are left of greater length than in the previous year's pruning, 

 for which we give two reasons : First, The plant being established, will have a 

 greater command of food from the soil ; its growth is therefore likely to be more 

 vigorous : Secondly, Having been put in the right course of formation last year, in 

 this pruning we have an eye to the production of flowers. 



It may appear to the looker-on that it would have been better to have removed 

 the shoot between c c, and shortened in that shewn by the double line at d. This 

 would have made the art appear more simple, and simplicity in Gardening opera- 

 tions (and indeed where not ?) is a desideratum. But there was a cause for not 

 doing this which the tree before us serves well to explain. The shoot marked d 

 had been produced late in the year, and, to use the technical phrase, was not well 

 ripened — was little more than pith and bark. Such was not fitted to produce 

 either shoots or flowers in good condition, and therefore it was removed. We 

 also think it advisable to shorten in close at e the centre shoot left last year, to 

 keep the plant at home, that is, to keep the head compact. The best shoots 

 having in this instance arisen from the base of the head, we do this to decided ad- 

 vantage. We follow on this system through subsequent seasons, continuing to 

 thin and shorten the shoots ; the tree, if properly managed, increasing in size for 

 several years. 



No. 10 is a fair illustration of a full-grown tree to which long pruning 

 has been applied. 



2. Close Pruning. — We have been speaking of pruning hitherto in its applica- 

 tion to the most vigorous growing Roses : let us now turn to another class, and 

 consider pruning as applied to the small kinds. Such are, the Damask Perpetual, 

 the Chinese, the Tea-scented, the moderate-growing French and Bourbon, &c, 

 which make compact and neat, but rather formal heads. 



No. 11 represents a young plant of this description. Here we have a crowded 

 head the first year : the shoots are of less length than in our former specimen, but 

 more numerous. We proceed to thin as before, but often less severely. The 

 shoots may stand closer to each other here, because those they give birth to will 

 be less robust, and produce smaller foliage. The shoots shewn by the single lines 

 are not in this instance all removed because disadvantageous^ situated ; many are 



(Div. I.) m 



