274 MY GARDEN. 



fallen or bad been cut; a number which no other mode of cultivating 

 a tree could produce. 



When we cultivate rose-trees on the mannetti stock we plant them 

 deep, as then the rose itself frequently sends forth roots, and the stock 

 perishes, an event much to be desired. The training of the tree after- 

 wards is very simple. During the summer any very coarse shoot is 

 topped by the finger and thumb, otherwise the tree is allowed to 

 grow freely, and the shoots stand through the winter till the end of 

 February or beginning of March, when they should be cut back. 

 Where the ugly standards are grown they should be cut back to 

 a prominent eye, but that eye should always point outwards. Where 

 roses are grown as dwarfs, the shoots should be cut back to within a foot 

 or two of the ground ; but when we desire to grow a tree in the form of 

 one of my beautiful pyramids, we cut it roughly in the shape of a Jack- 

 in-the-Green, and maintain it thus, so far as we can, by summer pinching 

 and spring pruning. It is advisable to cut rose-trees as late in spring 

 as possible, as by this plan their flowering shoots come late, and then 

 the blossom is finer. If they are cut too early, the shoots are liable 

 to be damaged by frosts ; and if cut too late, the trees are exhausted 

 by taking off growing shoots. In this respect every season presents 

 a difference ; but by cutting the trees at the time of incipient growth, 

 the gardener cannot fail to have a fine crop of roses. 



As out of nothing nothing can come, so roses cannot be produced 

 without a suitable manure. The best plan is to keep a good layer of 

 manure over the roots all the summer, taking care that none is placed 

 within six inches of the stem, as it is apt to injure it ; but, as the manure 

 looks unsightly on the ground, it is generally put on in the month 

 of November instead of in the summer, for it will then rot and soak 

 into the ground during the winter. Manure water in summer promotes 

 the growth of rose-trees. 



There exists a notion that wherever a good cabbage will grow 

 a rose will grow ; and as a cabbage loves an ample supply of 

 manure, so a rose requires an equally rich scil and abundance of 

 the food of plants. 



