ON THE PRUNING- OF ROSES. 



447 



Personally I have had some very remarkable Roses grown in this manner, 

 but all varieties do not lend themselves equally well to it. 



Roses as Cordons.* 



Anybody who understands pruning the Vine after Guyot's method 

 knows how to train Roses as cordons. The method, which is only 

 practicable with wide-spreading or very vigorous varieties, consists in 

 obtaining, during the season, one or two very strong -growing branches. 

 In spring, and in our climate also in autumn, in order to protect them 

 from the cold, these branches are bent horizontally on iron wires, 0*50 

 centimetre from the ground ; the end is pruned off and the operation is 

 finished. The secret of success is to know to what length to cut the 

 branches, so that all the eyes will produce flowers, and will allow of the 

 replacing of the horizontal branches by two new ones, which one has 

 taken care to keep in reserve at the spot there the branch is bent. One 

 can assist the development of such replacing branches by disbudding any 

 eyes which show a tendency to develop themselves. In the South of 

 France, or in greenhouses, horizontal cordons can be established, pruned 

 very much like Vines, which will last several years without being renewed. 



Roses on Walls. 



It is mostly in the South of France that this method of training is em- 

 ployed, because the varieties suited for it are often killed to the ground 

 by the frost in the North ; and then they do not flower, or very little, on 

 the new wood they throw up. In the North one must choose as sheltered 

 positions as possible if one wishes to train Roses up walls. The Roses 

 are planted a metre apart, or still further if the soil is very fertile. Then 

 they are trained like a Vine in the fashion of Tomery. The first year it is 

 pruned very little ; it is left to establish itself. The second year it is cut 

 down to the ground ; if it pushes vigorously the shoots are allowed to 

 grow as they will, being all nailed to the wall. If, however, any of the 

 shoots spread beyond the space they are required to fill the next year, 

 they are pinched back when quite green so as to check their too vigorous 

 growth. In the following spring each shoot is trained on an iron t wire 

 or trellis fixed to the wall which the Roses are intended to cover. One of 

 the Roses covers the middle part of the wall and another the top. If the 

 wall or front of the house is not very large, one plant may often be suffi- 

 cient to cover it. We have seen Banksian Roses covering surfaces 80 

 metres square. Where a single tree is planted against a wall, there is need 

 to watch the development of its branches very carefully. By pinching 

 some of them in the green stage, at different heights, it is easy to cover 

 the base as well as the summit of the wall. 



Roses for Pillars, Pergolas, Arbours, &c. 



All wide- spreading or long-branched varieties can be trained in these 

 different ways, and the directions given for Roses on walls can be 



* Monsieur Morel probably means what we in England call 1 pegged -down Roses.' 

 f It is dangerous to attach Rose or Fruit trees to iron in Great Britain, as the ex- 

 treme cold will often kill the shoots at the points where they touch the iron. 



