146 CALIFORNIA GARDEN FLOWERS 



relations of pruning to form, vigor, blooming, etc., in this chapter, that 

 no connected discourse on the operation of pruning seems required. 

 The best way to learn pruning is to prune yourself, note what you get 

 and watch the successes and failures of others. The best teacher of 

 pruning the rose is the rose itself, if you will try to understand its sign- 

 language. The writer's methods with both standard and bush forms is 

 suggested by plates from photographs taken on the before-and-after 

 policy of demonstration. 



Pruning According to Variety and Class. The treatment of varieties 

 according to their vigor and disposition is a thing which must be 

 learned by experience. There is also a difference in pruning according 

 to classes, of which the following by Mr. F. H. Howard of Los Angeles 

 is a very succinct statement: 



"It must be remembered that different roses show different char- 

 acteristics of growth, and the operator must use judgment in handling 

 the shears. 



"Take for example, roses of the hybrid perpetual class, the 

 plants make but a comparatively small amount of twiggy growth, while 

 the tea and hybrid tea section produce a great deal, which, unless re- 

 moved at least twice a year, simply consumes a quantity of sap with- 

 out producing blooms, or if any they are short stemmed and of poor 

 quality. In pruning varieties of the hybrid perpetual class cut them 

 back about eighteen to twenty inches above the surface of the ground. 

 This applies to plants of moderate size, say three to four feet high. 

 Where they are larger they may be left somewhat longer. Remove 

 all small canes, cutting them off at the surface of the ground, and in 

 selecting those which are to be left make certain by careful examina- 

 tion that the stems are well furnished with plenty of plump, healthy 

 eyes. 



"The hybrid tea and tea classes of roses are the most satisfactory 

 in blooms, and at the same time the most difficult to prune properly. 

 To begin with, remove all small twiggy growth, pruning the plant 

 back to approximately two-thirds of the total height. Carefully re- 

 move all dead wood and all stems, large or small, wherein the bark 

 shows a tendency to crack or is otherwise in an unhealthy condition. 



"While it is better to leave some foliage on the pruned plant, the 

 removal of the greater portion will in no wise injure it. 



"I have often seen so-called gardeners, and others, cutting off 

 suckers which issue from the base of the plant grown in bush-form 

 little realizing that they were ignorantly destroying the best efforts 

 of the plant to produce fine flowers. 



"Do not be afraid to cut out all worthless wood, and with the ex- 

 ception of roses grown to standards with their typical symmetrical 

 heads, do not try to shorten -all the growths to an even height with 



