438 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



decide with certainty. However, it is highly probable that if the clump 

 of ' Victor Yerdier ' had been left to itself it would now have presented an 

 inextricable confusion of slender branches, dead wood, and at the season 

 of flowering numerous blossoms of wretched quality. On the contrary, if 

 M. Duchet had exercised his skill as primer on his beautiful ' Aimee Yibert ' 

 it is highly probable that it would not have covered the whole front of his 

 house. Nevertheless, it may be inferred that pruning acts as a check 

 to all Roses. 



But if pruning impoverishes Roses, someone else will tell you that not 

 pruning does so equally, considering that a Rose left to itself covers itself 

 with blossoms, thus weakening the branches, which end by dying from 

 exhaustion. And this other person would be right. 



Pruning weakens Roses, non-pruning weakens them also. I leave 

 these two conclusions to professors of logic, who may draw from them 

 what inferences they can ; but before starting upon the practice of 

 pruning, let us inquire a little as to the utility of what everybody practises. 

 Without going back to the Deluge we have in an accessible form the very- 

 careful trial which Monsieur J. P. Yibert, the famous Rose-grower, 

 undertook in 1830. The following passage relates chiefly to Bengals and 

 Noisettes : — 



" Their pruning consists in removing diseased and awkwardly-placed 

 branches and in shortening others, according to the nature of the species 

 or variety, the number of flowers that it produces and the ease with 

 which they expand, and by several other reasons which can only be 

 determined when actually at work upon the plant itself. In some varieties 

 of Noisettes, which blossom shyly and only produce a few shoots, the 

 principal object of pruning is the encouragement of the growth of flower- 

 ing branches ; some varieties indeed are so stubborn that besides being 

 obliged to cut them back it is also necessary to prune or pinch them several 

 times during the summer to force them to flower. These varieties are 

 all very vigorous, and, having nothing to fear from being planted in the 

 open air, their cultivation in pots is unnecessary. 



" Bengal Roses do not spread ; it is a characteristic peculiar to them- 

 selves ; but they have, in a higher degree than other species, spreading or 

 not, the peculiarity of developing either from a cutting or stock such 

 vigorous branches as would, if not checked, soon weaken the neighbouring 

 branches, and eventually cause their destruction. It is better not to 

 entirely remove these rank growths, but to prune them back to a certain 

 number of eyes, so as to force the stem to a more equal distribution of its 

 sap. As a rule, in pruning all Roses, it is important to remember that 

 the natural renewal of those branches which come from the cutting or 

 root-stock is necessary to the plant's existence, and that their suppression 

 checks the flow of the sap and arrests the plant's growth. When it is 

 absolutely necessary to prune these branches rather severely, which often 

 happens with Bengal Roses and Noisettes, the wounds must be closed 

 with budding wax." 



I Dcni Helyc says: "Roses which are wide-spreading and have 

 long shoots should, as a rule, never be pruned, as this will sacrifice the 

 blossom of the year, as for example in the case of the Banksian Rose, in 

 which the flowers are produced on the wood of the preceding year. If 



