22 CULTURE OP THE ROSE. 



arbors, walls, or very tall pillars, the strongest growers are 

 most suitable, such as the Prairie, Boursault, and Ayrshire 

 roses. Enrich the soil strongly, and dig deep and widely. 

 Choose a healthy young rose, and, in planting, cut off all 

 the stems close to the earth. During the season, it will 

 make a number of strong young shoots. In the following 

 spring cut out half of them, leaving the strongest, which 

 are to be secured against the wall, or over the arbor, diver- 

 ging like a fan or otherwise, as fancy may suggest. The 

 subsequent pruning is designed chiefly to regulate the 

 growth of the rose, encouraging the progress of the long 

 leading shoots until they have reached the required height, 

 and removing side-shoots where they are too thick. Where 

 a vacant space occurs, a strong neighboring shoot may be 

 pruned back in spring to a single eye. This will stimulate 

 it to a vigorous growth, producing a stem which will serve 

 to fill the gap. Of the young shoots, which, more or less, 

 will rise every season from the root, the greater part should 

 be cut away, reserving two or three to take the place of 

 the old original stems when these become weak by age. 

 When these climbing roses are used for pillars, they may 

 either be trained vertically, or wound in a spiral form 

 around the supporting column. 

 Roses of more moderate growth are often trained to 



