ON ROSES 327 



grower's heart to see how nobly the plants leap into 

 life what strong shoots they throw up, how beautiful 

 the tints of the fresh young leaves are, especially of 

 the Teas, and how quickly they speed into bloom. 

 Strong-growing climbers, like Crimson Rambler and 

 its sisters, Dorothy Perkins and her progeny, and Car- 

 mine Pillar, need not be cut to the ground if the soil is 

 substantial and rich, but they certainly should if it is 

 poor, light, and shallow. Without cutting back, the 

 roots have a double duty to perform : they have to feed 

 the existing shoots and to throw up fresh ones, and the 

 latter is the more important, for no pillar and arch 

 Roses can be thoroughly satisfactory unless they throw 

 up new shoots annually like Raspberries. With the 

 original shoots cut away, the roots can concentrate on 

 the task of forming new shoots, and they do it to 

 such purpose that the pillars are soon covered. The 

 annual pruning of established Roses is a task which will 

 interest the grower, and prompt him to a study of the 

 varieties. He will learn quickly what sorts are benefited 

 by severe and which by light pruning how the strong 

 growers may be pruned much less hard than weak ones. 

 The quality of the soil governs pruning much more 

 than most people know. It governs it, because if it is 

 heavy and fertile it prompts much stronger growth than 

 if it is light and poor. 



The more natural growth there is in a Rose the more 

 the grower may prune, as he is sure of a constant supply 

 of good new wood, and good new wood gives the best 

 flowers. The exhibition growers know this quite well. 

 They plant in rich soil and prune severely. It is dan- 

 gerous, however, to prune hard in a soil that does not 

 prompt free growth, as the plants break feebly from the 

 back buds to which they are cut. In such soil it is best 



