ROSE 



1567 



need stakes. They are sufliciently strong and vigorous 

 to hold erect any weight they may be called upon to 

 bear; but late in the autumn, before the high gales of 

 November arrive, they should be cut back to about 2 ft. 

 to prevent their being whipped by the winds, for this 

 would loosen the plant and break the newly-formed 

 feeding roots. The plant should not be cut back to the 

 point suggested for spring pruning, as in the hot Indian 

 summer the upper eyes will surely be forced out and 

 the promised blooms for the ensuing season destroyed; 

 so in pruning for protection from November blasts, 

 enough wood should be left to avoid all danger of the 

 lower buds being forced out. The upper buds always 

 develop earliest. Some varieties will not produce large 

 footstalks under anv metboil of treatment, notably 

 Prince Camille de HoIkiii. I, a l;.i^;irie and Rosieriste 



Jacobs; but almost :ill il iln r KhmIs do better under 



this method than any oili. r. ii (|ii;iliiy is desired. 



Pruninrj Dwarf-ijr,>iil,i,j 7'. r, /,■..„, ,s. -Tea Roses will 

 not endure such vigorous cutting back as the Hybrid 

 Remontants. All good strong shoots should be retained 

 unless they form a very close head, when it is better to 

 remove a few from the center. The canes should he 

 shortened about one-third of their length, the branches 

 cut back to 1 or 2 eyes, and after each period of bloom 

 the longest shoots should be trimmed back sparingly. 

 Bourbons need even less trimming. Souvenir de Mal- 

 maison. Mrs. Paul and others of this class should have 

 only the weak ends of each shoot removed, and no more 

 wood cut away than is necessary to remove weak and 

 unhealthy portions; otherwise very few flowers will be 

 produced. 



Cultivation.— Juat before growth commences in the 

 spring, the surplus rough manure should be removed 

 from the beds and all the remaining fine particles 

 forked in. Deep cultivation is not desirable, as the roots 

 are likely to be injured or broken. Three inches in 

 depth is quite sufBcient to cultivate a bed that has not 

 been trampled upon, and this should be done with a 4- 

 tined digging-fork, which is less likely to cause injury 

 to roots than a spade. The beds should then be neatly 

 edged and the surface raked off smooth and even. Fre- 

 quent stirring of the surface with a sharp rake is all 

 that is necessary afterwards, until the buds begin to 

 develop. Then half a gallon of weak liquid manure ap- 

 plied around the roots of each plant just before a 

 shower will be eagerly appreciated and assimilated. 

 The manure water should be prepared beforehand, and 

 as soon as a good promise of rain appears, all hands 

 should be called into service and every plant given a full 

 ration. One person should dig a shallow trench witli ;i 

 garden trowel around each plant, the next follow ami 

 till with the liquid manure, being careful to avoid iic- 

 smirching the leaves; afterwards the bed can be rakid 

 over level and the rain will wash the dainty food to tljc 

 eager roots, and thrift and glory will result. This feed- 

 ing may be repeated with benefit every week until fhr 

 season of bloom is over, after which stimulation should 

 cease and the plants be permitted to perfect tire new- 

 wood for the next season's growth. Little pruning is 

 necessary with "cut-backs." So much *ood has been 

 removed in gathering the blooms that but little more is 

 left than is needed to keep the plants vigorous and 

 healthy. Tljere is another advantage from the system 

 of close pruning: all growths are so strong and vigor- 

 ous that they are better able to resist any inroads 

 either of insects or disease. The greenfly seldom ap- 

 pears, but when detected may be readily kept down by 

 repeated syringing with tobacco-water or Quassia 

 infusion. 



The belief that Roses exhaust the soil in a few years 

 and require to be changed into new ground is generally 

 accepted, and is true in most cases ; but when beds are 

 formed as previously described and budded Roses 

 planted, the vigorous feeding roots find sufficient nutri- 

 ment in their far-reaching growth to support a healthy 

 development of wood and flowers for many years, espe- 

 cially if a generous top-dressing of manure be applied 

 each autunui and liquid manure supplied liberally dur- 

 ing the development of the buds. A top-dressing of 

 wood ashes after the first spring cultivation will restore 

 the potash to the soil and materially increase the vigor 

 of the wood and flowers. 



Insect Enemies. — The most formidable is the Rose 

 beetle, which revels in the petals and buds of our 

 choicest plants, usually selecting the light-colored 

 varieties and working havoc and ruin wherever he 

 appears. Hand-picking is the only effective remedy, 

 and a quart can half filled with kerosene oil is a good 

 place into which to drop the offender. He is easily 

 caught when discovered, as he may readily be upon 

 examination of each bud and flower. 



The aphis or greenfly is found on the extreme ends 

 of the shoots and young buds. This is the cow of the 

 ants and is tended and milked by them. The aphis in- 

 creases with enormous rapidity, and unless destroyed 

 robs the plant of its vitality by sucking out the sap. A 

 decoction of tobacco stems is made by half filling a 

 barrel with refuse stems from a tobacco factory and 

 filling the barrel with water. After this has been 

 macerated, syringe the plants every day with the decoc- 

 tion until the enemy is defeated. In extreme cases, 

 where the aphis has become firmly established, the 

 remedy proposed by Mr. B. R. Cant, an English rosarian, 

 may be required. He says: "Take four ounces of 

 Quassia chips and boil them ten minutes in a gallon of 

 soft water; strain it and while cooling dissolve in it four 

 ounces of .soft soap (or whale-oil soap). To this may be 

 added another gallon or two of water. The plants 

 should be syringed with this and all badly infested 

 shoots dipped into it. Pure water should "follow the 

 next day to cleanse the shoots." If, at the first appear- 

 ance of these pests, the finger and thumb are used to 

 rub them off and destroy them, much subsequent trouble 

 will be saved. 



Slugs are usually found on the under side of the 

 leaves and may be discovered by the skeletonized 

 appearance of the leaf. To destroy them, make a 

 decoction of powdered white hellebore, with one heap- 

 ing tablespoonful to a pail (about four gallons) of boil- 



ing water. After cooling, apply with a syringe or, 

 better, with a whisk broom. Push the top of the plant 

 away with the left hand and, with the broom dipped in 

 the solution, throw the drug up and against the leaves. 

 One thorough application will usually suffice, but if the 

 slug has appeared in previous years, anticipate his com- 



