THE DAWN OF SPRING 



crops up. In those learned publications which I have 

 referred to I do not think that the inquiring amateur 

 will ever find that pruning is discouraged entirely ; it is 

 merely a question of degree. Practically all Roses are 

 the better for pruning of some sort, and the really 

 practical question is not, " Shall we prune ? " but, " How 

 much shall we prune ? " Well, I leave even the latter 

 for a moment, because I recognise that the point of time 

 is also important. The beginning of March is certainly 

 too early to do the annual pruning in any district where 

 there is danger of a late spring frost. The harder the 

 pruning, the more dangerous it is to prune early. Mark 

 that the result of pruning is to stimulate the slow moving 

 lower buds. Wise Nature has arranged that the back 

 buds shall be later in starting than the front buds, and 

 if the shoots, which the latter push early, are injured, 

 there is a reserve down below. But if the grower prunes 

 hard early he starts the back buds, which are then no 

 longer reserves ; they are the " fighting line " itself, and 

 if they are crumpled up by a withering fire of April 

 frost the case is desperate. I grant that Roses which 

 are breaking strongly in March should be pruned, but 

 I do not think that they should have the regulation 

 " annual pruning," unless, indeed, they are sorts which 

 would not be pruned much in any case. The early 

 pruning of Roses that are to be cut hard should be 

 limited to removing the growing tips. The full pruning 

 may be done a month later. 



Good Roses for Beds. — For the benefit of those who 

 are planting Roses in spring, I may give the names 

 of a few vigorous, free-blooming varieties, which are 

 good for beds and groups, classified according to 

 colour. The letters after the names indicate the 

 sections, thus : H.P., Hybrid Perpetual ; H.T., Hybrid 

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