PRUNING ROSES 101 



will find that, except in the case of quite hardy 

 varieties, he has little choice in the matter of pruning, 

 the keen knife of the frost having come before him 

 and already pruned his Roses after its own ruthless 

 fashion. In this case all the dead shoots should be 

 cut away, and those that remain be afterwards 

 examined. At first sight they may appear altogether 

 uninjured, but on cutting them it will be seen that 

 scarcely any sound wood is anywhere to be found. 

 The best test of frost injuries is the colour of the pith. 

 If this be white, cream-coloured, or even slightly 

 stained, the wood may be regarded as sufficiently 

 sound to cut back to, but if the pith be brown 

 sounder wood must be sought for, even if this be 

 only met with beneath the surface of the beds. 



Armed with a pruning knife, which should be of 

 medium size and kept always with a keen edge, an 

 easy pair of gardening gloves, a hone on which to 

 sharpen the knife, and a kneeling pad, the primer 

 will require nothing more except a small saw, which 

 will prove of great service in removing extra large 

 shoots and dead stumps. A really good secateur may 

 be used instead of a knife if preferred. In pruning, the 

 cut should be always made almost immediately above 

 a dormant bud pointing outwards. In all but an 

 exhibitor's garden the best time to prune Roses is 

 early in April. 



i. Roses which require to be more or less closely 

 pruned. — Under this heading is included at least 

 three-fourths of the Roses most frequently grown 



