24 THE FRENCH ROSE. 



from its having been so long in our gardens the 

 favourite of every child gardener. 



Culture and Pruning. 



Most of the varieties of Rosa gallica are robust 

 and hardy, and flourish equally as bushes on 

 their own roots, grafted or budded on short stems, 

 or as standards ; but they cannot be recommended 

 for tall standards, as their growth is too compact 

 to be graceful. To grow them fine for exhibition 

 as single blooms or ( show roses,' the clusters of 

 buds should be thinned early in June, taking at 

 least two-thirds of the incipient flowers from each ; 

 manure should also be laid round their stems on 

 the surface, and manure water given to them plen- 

 tifully in dry weather. With this description of 

 culture, these roses will much surpass anything 

 we have yet seen in this country. 



Although the varieties of this group are sum- 

 mer roses only, their period of flowering may be 

 prolonged by judicious pruning, and for this pur- 

 pose two trees of each variety should be planted, 

 one to be pruned in October, the other early in 

 May, or just when the buds have burst into leaf ; 

 these will give a regular succession of flowers. In 

 pruning, cut out with a sharp knife all the spray- 

 like shoots, and then shorten, to within six or 

 eight buds of their base, all the strong shoots : 

 by such I mean those that are above fifteen 



