This being the case, in order to maintain the 

 strength of the plant and to keep it in the shape 

 required, the worn-out shoots must each year be cut 

 away, and the rest either left their entire length or 

 shortened back to a greater or less extent as the 

 nature of the variety, or the object for which the 

 plant is grown, may require. 



Pruning, therefore, is the art of improving the 

 productive power, or the appearance, of the plant, and 

 consists of two distinct operations. i. The removal 

 of dead, weak, overcrowded, or otherwise useless, shoots. 

 2. Pruning proper, the shortening of those shoots which 

 are allowed to remain after the thinning out process has 

 been completed. 



The most frequent errors made in pruning are 

 (i) leaving too many shoots when thinning out; (2) 

 pruning severely the shoots of varieties which require 

 little, if any, shortening; (3) leaving the heads of 

 Rose-plants crowded with shoots and cutting these 

 to a uniform length all over the plant, in a similar 

 way that a hedge is clipped. 



In thinning out a shoot it should be either cut 

 clean away to the base of the plant, or to its starting 

 point on the older shoot from which it springs, as the 

 case may be. When the plant has been pruned the 

 shoots should be left as nearly as possible equi-distant 

 from each other, and regularly arranged round it so that 

 it presents a well-balanced appearance on all sides. 

 When pruning a shoot it should always be cut to a 

 dormant leaf bud, or " eye," as it is called, pointing 

 outwards. In order to keep the plants in a healthy and 



