ROSES 109 



tivated Roses the method is described under the heading of Own-Root 

 Roses, and as for the seedling briars it is not worth the trouble involved 

 for the amateur to attempt to raise them, when they can be bought so 

 cheaply. Stocks planted for budding should be secured in the autumn, 

 the roots put into some soil temporarily and protected from frost until 

 February. When planted before this, hard frost is liable to raise the 

 plants out of the ground. Plant them in rows two feet apart in the 

 best position, and the stocks six inches apart. If they are to remain 

 permanently where planted, and this plan is strongly advised, more 

 space should be given between the plants, say twelve inches. Dwarf 

 stocks must be planted rather shallow, their roots being about six 

 inches below the surface. When about to bud the stocks hoe the soil 

 away, and return it again after budding is completed. 



Standard briars may be bought from labourers for one shilling to 

 one shilling and sixpence per dozen, but do not buy them unless they 

 have some small fibrous roots, and see that they are not green and 

 sappy. Plant these briars in November the same distance apart as the 

 dwarf stocks, and their roots about eight inches deep. All stocks 

 should be grown in good soil, and hoe frequently and deeply. Thin 

 the growth of standard stocks in June, retaining three of the best to 

 receive the buds. 



Pruning. The beginner in Rose-growing is generally puzzled with 

 regard to pruning, which is, however, quite a simple operation, its object 

 being to induce the plant to make new wood. Readers should grasp 

 this fact, and then insect pests, green-fly, and the thousand ills that 

 Roses are heir to will become less troublesome. The time to prune for 

 all districts, except those that are very late, is early in March. Excep- 

 tion should be made in the case of Tea Roses, pruning of which is best 

 deferred until the first week in April. The first pruning of the previous 

 autumn-planted Roses should consist in shortening the growths to about 

 six inches from the ground. 



All varieties do not grow alike, some producing two growths the first 

 year, and some only one, but the first year in all cases cut back to within 

 six inches of the ground and close to an eye or leaf -bud looking outward. 

 Newly-planted climbing Roses on walls should be pruned in this way 

 the first year. The second and following years the growths are retained 

 almost their entire lengths, merely clipping them and cutting out old and 

 dead wood. Another point to remember is, that the harder the wood 

 and the less pith it contains the more vigorous is the growth. Cut out 

 very soft, pithy shoots clean away to the base. The second year the 

 pruning must be somewhat different. Growths on unusually strong varie- 

 ties that make yearly shoots some four feet to five feet in length should 

 be left quite eighteen inches long. If quite hard they might even be 

 left three feet long, and would then produce three to five new growths 

 at the top. Prune the second year Hybrid Perpetual, Hybrid Teas, 

 Teas, Noisettes, Polyantha, and Bourbons, except the strongest growers, 

 to within six inches to nine inches of the ground. With regard to the 

 Japanese, Austrian Briars, Penzance Briars, Scotch Roses, and Monthly 

 Roses, merely remove a few inches from the extreme ends. Shoots on 



