282 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



as one year when a donkey accidentally 

 got into his garden, and cropped his 

 rose bushes almost even with the 

 ground. So, full of this idea, I pruned 

 my own accordingly one summer, and 

 the result was, that, on the vigorous 

 canes, the few eyes left burst with such 

 vigor that it took them all summer to 

 finish growing the long shoots, induced 

 by throwing all the vigor of the bush 

 into so few eyes ; and on some I had 

 no flowers, on others but a few. I 

 have since learned that this one maxim 

 is without exception : "the stouter the 

 wood, the larger the flower, and vice 

 versa." So that it is best to cut ofi" to 

 the ground the canes which are thinnest 

 and weakest, and cut away all wood 

 that has bloomed, leaving only the 

 stoutest canes of the present season's 

 growth. Do this in the autumn early, 

 so that the sun and air may have free 

 access to ripen all the wood you intend 

 to keep, and in the fall bend down and 

 cover these strong branches. When 

 you uncover them in the spring take 

 ofi" only short pieces from the tops of 

 each stalk, the most stout and vigorous 

 should be shortened very little, and see 

 what roses you will have, both for 

 quality and quantity. The hybrid 

 Noisettes — which are perfectly hardy, 

 if bent down and covered — need this 

 caution particularly, for, although they 

 produce no very vigorous canes, like 

 Jacqueminot, still they send up such a 

 number, and each cane produces such a 

 multitude of buds, that often the plant 

 will not open a single one of them ; and 

 they decay and drop oS" in the unopened 

 bud. The remedy for this is to cut 

 out all two year old wood, and all the 

 weakest shoots ; and on the varieties 

 given to producing more buds than 

 they can open, it is better not to prune 

 the remaining shoots at all. I have 

 tried this plan with perfect success on 

 some bushes that were very bad cases 

 of this kind of rose troiible. In hybrid 



Noisette roses, where the habit is 

 thoroughly remontant, that is, where 

 new shoots are freely produced from the 

 I'oots, I never leave more than the four 

 best on each bush. In fact, I treat all 

 remontant roses exactly as I treat 

 raspberries, and I am sure that, for 

 this country, if not for every country, 

 it is bv far the best plan. 



H. S. L. 

 Vine Lyniie, Oct. 21st, 1885. 



THE LUCRETIA DEWBERRY. 



By referring to the list of subscribers' 

 premiums it will be seen that one of 

 the plants offered is the Lucretia Dew- 

 berry. It is said that it was found 

 growing in West Virginia. In the 

 Rural N^ew-Yorher we find the follow- 

 ing testimony in regard to this fruit. 



The Rural New-Yorker says : — 

 Hitherto we are not aware that the 

 Dewberry (Rubus Canadensis) has held 

 any recognized place among cultivated 

 small fruits. Several varieties have 

 been talked of from time to time, but 

 have soon been forgotten. 



A few specimens of the Lucretia 

 Dewberry were ordered from Mr. J. T. 

 Lovett, of New Jersey, last May, one 

 of which fruited during the summer. 

 It ripened with Early Harvest, the 

 earliest of all the kinds growing at the 

 Rural Grounds. The berries and 

 drupes are large, and though of good 

 quality when fully ripe, they are rather 

 sour if picked sooner. This may be 

 said of all blackberries ; but moi'e 

 especially of this, if judged from its 

 first season of fruiting. The vines are 

 thus far hard3^ As, if left to them- 

 selves, they would cover too much land, 

 it is a question for others to decide 

 whether it would pay to give them 

 support by trellises or otherwise. 



FROM R. G. CHASE & CO. 



We have fruited the Lucretia Dew- 

 berry this year, and found the fruit to 

 be of good size, perhaps we should 



