102 THE BOOK OP THE ROSE chip. 



globular form of a Eose. Kose petals are evenly- 

 arranged, and do not cross each other in an inward 

 direction; such should be the shape of the plant. 

 Bearing in mind that the top bud left of each shoot 

 will grow first and in the direction in which it 

 points, we should always cut back to a bud that 

 looks outward, and take care that the centre will not 

 be overcrowded. To get rid of a misplaced shoot it 

 should be clean removed at the very bottom ; merely 

 cutting it hard back will only make it grow the more. 

 It must be our endeavour each year to do away with 

 as much old wood as possible, and in the case of 

 strong growers to lessen the number of their shoots 

 rather than their length. We should picture to 

 ourselves what the plant will look like in full 

 growth, and remember that a lover of Eoses is 

 more likely to leave too many than too few shoots. 

 There is a saying in East Anglia, " No man should 

 hoe his own turnips," meaning that he is not likely 

 to thin them sufficiently ; but those who are used 

 to thinning grapes and other garden produce will 

 probably have got over this difficulty. 



The next question is, how far, i.e. to how many 

 buds, are the shoots to be cut back; and the answer 

 is to be found in the golden rule of pruning, that 

 more buds are to be left on each shoot in proportion 

 as the plant, both as a variety and an individual is 

 strong, and less in proportion as it is weak. To a 

 novice in Eose-growing it appears strange at first 

 that we should cut away almost all there is left of a 

 weakly-growing and precious variety, which would 

 seem to be almost exterminated by such severity, 

 and yet leave longer shoots on a strong sort which 

 seems better able to stand the rough treatment; but 



