446 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Styles in which Rose-trees may he Pruned. 



Those who have made a study of pruning fruit-trees know that it 

 consists of two principal parts : 



1st. To form a tree into a pyramid, palm-shaped, standard, cordon, 

 espalier, &c. 



2nd. To prune and pinch back the fruiting branch. 



The Rose-tree may be submitted to precisely the same operations. 

 Roses in fact are trained as espaliers, and generally very badly so trained, 

 as pillars, as arches, as standards with trimmed heads, as umbrellas, as 

 cordons, as dwarf bushes, as cups, &c. ; and the framework of the tree 

 having been once established, it is only necessary to keep it to that shape, 

 and to take pains to make it produce Roses. 



Dwarf Roses. 



Dwarf Roses are the ones most usually found in gardens, and it is not 

 necessary to be very expert to train them properly. Nevertheless it is as 

 well to know that many Roses often refuse to blossom if grown in this 

 way. Such are the Spreading Teas, Spreading Noisettes, Spreading 

 Multifloras, Rosa Bracteata, all the non-perpetual Roses, the Centifloras 

 Moss, Provins, Damasc, Pimpernel, Banksian, Rugosa, Microphylla, &c. 

 The Briers, the Capucine Roses, Rosa Lutea, and numerous others are 

 also in the same case. It would appear from reading this list that there 

 can be very few Roses left that can be cultivated as Dwarfs. And indeed 

 there would not be many were it not for the innumerable varieties of 

 Hybrid Perpetuals Dwarf Teas, Hybrid Teas, Bengals, Bourbons, and 

 others usually so grown.. 



There is no particular rule to be followed for the formation of Dwarf 

 Roses ; you cut them hard back, and all is said, or very nearly so. 



Roses as Semi-Dwarf Bushes. 



This is evidently the form above all others in which to grow the 

 Rose. It has the advantage of creating strong plants with many and 

 fine blossoms on them. It does not encourage the growth of suckers, and 

 ensures a long life to the plant. It permits, also, of the cultivation of 

 non -perpetual Roses of medium growth, such as the Centifolias, Mosses, 

 Provins, and other types of medium height. 



Some of the spreading Roses of the Tea and Noisette sections can 

 also be trained in this form, particularly if you can furnish them with a 

 basis of old wood. Unfortunately, except in the South of France, these 

 woody stems are killed by the cold. 



Those who would nevertheless brave the fashion, and possess sundry 

 remarkable objects, ought to take particular pains over the planting of 

 their Roses. They ought to prepare for it by digging up the soil and 

 adding fresh loam. It takes four or five years to form a good Rose-tree 

 of this class. The pruned shoots are left a little longer every year ; some 

 people draw away the branches from the middle towards the outside of 

 the bush, so as to make use of those which become crowded in the middle 

 of the bush, and which are always removed in Dwarf or Semi-Dwarf Roses. 



