VIII 

 PRUNING 



PRUNING is one of the most important parts of 

 rose culture; just as it is most necessary to prepare 

 the ground properly and to plant intelligently, so 

 also should one be certain to prune systematically. 

 The whole growth of the plant is changed by the 

 manner of its pruning. 



Under climbing varieties rules for their proper 

 pruning have been given, and in this chapter will 

 be taken up the pruning of all the roses contained 

 in the lists. It is an easy matter when the theory 

 of it is understood. Perhaps the simplest and clear- 

 est illustration which could be given would be to 

 suppose a rose cane has fifteen buds or eyes on it; 

 from these buds or eyes spring the shoots which 

 afterward become the flower stalks of the plant. 

 Now, if this were not pruned at all but the entire 

 cane left, the sustenance received from the roots 

 would be divided into fifteen parts. As a matter 

 of fact the greatest amount would go to the end or 

 top of the cane and to those buds nearest the top, 

 for in all plant life it is more difficult to get the sap 

 to break the buds nearest the base, especially if there 

 is too great a distance from that base to the top of 

 the lateral, limb, or cane. 



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