THE MULTIFLORA ROSES 17 



really no need to do so. They are only less thoroughly 

 satisfactory than the wichuraianas, but they are just 

 as easy to grow. The methods of planting and pruning 

 detailed for the other type apply also to this class, 

 but greater care is called for, since improper treatment 

 is Ukely to do more harm, as the recuperative powers 

 of multifiora varieties, if as great, are not so readily 

 responsive. 



The wild Rosa multifiora, native of China, makes 

 big loose bushes, bearing, in early summer, large 

 bunches of white blackberry-like blossoms, and itself is 

 worth growing in the shrubbery or wild garden, but in 

 the rose garden proper, or where space is restricted, it 

 is not, of course, to be thought of. As with the wichu- 

 raianas, the best blossoms are produced by the stems of 

 the previous year, since they come on shoots that issue 

 from the main stem itself. On older stems, those of 

 two or three years old, the flowers are borne on the side 

 shoots that grew out of the one-year-old stem. Con- 

 sequently, the blossom bunches are smaller. It is the 

 old, old tale — the more one-year old stems there are 

 in the tree, the bigger and the finer will be the display 

 of bloom. If the plants are cut to within four or five 

 inches of the ground in the March following planting, 

 little or no further pnming will be necessary, either that 

 year or the next. AH fresh stems should be tied to their 

 supports as they progress. In March (twelve months 

 after the hard pruning) the tips of the stems should be 

 cut off, if they are soft or have been damaged by the 



cold. By August a second crop of stems will have grown, 

 c 



