166 



THE BOOK OF THE ROSE 



CHAP. 



August. Exhibitors, whose season is over by mid-July, 

 are rather apt to neglect the hoeing and general culture 

 when the important operation of budding is in full 

 swing. As no real remedy is known for the red rust, 

 and little if any practical damage is done by it to the 

 blooms, it is not to be wondered at that it is often 

 unheeded as a minor and necessary evil. 



Suckers may be looked upon as a pest among the 

 growing Roses, which must at all times be looked for and 

 eradicated. They are most common from standards, 

 especially tall ones which are insecurely staked. These 

 latter, when pressed by the wind, naturally throw out 

 suckers to support themselves — a shoot goes out from 

 the underground stem for a foot or so, then grows up 

 and in due course sends a little root down, which forms 

 an anchor for the original stem — two or three more on 

 the opposite sides and the plant is held firm and cannot 

 be rocked by the wind. 



The wild stock will, however, often form suckers on 

 well-staked standards and on dwarfs, particularly if the 

 Rose be weakly, and underground buds on the stock 

 were not originally extirpated. A keen look-out should 

 be given to all plants on manetti, as only an eye well 

 accustomed to the appearance of the growth of this 

 stock will distinguish it from the Rose, and many a 

 gardener has hopefully pruned great bushes of manetti 

 for years, wondering at the absence of bloom, and 

 ignorant that the Rose itself has been starved and killed 

 outright. 



The usual way of removing suckers is by the aid of 

 a spud, cutting them off as close to the main under- 

 ground stem as possible. This course must be pur- 

 sued with any that had started the year before or that 



