THE ROSE AND ITS CULT'JEE. 



13 



efficient as a more severe pruning in winter. Care- 

 fully remove the surface soil down to the roots, trace 

 out the main portion by proceeding to uncover from 

 the bole to the extremity, and cut off one or more 

 of the strongest within a foot or so of the root-stock ; 

 pull out the severed roots if possible, fill in with soU, 

 and should the weather be dry, water home, and the 

 root-pruning is finished. As the roots removed 

 may probably have formed the main supports of the 

 Koses, it will be most desirable to see to re-staking 

 and tying them if needful; and should they show 

 any signs of distress, an overhead watering in the 

 evening will speedily revive them. 



Summer and Autumnal Thinning. — This 

 is another expedient for lessening the amount of 

 wood cut out at what we shall presently describe 

 and illustrate as the general pruning, and also for 

 improving the quality of the wood left. Assuming 

 that disbudding, pinching, and root-pruning were 

 carefully attended to, there should be little useless 

 wood in the Rose-bush or tree. Kevertheless, there 

 is mostly an abundance of it, and hence this section. 

 Any such growth may be removed at almost any 

 time, nevertheless July and October are the best 

 seasons for thinning out superfluous or useless wood ; 

 the wounds heal more rapidly then than at other 

 seasons, and the remo^-al of superfluous wood perfects 

 the maturity of that left on the plants. It also 

 affords more space and imparts more strength to the 

 second breaks of H}'bi-id Perpetual, Tea, and other 

 autumnal-blooming Hoses. The more light, air, and 

 food these have, the more and better they bloom, 

 and for a longer period. Early autumnal thinning 

 out of superfluous wood is desirable for the same 

 reasons, and also gives a completeness of maturation 

 to the Rose wood that enables it to withstand with 

 more certainty the severities of the winter. Thus, 

 not a few of the more solid advantages of autumnal 

 pruning are gained, while all the main shoots that 

 ■contribute to next year's harvest of Roses are left 

 intact, and consequently, as shall be explained pre- 

 sently, in safety. 



The General Pruning of Eoses ^This, not- 

 withstanding that the way has been considerably 

 cleared to a comprehension of its principles and 

 practice by these preliminary sections, is still one of 

 the most difficult and delicate operations in Rose- 

 culture. The great family of the Rose includes within 

 itself plants of the most varied stature, character, 

 form, and modes of growth. Some are deciduous, 

 others evergreen ; some tender, others hardy ; some 

 have a spreading, others a vertical habit ; some make 

 one growth a year, others two or many ; some reach 

 to six inches, others are twenty feet in height. And 



hence arises the necessity for different times and 

 modes of pruning. To cut all to one pattern at one 

 time would ruin nine-tenths of our Roses. This 

 short and easy method of pruning was only prac- 

 tised when most of the Roses pruned were very 

 much alike. They made one growth a year, ripened 

 their buds, and shed their leaves in the autumn ; 

 spread abroad their bare boughs to the pruner, were 

 cut back to within two or three eyes of their base, 

 broke into shrublets in the spring, bloomed, ripened, 

 were pruned again, and so on and on for a lifetime, 

 never missing a season, and growing but little in bulk 

 for ten or even twenty years. Delightfully simple, 

 is it not ? Yes, and the most of our summer, Moss, 

 Scotch, and several other Roses, may yet be pruned 

 and treated thus, with equallj' certain results. 



But as to other Roses, and starting with modes of 

 pruning, the common division into long and short 

 pruning imparts but a vague idea of the difiiculties 

 of deciding that point. Long pruning may mean a 

 foot, a yard, six feet, or even more ; short pruning, 

 anything from one inch to twelve. And thus, in 

 general terms, it may be affirmed that long pruning 

 is best for the stronger-growing Roses, and short or 

 " sharp " pruning, as it is often called, for the 

 weaker ones. 



But what an endless latitude the words strong and 

 weak growers introduce into the matter of pruning ! 

 These are but samples of the difficulties in pruning 

 Roses ; and our object will be, as far as possible, to 

 show every reader how to avoid or overcome them. 



Xiong Pruning. — It must be borne in mind 

 that the term is a technical one, and does not, as 

 might be supposed, mean that the portion pruned off 

 is long, but the reverse. A branch long-pruned is 

 left almost intact, with little more than its points 

 removed ; and it is in this that the modem pruning 

 of Roses completely reverses the older and more 

 primitive ways. The more a shoot grew, the more 

 should be cut off it, was their short rule of theory, 

 and code of practice. But the plants would not 

 submit to it, though forced upon them at the point 

 of the knife and the sharp teeth of the pruning- 

 saw. The harder they were cut back, the faster 

 and stronger they grew. Alter a vain struggle for 

 centuries against the laws of nature, the combat has 

 been given up, and long pruning generaU}"^ accepted 

 as the most efficient check to overgrowth, and the 

 surest receipt for abundance of bloom on strong- 

 growing Roses. The faster and stronger and further 

 a Rose grows, the less it should be pruned, and vie.- 

 versa. Hence the converse of long pruning is 



Short or Close Pruning. — In this case the 

 part removed is long, and the spur left on the tree is 



