104 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



view to the future outline of the plant, to prune to 

 an outlooking bud, and that as a general rule the 

 more a shoot is cut back, the longer will be the 

 growth from the bud left at the top. 



After a warm summer most of the young wood 

 on a well-pruned and healthy plant will be found 

 moderately ripe ; but we occasionally find an extra 

 well-ripened shoot, almost as firm and brown as the 

 old wood, with large plump buds ready to start 

 at the first chance. This is very valuable and 

 plenty of space should be allowed for its develop- 

 ment, less ripe shoots being removed to make way 

 for it. On the other hand, we often find gross late 

 unripened shoots, much thicker but greener, with 

 a larger proportion of pith. These are comparatively 

 useless, and should generally be cleanly removed. 

 If a shoot has been injured by frost, and on cutting 

 down to an apparently sound bud the pith appears 

 brown instead of white, it is evident that the injury 

 has gone farther than we supposed, and it will be 

 better if possible to cut a little lower. If any shoot 

 by its unusual size evidently absorbs a large pro- 

 portion of the whole of the sap, it should be, 

 according to its ripeness and the condition of the 

 rest of the plant, either removed altogether, or 

 left a good length and have other weaker shoots 

 removed that might hinder its development. 



If a plant is carefully pruned from the beginning 

 it seldom presents many difficulties as long as it 

 continues in health; but those which have been 

 neglected for only one year sometimes require to be 

 cut back sufficiently to form an entirely new frame- 

 work during the following season. A good deal may 

 be done to remedy faults and defects by a careful 



