38 THE HYBRID CHINA HOSE. 



thinned out, so that the head of the tree is not at 

 all crowded, and then be shortened to within 

 twelve buds of their base ; a crop of fine flowers 

 will then be produced. This is the pruning to 

 be done either in the early part of November or 

 in February : we will call it the winter pruning. 

 There is another mode of pruning these roses, 

 partly in summer, which will be found highly 

 eligible : thin out the shoots in the winter, and 

 leave a selected number of those that are most 

 vigorous nearly their full length, merely cutting 

 off their tips : these will be loaded with blossoms 

 so as to make the trees quite pendulous. As soon 

 as the blooming season is past, shorten them all to 

 within six inches of their base : they will imme- 

 diately put forth strong shoots, which, while in a 

 very young state, thin out, leaving those that are 

 the most vigorous. These shoots treat in the 

 same manner the following year. By this method 

 of pruning, a pendulous graceful head is formed, 

 instead of a stiff formal one, so common to 

 standard roses. In pruning these roses when 

 trained as pillars, the spurs from the shoots 

 fastened to the stake merely require thinning out 

 so as not to be crowded, and then shortened to 

 within five or six buds of their base. Trained as 

 pillar roses they give flowers often too abundantly, 

 so that they are small and ill-shaped ; it is there- 

 fore often a good practice to thin the flower 

 buds as soon as they can be distinguished. 



