Gardening for Amateurs 



241 



tion, so making a shapely and well balanced 



bush with plenty of space between the 



branches, thus allowing sun and air to have 



full play in and around them. Such a bush 



will produce healthy foliage, and will be 



easy to deal with in every way : for 



pruning and spraying, or 



to enable one to cut 



blooms conveniently. It 



is much less likely to 



suffer from mildew or to 



be infested with insects, 



and gives pleasure to the 



eye even when it is not 



in bloom. 



Bushes of Awkward 

 Shape. When Rose 

 bushes throw out only 

 one long strong shoot 

 which goes off at an awk- 

 ward angle, it is better to 

 nip off the end of this 

 shoot before it has got 

 too long and awkward- 

 looking, in the hope, 

 which is almost a cer- 

 tainty, that the plant will 

 throw out other shoots in 

 the opposite direction, thus 

 producing a better 

 balanced and more shapely 

 bush. Of course nipping 

 off the tip of the first 

 strong shoot in this man- 

 ner means delaying the 

 flowering period consider- 

 ably. It is evident, too, 

 that this advice would not 

 hold good in cases where 

 the flowers were being 

 grown for exhibition. 

 Then the shape of the 

 bush is of small account ; 

 everything is sacrificed to 

 the production of large, sound, shapely 

 blooms. 



Removing Suckers. All the season 

 tli rough from April onward a look out 

 must l>e kept for sueker>. It i* important 

 that these should lx> diseovered and ivmn\ r<l 

 immediately they show above ground, as 

 they lessen the vitality of the Rose by draw ing 

 the sap from a point lower down than that 

 16 



where the Rose has been budded on the 

 stock. The existence of two or three on one 

 bush soon causes the death of the Rose, 

 whilst the wild stock grows in its place, and 

 is often tended and nurtured in the vain 

 hope that the Rose is growing strongly, and 



Rose Cissie Easlea (Pernetiana), a charming new sort with flowers 

 of bronze-yellow shades. 



will soon flower profusely. Suckers, or 

 growths from the brier stock, or whatever 

 stock it may be, often first show above the 

 surface of the soil at quite a long distance 

 from the plant to which they belong or from 

 \\hieh they have sprung. 



If suckers have been allowed to grow to 

 some size before being noticed, and the 

 owner is in some doubt whether they are 



