ROSARY. 



765 



Persian yellow. Bom muUiflora requires little 

 pruniDg ; every encouragement should rather be 

 given to the small shoots, which are those which 

 produce the flowers. For this reason they re- 

 quire protection during winter, that their spray- 

 like shoots may not be injured by frost. The 

 Evergreen rose, or Rosa semperrrirens, and its 

 near congener, the Ayrshire rose, should, at their 

 winter-pruning, have their branches left at their 

 full length, for if shortened they will not pro- 

 duce flowers the following season. Training 

 them in a tortuous or zigzag manner keeps 

 them within prescribed bounds ; and mode- 

 rate thinning, by cutting out crowded and 

 weakly shoots, is all they require. The Banksian 

 section, on the other hand, should have all the 

 strong shoots not required for extending their 

 size removed in autumn, but the small side- 

 branches retained, unless unnecessarily crowded, 

 as it is on those the flowers are produced. Re- 

 garding the pruning of the perpetual Damask 

 roses, Mr Rivers directs : " In the November 

 pruning cut off from evei-y shoot of the preced- 

 ing summer's growth about two-thirds ; if they 

 are crowded, remove some of them entirely. If 

 this is attended to, there will be, early in June 

 the following summer, a vast number of luxu- 

 riant shoots, each crowned with a cluster of 

 buds. Now, as June roses are always abundant, 

 a little sacrifice should be made to insure a fine 

 autumnal bloom : therefore leave only half the 

 number of shoots to bring forth their summer 

 flowers; the remainder shorten to half their 

 length. Each shortened branch will put forth 

 its buds, and in August and September the 

 plants will be again covered with flowers." The 

 Bourbon section requires little pruning, and 

 that not before the end of March or beginning 

 of April, when all danger of severe frost is past, 

 when they may be thinned of superfluous shoots, 

 those injured by the previous vrinter removed, 

 and those which are sound reduced to four or 

 five buds. China roses will require pruning, 

 also, about the same time as the last, and also 

 upon the same principle, with this exception, 

 that their shoots should only be shortened to 

 about half their length, unless such as are in- 

 jured by the frost. Much the same course 

 must be adopted with the Tea-scented group. 

 Noisette roses, as standards, require little prun- 

 ing further than to thin out their superfluous 

 branches in March ; those grown on their own 

 roots may be out down in November to within 

 a foot of the ground as a safeguard against frost, 

 as they can then be conveniently covered over. 

 The same treatment may be applied to the Musk 

 rose section also. 



Summer-pruning. — Roses, when growing in 

 rich soil, often produce many very strong shoots, 

 which the French not inaptly denominate gour- 

 mands; and such they truly are, because they 

 rob the other and more moderate growers of 

 their due share of nutriment. These should 

 be cut away as soon as they make their appear- 

 ance, and so should all suckers rising from the 

 roots, as also such shoots as rise from the stock 

 upon which the rose may be grafted or budded. 

 When a number of shoots are thrown out equally 

 strong, so as to become crowded, one-third of 

 VOL. II. 



them should be removed entirely; but if it 

 be desired to increase the size of the plant, 

 then a portion only should be removed, and 

 others shortened by pinching off their tops : do 

 not shorten any of the others, aS that would 

 cause them to send out a number of small weakly 

 shoots, upon which few or no roses would be 

 produced the following season. Summer-prun- 

 ing consists chiefly of thinning out superfluous 

 shoots, such as those gourmands we have re- 

 ferred to, and also many of those which are weak 

 or vmhealthy, and this is in general done imme- 

 diately after the season of flowering is past. But 

 there is more required; for even healthy shoots, 

 where they appear crowded or ill-placed, should 

 be thinned out, so that each shoot left should 

 stand clear of others, and be fuUy exposed to 

 the sun and air on all sides ; and this thinning 

 should take place before the formation of the 

 buds, that the strength of the plant may be 

 thrown into the flowers and shoots intended to 

 be retained. The summer-flowering sorts, when 

 so treated, continue their growth with vigoui-, 

 the buds at the axils of the foliage remaining dor- 

 mant; while, in the case of the autumn-flowering 

 kinds, the buds push forth the entire length of 

 the shoots, and hence produce their second crop 

 of bloom. Too much dependence has hitherto 

 been placed on winter-pruning alone, and too 

 little on summer-pruning, or summer-thinning 

 of the shoots. When the latter is disregarded, 

 the plants become in a short time exhausted by 

 the production of an immense amount of matter, 

 grown for no apparent purpose but to be cut 

 out in winter and thrown away; whereas if 

 removed early in summer, before the flower-buds 

 form, or, still better, as suggested by Mr Paul, 

 prevented from appearing at all by a judicious 

 process of disbudding early in spring, that sap 

 which goes to the formation of these useless 

 shoots would be thrown into those necessary to 

 be left, as well as into the flower-buds, insuriqg 

 a much more abundant and perfect bloom, as 

 well as giving additional strength to the tree to 

 resist the attacks both of disease and insects. 



Mr W. Paul was the first, we believe, to sug- 

 gest disbudding the rose. Experience has since 

 proved the correctness of his theory; so that, if 

 disbudding be carefully attended to in early 

 spring and throughout the summer, winter- 

 pruning will be reduced to the simple operation 

 of shortening the shoots according to their 

 strength, and the removal of such as may have 

 sustained injury during winter. In support of 

 his practice, Mr Paul observes : " True, it is 

 necessary some ' shoots' should be removed 

 when too many are present ; but why are more 

 than will be required suffered to grow 1 It is 

 questionable whether the theory of branches 

 and leaves elaborating the crude sap, and there- 

 by fitting for assimilation a greater quantity of 

 food, is in favour of their development. A few 

 vigorous branches, with leaves healthy and well 

 developed, must, I think, better accomplish this 

 end than a great number crowded together, the 

 leaves becoming puny and sickly through the 

 exclusion of air and light. Now, by rubbing 

 out a portion of the buds when swelling, and 

 others at any season when they may sprout forth 



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