CHAP. XI VILLA GARDENING 63 



sight of. The thinning being accomplished, the shortening re- 

 quires some knowledge and judgment. If a large number of 

 flowers are wished for rather than a few of extra merit, the flower- 

 ing shoots may be left longer in proportion to their strength, 

 or say from 8 inches to 10 inches ; but to obtain very fine 

 flowers for exhibition we must cut pretty hard back, for the 

 finest blooms will be near the centre of the tree. And it is 

 always best to cut to dormant buds— that is, those which have not 

 yet started into growth. The same principle should guide us in 

 pruning Tea Roses. 



A dormant bud on a well -ripened shoot will make a better 

 growth and produce a finer flower than can be obtained from one 

 of those excitable buds which has had no rest. The same rule, too, 

 holds good as regards thinning, cutting away the weakly shoots, 

 and leaving the strong, well -matured buds to form the future 

 tree. Some say Tea Roses should not be pruned much, and uo 

 doubt more blossoms can be obtained for a time from an uupruned 

 bush ; but if we want quality we must cut to ripened wood and 

 buds. As regards Noisette and other vigorous-climbing Roses, the 

 finest flowers are produced from the strong well-ripened buds on 

 the vigorous young shoots which have grown out alone into the 

 air and been exposed to the sunshine and the motion of the air ; 

 and tlie pruning of such plants should be confined to the thinning 

 out of weak shoots to make room to lay in the strong growths at 

 full length, or nearly so, just merely shortening back the soft tips 

 a little. From the middle to the end of March is the best time in 

 the average of seasons to prune Roses. If pruned earlier, the eyes 

 left may break and be injm-ed by the late frosts ; and if delayed 

 longer than March, the strength that has been used up in develop- 

 ing the early growths will be cut away and lost. 



Transplanting Roses. — No matter how well the ground 

 was originally prepared for the Roses, the time comes when a 

 change is necessary — unless the plants have been planted singly 

 about the grounds. In this latter case the bush extends its 

 branches in proportion to its roots, and a healthy reciprocity is kept 

 up ; but, in many instances, either the plants break out of hand 

 and make gross wood (which, in consequence of deei^-rooting, does 

 not ripen well), or else the soil settles too closely about them, 

 acquiring too great a degree of firmness, which gradually causes 

 the plants to lose force and strength. In both these cases lifting 

 and transplanting is a decided advantage. Where the plants have 

 become gross, the long naked roots should be pruned back. In 

 the case of the weak plants this will not be necessary, but re- 

 planting them into freshly -worked land will give them a new 



